Lawrence "Larry" Wade Humphrey
Larry was born in Yakima, WA, on 8/1/41 to Bernard and Lois Franklin Humphrey. He grew up
in Payette, Idaho and served in the US Navy from 1959-62 on the USS Spiegel Grove. Larry
was a man of honor, integrity, patience, intelligence, talent, and kindness and he was oh-so-
handsome! He didn't use many words, but when he did, if one was smart, one listened!
Larry leaves behind his wife of 42+ years, Lynda; his sons Brandon (Claudia) and Matthew
(Stacy) and 3 grandchildren: Daniel, Andrew, and Miss Sheridan. He is also survived by his five
sisters: Saundra Ruth; Faith Schaafsma, Debbie Sutphin (Bob), Jayne Severyns (Bill) and
Judy Pulley (Steve); many nieces, nephews, grand nieces and grand nephews. Larry loved
his family more than they will ever know. He had a huge soft spot in his heart for children and
animals. He was a treasure in this world. His faith was very strong. He knew his God. Larry
was a member of the Shoreline Seventh Day Adventist Church but also attended the
Chelan SDA Church and the Brewster SDA Church. He shared his talents at the piano and
organ with all three churches.
His piano playing was indeed a gift from God. If you could hum it, he could play it, and his
original compositions hosted incredibly full and rich chords. Larry's career was in the
Commercial Plumbing business and he was the proud contributor to the original Kingdome
in Seattle as well as the Rainier Bank Tower, Bellevue Square, Fred Hutch Cancer Center,
Children’s Hospital, the University of Washington Medical Center, Harborview Medical
Hospital and many other large Commercial projects in the Seattle area. It is interesting that
he worked on those medical buildings where he spent so many days the past two years
fighting Mesothelioma Cancer. Larry retired in 1996 at the age of 55 to enjoy
retirement. Lynda retired the next year, and they have spent the last 26 years enjoying their
70-acre ranch in the Methow Valley, spending their winters in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and
traveling to faraway places like St. Petersburg, Russia; Columbia, South America; sailing
through the Panama Canal; Hanging Ten in Hawaii; visiting Alaska; Copenhagen,
Denmark; Berlin, Germany; and other places worldwide.
For the past two years, Larry has been fighting for his life. While in the US Navy, his job was
to keep the engines and generators of the huge Landing Ship Dock running. This
assignment afforded him the ‘opportunity’ to inhale asbestos fibers. Sixty years later, those
fibers caused the formation of the very rare Stage IV Metastatic Malignant Pleural
Mesothelioma Cancer, which, on November 18, 2023, took his life.
Larry was an elegant man. He was patient, kind, deeply caring, intelligent, forgiving, loyal,
gentle, talented, hard-working, responsible and loved by many. May his talent and memory
live on in each of our hearts and homes. We love, celebrate & miss you Larry! May we aspire
to be more like Larry!
The family asks that Memorial Donations In lieu of flowers may be made to:
ADRA.org (Adventist Development Relief Fund) OR Fred Hutch Cancer Research at
Fredhutch.org.
