Farewell Grandpa Larson

We are all so sad to have lost Tod's Dad on August 10, 2021. While it wasn't completely unexpected, it wasn't really expected either – his health had gone downhill, and he'd also had several falls over the last several months. He wasn't really able to do the things he loved to do anymore, but he still got joy from talking with family on the phone, in person visits when they could, and from having coffee at McDonald's with his friends most days. Tod called him pretty much every Sunday morning for all the years I've known him, keeping Keith updated on his life, hearing what was going on in Keith's world. Keith didn't really understand the work Tod does – could it possibly be any more different than the work of Keith's life? – and the top secret nature of the job didn't help. But he always tried to understand, and he certainly always wanted to hear what the kids were up to.

Tod and Amy went to South Dakota just about six weeks prior to Keith's passing, to attend the funeral of Keith's brother Pete's wife Nubby. It is a blessing that all four surviving kids were able to see him on that trip.

I feel fortunate to have had Keith in my life since 1999, or it might have been 1998. I remember meeting he and Eileen at a softball game. Tod was on a team with the guy I was dating at the time. Keith and Eileen had come to visit Tod, and were there in the stands to cheer him on. Tod later told me his Dad had said something to him along the lines of "that girl at the game seemed nice, why don't you date her?" Thank goodness he eventually did.

Reading his obituary, and hearing his friends and family tell stories about him, I learned a lot more about Keith and what an interesting and varied life he led. He was retired when I met him, but still active in various organizations. In fact, as his children attended his funeral service, they were in a church he helped to come to fruition – and they could even look to their right out the church windows and see the family's final home in Ekalaka. Living in a small town, there were plenty of opportunities to serve the community, and both he and Eileen sure did so.

Keith imparted a strong work ethic in his children, and a love and dedication to family. He was a story teller – you might say a bullshitter – and loved to talk to pretty much anyone. Including Keith and Kent's "birth story" in the funeral program was a wonderful touch - that particular story will live in infamy. I've heard Tod tell it too, and even when he tells it, some folks swallow it hook, line and sinker! 

We will miss Keith so much.