Larry Gibson

Saturday morning I attended the memorial service of my dear friends Angie and Julie's dad, Larry Gibson.  The first time I met Larry was Dec 24th, 2005, when he and Sue invited Shelly and I to join in their Christmas Eve morning tradition of breakfast at Elmer's with them, Angie and Julie.  From the first joke I knew he was someone very special - from the warm welcome to the twinkle in his eyes.  And from that first moment you could tell his wife and daughters adored him.

Larry and his wife Sue

He lost his battle with cancer on Tuesday.  All their family was coming into town for the Thanksgiving holiday, so his sons-in-law stepped up and planned the entire memorial memorial service.  It was amazing - not only the service itself, but the wonderful memories everyone shared.  He and Sue touched so many peoples' lives, widely through fantastic pranks (building a mini houseboat in his friend's pool while the friend was on vacation), but also in real, personal ways. One of his pastors from Southern California said Larry never taught a class on parenting or marriage, but had dozens of faithful followers who were successful in these things simply by watching his example.

He will be greatly missed and I am very lucky to have known him.  Please pray for the family as they enter into the holiday season.