Up close and Personal

In Memoriam: Philip Larsen

Philip Larsen was born the 3rd child to Elmer and June Larsen, May 30, 1947 in White Salmon, WA. The doctor that delivered him was very angry for having to spend his time on Memorial Day delivering a baby, rather than fishing and drinking beer. He was considered a model baby; so much so, that his mother left him at his grandparents' home on one of their visits, and had to return to retrieve him only after someone mentioned the baby was missing.

For many years while he was growing up, Philip thought that the Memorial Day parades and celebrations were just for him.

When Philip was very young, the family moved to Brookings, Oregon. He grew up being allowed to run on the beach with his cousins and brother and sister, as well as roam the woods, not going home until dark. He fished in the Chetco River and dug clams in the sand. When he was quite young, he was very badly cut playing in the rocks at Harris Beach Park. One of the older kids he was with had just seen a first aid demo and was able to control the bleeding until he was transported to the hospital. When the doctor stitched him up, a button was used from a nurse's uniform to hold the stitching in his foot secure.

Philip's family moved again a few years later to Portland to what is now the Belmont-Hawthorne area. There he attended Sunnyside School and the LDS Church. He played baseball, football, rode bikes with his siblings, and preferred to be outside. Philip attended Washington High School, were he was a model student in biology (only because his girl friend was in the class, and he felt he had to impress), choir and PE. He developed a reputation of having a beautiful bass voice, but was so shy about public appearances, would often refuse to sing even in church. His connection with the church elevated him to an elder in the priesthood. He continued his love of the out of doors and spent time with his grandfather fishing, and hunting with his dad and brother. He loved picking huckleberries, and did it as a family outing until the year before his death. In his mid years, he discovered mushroom hunting, and was often found on a week-end to be in the woods with his brother or one of his cousins hunting Chanterelle mushrooms.

The Vietnam War had started, and after a disagreement with his family about what was transpiring in his education (he had an opportunity to go to BYU on a music scholarship if he would work on upping his grades in English) he was allowed to join the United States Marine Corp at the tender age of 17 following in his father's footsteps. After boot camp, he was sent to Radio Operators School and graduated at the top of his class. By age 18, he was on the battlefield as a field operator, and on more than one occasion, had ammunition flying by his head and hitting his radio unit. He survived 2 tours of duty receiving numerous commendations. He had also survived the deaths of many friends. Years later, his nephew, Michael Larsen would follow his path to the Marine Corp.

After more than four years in the Corp, he was honorably discharged, and ready to move on with his life. It was not very long until he met a “long haired, antiwar, anti-government hippie” through a mutual friend on a blind date. That hippie was Jay, and they became fast friends and decided to marry, even though they were both pretty sure their families would not be too thrilled about their choice. Philip worked various jobs for a while, but finally started with The Nicolai Company pulling a green chain. In no time he was foreman of his crew, then of his department, then assistant foreman of the shift. When he left the company after almost 17 years, he was shift supervisor. In his time at Nicolai, he was involved in a very serious auto accident with a working and hunting buddy. His friend died as a result of the accident, and Philip was seriously injured. However, he insisted on attending the funeral, even though he had to walk with the assistance of a cane and leaning on someone. While employed with Nicolai, the company encouraged him to develop more skills, and he was sent to school many times at Mount Hood Community College and Oregon State University to learn various aspects of the lumber and manufacturing industries. He was very proud of all of the college credits he amassed and often talked of finishing up a degree when he retired.

After leaving Nicolai, he went to work for Ventura Industries. He stated that he “just wanted to work an 8-5 job”, but within a matter of months, he was a line supervisor. At the end of a year, he was assistant supervisor for the plastics department, and was very happy there for many years. When the department was sold to another company, Philip opted to go with the department as the supervisor, but after a few weeks decided it was not for him anymore.

For the next several years, he worked for various companies, always rising very quickly to a management position. After some time, he declared that “he was ready to run the farm” and did not think he would work any more. But after 6 months, he decided that he had to have a new top -of- the- line computer. When Jay told him there was nothing wrong with the one they had, he decided to return to work just long enough to get the one he wanted. He started working for LJ Smith (at the time Interlock Specialties) as a temp, and bought his new computer. However, his solid work ethic, reliability, and leadership skills had not gone unnoticed, and he was offered a permanent job, soon rising to warehouse supervisor.

Philip lost his taste for bird hunting after bring home some very beautiful ducks and having his 3 or 4 year old daughter get tears in her eyes and ask him why he would shoot something so beautiful. He developed a respect for all animals, and faithfully feed the many birds and squirrels in his yard. He also started taking in stray cats, and at several points in his life had as many as 7 living in his household.

Philip replaced his interest in hunting birds and wildlife with wanting to travel and see new places. The family would often camp on their trips, and try to experience as many new adventures as possible. Since Philip loved good food, the trips included trying local specialties. Travels took them to British Columbia, Alberta, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Hawaii, Colorado, South Dakota, and many times to California. In many cases, Philip would have Rici invite a friend to go with the family, but he was more likely to be the “biggest kid” of the bunch, wanting to see and do everything. He loved looking at the world through the eyes of his daughter, and even volunteered as a band parent while she was in high school. When she attended college at OSU, he was eager to visit her on weekends and share her campus experience.

After his daughter married and became a mother, Philip took to being a grandfather with relish. He always wanted to be the “first” in his grandsons' lives. He was always eager to “kid watch” and if the child was fussy, he would sit and rock the baby for hours softly singing many different lullabies to them. He often talked of what fishing holes he wanted to share with them, and what things he wanted them to remember him by, but as his health started to fail, it became more difficult to do some of the things he wanted with them.

When the decision was made to move to Stevenson in 2004, Philip decided that because we had had many discussions about religious affiliation, it was time to make a decision. We had met several people in recent years that were members of Unitarian Universalist groups, and liked the attitude that there is good in all beliefs. He scoured the Internet in search of a local group and found one in Hood River. We agreed that the 1st Sunday of the new year we would go. We were greeted with a hearty handshake, and “Hi, I'm Bruce and I'm a pagan.” Philip looked at me and I at him, and trying very hard not to smile, he said, “ I think I'm in the right place! “ we started to feel right at home, and even when he was too ill to attend fellowship, would express a desire to be where he was among friends.

jay

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