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Martinsville High School Alumni
| Class of 1965 |
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| Loss of another classmate.... - 12 |
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10/26/20
Archer Thomasson
(1965)
Archer1710@msn.com
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The Class of 1965 has lost another alumnus, who ‘made a difference’, Dr. Larry Allen Lynch. Larry died Saturday night in Salem, where he was Retired Dean of the School of Business Administration at Roanoke College. He is survived by his wife Dr. Jan Lynch, who is Retired Dean of the School of Psychology. He is also survived by daughter Kim Lynch Cash, her husband Anthony, four grandchildren, and his sister Libby Heskett. Larry had many accomplishments and accolades’ in his career of consulting, civic appointments, organizations and at Roanoke College, but none was more important to Larry than his family. His wife Jan, his daughter Kim, and his grandkids were ‘his greatest achievement and legacy’. I know that Larry wants them to know that he spent many years guiding students at RC, trying to impress upon them the lifetime ‘lessons’ that he learned along the way. He would also want them to know that a ‘poor boy’ from the ‘ville could ‘make a difference’, and that he expects ‘no less’ from them.
Larry and I were in the Second Grade together at Patrick Henry Elementary School in Martinsville. We went to Junior High and High School together. I think the first time that I knew that Larry had the ‘can do attitude’ was when Larry was a Sophomore at Martinsville High School. He bought a 1958 light green over dark green Chevrolet, 2 door coupe. It had a ‘column shift’ straight drive transmission. Larry, with the help of some of the auto mechanic Mavahi students and teachers, converted it to a three speed ‘floor shift’. Larry equipped that ’58 with a CB Radio, an antenna attached to the back bumper, and could be seen regularly, on the pilgrimage to Sportlanes, Donald’s, Ayers, and back again.
Larry got his Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech, and went to work at Appalachian Power Company in the Roanoke Office. I will never forget Larry coming into my business (a bar on Memorial Avenue) and telling me that he had just ‘quit his job’. I said ‘damn, Larry’, what happened? He said that his lunch hour was 12 to 1, and that he had walked into his office at 1:10, and his supervisor said ‘let’s keep our eyes on the clock, from now on’. At this time, Larry had his MBA from Va Tech. He said that he had been talking with Roanoke College about a career change, but didn’t have the guts to make the transition until ‘now’. He said there had to be more to life than ‘punching a time clock’. Larry later went back to VT and received his PhD….it was then that Larry said that ‘he went from the 24/7 program to the 7/24 program…7 months a year, 24 hours a week’. Never boring, Larry married his third wife Jan, a Professor at Roanoke College, and life catapulted. They traveled the world, sailed the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, bought an airplane, a beautiful vintage Sailboat (with lots of teak), had many sports cars, the first was an XKE Coupe (I bought a convertible), motorcycles, moved to a beautiful two story colonial behind Roanoke College, built a swimming pool, and lived a life that only the ‘Great Gatsby’ could rival. With love and respect, I only want to convey to Larry, knowing what is in his garage….you won, Larry! The guy with the most toys wins! He was definitely ‘one of a kind’….how he climbed the mountain, kept unwavering loyalty, was a friend to a fault, and inspired all who truly knew him was a testament to his character…(the appropriate song at Larry’s funeral would be for his youngest grandchild Braden to sing Frank Sinatra’s, ‘I Did it My Way’)….RIP Old Friend….archie
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| 10/27/20
Phil Sparks
(1965)
Worldwideprocess@gmail.com
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| Re: Loss of another classma;te.... |
Hey Arch,
This is nice tribute to Larry. Larry was always a nice guy and never put himself higher than others even though he had achieved so many accomplishments. It was a good thing to have known Larry. My condolences to his family, friends and colleagues. |
| 10/29/20
Susan A Oliver
(1965)
Subrosa47@aol.com
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| Re: Loss of another classmate.... |
You wrote a fine review of Larry’s life.
He achieved so much and it was very interesting to read about him. It’s always sad to lose a classmate but he did live a full life in his 70+ years. As often happens when we lose a classmate, I wish I’d known him better. |
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