We often admire those with athletic, musical and artistic talents and can even be envious of what we usually believe are god-given abilities. When someone who possesses those skills dies their obituary will acknowledge
and often highlight that fact. With that said the obituary of David Larsen should have been headlined, “Dave Larsen, made people laugh and smile.”
Hundreds attended a service for the 52-year old lifelong Seaside Park resident Sunday at the Tri Boro First Aid squad and fought the grief and sadness of the occasion to share stories and memories. Dave died suddenly last Thursday while walking the boardwalk in the town in which he grew-up and along with his wife Denise raised two sons…Erik and TJ.
To say we go way back is an understatement. We became friends at Central Regional High School where we both were members of the Class of 1973.
I lived in Seaside Heights and at that time just about everyone in the Heights and Park knew one another…after all there weren’t too many of us riding the bus to school. Dave and I started at Ocean County College and he used to drive me to school just about every day. That was partly due to me holding him responsible when I flunked my driver’s test the first time since he was the one who took me.
At OCC we were part of a group of guys who to this day remain close friends….even if we only see each other a few times a year. It was there that he met his wife and it was there in which he became known for a sense of humor that would follow him for life. Dave always had a joke and we used to marvel as his never-ending inventory and wonder how he could recount them time and time again. For several summers he worked for my father on the boardwalk and even though I was often the brunt of his humor he made the roughest days a bit brighter.
Time moves on and you sort of lose touch with people but every time I saw him I broke out into a smile within seconds. We loved to laugh when talking about a famous trip to Boston’s Fenway Park in which he and his best friend Joe Perrone had an entire bus in tears as they held court for hours… it’s a memory that I’ll never forget.
His sudden passing is a terrible loss to his family, friends, co-workers and fellow members of the Seaside Park Volunteer Fire Company. We’re the lucky ones though….we knew and laughed with him. Two weeks ago I ran into Dave and he asked about getting the old crew together for dinner and I promised to do that after the summer was over. I’m going to follow through with that promise and we’ll leave a seat open just in case he wants to join us.
2 comments:
Kevin - Thank you for the wonderful remembrance of our mutual friend, Dave Larsen. It was my privlige to work with Dave through our Emergency Management office, and it was always a pleasure, whether it was a meeting, a work session or a training class, you could always count on Dave's professionalism and humor. I shall always remember him. Wayne Rupert, Ocean COunty Undersheriff
Kevin- what a great tribute to a great guy. I to also smiled when I saw or spoke with Dave. We worked together for many years at Oyster creek and Dave was always the same easygoing friendly person. Others and I will miss him at the plant.
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