Larry was born Walter Allan Lawrence Kirk, January 24th, 1943 in New Westminster, British Columbia. (Until his late teens he was known as Allan Moss.) He died on November 5th, 2011.
Larry was raised by his grandmother and her second husband, Allan Moss Sr. in Burnaby and Vancouver. He had a special bond with Grandmother Leah and spoke warmly of her. His grandfather brought him out to Chilliwack on the InterUrban. They would fish for trout along the Hope Slough as far east as Rosedale. Larry spoke of working hard as a child at various jobs including breaking and delivering coal. He attended a Catholic elementary school and John Oliver High school.
Larry left home at an early age and he continued to work at physically demanding jobs in various locations in Western Canada including lumbermills, mines and ranches. He also worked for the B.C. Forest Service. (He spoke of having “supported” a woman and her two children. Dates and details unknown.)
Sometime in the 1970s Larry made the Upper Fraser Valley his permanent home. His remaining working years were spent as night auditor at the Chilliwack Empress Hotel, cutting, splitting and selling firewood and driving taxi. His hard working ways led to various health issues which continued to plague him until the end.
In the 1980s when he was no longer able to work for money Larry moved into a small cabin beside the river upstream from the Vedder Bridge. Larry found it frustrating relying on the Ministry of Social Services. He had always been very independent and now he was beholden to a vast bureaucracy. At times, he seemed to thrive on the challenge of living on next to nothing.
Larry found it hard to leave his cabin by the river but eventually a suitable apartment was found on Fletcher Street in Chilliwack. Things were pretty tight for a couple of years (he became part of Ruth and Naomi's Mission) but once he turned 65 his economic situation improved. Finally he was free of the Ministry and now with Old Age Security he had options that he hadn’t had for many years.
Larry was a private man and so details of his life remain few. He loved the social sciences, appreciated and produced his own art, (he often commented on the 'colour' of things) and enjoyed nature. He was a life-long learner and once he had the internet the entire world seemed to be his textbook. He tended to be so engrossed in the past that he sometimes found it difficult to live in the present.
Larry was always the gentleman, polite and well-mannered. These positive characteristics continued to the end. He was appreciative and grateful for the medical and hospice care and the visits that he received during the few months of his diagnosed illness (prostate cancer) which eventually lead to his death.
Larry was predeceased by; his grandparents, Leah (nee Gooding) and Walter Augustus Kirk (and Allan Moss Sr.), his mother, Marie Kirk, uncles, Walter (Millie) and Lawrence (Hazel) and aunt Jean (Bill Headley). He is survived by his half-brother, William Little and his wife Sharon, half-sister, Patricia Allan and her husband Douglas, nephew, Darrin, nieces, Jenine, Caroline and Jennifer, cousins, June, Evelyn, Mary, John, Jean, Linda, Jean and Bill.
Larry?s body was buried at the Kings Lake Memorial Cemetery in Clinton, B. C. A memorial for Larry is planned for 2:00 PM, Saturday, November 26, 2011 at “Ruth and Naomi's Mission,” 9302 Fletcher Street, Chilliwack, B.C. Maclean's Funeral Services 604.847.3477 mcleansfunerals@shaw.ca