Larry Dean Lafferty, 81, of Oregon, passed away on Wednesday January 3, 2024, at Arbors of Sylvania surrounded by his family. He was born in Steubenville, Ohio to John and Dorothy (Johnson) on November 1, 1942. Larry moved several times throughout his childhood from towns in Ohio to Florida and finally back to Ohio. He ended his high school years at Lake High where he met the love of his life Doris Darlene Deal. "She was the Most Beautiful person I have ever seen" he would continue to say until his last days. Larry graduated from Lake in 1960 and immediately left to see the world via the United States Navy, while serving on the USS Bigelow he was part of the blockage of the Panama Canal during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Larry and Doris were married on June 29, 1963, and celebrated their sixty-year wedding anniversary with a gathering of family and friends this past June.

They raised their five children in Oregon, while Larry worked for the Sun Oil Refinery for forty years. He was a family man above all else, he had a way of making everyone feel like they were the most important person in the world. Every summer the entire family would vacation together in Myrtle Beach, memories forever imprinted in our hearts. He enjoyed watching all sports but especially when his kids and eventually his grandchildren played, he could always be found watching and cheering at the side of a pool, a soccer field, a football stadium, a basketball court or a baseball diamond. He loved taking the family to watch anything at The Ohio State University, the Cleveland Browns and the Cleveland Indians (it will always be the Indians). Marblehead Lakehouse was his Happy Place, as a boy he had visited many times with his parents, brothers and sister and the visits continued throughout his life; "The lighthouse was built by men with crude unforgiving tools, it has been buffeted by winter storms and summer gales and still remains". He enjoyed taking walks at Pearson Park and in the last few years simply enjoyed a car ride through the park; he found beauty in all things. He loved poetry and photography, but his passion was writing, from writing love letters to his wife to writing more poems than we could count and completing his first book in his later years. As he grew older, nothing brought him more joy than spending time with his great grandchildren; his legacy, he would like to say. If you knew him, you knew his smile, his quick wit, his happy demeanor, his carefree attitude and his love of his family. We were all a little better because of Larry.

Left to cherish his memory, are his loving wife, Doris; children, Laura (Roger) Sheahan, Denese (Joseph) Vargo, Dawn (Eric) Murray, Micheal and Douglas; grandchildren, Zachary (April Rudolph) Lauch, Harleigh (Matt) Verdell, Dakota (Rylee Kerchevall) Sheahan, Gabriel (Emily McLargin) Yanez, Madison Sheahan, Keegan Lafferty, Jacob Lafferty, Adrian Murray; nine great grandchildren; Dade, Doris, Orin, Rory, Ila,Masyn, Nora, Harper, Layne, and another bundle of love on his way, baby Yanez Siblings, Jack (Judy), Jim (Gail), (Marcia), Kathy (Tony) Fowler.

He is proceeded in death by his parents, brother William, nephew Max, niece Chris Poling, several brother and sister in laws.

Larry's family would like to extend their thanks and gratitude to the nurses and staff of Hospice of Northwest Ohio and Arbors of Sylvania, for the love, compassion and care given to Larry and themselves during his illness. Another special thank you to the Veteran's Administration for all their giving's.

Visitation will be held Friday, January 5, 2024 from 2:00 pm until 8:00 pm at Eggleston Meinert & Pavley Funeral Home Oregon Chapel, 440 S. Coy Road, Oregon and where his funeral service will be held on Saturday, January 6, at 11:00 am. Those wishing to make an expression of sympathy in Larry's memory are asked to make donations to Doris Lafferty so the family can distribute to Larry's favorite charities.

Go BROWNS!