Larry Jean Romaine
Published 2:50 pm Monday, June 4, 2018
November 18, 1936 – May 20, 2018
Larry slipped peacefully from this world into the arms of the angels on Sunday, May 20, 2018, surrounded by his loving family and friends. His gentle soul, generous heart, incredibly optimistic disposition, and his wry sense of humor will be greatly missed by all those that knew him.
Larry was born November 18, 1936, in Baker City, Oregon, the youngest of two sons born to Jean Henry and Margaret Romaine. His father was a dentist in the Army so the family traveled before settling down in Hillsboro, Oregon. He graduated from Hillsboro High and married Lois Reser. After graduation, he enrolled in college at PSU. After a year of college, he enlisted in the Army where he was stationed in Germany as a company clerk. The organizational skills learned there were invaluable later in life during his ambitious entrepreneurship. After his service ended, Larry and Lois settled in Beaverton and started a family. During this time, both Larry and Lois worked at Reser’s Fine Foods. Larry eventually moved on to work for First Interstate Bank, gathering many stories about fighting with the computer punch-cards that ran the bank’s programs.
In 1969, with three kids in tow, Larry and Lois packed up and moved to Bend to start a new adventure. With no land development experience, they purchased property just south of town and got to work. Their business flourished into one of Bend’s premier mobile home parks of its day, Romaine Village, accompanied by a successful mobile home sales dealership. Along the way, their fourth child was born to round out the family with two boys, Larry Jay and Jack, and two girls, Gina and Molly. Living in Bend, Larry and family fully embraced the great outdoors – skiing, hunting, and especially fishing. The stresses of running a business took its toll, and Larry and Lois eventually divorced.
In 1976, Larry met Judy (Johnson), and the two were married in 1977, bringing along stepsons, Greg and Steve. Larry and Judy were able to travel extensively with trips to Rio, Hong Kong, Germany, and Italy, to name a few. Larry’s skills as an amateur photographer shone brightly from these trips, with several of the photos he took still adorning walls in their home. Judy also loved the outdoors and sports and introduced him to tennis. They also picked up hiking, with their favorite being Green Lakes Loop trail. They also spent many sunny summer days on the waters of Lake Billy Chinook in their boat, the ”yellow hog”, both water skiing and trolling for the Kokanee, often in the same day.
When Larry sold the mobile home park in the mid 80s, they were secure enough to enable more travel. Enticed by the soft sandy beaches, and a friend’s desire to house swap, they started spending summers in Oahu, Hawaii, where they would play tennis, swim, and play in and on the ocean. They developed a second group of friends in Hawaii, one of which owned an ocean fishing boat. Larry loved fishing for the big ones (compared to the Oregon trout) out on the waters near Hawaii and was invited to crew during a few local fishing tournaments. He’d come home with harrowing stories of bashing and flying over the ocean waves to get to the good grounds, but he thrived on it. Eventually, they decided summers were better in Bend, and winters were better in Hawaii, so they purchased a second home, the first of several subsequent, in Kailua, Oahu. Those that knew Larry and Judy knew that they moved homes, a LOT of homes – the count during their 40 year marriage was in the double digits, including both Bend, and Kailua Hawaii, so this was one of many.
Summers in Bend, would find Larry trolling the waters of one of the many Central Oregon lakes with his fishing buddies Ray or Sonny. Crane Prairie Reservoir was a favorite, known for the elusive lunkers that could sometimes be coaxed onto the lure. Many a day was spent on that particular lake, and many a trout were feasted on back home as a result. He was also a voracious reader, preferring novels of the espionage/mystery genre. He went through so many books he could have started his own library.
Larry declined to glamorize his life, claiming he was just a simple family man that loved his family, and raised them into fine adults. He was a loving father, a devoted churchgoer, and a doting grandparent, regularly making the trip to Portland to visit his kids and catch a grandkid’s game. Family was always the most important thing to him. His kind heart and generosity were displayed in ways big and small in supporting kids and grandkids when they were in need. He was an honorable, dedicated, loving, loyal, honest man, and always did the right and appropriate thing. He was proud of his service to his country, and told stories of it often. He was dedicated to his churches, both in Hawaii and in Bend. He will be missed tremendously by the many who’s lives he touched.
Larry is survived by his wife of 40 years, Judy, son, Larry Jay, daughters, Gina (Dean) and Molly, stepsons, Greg (Adriana) and Steve (Jennine), and a multitude of grandchildren. He was preceded in death by son, Jack (Jessica). We don’t know what we’ll do without him, but we can smile when we imagine him casting a lure and trolling for that lunker in the heavenly lakes of the afterlife, ever hopeful that the next cast will land the big one.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the American Heart Association, or to the First United Methodist Church of Bend, 680 NW Bond St., Bend, OR 97701.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Niswonger-Reynolds Funeral Home, Bend. Please visit the online registry for Larry at www.niswonger-reynolds.com.