Lawrence J. "Larry" Toschik

Toschik, Lawrence (Larry) J.
was born on July 17, 1922. He was eighth in line of ten children. He had a bent for art at a very early age. After winning an art scholarship, he interrupted that to go into military service. Because of his history of seasonal asthma, he was scheduled into limited service, but found himself instead in a full fledged infantry unit. Following two and a half years of military training with two hundred and ninety days in combat in Italy during WWII; Larry married Cecelia Dwyer. They had met the day before he was to be shipped out and corresponded throughout the war. Larry worked at an advertising agency and with a commercial art studio in Milwaukee. A resurgence of childhood asthma sent him to try life in Arizona. Larry opened his own commercial art studio, and years later he became Art Director for Arizona State University Department of Publications. Larry did freelance work for Arizona Highways Magazine, which led to several written and illustrated articles, plus four unprecedented complete issues of magazine. These gained international attention and launched his professional career as a fine arts painter. Larry is survived by his wife Cecelia; 3 children Tom Toschik, Mary Keegan and Bob Toschik; 8 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren; brother Br. Cyrus Toschik; sister Catherine Tilson. Visitation will be held Thursday, July 5th from 6-8PM at Heritage Funeral Chapel, 6830 W. Thunderbird Rd. Peoria, AZ. A Celebration of Life will be held Friday, July 6th at 1:00 PM at the Forum at Desert Harbor, 13840 N. Desert Harbor Dr. Peoria, AZ 85381. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the American Bible Society, Hope for the Troops, 1865 Broadway New York, NY 10023-7505.