Larry Lee Hempen

"In the end we are all just walking each other home" 

                                                                                                                                                           

Larry Lee Hempen was born on November 30, 1951, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The second son of Roger and Joanna Mae Hempen, he was soon followed by three additional siblings. The Hempen family left Iowa for Arizona when Larry was in grade school. He graduated from Alhambra High School in 1969. He married his high school sweetheart, worked for Mountain Bell, raised two children, divorced, remarried, and had some grandchildren. He retired from Quest and started a handyman business. On the morning of Wednesday, November 4, 2020 Larry Hempen suffered a massive heart attack and died in his bed. It sounds like a simple, straightforward story of a man’s life.  A pretty simple life and an easy story to tell.  

However, if you knew Larry Hempen, you knew he was far from simple. He was dynamic and complex. He was generous and could show great kindness when you might least expect it. He was obnoxious and at times went a little over the edge with his not always appropriate humor. He was stubborn and quick to anger. He was compassionate. He loved with everything he had in him. He was a good friend, he would stand by you through thick and through thin.

He often worried that he had been too hard on his children when they were young; perhaps their mother might say he wasn’t always hard enough. But no one could doubt that he loved those kids. Without condition, he loved his daughter, Marne Jo, and his son, Josh. Very few thoughts or plans moved through his head without considering them. If there was one thing Marne and Josh knew, they could count on their dad to come to their assistance anytime of the day or night. Later in his life, he took on two adult stepchildren, Tiffany and Matthew. He built good lasting relationships with them that will impact their lives forever. Through all the phases, good and not so good, he was absolutely there for all of these kids.

If you are one of the lucky people who knew Larry as your grandfather, you know he was devoted to you. This was where he found his greatest joy. Larry had three granddaughters two step-granddaughters and four step-grandsons. His love for all of you, his joy at spending time with you, calling and texting with you, was evident every time he interacted with you. Helping to fix a car, do an oil change, providing the tools  to learn to do your  own repairs, reminding or questioning when when the services were due; all part of what he did. His pride at your accomplishments was boundless. Keanna -  an endless source of love and pride. Grade school and high school basketball, the semester at ASU before joining the US Navy, the lovely woman you became upon returning home. He was looking forward to you spending more time at the house as you’re enrolled again at nearby ASU. Nicholas, you reached the age where Larry was able to view you as a friend, someone to call for lunch and talk cars, politics and the future of the country.  Jaymee and Reagan, your appearances in the STEM magazines as Science Officers – he kept an article you  were both featured in on the refrigeration, then taped to his bedroom door, and finally filing it away with his most precious papers. Reagan’s love of basketball, and relentless commitment to it, was an inspiration. Matthew, who he always referred to as bump (spelled BMP for Baby Matthew Pristo) your  fearlessness intelligence and lightening fast wit, was always impressive and  fascinating to Larry. He knew from the beginning that you  would be the one. Brandon, you were a tough one when you were little. As you’ve grown into such a fabulous student, and friendly young man, he was proud of who you were becoming.  Andrew with his quiet brilliance and love of the outdoors, spending time together at the cabin and his love of fishing was was quietly comforting to Larry, and he was so looking forward to the two of them spending more time doing those things.  Josh’s two girls, Amelia and Thalia, were bright lights in his life. I hope you will always help them know how much he loved them and looked forward to them being old enough for them to spend time with them.

As a co-worker of Larry’s at the phone company, you may have known Larry to be fair if not always pleasant.  There were many times that Larry did what he believed was the right thing, even when it made him uncomfortable. There have been so many stories over the years of both Larry’s mentorship and his discipline. He could change someone’s life in an instant, and on several occasions, for the better or worse, he did.

His customers with Hempen’s Honey-Dos were as loyal to him as he was to them. He knew their children and their dogs and their chickens. He cared about the families he worked for. He talked about them as friends and felt a sense of family with many of them. Larry was part of the Woodlea Melrose Neighborhood community for twenty years and his absence will be felt for a long time.

Larry was somewhat of a loner in his personal life. He had an affinity for good bikes, the very best tools, watches, and the weirdest gadgets ever. He really appreciated a superior pocket knife and the best flashlights on the market. But it turned to love when it came to the people and pets in his life. He loved his family and learned to understand us and to love us, even with all our limitations. He thought a lot about forgiveness in these last few months. He forgave us all, even when we did not forgive him. And in the end, he forgave himself. He always hoped for the very best for all of us. No matter the family feud of the moment, no matter what the imagined severity of the offense, whether his own or someone else’s, Larry was looking for a higher road. And in the last two years of his life, he found that highroad. This pandemic that is so dreaded and brings such danger, also brought the kind of peace and contentment that he might not have found otherwise. His introspection regarding the first and second halves of his life. This awareness of who he really was in the world - what  an  unmistakable force of nature he was in the lives of so many, was unexpectedly  lovely to watch unfold.  I so wish his family could have spent more time with this newest version of Larry Lee Hempen. His love and deep appreciation for all of his children, his family, his friends both old and new, his love for his dogs, and perhaps most surprisingly, his devotion to his backyard birds. Wild Birds Unlimited became his favorite place to shop.  

Larry is preceded in death by his parents, Roger and Joanna Mae Hempen and his older brother, Gene Hempen. He is survived by first wife, Denise Hempen, his wife Diana Udy; children Marne Hempen and Joshua Hempen; siblings, Jim Hempen, Lisa Hempen, Ron Hempen; nephew Jim Hempen JR; grandchildren, Keanna Curry, Amelia Hempen, Tahlia Hempen; step-children, Tiffany Pristo and Matthew Pristo; step-grandchildren, Nicholas Pristo, Jaymee Pristo, Reagan Lee, Matthew Pristo, Brandon Pristo, and Andrew Pristo.

There is a song Larry listened to on his nightly playlist that I would like you to take a moment to listen to: ‘Pay No Rent’ by the Turnpike Troubadours. Also if you us the Spotify app, you can find a playlist there  named ‘Larry 11/4/2020’. It is collaborative, which means you can not only listen to it, but you can add songs that you think would be nice to have included.

In lieu of flowers and cards, Larry would have liked donations to one of the local animal rescue organizations. I would like to suggest nagifoundation.org because of the tireless and remarkable work they are doing with providing services to support the Native American communities, including animal health services. All donations made under Larry’s name will processed via paypal and are tax deductible.