Larry Maukonen

1945 - 2021

Larry Maukonen

April 4, 1945 - December 10, 2021

Dr. Larry Maukonen died comfortably at home on December 10, 2021, surrounded by people he loved including his wife Cathy, children Cory, Jona, Quinn, and Darcy, other family, and his dog Ernie. The fireplace and peaceful music provided warmth and solace, and the room was decorated for Christmas, something in which he took great pleasure. He died of pancreatic cancer.

Larry was smart, generous, accepting, and caring. He was born to Eleanor and Arne and raised in Conneaut, Ohio. He had two younger sisters, Linda and Lois. Larry was a scholar and athlete. He excelled in school and played football and baseball. He went to Wittenberg University on scholarship, graduating in 1967. He then went to medical school at the University of Cincinnati.

In Cincinnati, Larry and Cathy Miller met and fell in love. Larry finished medical school and they married in 1971. Larry and Cathy moved west, as Larry had dreamed of doing. They lived in Portland while Larry completed an internship, residency, and fellowship at Oregon Health Sciences University and the Veterans Administration Hospital. In Portland, they had their son Cory and daughter Jona. In 1977, the family moved to southern Oregon and Larry began his private medical practice with Southern Oregon Neurological Associates. They welcomed two more daughters, Quinn and Darcy.

Larry was a neurologist in southern Oregon for 40 years. He was well-liked and respected by his patients and colleagues. In addition to his Medford office, he saw patients in Brookings, where he liked spending time with his family. He also volunteered for many years with the local muscular dystrophy clinic. Later in life, Larry persevered in serving his patients even while dealing with his own serious medical issues.

Despite Larry's busy medical practice he was an attentive and involved father. He coached numerous youth sports teams and attended countless games and events, often driving hours to do so. As his children gravitated toward soccer–a sport he had not played growing up–he developed a true fondness and deep understanding of the game.

Throughout his life, Larry had an innate drive to learn. He particularly enjoyed reading about science and history. He could be counted on to provide answers for the New York Times crossword, Jeopardy clues, and logic puzzles. After retiring in 2017, he took numerous classes, many in math and science, through OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) at Southern Oregon University. Even in his 70's he relished doing math problems.

Larry was a wonderful husband of over fifty years in a partnership that worked on many levels. He had a great deal of patience–particularly with his children–and was always generous. He was an adoring father-in-law to Amy, Fraser, Eric, and Davy, and loving grandfather to Connor, Alexandra (Lexi), Kaia, Maliana (Mali), Callum, Milani (Mila), Nia, Makakono (Kono), and Aubrey. As with his children, Larry was a great fan and supporter of his grandchildren and delighted in their successes, great and small.

Larry is greatly missed, remembered with much love and affection, and a celebration of his life will be held at a later date. Donations in his honor can be made to Asante Foundation Cancer Care, OLLI at Southern Oregon University, or The Muscular Dystrophy Association.