Henry John Larsen Jr.

HENRY JOHN LARSEN
1944 – 2024
Henry John Larsen, beloved father, husband, brother, uncle, and friend, died on July 24th at the age of 80 after 13 years of battling Parkinson's Disease like a lion. He met the challenges with equanimity and inspired us with his persistent fight while keeping a peaceful frame of mind.
Henry was born in 1944 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Henry John Larsen Sr. and Virginia Mae Siegel Larsen, and joined his two-year-old sister Christine Larsen. Two years later, brother Eric Harold Larsen was born and they grew very close-Henry and Eric often finished each other's sentences. However, when Henry was three, Virginia was hospitalized with cancer, and the children moved to Geneva, New York, to live on the Larsen Road Farms with their aunt and uncle. Aunts, uncles, cousins and grandmother lived down the road. At a young age, Henry learned to drive the tractor by standing on the pedals with both feet and carried a love for growing things into adulthood with many beautiful vegetable gardens. Tragically, their mother did not survive and died at age 34 when Henry was 4.
At age seven, Henry's father married Katharine Mellinger, and the children moved back to Pittsburgh where they spent the rest of their childhood. In 1958, their half-brother John Nicholas Larsen was born. Henry graduated from North Allegheny High School in 1962, after which he attended Princeton University, and graduated with a degree in Engineering in 1966. Henry then moved west and completed a masters degree in structural engineering from Stanford University in 1967. His first job was with Blume & Associates, whose innovator, Dr. John A. Blume, is considered the "father of earthquake engineering" and for whom Stanford's Blume Earthquake Engineering Center is named. Henry's work included research into underground structural response to nuclear explosions and sonic booms. A warm corporate culture spawned many Blume reunions over the decades that Henry truly enjoyed, the most recent of which was last year.
Henry learned to practice Transcendental Meditation (TM) in the 1970's. This inspired Henry to enroll in teacher training in Europe and he enjoyed the Marin TM community for the rest of his life. Out of this, a business partnership grew called SCI Builders. For over a decade, Henry designed the engineering for spec residential development projects and the many other tasks small business owners take on.
Henry was a confirmed bachelor until he met Lee Victoria Fleming in 1982 and one year later married at age 39. They had two children, Michael Henry Larsen and Nadia Victoria Larsen. Henry threw himself into fatherhood, including Little League coaching and Scout Troop activities.
Business was good until a water meter moratorium in Marin brought new construction to a grinding halt. In 1991, Henry launched Larsen Engineering. He thrived with the sole focus of his business to provide engineering calculations and design for residential construction projects. In 1994, a magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck near Northridge and displaced 22,000 people from their homes. The next day, Henry drove down to Northridge to help the overwhelmed building departments in the area inspect tagged buildings for occupant safety, a several day assistance effort coordinated by the Structural Engineers Association of Northern California. Henry's passion for engineering, diligent site observation to confirm projects were built as designed, and Henry's ability to adapt to changed conditions in the field kept Larsen Engineering lively until he reluctantly retired in 2019 due to challenges caused by Parkinson's Disease.
After 41 years of marriage, Henry is survived by his wife, Lee Victoria Fleming Larsen, children Michael Henry Larsen (Amanda) and Nadia Victoria Larsen, siblings Christine Tora Larsen Carmichael (Richard), Mary Catherine Fleming (George) and Donald DeForest Fleming (Leilani), nephews Alex Stearly Carmichael, Andrew Henry Carmichael, Randi Levi Fleming and niece Hailey Christine Rios (Daniel).
A celebration of life for Henry John Larsen will be held on November 16 at 1:00 p.m., at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Marin, 240 Channing Way, San Rafael, CA 94903. Remote participation will be available at: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83912154367?pwd=Vy9EL1pDWks3ZU8wZ1hEekx4NkhoUT09: