Lawrence Michael Lapine

Lawrence Michael Lapine, a man much adored by his family, passed away on August 22nd after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease with services already having been held privately. Born on March 2nd, 1944 in Mansfield, Ohio to Lillian and David Lapine, Larry's first sixteen years were spent alongside his best friends – siblings Phyllis, Mark and James – mostly playing sports, interspersed with school, throwing vegetables down the basement stairs, and watching television perched on a stepladder outside the house. In 1960, Larry and his family moved to Stamford, Connecticut where, in his first history class at Stamford High School, he met his future wife, Susan Lotstein Lapine. Despite the setback of a move before Junior Year, Larry lettered in three sports – football, basketball, and baseball. After graduating from Brown University, Larry married his high school sweetheart Susan on September 4th, 1966. Larry acquired a degree from the University of Connecticut Law School in 1969. In Stamford, Larry embarked upon a career as an accomplished trial attorney that spanned over forty years, most of them at Bello, Lapine and Cassone, during which he earned over twenty years of Civil Trial Advocacy Certification from the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He fought hard for his clients, was a highly regarded and respected barrister, volunteered his time for his synagogue and his town, enjoyed lunchtime pickup basketball games at the Stamford Y and played recreational basketball with his friends and colleagues. A lifelong athlete and learner, Larry enjoyed skiing, tennis, paddle tennis and golf while spending his leisure time reading, watching sports, and traveling. Beginning in 1976, Larry and Susan enjoyed living in Ridgefield, where they raised their family.
What mattered most to Larry was his family. His devotion to his wife Susan, two children, Michelle and Aaron, his daughter-in-law Jessica, his grandchildren Cameron, Trevor, Beckett, Grayson, and Sydney, as well as his siblings, nieces, nephews, and in-laws left a loving and indelible mark. Larry enlivened every gathering with his sense of humor, always making us laugh. He wrote incredibly funny letters, whether masquerading as the tooth fairy Nancy Norton or writing as himself, in celebration of life events or merely to help desperate children make it through sleepaway camp, and told amazing stories that he made up on the fly. He changed the 12 days of Christmas for an entire generation. There was no vocabulary word he didn't know. From doghouse to baby ball to shark to halftime touch football in the front yard to Sunday morning paddle tennis to an annual 4th of July trifecta of basketball-water volleyball -wiffleball to tossing children endlessly into pool water to dispensing the best advice with love, Larry made it clear that he enjoyed nothing more than being with his family. We wanted to be like him. We knew that he thought the world of us. We knew that we were the center of his universe. Larry left behind a community who deeply mourns him but couldn't be more grateful that he was their husband, father, brother, uncle, grandfather, and friend.
Kane Funeral Home, Ridgefield is in care of arrangements.
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