Lawrence E. "Larry" Latas

Obituary
Lawrence E. Latas of McHenry, IL passed away at home with his wife, daughter and son by his side. He was born in Chicago on March 22, 1956 to Edmund and Dorothy (Manczko) Latas. Larry battled stage four lung cancer for just over a year. He fought incredibly hard every single day despite everything that was thrown his way. His family is so very proud of him.
He attended Foreman High School (where he met his future wife) and was on the bowling team and baseball team (where he met some lifelong friends). He then attended Elmhurst College and received a degree in education. At Elmhurst, he played baseball and hockey. Larry worked for Resurrection Healthcare for over 40 years in various positions. He retired in 2017 at the age of 61.
On May 19, 1979, he married the love of his life, Robin Rhodes, and soon after had two children Jennifer and Timothy. Larry was a devoted husband, father and papa, who was always involved. He had a number of hobbies including restoring Mustangs and Chargers, stained glass, restoring pinball machines, home projects, boating, fishing, and most of all traveling with family and friends. His favorite vacation spots included Disney World and Cruising.
In 2015, Larry was promoted to "Papa" and his life changed forever. By 2018, he had four grandkids (Brooklyn, Isla, Brody and Leo) and his life truly was complete. He attended all sporting events, graduations, school events, musicals and even filled in at a "daddy/daughter" dance. He was always willing to babysit (even though his role was to get them all riled up before sending them back in to Grandma or back to their parents). The kids rode four wheelers in the backyard and side by side with him on his lawnmower. When playing inside, their favorite thing to do was pretend papa was a baby and called him "big fat baby". The kids loved him so much and the smile they brought to his face is one we will truly never forget.
Larry's biggest dream in life was to live on the Fox River in McHenry and have it be so appealing that he'd be surrounded by his family and friends all the time. He achieved this dream with Robin in 2017 (under one condition...there had to be a pool) and never looked back. Every summer the backyard is packed with family, friends and neighbors in and out all day long. He truly was living the dream.
Everything Larry did in life revolved around seeing joy and laughter in his family. He was a preacher of positivity even in the hardest of times. His sayings were "Think Positive", "Good Things Happen to Good People" and "Life, Get in it." He was a doer, a fixer, a problem solver, a therapist, your go-to guy that could do just about anything. To say he will be missed is the understatement of the century. There is a hole in all of our hearts that simply will never be filled.
Larry was preceded in death by his loving parents, Edmund Latas and Dorothy (Manczko) Latas.
He is survived by his wife, Robin (Rhodes) Latas; daughter, Jennifer (Derek) Smith; son, Timothy (Nichole) Latas; grandkids, Brookyln (7), Isla (6), Brody (5) and Leo (5); and siblings, Corinne, Nancie (Doug), Garry (Sue). He was the brother-in-law of Lori (Joe), Ron (Penny), Robert Jr.; loving uncle to Becky, Amanda (Orlando), Ashley (Kevin), Ryan (Abby), Kelsey (Jim), Matt, Holly (Matt), Alyssa, Alex, Emily, Zach, Hilary, Ariel (Frankie) and Paris; and great uncle to Ava, Noah, Elliott, Logan, Zoey and Jolene.
A memorial visitation will be on Friday, May 19, from 3pm until a service at 7pm at Davenport Family Funeral Home and Crematory, 419 E. Terra Cotta Ave., Crystal Lake.
To send flowers
to the family, please visit our floral store.