Lawrence W. "Larry" Stevens

Larry Stevens, 73, an active and integral member of the Tracy community for the past seven decades, passed away peacefully in Modesto on March 24th after a yearlong bout with multiple medical issues. A memorial will be held at O'Rancho on Saturday, April 18th at noon. Please reach out to a Stevens family member for details if you wish to attend.

Born in Oakland and taken home to Walnut Creek in 1953, Larry moved to Tracy with his family when he was four years old, and lived there for the vast majority of his life. His time in Tracy was mostly spent residing in two neighborhoods that he loved - Maurland during childhood and Fairhaven in adulthood. He was a proud alum of Jefferson Elementary, Tracy High (class of '71), UC Davis, and McGeorge School of Law. Working at Heinz and on the railroad, he was able to help pay his way through college before making a career as a corporate attorney - a profession he thrived in for 40 years, most of them spent at JP Morgan Chase.

Larry loved to be the creator, teller, listener and subject of a great story. Whether it was about scaling tip top timber as a child, quarterbacking the Bulldogs in his high school days, hitchhiking through Mexico with a friend in the 70s, organizing a summer Olympics for neighborhood kids in the 90s, reveling in a night of hijinks at his family's Russian River cabin, setting off metal detectors in novel ways on a sojourn to Europe, immersing himself in a beautiful sight on an impromptu trip to Half Moon Bay, or absorbing elementary school gossip during his morning car rides with his granddaughter, it wasn't necessarily the subject of the story that mattered most. It was the connection. It was sharing a moment of joy or meaning or commiseration with people he cared about. It was living the story and making more of them. Larry's life was the accumulation of these stories, and it was a life of abundance - an abundance of laughter, an abundance of experience, an abundance of love.

At his core, Larry was a connector. In an era when much is written about humanity's increased inability to build and maintain meaningful connections, Larry was the antithesis. He created and kept meaningful friendships at all points throughout his life. A normal day for Larry was one where he communicated with a childhood friend, a work colleague, a family member, a neighbor, and a stranger. And that was just by lunchtime. He connected to people with his buoyant sense of humor, an incisive intelligence, and an intent to savor life.

The greatest connection in Larry's life was to his family. The Stevens family is a uniquely cohesive, boisterous, and devoted group. Larry was, and still is, an essential thread woven throughout the vibrant tapestry that is his family. The greatest story of his life was the one he created with each and every one of them, each and every day.

Larry is survived by his longtime partner, Jill Carter of Lodi, as well as her children, their spouses, and her grandchildren; his son Ryan Stevens (fiancé: Anne Yeh) of San Francisco; his daughter Hayley Ramsey (husband: Brad Ramsey) of Tracy; grandchildren Riley, Kennedy & Grady Ramsey of Tracy; siblings Bob Stevens, Sally Morgan, Susy Bloodgood, and Ken Stevens, as well as their spouses/partners, children, and grandchildren; and a large number of lifelong friends. Larry was preceded in death by his beloved parents, Robert & Patricia Stevens.

In the depths of the grief for the loss of our father, brother, partner, grandfather, uncle, and friend, we'd like to thank the caregivers, nurses, and doctors who helped Larry in his latter years. If you'd like to make a donation in Larry's name, please consider giving to UCSF or the Roger Traina Memorial Scholarship.

Fry Memorial Chapel, 550 South Central Avenue, Tracy is in care of funeral arrangements. An online guest book is available for condolences and special messages to the family at www.frymemorialchapel.com