Larry R. Mayo

1938 - 2013

Lawrence Ralph Mayo was born in 1938 to loving parents, Margaret Oliver and Ralph M. Mayo. He grew up in Colorado where he was a junior member of the Colorado Mountain Club, drove tour buses and worked for a local farmer. He climbed Shiprock (before it was restricted) and Devil's Tower as well as many Colorado and Wyoming Peaks.
After graduating from Columbine High School and Dartmouth College, he came to Alaska, earning a master's degree in geology from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1963. He worked for the U.S. Geological Survey starting in 1962, retiring in 1992, but continued as a volunteer for many years.
Early in his career, the 1964 earthquake occurred on his birth date. He and Troy Pewe were among the first geologists to arrive on the scene in Anchorage. Subsequently, Larry became field assistant to other U.S.G.S. scientists who arrived to study the quake, including George Plafker who mentored his development as a field scientist. Larry worked on the earthquake for a few years but soon returned to his lifetime interest in, and fascination with, glaciers. He established longterm studies on two glaciers in Alaska - Gulkana and Wolverine glaciers - representing Interior and maritime climate glaciers, respectively. The year-round data collected at Wolverine Glacier shows maritime glaciers grow during warmer years and provides unique base line data for understanding glaciers.
Larry traveled internationally to glaciological conferences and had many glaciological colleagues. He investigated glacier dammed lakes and predicted the behavior of Portage Glacier for placement of the visitor center there. In 1986, when Hubbard Glacier surged, he monitored its progress in closing Russell Fiord and was present when that ice dam collapsed, releasing an estimated 1.3 cubic miles of water into Disenchantment Bay. In the 1990s, he initiated and continued a study to monitor glacier response to climate at Denali National Park.
Larry loved to fly. His Cessna 180, '"22Charley," was used to take aerial photographs of as many glaciers in the state as possible each year. He took friends and family on these spectacular flights. He enjoyed taking friends and relatives on sightseeing tours of the mountains and to remote locations to hike or pick berries.
Larry served as president of the Alaska Conservation Society in 1976. Thus began a lifetime of activity in many conservation groups and projects. He helped organize the Alaska Bird Observatory, the Boreal Forest Council and access and programs at Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge.
Larry was known for promoting solar power. He installed a home solar system in 1988 and kept a continuous record of input year round from 1990 on. He was always happy to show others his system and demonstrate its effectiveness during a power outage.
After retirement, Larry and Gail explored Southeast Alaska, living on the MV Kittiwake somewhere in the wilds of Southeast. Time also went to making hay on Happy Gap Farm and enjoying family, friends and Fairbanks.
Larry passed away Sept. 30, 2013, surrounded by loving family.
He was preceded in death by his parents, and only sibling, brother, Rod.
He leaves his wife of 52 years, Gail; and three children and their families, Peter and Lynn with Jesse, Laura, and Amy; Eric and Susan Kerndt with Coty, Wyatt, Ema and Else; and Robin Underwood with Hazel and Elvie Rose, plus nieces and nephews in the Lower 48.
Larry can best be remembered by these words written by granddaughter Hazel Underwood:
"Where does a life go when it ends? Does it continue in the minds of those who remember it? I like to think it does. The spirit of my grandfather will live on in the mountains and the glaciers that he loved, in the pages of research he devoted his life to, in the laughter of those connected to him. Just one life, but such a full one it was. Never was a breath wasted. He was driven for a cause all his own, driven by that insatiable craving for knowledge that took him to the top and bottom of the world. If I could live my life with just a fraction of his determination, I would be content. I'm so glad that our lives overlapped, grandpa. I will never forget you."
A celebration of Larry's life will be held at 4 p.m. Oct. 27, 2013, at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 4448 Pikes Landing Road. Those wishing to remember Larry may make a contribution to the Alaska Conservation Foundation, 441 West Fifth Ave, suite 402, Anchorage, AK 99501.