Larry Allen Nurse

1947 - 2024

Larry Allen Nurse

May 4, 1947 - July 7, 2024

Gold River, California - Our truly beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother and friend, Larry Nurse, passed away on July 7 after a brave battle with cancer.

Larry was a proud 4th generation Californian, Class of '65 from Mira Loma, a Sac State graduate and past President of their Stinger Foundation. He was a true optimist, a lover of life, an enthusiastic dreamer and as generous as they come. He lived every day of his life with a twinkle in his eye, passion in his heart for his family and his work, and with a limitless curiosity about the world around him and all the people in it. To spend time with Larry was to be totally seen and encouraged to live every day to the fullest!

Although Larry would always say "a man's measure of success is in his children not his work," he excelled in his career and shaped many lives. After building a successful commercial refrigeration business and years in real estate development, his profound business relationships and love of deal making took him to his favorite professional endeavor, life at Raley's. Larry was the founder and President of Food Source. He later moved to Raley's corporate as Senior VP of Business Development where he handled mergers and acquisitions, bringing Bel Air, Nob Hill and the Las Vegas and New Mexico Raley's stores into the exciting growth of the business in the 1990s. That passion for service and growth lead to Larry being named COO and some phenomenal years of "shared vision." He truly loved being a leader and brought heart, thoughtful strategy and fun to his work and his colleagues. His final leadership role was that of President for Lunds/Byerlys supermarkets in Minnesota.

His words of wisdom guided not just his employees, but his family, and just about anyone he met. Some favorites included, "Life is a banquet and most poor fools are starving to death." "Strangers are just friends you haven't met." "Do something you love and you'll never work a day in your life."

Larry is survived by his wife of 52 years, Heidi (Hakensen) Nurse, his children, Ingrid Foster and Gretchen Rainbolt, sons in law, Marc Foster and Ryan Rainbolt, and his four devoted grandchildren Harlan, Elin, Graeme and Ellse, who always believed he just might be the real Santa Claus. He is also survived by his brother Richard Nurse and family, and his sister Sandra (Nurse) Schopflin and family.

The world is a little less bright without his incredible, one-of-a-kind magic in the world, and he will be missed every day. His legacy will live on through the thousands of lives he touched, the devotion he showed to the people he loved, and the example he showed every day of the great fun of being alive! "If you aren't having fun, what are you doing?"

A memorial celebration will be held in honor of Larry's extraordinary life in September. To receive more information, please email gretchnurse@hotmail.com. In lieu of flowers, the family encourages a donation to Pride Industries.