Larry Dawson

1935 - 2021

Larry Dawson

1935 - 2021

Former Eureka City Councilman and 1975 Eureka mayoral candidate Larry Dawson died on Friday, December 3, in Napa. He was 86. He is survived by his loving wife of 61 years Mary Ann Dawson. Together they have three children and six grandchildren: daughter Teresa brought up Tim and Hendrik Knoess in Boston; Paul had Franklin, Camille and Linus in London; and Dan brought Talia into Larry's life close to his home in Napa. Larry loved his family, his church, deep friendships, laughter and golf. He was a staunch Democrat (and democrat), a great Giants/Warriors/Niners / Tiger fan and a traveler of the world.
Larry was born into a working class family in Ottumwa, Iowa, the youngest and most ambitious of six children. After a stint in the Marine Corps, he studied for the Catholic priesthood for years. But he pivoted in his 20's in favor of raising a family one day. He used his seminary Latin skills to get a high school teaching job in Keokuk, Iowa. There he met fellow-teacher Mary Ann Bullis in 1959. They married in '60, and in '62 they emigrated to California with baby Teresa nestled in a cardboard box in their black Plymouth Valiant. Paul was on the way. Larry taught Latin and English at EHS from 1962 to '75. Triggered by the terrible pulp mill smells drifting over the bay in the 60s, so richly noticeable from their Ocean Avenue home, Larry emerged as a proto-environmental activist. He ran for office in '67, won, and served two 4-year terms on the city council on a clean air ticket. His run for Eureka mayor against Fred Moore in 1975 did not succeed.
In between 1970 to '72 he built, almost single-handedly, a two-story summer cabin overlooking the Trinity River. His building skills were acquired mostly by asking endless questions and receiving generous tutelage at Pierson's hardware store. Good times followed with friends the Kirkpatricks just a few inner-tube minutes down river. He then helped build cabins for the Friels and the Storms in nearby Trinity Village. He was a member at Eureka Municipal golf course, Big Foot and later Baywood. Along his career path, he earned a Masters Degree in Psychology at Humboldt State, and in 1975 began teaching Psychology and Philosophy at College of the Redwoods, where he would later become Chair of the Humanities Department. In the 80s, by then on Williams Street, Larry and Mary Ann bought property in Cutten at the forested end of Meadowood Lane, and they commissioned a new house be built partially from the redwood trees found already felled on the property.
Larry retired from CR at age 57, with Mary Ann retiring from Eureka City Schools. They sold Meadowood and Willow Creek and left to pursue the sun and retirement living in Tucson. Their lives were punctuated with myriad long-haul flights to see their far-flung grandkids. Camping expeditions, restauranting, theatre trips and ocean cruises filled in the gaps. He became tea-total, and kept slim logging untold hundreds of miles on the elliptical trainer.
Larry and Mary Ann moved from Tucson to Napa in 2013, just after new granddaughter Talia arrived. Throughout his Napa years, Larry continued to embrace all sorts of new experiences. He continued links with ex-Eureka pastor Fr. John Brenkel with weekly golf games, and he walked every day in Napa's lovely city parks. But in his last two years he was discovered to have pancreatic cancer, compounded with a rare disease called multiple system atrophy. After over a year being cared for at home by Mary Ann and son Dan, he finally had to move to a residential facility for the last four months of his precious life.
There will be a committal ceremony of his ashes at the Tulocay Cemetery Mausoleum in Napa on Thursday, Dec 16, at 3:00pm, with a wake to follow at home. All who knew Larry are welcome and encouraged to join in. If you wish to make a donation in Larry Dawson's honor, in lieu of sending flowers, please consider Larry's preferred charity, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul (ssvpusa.org).