Paul B Larsen "Grandpa"

My wonderful Grandfather peacefully passed away on October 27th, just a few months shy of turning 100 years old. He was a great man, and he impacted my life. He did so many great things in his lifetime, my favorites include having his own dance band, navigating a plane in World War II, collecting unique toys, and telling the most wonderful stories! He had twinkle about him. I can't help but smile when I think of him. He was always so fun. I remember how he smelled. I could've hugged him forever, just to smell him.

One of my brothers, my sister and I got to attend the funeral in Boise last week. It was so good to be with them and all our relatives. My parents are serving a mission in Cyprus and we missed them so much. I am grateful for their example, and know that they are being blessed for their service. My brother, sister and I had the opportunity to sing together at the funeral. I will never forget singing with them. It is a cherished memory.

Family is everything. I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that families can be together forever. I know I will see my Grandpa again. Death is not the end, but the beginning. Families are forever!!!

In the funeral program my grandma was quoted, "Those we hold in our arms for a while, we hold in our hearts forever". I love you Grandpa. I will hold you in my heart forever! Thank you for a wonderful heritage!
This is his obituary...

Paul B. Larsen

Paul B. Larsen was born March 22, 1909 at Preston, Idaho, a son of J.N. and Ellen Larsen. He passed away quietly and without pain October 27, 2008 at home just hours after spending time with his family. He spent his childhood in Preston graduating from Preston High School in 1926. He attended Utah State Agricultural College, now Utah State University, for 3 years, served an LDS mission in England for 2 years, which he determined as one of the greatest experience of his life, and then completed college in 1933. Later he attended law school at George Washington University but did not finish due to the economic times and chose to remain home to assist his family after his first year. He was affiliated with the Delta Nu fraternity, now Sigma Nu; and was a member of Blue Key, Alpha Kappa Psi (business), Pi Delta Epsilon (journalism), and Phi Delta Kappa (Senior Honorary) fraternities. He was manager of the School Paper and a member of the varsity swim team.

After returning from his mission he remodeled a building in Preston into what was called the best “Open Air” dance facility and dance band in the valley called Paul’s Dance Band with the slogan “Hot – Hot - Harmony”. He loved music and played the clarinet and sax, which he shared with his children and grandchildren, some of which played them, also. He taught math at Preston Jr. High and math and commercial law at Preston High for 2 years. Then moved to Boise, ID to become a loan negotiator with the Home Owner’s Loan Corporation. He married Iretta Elizabeth Nokleby on June 28, 1935 in Boise, which was later solemnized in the Logan Temple. In December 1936 they moved to Minneapolis, Minn. where Paul became a farm sales supervisor with the Union Central Life Insurance Co. Their first child, a son, Kim, was born the following May.

In December, 1942 Paul joined the US Navy as a Lieutenant J.G. and served in the Asia-Pacific Theater and was released in January, 1946 as an Air Navigator with the rank of Lieutenant Commander. During this time he invented a navigational instrument that was used by the Navy for years until flight technology became more perfected.

In 1949 Paul founded the Paul B. Larsen Real Estate Company in Boise. The company consisted of separated residential and commercial departments, the first of its kind in the valley. His specialty was marketing motels and hotels in the western states until his semi-retirement in 1982. A few years later he retired to play golf and gin rummy with his best friends and to travel the world with his sweetheart, Iretta. He trained many of the prominent real estate brokers in Boise during the years they worked in his company. His peers and clients respected him for his work ethic, honesty, wisdom and great sense of humor. One couldn’t spend much time around Paul without liking him. He was very active in local and national real estate organizations, having served as president of the Boise Board of Realtors (now Ada County Association of Realtors), president of the Idaho Real Estate Brokers Board (now Idaho Association of Realtors), Vice President of National Board of Realtors (now National Association of Realtors) and president of the Motel Brokers Association of America (now International Hotel Brokers). Paul was chosen as the first “Realtor of the Year” for Boise and the State of Idaho and considered by hotel and motel brokers throughout the US as the one who was responsible for more hotel and motel sales than any other broker in the country.

Paul was active in civic and community affairs and was a past member of the Lions Club, a founding member of the Optimist Club, a member of the Hillcrest Country Club and the Arid Club. He was loved and respected by the older youth of his church as he taught Sunday School and was a Priesthood Quorum Advisor to the 16-18 years old boys for many years. They appreciated the unique way he presented his pragmatic view of the world and the blessing that the church was in their lives. Outings with the boys were not complete without him showing his 16 mm movies of their events. He loved his family and found time to integrate his love for fishing, hunting, water skiing and golf with them. In his later years he spent personal time with his grandchildren and great grand children telling them stories of his life to entertain and enrich their relationship and teaching them how to help themselves and build confidence. He lived to be 99 years old, just less than 5 months short of reaching his goal of 100. Amazingly so, that is one of the few goals he didn’t complete in his life.

During the later years he was an inspiration to family and friends through his example of quiet suffering from macular degeneration and a loving attitude to all of his family. He learned how to read and perform almost every household duty without his eyesight and never complained about his blindness. Instead he conducted his life as though he didn’t have the disability. During the time he could play golf, his buddies would spot his ball and he surprisingly kept up with them, especially putting to the amazement of all. All of his family loved him for his honest approach to life and direct manner of problem solving.

His parents; 2 brothers, Vincent and Nelsen Larsen; and his 4 sisters, Thelma Keller, Ellen Crockett, Grace Thompson and Anna Larsen, have preceded him in death. Survivors include his wife, Iretta; two sons and their wives, Kim and Geri Larsen and their 4 children, Rex and Debby Larsen and their 5 children; one daughter and her husband, Kay and Doug Kowallis and their 3 children; two “German daughters” and their husbands, Helene and Chauncey Cox and their 1 child and Rena and Ron Thurber and their 3 children; a younger brother and his wife and 6 children, Ted and LaRella Larsen; and 17 great grandchildren.

Iretta and the family extends a special thanks to Carman Roman, Debby Larsen and Summer Treadwell, who have served as Paul and Iretta’s primary caregivers for the past two years. Their continual dedication to serve Paul’s needs at all times is so appreciated. The family suggests that memorials be made in Paul’s name to The Idaho Youth Ranch, PO Box 8538, Boise, ID 83707.

Funeral services will be held at 11:30 AM, Monday, November 3, at the Parkcenter Ward Chapel located at the corner of Bergeson and Holcomb in SE Boise. A viewing for family and friends will be held at 6-8 PM, Sunday, November 2, at Relyea Funeral Home located at 318 N. Latah in Boise.


The following was written and given to each of us by my Grandpa's youngest brother Ted:

My brother, Paul:
I will never forget the day when I was playing around on our front lawn, about the age of five, when my brother and his friend came waking around the corner of our front porch with a dog, all bandaged around its stomach, and held tight in his arms.
She was the most beautiful dark red, curly haired Irish setter that I had ever seen.
Paul laid her on the grass in front of me, and said happy birthday. It wasn’t my birthday and he new it, but it was his way of giving things. He said that I needed to leave the bandage on a few days, and not be to rough with her as she had just been spayed. I had no idea as to what he was talking about, but years later I became acquainted with the meaning of that word.
I named her Klinker. Why, I do not remember, but her name became very popular around our town. Every one from the Mayor down knew my dog.
The Peterburg Meat Market would let me have scraps of meat that had been left over from their preparing meat to be sold over the counter.
She would find a hunk of gum on the sidewalk and some how get it up into her mouth and chew it like some human being. This made her quite a hit with the folks when she performed this act.
When you called her out for doing something that she should not be doing, she would get down on her belly and crawl up to you with the weirdest grin, all of her teeth showing, as if she was trying to imitate a human grinning.
That winter, with the help of my Dad, we fixed up a sled with a box, and made a dog harness. Klinker fell into the act of a sled dog immediately, as though she had already been one. No Gees or Haws for her. I just had to tell her to turn left or right and she would do it. Winters were wonderful. None of the sidewalks were cleaned down to the cement, so we had clear sailing on all the sidewalks and did not have to ride in the street.
Tommy Jensen, a good friend of mine, but a couple years older, also had a dog that was trained to pull a sled. The city had a contest every year for dog sleds like ours. Our sleds were just common sleds all the kids used for going down hills. You were limited to two dogs per sled. Tommy and I trained every day with our dogs. We were pretty good. But believe it or not, that year the city did not have their contest. (Tommy Jensen and my cousin Bob Shipley were both killed in the same car accident before they had a chance to graduate from High School.)
My Dad took Klinker and me out pheasant hunting early one morning. As we were crossing an open field, a flock of pheasants took off, and my Dad shot one of them out of the air, and that was the last we saw of Klinker that day. We searched the area, whistled, shouted her name, but never did locate her.
I did not sleep well that night, and early in the next morning my Dad took me back to the field where we had been the day before. Right there, walking along the same path that we had previously walked was my dog Klinker. What a relief and what a reunion. Klinker was a flop when it came to hunting, and I was very happy about it, as I was too young to be a hunter, and now I could have Klinker all to myself.
The next summer, Paul took me and Klinker and me down to Bear River about a mile or two above the Preston/Dayton Bridge. The river was very wide at that point. Paul would have me hang on to his back and swim across the river. Klinker would always swim with us but on the down riverside of us. I always figured she chose that side to make sure if I fell off my brothers back that she would be able to save me, and I knew that she could.
After we had made the crossing and back a few times, Paul would swim out alone and place a setline. We would sit on the bank for about an hour, before he would swim out and check the setline for fish. He always caught ten or twelve Succors and Carp, but he would also catch a few very large trout. The Succors and Carp he threw out on the bank and we left them there for the birds to eat. The trout he threw out to me and I would put them in a sack to take home.
My brother Paul also taught me how to swim. Not in the river, nor by any conventional method.
I learned to swim at Blackhurst Reservoir now known as the Johnson Reservoir, located just East of Preston. It was large, deep and pretty cold. The first day that Paul took me there along with a group of his friends, we walked over to the dam, which was the deepest spot on the reservoir. He picked me up and threw me as far out into the reservoir as he could. What a shock, I was sure that I was going to drown, but his voice came to me, “Swim, you can do it.” I swam, or rather flayed my arms up and down, but I made it to the shore. For some reason, I know not why, I did not fear going back into the water. After that brief encounter with a non-scientific method of teaching, Paul gave me some very good swimming lessons that I have used all my life.
Paul was a great swimmer. Later when he attended Utah State College at Logan, Utah, now Utah State University, and being on the Varsity swimming team, and at a publicity swimming meet, he had the opportunity to swim against Johnny Weissmuller, one of the greatest swimmers in the world during the 1920’s. Johnny Weissmuller later became well known in the movies as Tarzan.
Looking back, life as a young kid with a great brother was really something.

Miss you already Grandpa!!! I love you!