Last updated on July 27, 2021
Roy Alert Larsen Jr. passed away on June 26, 2021, at the age of 91, after a full life. Roy was born April 28, 1930 in Klamath Falls, Oregon, the oldest child of Alta (McCormick) and Roy A. Larsen Sr.
Roy with his brother Aaron grew up in the lumber mill town of Klamath Falls. At a young age, he took after his father and learned to play the violin, a passion he carried throughout his life. He loved to play Basketball, where he earned the nickname “Spider”. At 18 he fell in love with his future bride, Barbara L. Kiplinger, who at the time was 16.
Roy joined the Army in 1948, at the age of 18, and served at Fort Mammoth as part of a Signal Corps unit. He was honorably discharged in 1950, but weeks later, he was recalled to active duty due to the outbreak of the Korean War. Prior to departing for Korea, Roy married Barbara. Roy served in Korean 1951 into 1952, in a combat engineer battalion. Upon returning from Korea, Roy with his family, attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, California and earned a degree in Electronic Engineering.
Roy and Barbara had 6 children David, Patricia, Cheryl, Gerard, Jim, and Mary. Sadly, Patricia died shortly after her birth in 1953 and Gerard died at the time of his birth in 1956. In March of 1967, a second great sorrow occurred in Roy’s life at the death of his beloved wife, Barbara, of 16 years.
November 11, 1967 complete joy returned to Roy’s life when he married Kellie Parsons. Instantly, his family grew from 4 children to 7 children. In July of 1970, John, the youngest of his children was born. Roy and Kellie had many adventures in life to include living in England for almost a year, cruising all over the world and many trips to Disneyworld.
In his early 40’s Roy renewed his love for God and reaffirmed his commitment to Jesus as his Lord and Savior.
Roy had a very long and interesting engineering career spanning more than 50 years. Roy became an accomplished system engineer for multiple companies, the primary one being Raytheon. While living in Rockwall Texas, he was the Project “Fellow” Engineer for the Astor Program which developed radar and microwave systems for the British military. Roy used to joke that it took him 50 years to earn his 30-year retirement from Raytheon. He retired from Raytheon in 2010 at the age of 80.
Sadly, Roy’s beloved Kellie, wife of 53 years, passed away December 11, 2020. Roy is survived by his 6 children, David Larsen, Cheryl Linkem, Jim Larsen, Mary Larsen, John Larsen, and Geoff Wilson.
