Larry Lamer Sayr

Larry Lamer Sayrs, 84, died Saturday, March 21, 2020, at Spokane Veterans Home in Spokane, Wash., following a brief illness.

He was born March 4, 1936, in The Dalles, Ore., to Josephine (Johnson) and Lamer Sayrs and grew up in Moro, Ore.. After graduating from Moro High School in 1954 - having set the state record in the 100-yard dash at 10.2 seconds in a rainstorm-Larry served in the U.S. Navy for 10 years. In 1958, he received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for running back to a crashed, burning helicopter to rescue a trapped passenger.

He married Mayo Ann Cross on Aug. 9, 1964, in Moro. After leaving the Navy, Larry earned a bachelor of science degree in biology from Portland State University in 1969 and worked as a science teacher and football, basketball, wrestling, cross country, and track coach through most of the 1970s.

He joined the Army National Guard in 1976 and served until 1990, when he retired as a Chief Warrant Officer 3. In the late 1970s, Larry went back to school to become a physician's assistant. Upon graduation in 1980, he and his family moved to Odessa, Wash., where he began his 23-year second career serving the medical needs of the community.

In 2003, Larry retired and moved to Spokane, Wash.

Larry loved cats, and spent many hours volunteering at Partners for Pets in Spokane. He enjoyed reading and watching science fiction, fantasy, mysteries, history, and science.

He was a HAM radio operator, and liked carving wooden animal figurines and tinkering with computers and electronics. In his youth, he played the trumpet, and in his later years he learned the recorder and sang with his Parkinson's musical group, The Tremble Clefs.

He volunteered with S.C.O.P.E. to help protect and serve Spokane Valley.

Larry was fond of farms, farmers, and small town communities. He was loud and sometimes gruff, and relished "giving people a hard time", but could also be tender-hearted.

If you ever met Larry, I'm sure you can picture him walking down the street in Odessa, with people looking up from their gardening or pick-up basketball or whatever, yelling "Hey Larry!" or "Hi Doc!" and him answering back "How d' do! Hey you be careful with that knee, I don't want to see you in the clinic next week!" and "Good game Friday, you need to keep your shoulder down!" and, "How's your mom?" and, of course, "What do you know for sure?"

Larry is survived by his wife, Mayo; sons, Brian and David Sayrs; and four grandchildren.

Per Larry's wishes, there will be no services.