Lawrence Dietrich

Lawrence Howard Dietrich Biography

Lawrence Howard Dietrich (“Larry”) was born on January 7, 1937 in Madison, Wisconsin. His father, Laurence Francis Dietrich was born about 90 miles west of Madison in Prairie du Chien, and his mother, Ethel Sophie Nelson was born closer to Madison in the small town of Cottage Grove. Larry described his parents as “people of character who loved life and lived it to the full.” He grew up surrounded by many aunts, uncles, and cousins. His brother Jim was born 8 years later on January 2, 1945.

Larry began an autobiography which he never finished. He wrote the following about his early years: “What we lacked in financial resources, we made up for in family togetherness. This was especially true on my mother’s side, since my maternal grandparents lived across the street and down several houses on Madison’s east side. Since my mother was one of five living siblings, it seems there were ample opportunities for family gatherings. The all lived in the Madison area, so it wasn’t a hardship to get everyone together.”

At that time, the U.S. was nearing the end of the Great Depression and later entered World War II. Larry’s dad did not complete high school but instead entered a vocational school in Madison where he became a qualified auto mechanic and a master tool and die maker. During the war his company was reconfigured to make machine gun parts. His father was only 22 when Wall Street “crashed” in 1929 but like the old country song goes, “Somebody told us Wall Street fell, but we were so poor, we couldn’t tell!”

Larry’s mother was a typist who worked for one of the agencies set up by the federal government to “spur the economy” called the National Youth Authority, a division of the Works Progress Administration that was part of Roosevelt Franklin’s “New Deal.” Later she worked for the State of Wisconsin in the Audit Department in a supervisory position.

While young Larry was in Elementary School he would go to stay at his grandmother Marie’s house after school until his parents got home from work. Both his parents’ home and his grandmother’s home were walking distance from school. Later on, his family moved to a new home on Lake Mendota Drive where they lived temporarily while their new home on Harbor Court was being built. They moved into that house in 1947 and Larry’s father and grandfather completed the construction by finishing the attic, which became the bedroom that Larry and his grandfather shared. Larry comes from a long line of talented “handymen” who could fix just about anything. Later, in his retirement years, Larry became a trusted handyman, following in their footsteps.

Larry attended Madison West High School, graduating with the class of 1955. While he was in high school he joined the Navy ROTC. He went on to college at the University of Wisconsin and majored in Engineering. He met his future wife, Virginia Lee Joyce (“Ginny”) at a college frat party. They were married in 1959. The Navy paid for his education and when he graduated he became a Navy pilot. The newlyweds lived in Pensacola, Florida, where Larry went through flight training and became a flight instructor. Their first home was a 9-foot by 16-foot trailor which they parked on the base.

Larry and Ginny welcomed their first child, Lori into the world in 1960. They moved to San Diego, California, where their second child, Dené was born in 1961. Then their precious son, Dan came along in 1963 while they were living in Whidbey Island, Washington. Their final place of residence while Larry was still in the Navy was in Corpus Christi, Texas. While Larry flew night missions over the Gulf of Mexico all was pretty quiet so he and his co-pilots passed the time listening to the radio. Being in the heart of the “Bible Belt” he heard a program called “The World Tomorrow” presented by a preacher named Herbert W. Armstrong. This would prove to be significant in later years.

Larry received his Honorable Discharge in 1966 and was hired by Continental Airlines to fly their Boeing 707 and 727 aircraft based out of Los Angeles, California. He rented a U-Haul trailer, packed up his family and headed west on Route 66. Just outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico, tragedy struck. A drunk driver swerved on the highway, clipping the corner of the trailer, which became unhitched, sending Larry and Ginny’s car into a spin. The car landed upside down. Larry and Ginny were wearing seatbelts and sustained back injuries but their three kids in the back had flown out of the car onto the highway. Their oldest daughter, Lori, was thrown through the window of the station wagon and sustained such severe cuts to her head that she died on the way to the hospital at the tender age of 6 years. Dené and Dan flew out the back door, which had flown open. Dené only suffered minor injuries but Dan, who had rolled 50 yards down the highway, lay motionless. Larry thought he had lost him also but Dan did recover. However, he had over 100 stitches in his head alone.

The Dietrichs found a rental home in Hermosa Beach, California. When they received the settlement from Lori’s death they used the money to buy a home in nearby Torrance. While they lived in Torrance, a few very significant things occurred. The first was welcoming their new little daughter, Debbie into their family in 1967. A year later, their son Dave became the newest family member. Now their family was complete.

At that time Larry became very interested in the teachings of the Worldwide Church of God. The church headquarters was in Pasadena, California. Mr. Armstrong was traveling the globe, sharing the gospel of the Kingdom of God with world leaders. The church had bought a new plane, a Grumman Gulfstream 2, and they needed a pilot so in 1969 Larry went to work for the church and moved his family to Pasadena.

Later on, the church changed some of its doctrines and its membership split, resulting in a reduction in finances for the Pasadena-based organization. Larry was laid off in 1974 and found new work near the Long Beach airport as a scheduler for a company that put in custom aircraft interiors. He worked for a few other companies during that 10-year span as well. Though this was a trying time financially speaking, he felt blessed for the opportunity to polish his public speaking skills by participating in a church program similar to Toastmasters, called “Spokeman’s Club.” He was a very good teacher and had the unique ability to take a complicated subject and explain it in a way that anyone could understand. His church Pastor took notice and in 1976 Larry was ordained a Local Church Elder. He officiated over many weddings, baptisms, christenings and memorial services.

In 1984, the Worldwide Church of God purchased a new Gulfstream 3 airplane and asked Larry to come back and fly for them. He accepted their offer. In later years that plane was sold and replaced by a larger but older British aircraft, the BAC-111. Larry flew that plane until it, too, was sold. The church offered him a new full-time position as an Associate Pastor of his local congregation. His paycheck was cut in half but by that time Ginny had completed her education and was working full-time as a speech therapist, so they had a decent combined household income. He did still fly BAC-111 aircraft for a charter company part-time and one of his more famous group of passengers was the Spice Girls. He flew them on one leg of their U.S. tour and became known as “Old Spice.”

Although in many respects, Larry lived a “charmed life,” it was not without sorrow. He had already lost one daughter. In 2014, his beloved wife, Ginny died of cancer. Later, in 2017, he had the heartbreaking task of burying another son, his precious Dan. No parent should have to bury a child, let alone two, but he handled these gut-wrenching experiences with dignity and grace.

Larry served many years as Associate Pastor of Grace Communion International Church (formerly known as the Worldwide Church of God) and then served as Senior Pastor until his retirement from the ministry in January 2019. He started his handyman business to keep busy and got so many calls that we teased him for being the hardest working retired man in the world. He designed and built several wheelchair ramps for people who had become disabled. Each ramp was uniquely designed to match the exterior of the home and engineered to meet California regulations. He saw this as a “ministry” as well. He finally retired from his handyman business a few years ago.

Two years ago, Larry was blessed with a wonderful second wife, Lora Lee. They had known each other nearly 50 years, having attended the same church. Each had lived their own lives but God brought them together at the sunset of Dad’s life and he shared so much love, joy and happiness with his new bride. They were joined at the hip and did everything together. His proposal went something like, “How’d you like to get married to an old guy?” It worked!

He loved cruising and going to shows, listening to the Gaithers and his favorite local Irish music band called the Fenians. Their motto was “have fun or get out!” and he sure did have a ton of fun. He made friends everywhere he went, sharing his wonderful stories and he truly never met a stranger.

He will be fondly remembered for his positive spirit, his handyman motto “everybody wins,” his military service to his country and his never-ending devotion to his beloved family and church family. His faith was strong and during his last visit to the hospital he assured us that he was totally at peace. He knew where he was going and on the last day in the hospital, the nurse saw him lifting his arm to heaven and calling Jesus’ name so she stopped and prayed with him. He said amen and that was his final word. He was ready to go after having lived an extraordinary life of accomplishment and service to others. His legacy includes: 2 wives, 5 children, 6 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren. There will be a hole in our hearts until the day we are reunited with him again.