Larry J. Lenstra of Waco, Texas (formerly of Dubuque, Iowa) passed away Monday, December 28, 2020 from natural causes.
Service Information: Due to COVID restrictions, a memorial service is planned for a later date in 2021.
Larry was born October 18, 1957, in Dubuque, son of Robert and Mary Lou (Leytem) Lenstra.
He attended Sacred Heart Catholic School, Hempstead High School and Northeast Iowa Technical Institute (now Northeast Iowa Community College) and was a member of the Marine Corp Reserves.
Upon his graduation from NITI he relocated to Texas and held several different jobs in the construction industry until a stroke disabled him eleven years ago.
He was preceded in death by his mother (2002), father (2013) and his younger sister, Renee, on December 9, 2020.
Larry is survived by brothers, Michael (and Laurie) Lenstra of Dubuque and Mark of Lockhart, Texas; one nephew, Alex (Jessica) Lenstra of Eldridge, Iowa; four nieces, Emily Lenstra of Dubuque, Megan Lenstra of Johnston, Iowa and Marissa and Elizabeth Nicholas of Reno, Nevada and brother-in-law Robert Nicholas of Reno.
The family wishes to thank Kathy Wise of Mission Waco and the residents of The Ark for all the care they have shown Larry in these past nine years.
Place of Service: ,
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My deepest condolences to the family of Larry. In early 2020, Larry had decided to come to St. Jerome Catholic Church. He came a few times and also joined us in a bible study. He was very excited and eager to continue until COVID interrupted things. I think he also attended St. Peter’s on several occasions. I was happy that Larry felt drawn to the Lord. Father James will be offering a Mass for him.
Eternal rest grant unto Larry oh Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and all the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen
We Ellzeys have many fond memories of our friend, Larry Lenstra, but my personal favorite happened just over a year ago. Evie and I were in Kathy’s front yard, looking after an abandoned baby bird she had found, and Evie ran over to our apartment for a bit. She stayed inside for a little while and eventually came back out to sit with “Georgie” (the name we had given the bird). About 30 seconds later, Larry came RUNNING out of the front gate. I had never seen that man move so fast! As soon as he saw me with Evie, he stopped, panting, and leaned against the front gate. “I didn’t know you were out here, and I didn’t want anything to happen to that little girl!” That day, I knew how much Larry cared for my children. It was also a joy to watch Dennis and Larry’s friendship grow, as Larry would storm over and bang on the door every so often when he’d get overwhelmed by something. Dennis knew just how to talk him down, and Larry was always making Dennis laugh. We will sure miss seeing Larry next time we come for a visit.
I went to high school with Larry – we hung out quite a bit – I hadn’t seen him since he left Iowa. I occasionally run into his brother, Mike.
he was a good guy & a lot of fun to be with
I met Larry over 10yrs ago when I interned at the Meyers Ctr. Later on Larry moved to the Ark where we were neighbors for yrs until his passing. Larry and I had many conversations about deep things.
I will miss my friend.