Larry my Right Hand Man Passed Away Suddenly
People make New Year’s resolutions, so for my 1st post of 2009 I’d like to suggest that being sure your business affairs are in order should be a top priority this month.
If you passed away, could your family find your passwords? Would they know what to do to keep your sites going or have you left instructions about the best way to sell them? If your family closed out all your credit cards, would your hosting bill go unpaid and your sites go down without them even realizing what they had done?
This may be a bit of a downer way to start the year, but I started the year
finding out my right hand man and forum administrator is suddenly dead!
It left me wondering what would happen to his sites. His family does not seem to know anything about the Internet. He’s worked online since the 90s. I wonder what will happen to his business?
This made me think about my business and what would happen to my 5 Star legacy if I passed. Which prompted me to write this reminder to all of you.
But now I’d like to say a few words about Larry…
Anyone who has been on my forum probably knows Larry AKA Larwee.
Larry passed away suddenly without warning. I just found out last night after sending the St Louis police to his home to check to see if he was OK. I called the police to check on him after becoming worried because he never misses work and because he sounded very ill the last time I talked to him. They aren’t sure what happened, but assume his heart gave out. Must have been too many fried spam sandwiches.
(An inside joke that will make Larry chuckle if he’s up there reading this.)
Larry has worked for me 365 days a year for almost 3 years. Never took a sick day – in fact never missed a single day – not even Christmas. He worked tirelessly around the clock at the forum an average of 15 hours a day.
When my newborn grandson passed away in October and I had to leave town for his memorial, Larry worked for 3 days straight without sleeping. He would not leave the forum I had entrusted him with unattended while I was gone. That’s how he looked at it and that’s how loyal he was. That’s just the kind of person Larry was!
I know he has personally helped many of the 5 Star Forum members as well as generously giving out mod slaps to spammers whenever they were needed. ![]()
I know the forum regulars will miss him too.
He was my right hand man, admin and moderator. He and I ran the forum without any other mods, so I have no idea what I will do now, as I can’t run it by myself and Larry is literally irreplaceable.
I’d like to give a heartfelt thanks to Larry for all he’s done for me personally
as well as for everything he’s done for the 5 Star forum.
Larry, you will be missed!
*Advertising Disclosure Policy*New here? Subscribe to RSS feed or follow me on Twitter. Thanks for visiting!




#1 Christopher Ross wrote on January 5, 2009 :
Sorry to hear about your friend, I had a similar online experience a few years back with an online pal in a popular scifi forum. His family contacted me while clearing out his computer, my name was listed in his email friends list and they’d never known about his online life.
I’m sure you’ll find somebody to replace Larry but in the mean time, I’m truly sorry to hear about your loss.
#2 Greenman wrote on January 5, 2009 :
Sorry to hear about your partner Larry. I believe in my heart there is nothing more important in life than those who you love like family and close friends. They are the ones who inspire us and always are there to give a helping hand in hard times. This is a great website and I look forward to reading all the great information in the future.
God Bless, Greenman
#3 Linda Buquet wrote on January 5, 2009 :
Thanks Christopher and Greenman.
I really appreciate the kind words!
#4 Kathy wrote on January 5, 2009 :
Linda, I am stunned.:( I am sooooooo sorry, I know how close you were to him and am genuinely very, very sorry. I also know how much you depended on him. These past few months have not been very good months for you at all.:( I’m sorry, I wish I could say something to make you feel better but just don’t know what to say.
I feel very, very sad about hearing this, too. I liked him very much:) Think I probably corresponded back and forth with him more in pms than I did in the forum. lol
If I hadn’t been there for a while he’d send me a message and whenever there was something going on he thought would interest me he would, so I felt like I had gotten to know him a little bit.
The world has lost a truly genuine very nice person and that makes me sad
I know you must be reaaallly hurting over this:(
Hugs:):)
#5 Linda Buquet wrote on January 5, 2009 :
Thanks so much Kathy, I was hoping you’d see this or was going to email you as I know you and Larry talked quite a bit. He was an extremely loyal guy and a good friend. I still keep expecting him to show up on the forum any minute because he was always ALWAYS there.
We’ll miss you Larry!
Thanks again Kathy!
#6 Teresa Caldwell wrote on January 5, 2009 :
Linda,
I am so sorry. The people you work with become family, and Larry must have been the most loyal employee ever.
I cannot express enough how sorry I am for your losses.
Teresa Caldwell
#7 Linda Buquet wrote on January 5, 2009 :
Thank you Teresa, I really appreciate your sympathies. Larry was a very special guy and yes after awhile did become sort of like family.
#8 Brian Free wrote on January 6, 2009 :
Linda,
I’m sorry to hear about Larry as well. He was a very nice guy and always so quick to respond. My condolences.
#9 Linda Buquet wrote on January 6, 2009 :
Thanks a lot Brian. He sure was.
FYI all, there is also a thread at the forum where people are leaving their condolences for anyone that’s interested in reading or participating there.
Larry Passed Away and Will be Missed – Forum Thread
#10 Craig wrote on January 10, 2009 :
I just want to let all of you who knew Larry how much all of your kind words would have meant to him. I have been friends with Larry since 1967 and there wasn’t a week that went by that we didn’t talk.5 Star was very important to Larry he really loved being there and being of assistance.
Larry was truly a wonderful person in every area of his life. He was always there to help people.
I have seen Larry help so many, even perfect strangers many times.As I’am sure most of you know Larry was a very private person,so I won’t elaborate too much, but I just want you all to know a little something about him. Several years ago Larry went for a few groceries and as he was checking out this teenager ran out of the store with a magazine. The manager of the market caught him and was going to call the police and Larry offered to pay for the magazine if the manager would agree not to call the police, the manager agreed and let the boy go home. This is just one of the many many things Larry has done. I could go on and on about all of Larry’s wonderful qualities but I know he wouldn’t want that. I will close this by saying that Larry was truly the best friend anyone could ever want,, he was ALWAYS there when ever you needed him. I have been truly blessed to have Larry as my best friend. Craig
#11 Linda Buquet wrote on January 10, 2009 :
Craig, I am so sorry for your loss and sorry you had to find out about Larry’s passing via this blog post. But am SO happy you did and reached out to me so we could connect and talk about all the special times we had with him.
Thanks so much for coming by to share your thoughts and your “Larry story”. Sounds just like something Larry would do.
Call me any time if you need to talk.
Linda