Thursday, October 13, 2016
Dear Jewell family, You probably won't remember me but I worked at the City of Toronto from 2000-2006 and worked with Larry from time to time over those 6 years. My wife, Ragini, just phoned me today as she heard about Larry's passing through Facebook. I just received a LinkedIn message from Larry on Sept 29 in response to an earlier message where I was mentioning to him about our move back to Canada from New Zealand and how we were slowly getting accustomed to our new life in Edmonton. Larry wrote back to me saying: 'Good to hear. Miss having you around the city. I'm retired from the city but pretty busy with my consulting. We are just moving to Beaverton area at the end of next month. Close to the coyotes and bears ;) lol!!!! Nice cycling roads up there along the Trent Canal. Say hi to Ragini for me as well.' Hearing this awful news is a huge shock to me, particularly since his last message was about your upcoming move to the Beaverton area and how excited he was. I still remember him back during our City of Toronto days talking about how much he loved the outdoors, he talked about it all the time. He was such a kind hearted person. I remember when I left the City of Toronto to move to New Zealand he wished me all the best and said that he would keep in contact with me. While most people say things like that, you never really expect it to happen. But when Larry said something he truly meant it! During my 10 years in NZ Larry sent me a number of emails and messages about how his life was going and asking me how things were ‘down under.’ I did respond to him but admittedly not as much as I should have. Thankfully my wife called me out a number of times for not responding to Larry’s messages so I eventually did in time – boy I am really going to miss his emails and updates. I just wanted to let you know that I am truly sorry for your loss and from my family to yours, please accept our most deepest sympathies. Robert Lipka
