Larry J Reed Jr, 62, of Waterloo, Iowa died on Thursday, February 10th, 2022 at MercyOne Hospital. Larry is preceded in death by his grandfather Francis “Harold” Andrew, grandmother Frances "Nana” Andrew (Sutter), his mother Loretta Lenihan (Andrew), a brother Lonny Reed and a man who was so close of a friend that he may as well have been a brother, John Smith. He was survived by his father Larry Reed Sr (Sharon), his sister Laurie Ogg (Richard), his brother Lanny Reed, his sister Leesa Jones; he has a huge legacy of three daughters, Sarah Cook (Chad), Jennifer Leavitt, Nicole McNulty (Chris) and 13 grandchildren including: Jaiden, Belle, Molly, Jayni, JJ, James, Adelyn, Jaxson, Bryson, Johnny, Ellie, Liam and Luke.

If life was a highway, Larry took that mother at 90 miles per hour without a seatbelt or functioning brakes. With his long hair, wild eyes, dimples that made the deepest of craters envious, an impish smile and a quick wit, he could talk his way out of just about anything. He was very close to his grandfather, Frances “Harold” and his grandmother Francis “Nana”. He lived with them for a time and enjoyed that his grandfather would make him look up words in the dictionary to further his intellect. Nana worked for the government and had access to stamps from all across the world that he would use to build a robust stamp collection as a child. Harold died very young, but Larry remained very close with Nana until her death in 2005. He got a lot of his spunk from her and would talk about how she'd blame her gas on him in the department stores or cheat at Skip Bo on account of her vision impairment. In his youth, he worked as a cook until he became a graphic design artist. He worked for many years in print shops and would make little notepads and odds and ends for his daughters. His best pieces of artwork are the picture of germs he drew for his daughters to remind them not to pick their nose or the drawing of the old man he did entirely by stippling. He became closer to his own mother as an adult and would often call her daily. They loved to read the bible together and talk about life and being a parent.

Larry’s love story ended quick, but he still dutifully drove 4 hours round trip to pick up his girls each weekend. They would spend lots of time over at the Ogg household enjoying family. Every summer, he would take his daughters to the Reed Reunion down in Southern Iowa, then make a stop across the Iowa border to get some fireworks. He loved the Fourth of July and would spend it with his daughters and the family of John Smith lighting off the fireworks they’d obtained, a small canon and some black gunpowder creations he and John had concocted. It wasn’t a successful holiday until the police dropped in for a noise or fireworks violation complaint.

It’s no secret that Larry struggled with addiction his whole life. He moved to the Waterloo area in 2005 and suffered a back injury that caused him to be permanently disabled. That only exacerbated his ongoing struggle with addiction, so eventually he turned to the NA community. He loved volunteering and would go to several meetings a week. Some of his favorite events are the NA Turkey Fry and the dances that NA would put on. At one point, he could boast a full 5 years sober! He had a small relapse during the stress of the pandemic but picked right back up and ended his life with an impressive 1 year, 3 months and 11 days clean time.

If Larry was a proud dad, he was an even prouder grandpa. He embraced every nickname his grandkids adorned him with including Grandpa Beep Beep, Bumpa and Grandpa Stinky. He liked to take grandkids out mushroom hunting and played board games or took them outside to play. He spent some of his final years working as a “manny” for his youngest grandson, Luke aka “Bubs”. They’d watch music videos of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Gorillaz and eat pancake sausages. Having all of his kids and grandkids together at the same time was one of his greatest joys. Although, it wasn’t always logistically possible, he always strived for it.

On his final day, he chose to be surrounded by his daughters reminiscing about funny memories. He had laughs and tears and hugs. At one point, the elevator doors opened up on his floor to an empty elevator. We had a smile and said it was Grandma Loretta Lenihan bursting in, apologizing for being late. She made it there, to bring her son home.

A memorial service for Larry will be held on Wednesday, February 16th from 1pm to 5pm at Living Water Church of the Nazarene 1210 W Lonetree Rd, Cedar Falls, IA 50613. A short sermon will begin at 3pm with a brief open mic for those who would like to share some memories. All are welcome to join and celebrate Larry’s life with us. 

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