Lawrence S. Rich was born in Philadelphia, PA, on March 7, 1943, to Dorothy Carr (“Nana”). Larry moved to West Palm Beach around the age of five to live with his Uncle Buzz. Larry spent his childhood supported by the loving care of his Mom and the watchful eye of his uncle. Larry played at the lounge while his uncle tended bar, and his Mom sang & hosted the guests. He fondly remembered playing baseball in the alley with the MLB players in town for spring training. 

Larry’s mom fell in love with Richard Bauman (“Gramps”) and remarried when Larry was a teenager. Larry had a close relationship with his stepdad, who provided Larry and his Mom the love and protection they deserved. Larry also picked up Gramps’ love of telling stories and jokes, and Larry would spend his lifetime entertaining friends and family with his stories of fraternity hijinx, racing, and travel.

Larry was always a hard worker, starting his first job at age ten, setting up the bowling pins at the local bowling alley. His technical skills were consistently put to use; he passed typing class in high school due to his ability to fix the typewriters. He attended St. Ann Catholic School and continued his studies at the local community college. Larry was ambitious. After completing his Associate degree, he moved to Gainesville to enroll at the University of Florida. He was a proud Florida Gator and leader in his fraternity, Alpha Tau Omega.

During his senior year, Larry met a beautiful, smart, petite brunette named Kathleen Fitzgerald. They quickly fell in love, were engaged within 6 months, and married within a year. They celebrated 57 years of marriage in 2022! Larry studied Accounting and graduated with his Bachelor’s and Master’s in Accounting. He was hired by Arthur Andersen and passed his CPA exam on his first try. Larry and Kathy welcomed their first son, Lawrence Scott Rich, the following year. Soon after, they moved to New Jersey with Arthur Andersen. Larry quickly gained recognition for his incredible people skills, work ethic, and intelligence. 

A few years later, Larry and Kathy welcomed their second son, Sean Fitzgerald Rich. With their growing family, Larry requested a transfer to Florida so they could spend more time with their extended family, including both sets of grandparents. Kathy and Larry moved to Tampa, and Stephanie Michelle Rich was born soon after. They had a quick stint in Orlando, Tampa again and finally settled in Coral Springs, which was home for 17 years. The family enjoyed many happy times with close friends and an amazing church community at St. Andrews. 

Larry had a lifelong love of cars, which grew into a successful amateur racing career in the 1980s. He raced a Toyota Corolla in SCCA GT3, including many wins, track records at Daytona and Rockingham NC, and sharing the track with Paul Newman & Tom Cruise. Scott and Sean helped with his racing crew when they could, and Kathy and Stephanie tolerated many race weekends. 

The prime of Larry’s career began when he joined Southeast Toyota, which grew into JM Family Enterprises. Larry became Jim Moran’s right-hand man and helped grow the company from a family business into a nationally-recognized workplace. Larry was instrumental in helping JMFE grow the Toyota distributorship, establish a credit union, create financing and leasing companies, launch a non-profit training program for underserved youth, and develop a corporate culture that has been recognized as the best in the state year after year. Larry stayed at JMFE for a wonderful 20 years. He was highly successful in his career, but even more importantly, Larry gained a father figure in Jim Moran, and rose to the role of Chief Operating Officer for JMFE. In 1997, Larry helped develop the concept of a massive auto dealership consolidation business with Wayne Huizenga, and he left JMFE to become President of Autonation. In 1998, Larry made the very wise decision to retire and focus on his family.

At this point, all three of Larry and Kathy’s children had married their college loves. Monica, Damon, and Lori were welcomed with open arms and open hearts into the family. Larry always knew how important family was and prioritized time spent together, and the family was growing. The first of eight grandchildren was born in 1996, and Larry was an incredibly devoted and fun Grandpa right from the start. He loved this role and embraced it with his whole self. He built model train sets in anticipation of the grandkids visiting. Larry and Kathy also built their dream house on the side of a mountain in Sapphire, NC. The time spent in the mountains as a family was precious and will be treasured forever. 

Larry’s hard-working nature shined through in retirement as well. He became a skilled woodworker, golfer, photographer, and wine connoisseur. Most of all, he was the best Husband, Dad, Grandpa, and Father-in-Law imaginable. It’s been a long journey losing little bits and pieces of Larry over the past decade. Alzheimer’s is an awful disease, but we are so grateful that Larry somehow knew to retire early and enjoy life fully as soon as possible. 

Larry is survived by his amazing wife, Kathy; his loving children and their amazing spouses, Scott and Monica, Sean and Lori, Stephanie and Damon (Wright); his eight treasured grandchildren, Connor, Patrick, Trevor, Kelsey, Mackenzie, Dylan, Claire and Owen, and his sweet pup, Bella.

He will always be in our hearts, and we know he is at peace. A memorial service will not take place, but a celebration of life for family and other loved ones will be planned for a future date. As an expression of sympathy, memorial contributions may be sent to Together We Bake, a non-profit job training program for underserved women co-founded by Larry’s daughter, Stephanie, or the JM Family Youth Automotive Training Center.

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