John S. “Jack” Larsen

Jack Larsen was born in Morris, Illinois to John B. and Ragnhild B. Larsen on April 25, 1934. He graduated from Morris Community High School and Concordia College, in Moorehead, Minnesota. In 1959 he graduated from the Northwestern University School of Dentistry in Chicago, Illinois.

Following dental school, Jack married Lavonne Christensen. They had met while working at a summer camp, where Jack was the Lifeguard and Lavonne the Cook. Jack served in the United States Navy for many years, both actively and in the Reserves.

During part of his active duty, he and Lavonne were stationed in Bremerton, Washington. Jack’s father had also been stationed in Bremerton during World War I. After leaving active duty, Jack, Lavonne and their young family settled down in Moorehead, Minnesota. Jack opened a dental office in nearby Fargo, ND. Tired of relentless upper mid-west winters and following the infamous “Blizzard of ‘66”, the family moved to Bellevue.

They moved into their home on Mercer Island on New Year’s Day, 1968. Jack died at that same Mercer Island home on September 8, 2016, following an 11 month battle with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy.

While living on Mercer Island, the family was active members of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. Jack worked in both Bellevue and Seattle, and truly enjoyed going to work each and every day.

His enthusiasm for dentistry was extraordinary, and he often sang to his patients. Jack and Lavonne both enjoyed golf and vacationing on Maui.

Jack is survived by Lavonne, his wife of 57 years, sons John, Eric and his wife Leigh, and Paul, grandchildren Jordan, Kelly, John Patrick, Austin and Matthew and brother Rey of Newport, RI.

Jack will be missed but never forgotten by family and a great number of friends. The family invites you to a celebration of Jack’s life to be held at Bellevue Presbyterian Church, 1717 Bellevue Way NE, on Saturday, October 8, 2016 at 1:00 PM.