Henry John Larsen, Jr. (1944-2024)

Henry died on July 24, 2024 after a long battle with Parkinson's Disease. Click here for an online obituary.

A resident of Mill Valley, CA, Henry came to Princeton from Allison Park, PA and attended North Allegheny HS. At Princeton, he majored in Civil Engineering and was a member of Dial Lodge. He roomed with Peter A. Wilson.

After Princeton, Henry moved to Stanford and earned an MS degree in structural engineering. Following graduation, he specialized in earthquake engineering in the Bay Area, then moved back to Pittsburgh to work with his father's company, and in 1991 was back in the Bay Area leading his own company, Larsen Engineering.

Along the way, Henry found time for lots of golf, Transcendental Meditation, and, most importantly, meeting Lee Victoria Fleming in 1982 and marrying her in 1983; she survives him after a marriage of 41 years. Henry is also survived by his two children, Michael Henry Larsen and Nadia Victoria Larsen, and several siblings, nephews, and nieces.

Memorial Service: A celebration of life for Henry John Larsen was held on November 16 at 1:00 p.m., at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Marin, 240 Channing Way, San Rafael, CA 94903. Tom Adams reports:

"I and classmates, Dr. Tom Norris, and Lemoine Skinner attended the Celebration of Life for Henry Larsen ’66 at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Marin. The two Toms wore our 50th Reunions outfits. Alas, none of us thought to take a photo. His widow, Lee Larsen came over during the reception and told us how much she appreciated our attending. I scanned the program (see attached pdf file).

The celebration was moving and presented an extraordinary picture of Henry. He was off-the-scale intelligent, an exceptional civil engineer, often in demand by architects, and was a strong family man. He practiced Transcendental Meditation for many years.

David Marshak intended to join us, but caught a cold or the flu on Friday night, so he had to cancel. The celebration was broadcast on Zoom, so other classmates may have attended on-line.

Nassau Herald

25th Reunion Book

Classmate Memories and Tributes

Peter A. Wilson:

I was Hank's roommate beginning sophomore year in 1963. One fun incident I do remember that reflected the times we lived in. Most of you remember the Cuban Missile Crisis during the fall of 1962. Well Hank, as an aspiring engineer totally focused on his studies, missed out. On the first anniversary of one of the most dangerous periods of human history, Hank after seeing a television documentary on the crisis, rushed up to me and said, "Peter, do you realize that we almost had a nuclear war!" I replied, "Hank, not to worry, I will keep you informed in real time during the next nuclear crisis. Oh, by the way, don't lose your slide rule."

Hank was a good friend during my Princeton days Sadly, we lost touch over time. Unfortunately we didn't take advantage of the rise of the internet.

If you have additional photos or memories that you wish to share, please send them to the '66 Memorial Team (66_MemorialTeam@tiger1966.org). We will add them to this page.