Larry Richard Van Gordon

Dr. Larry Richard Van Gordon of Aloha, Oregon, passed away Wednesday, July 5, 2017. He was 74 years old. Larry died in his own home with loved ones by his side after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer just 3 short weeks before. Larry battled the diagnosis and the cancer at the hospital with every ounce of strength he had, but, in the end, asked to be brought home to be with his family. Larry was born June 14, 1943, in Portland, Oregon. Larry is survived by his beautiful wife Elizabeth Barker Van Gordon. They had nearly 45 years to build an incredible life together. Larry and Elizabeth had 6 children. Their son Brandon Scott predeceased them as he was born prematurely and lived just a few short hours. Larry is survived by his wife and their five children; Michael, Brock, Michelle, Ryan, and Gregory. He was blessed with 14 grandchildren: Matthew, Taylor, Nicholas, Ashley, Grant, Avery, Kaitlyn, Nathan, Jackson, Chloe, Olivia, Carson, Jacob, & Kevin. Larry cherished every moment with his grandchildren whether he was taking them to movies, or attending their endless baseball, soccer, basketball, softball, track, dance, or music events. He was so proud of his children and grandchildren and always kept his friends and patients updated on their achievements. He was especially proud of his grandchildren’s shenanigans. They were his most treasured legacy. Larry was the oldest of two children and is also survived by his brother Paul Eugene Van Gordon. Larry’s parents, Eugene Elliott Van Gordon and Fern Bernice Hermanson, predeceased him. Larry spent his childhood in Woodburn Oregon. While his father Eugene served in the military, he proved to be quite the handful for his grandmother, mother and aunts. They did their best to keep him out of mischief and kept him busy picking strawberries in the local fields each summer. Larry graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1961. He went on to attend Portland State University and then to graduate from OHSU with the Class of 1968. Larry’s love for baseball started early in life. He later played for Portland State University and even on a men’s Softball team. Larry served two years in the Air Force and was stationed in Arizona. He reached the rank of Captain during that time and provided both dental care for those stationed there and also had the heavy responsibility of identifying the remains of those who did not survive their service. Larry built a very successful dental practice in Aloha. His patients were fiercely loyal to him ,even with his jokes of needing to remake crowns and bridges because he “accidentally cracked them” or teasing them that their wisdom teeth had somehow grown back again and would need to be extracted, possibly multiple times. After extensive interviews Larry recently sold the dental practice he had built over the past 50 years. He told his family that he was glad that he took his time interviewing many and was sure that he had found the perfect person to take over the care of his patients. Larry was cherished. Larry had the most unique ability to light up a room purely with his smile and the mischievous twinkle of his eye. Those who knew Larry loved him. Those who knew Larry also knew to watch him like a hawk when he kept his own scorecard at golf or when playing a hand of cards. His grandchildren quickly learned to frisk him for extra cards if he dared wear long sleeves during a card game with them. Larry was a masterful collector. He loved collecting memorabilia, baseball cards, and stamps. Even greater than his love of stamp collecting was his love of sharing this passion with others. He was so proud of his 100% approval rating on Ebay. So proud, in fact, that he refused to be walked into the ER until we were completely clear on what needed to be mailed out that evening, exactly how to safely package it, and to whom to send it. More than one of his grandchildren have caught the collector bug and they are proud to carry on his legacy. Larry taught his five children how to have a great work ethic, to be entrepreneurial, to be faithful, to be dependable, to enjoy life’s adventures rather than things, to be loving spouses, to be dutiful parents, simply by living all of these by example. Larry was an incredible asset to his community and to those in need. There probably wasn’t a single organization he could say no to, as the list of charities he dutifully donated to was quite extensive. Larry enjoyed donating to local youth sports teams, charities, homes for disadvantaged children, provided free dental care to those who couldn’t afford it, and even participated and heavily funded five mission trips to provide dental care in Brazil, Indonesia, and Honduras through Medical Teams International. Larry was simply a giver and in return he was blessed with life long relationships, partnerships and friendships. In his own words, “I couldn’t fit all of the great friends I have in one room. They simply wouldn’t be able to fit. I have that many. That’s really something.” A Celebration of Larry’s Life will be Friday, July 14 at 11:30am. Stockpot Restaurant 8200 Scholls Ferry Rd. Beaverton, 97225 In Lieu of flowers The Van Gordon Family would be honored for you to donate to either of the charities that Larry was very dedicated to: Samaritanpurse.org Brazil Trip Medicalteams.org Honduras Trip