HORSHAM’S Larry Friend will be remembered as a man passionate about his family and sport by his loved ones.
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Larry died on January 23 at the age of 57. He is survived by his sons Braden and Bowen; siblings Chris, Shane, Matthew, Trisha, Janet, Marcia and Ursula; former wife Jan; and granddaughter Olivia.
Larry was born at Landsborough on October 26, 1961 to Owen and Vera Friend. The family moved to Stawell when Larry was four.
He attended Stawell’s St Patrick's Catholic Primary School and Stawell Technical School until Year 10.
Larry then moved to Horsham to work as a bricklayer with his older brothers Shane and Chris. He worked as a bricklayer for his whole life.
Chris said Larry will be remembered as sport lover.
“He was always up for a chat. If the topic of footy came up, he’d talk about that for ages. Then he’d talk about golf,” he said.
“He also was proud that he never lost a football grand final that he played in, and he always seemed to get best on ground too.”
He said Larry was always happy to help out family and friends.
“He got sick of bricklaying for a bit for he’d help other tradies with odd jobs,” he said.
“He really admired his kids and was a great father; he did a really good job with raising them. Larry just loved his life and lived it well.”
Larry’s son Bowen said football was his dad’s main passion.
“He played in an under 17s grand final for Stawell, and then the seniors at Stawell. When he moved to Horsham, he played for the Imperials-Wonwondah where he won a grand final in 1980,” he said.
“Then he played a few years at Minyip and won a grand final in 1984. Then he came back to play at Horsham for Horsham United with Chris, and they won another final in 1988.
“He loved his football. He was one of the only players to play in the Wimmera League grand final for three different clubs.”
Larry had to give up football in 1990 after a knee injury. However, that didn’t stop him from supporting his club.
In recent years Larry took up golf and was a member of the Horsham Golf Club.
“He’d spend a lot of time out there after work and I would go and have a hit with him. He’d always look after us and whatever we needed, he would support us,” Bowen said.
Larry’s funeral will be held at Landsborough Cemetery on Friday, February 8 at 11am.
It will be followed by a memorial service at Horsham Golf Club from 2.30pm onwards.
People are welcome to attend the services to pay their respects to Larry.
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