Lawrence Elwood Garlock

Lawrence Elwood “Larry” Garlock, 102, of Waterloo, died at Rosewood Estate on Tuesday, November 27, 2018.

He was born March 13, 1916, to Jenny Hubbell Garlock and Lawrence Elwood Garlock in Plover, Iowa, the youngest of 3 sons. He went to public school in Plover and spent summers at a family home on Lake Okoboji until the difficulties of the Depression led to its sale. His education continued at Buena Vista College and the University of Iowa where he earned a Masters Degree in history and completed almost all of the work for his PhD.

After a year of teaching in NW Iowa and working for his father, he married Alice Harriet Kerr. She was teaching in nearby Rolfe, Iowa. They lived in Curlew (also close to Plover) until he left for a WWII army training camp. Not long after he was sent to Officer Training Camp and was eventually stationed in the San Fernando Valley (near Los Angeles) as a Captain in a searchlight battalion. From there he was sent to the Philippines and eventually to then Occupied Japan.

He became acquainted with baby daughter Gretchen (Van Houten) before being sent to the Pacific. When he returned from the service, Larry took a teaching job at East Waterloo High School and soon became Vice Principal there. Daughter Janice (Sickles) was born in 1947. In 1954, he and Harriet completed the family with baby daughter Julie (Archibald). Harriet resumed teaching. After a brief turn as Principal at East High, Larry took a position in the Waterloo school system’s central administration.

Harriet eventually opened an antique shop where Larry did much of the heavy lifting—literally. Retirement led them first west to Arizona and later to Florida where they spent winters for the next 15 years. Their last residence before moving to Rosewood in 2008 was a condominium that reduced the burden of home maintenance and gave them more time to golf, vacation, and generally enjoy life.

In addition to his 3 daughters, Larry has 5 grandchildren: Lance (Sara) Van Houten, Libby (Scott) Limoni, Joshua (Rachel) Kramer, Jarrod Sickles, and Katie (Jacob) Hawkins; 9 great grandchildren: Soren, Kate, and Stella Van Houten; Gavin, Levi, Maya, and Genevieve Limoni; and Micah and Tayva Kramer.

He quit golfing about 4 years ago when it became more difficult to find golf partners and transportation to the course. However, he continued to “stay current” by reading the Wall Street Journal and the Waterloo Daily Courier and enjoyed visits from family when they could make the trek to Waterloo from their far-flung residences.

Larry is preceded by his parents; his wife, Alice Harriet; daughter, Julie; and his brothers, A.O. and Edward C. Garlock.