Larry Richter, 89, of Morehead City, North Carolina, passed away Saturday, February 1, 2025, at the Crystal Coast Hospice House.
A private interment will take place at Gethsemane Memorial Park in the spring.
Larry was born in 1935 and grew up on Long Island, New York and then Washington DC. After high school, Larry joined the Coast Guard and was stationed at Ft. Macon on the USS Chilula which he commissioned in 1956. He met his wife Mary, a graduate of Morehead City High School, and they married on February 15th of 1958, moving to Falls Church, Virginia to continue their careers and start a family.
Larry spent the next 35 years in the Coast Guard Reserve and working for Naval Research Labs in the District of Columbia, designing satellite communications systems, travelling globally, sometimes underwater on a diesel or nuclear submarine for months at a time. Towards the end of his career, he would travel to the Arctic designing under ice to satellite communications.
When not traveling for work, Larry was very involved coaching his two boys and their friends in soccer, baseball and basketball and being a loving, supportive husband. He and Mary retired and moved home to Morehead City in 1993. Larry became an active docent at the History Place, volunteer with Friends of Fort Macon, and most notably helped build over 100 homes with Crystal Coast Habitat for Humanity. In addition to traveling with Mary, Larry loved researching and publishing articles about Coast Guard ships.
After Mary died, Larry struggled with dementia. In the fall of 2022 he moved to Carteret Landing Assisted Living Facility where he received the best care and was loved by all. He was a kind spirit and we miss his stories. We love you, Dad.
He is survived by his sons, David Richter and wife Nina of Seattle, WA, and Jim Richter and wife Allyson of Greenville, SC: sister-in-law, Darlene Leonard of Morehead City, NC; brothers-in-law, Jerry Leonard and wife B.J. of Newport, NC and Terry Leonard and partner Debby Boyce of Beaufort, NC; grandchildren, Adelaide and Heywood; and niece, Jaime and her family.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Mary and sister Barbara.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Center for Dementia Research: https:llwww.cdr.rfmh.org/donate-now/
Family and friends are welcome to submit online condolences at www.mundenfuneralhome.net
Arrangements by Munden Funeral Home and Crematory in Morehead City, NC.
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