Lawrence Ekey

Preceded in death by parents Lawrence A. Ekey Sr. and Mary (Dorr) Ekey, Larry was born on February 16, 1945 in Warren, PA, where he grew up with his younger brother Robert Ekey Sr. In 1968, he married Elizabeth Williams and raised daughters Heather (Nicholas) Donohue, Amber (Fr. Bartholomew) Wojcik, and Dr. Tiffany (John) MacKenzie.

In 1989, Larry remarried, to Lois Johnson Thorn, becoming stepfather to Timothy (Annie) Thorn and Maria (Jason) Wozniak. Larry was a competitive tennis player, an expert gardener, and a compassionate caregiver to his cats, especially Simon and Socrates.

Larry loved math and science, graduating with a Masters in Electrical Engineering from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities in 1974, and earning his Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from Marquette University in Milwaukee in 1968. His Master’s Thesis was titled “Personal Rapid Transit Reliability and Failure Forecasting.”

Larry is survived by five children and nine grandchildren (Alexis, Xenia, and Cyprian Wojcik; Lachlan and Claire Donohue; Griffin, Owen, and Emily Thorn; and Baby MacKenzie coming 2018). He leaves his close friends, Tom (Bobbie) Hessley, John (Kathy) Henry, John (Marella) Struhar, and Bob (Lynda) DeWard. He will be remembered for his dry humor. Funeral services will be held Sunday, October 1, 2017 at the Walker Methodist Health Center chapel, 3737 Bryant Ave S. in Minneapolis. Visitation begins at 2pm; service begins at 3pm. Interment will take place Monday, October 2, at Orono Cemetery in Elk River, Minnesota. There will be a memorial donation in Larry’s name to Mayo Clinic (https://philanthropy.mayoclinic.org/donateMC) and to the gardens of the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum (http://www.arboretum.umn.edu/supportus.aspx).