LAWRENCE SUMMERS

Lawrence L. “Larry” Summers, 81, died Saturday, March 22, 2008, in his sleep at home surrounded by family and friends.

A funeral was held Saturday, March 29 at Valley Funeral Home. Graveside services and burial will be at Dolberg Cemetery in Roff, Okla.

Summers was born Feb. 6, 1927 in Dolberg, Okla., to Lloyd and Willie Summers. He graduated from Roff High School in 1944. As a boy growing up in Oklahoma, Summers was able to attend traveling acrobatic air shows and became so smitten with flying that he earned his pilot license at age 17 before obtaining his driver license. He joined the Marine Corps that same year and served in the Pacific and China during WWII. Summers married Eva Joan Reynolds on Aug. 13, 1950 in Ada, Okla. They moved to Alaska in 1951, arriving in Anchorage on April Fool’s Day.

In 1953, they left Anchorage and homesteaded five miles west of Wasilla on Wallace Lake. Although they sold the property in 1970, the subdivider named a street Summers Drive in their honor. They moved back into Anchorage after they began having children. Their first son, Larry, was born in 1954, then Marty in 1955, and Vanessa in 1958.

Summers was a member of the Air National Guard and enjoyed playing guitar and fiddle in clubs around Anchorage.

In the late ’50s, the family left Alaska so Summers could earn his degree in architecture. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1964, after which they returned to Alaska. During that time, they became followers of Christ and dedicated their lives to serving others.

In 1987, Summers, a member of the American Institute of Architects, retired from his position as architect for the Municipality of Anchorage. In their later years Larry and Joan Summers enjoyed traveling but mostly they enjoyed spending time with their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Summers was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Joan, on Oct. 2, 2007 after having celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary in August. He is survived by his sons Lawrence R. Summers of Yukon, Okla., and Martin F. Summers of Houston; daughter Vanessa J. Summers of Anchorage; granddaughters Candice Nagl and Jessica Sandoval, both of Wasilla; grandson Martin L. Summers of Houston; granddaughter Caylor Summers of Los Angeles, Calif.; daughters-in-law Mary Jane Summers of Yukon, Okla., Sally Summers of Houston, and Cynthia Simkins of Wasilla; step-grandchildren Forrest Cooper, serving in the Army in Afghanistan, and Amy Cooper of Wasilla; four great-grandchildren, all of Wasilla; and many other family members and friends.