Lawrence Donald 'Larry' Chapin

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Lawrence "Larry" Donald Chapin left this life on November 15, 2020 after a long and difficult journey with Huntington’s disease.

He was born in St. Paul in 1972. He attended Roseville Area High School and it was there he first became interested in technical theatre and AV work. After graduating from high school, he went on to study Sound & Lighting Design at the University of MN Twin Cities.

His love of technical theatre brought him to the Walker Art Center where he worked as an Event Technical Director. Fun fact: Larry was a part of the very first Rock the Garden show. He was involved with many other amazing performances during his time there.

He then went back to work for the University of MN as a House Sound Engineer at the Northrop Auditorium and an AV tech at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. Larry was very passionate about politics and understanding different points of view, and this position lent itself very  well  to  his  interests  in  that regard.

Larry was also very passionate about live music, both on the national scene and local. He met his future wife, Julie, at the Fine Line Music  Cafe  while  working  with  a local band called Medium.

They married on 9/18/99. Larry, a numbers geek and math head kind of guy, particularly liked that date. He felt it would be easy to remember his anniversary year after year since “all of the numbers are multiples of 9.”

Tristan joined Larry and Julie’s family in December of 2003. Of all the roles Larry played, being Tristan’s dad was the one he was most proud of. He was right there to see his son earn his black belt in Tae-Kwan-Do, supported his percussion pursuits (the drum kit went in the basement where Larry had built a recording studio), went to all of the band concerts and was front row center for Tristan’s lacrosse games every chance he could get.

Larry enjoyed projects of all types and always came up with a solution on how to make things work. One of the most ambitious projects he ever took on was playing the role of general contractor when building the house he, Julie, and Tristan, called home.

Larry was a huge Star Wars fan. New Star Wars movies were always major events in his family. The family trip to Disney World included Jedi Training for Tristan. Pretty cool for Larry to see his boy on stage in a lightsaber duel with Darth Vader.

He and Julie loved to travel and tried to work in live music shows at famous venues wherever they could. From Red Rocks in Denver, to the Fillmore in San Francisco, to SXSW in Austin, TX where so many happy memories were made with friends who traveled with them. Family travel was also special to Larry. He enjoyed trips with his dad’s family to Cozumel, Mexico, and to Edisto Beach, SC, with Julie’s family.

Larry will be remembered for his love of life by his friends and family who loved him right back.

Larry was preceded in death by his mother, Donaleen Chapin. He is survived by his wife and son, Julie and Tristan, grandmother Agnes Chapin, father David (Judy) Chapin, step-brother Jeff (Wendy) Iskierka, step-sister Joanne (Ricky) Dial, nieces and nephews, and sisters- and brothers-in-law.

Don’t forget to give him a wink when you look up at the sky.

Larry’s Celebration of Life will be livestreamed on Wednesday, November 25 at 2 pm. Which will be viewable on Larry’s obituary page on the Bradshaw website. Seems appropriate for an AV guy, right?

Due to COVID safety, you are invited to join the celebration via livestream. Masks and social distancing protocol will be in place for those who choose to attend in person. Our wish is for all to feel safe while celebrating Larry’s life.

There will also be an opportunity for those watching from home to call in to speak during the memory share portion of Larry's service. If this is something you are interested in doing, please call Liz at 651-407-8300 to sign up to do so.

We invite you to donate to the Huntington’s Disease Society of America in lieu of flowers if you so choose. HDSA.org.

Published on November 22, 2020