Pub. Note. Below is the email that I received on Dec. 30 from Robert (Bob) Kearns advising me of the death of his lifetime friend, Larry Guilliatt. He knew Larry was my long-time friend and a charter member of the Seattle marcomm community. Bob’s remembrances have captured—to a T—the Larry Guilliatt who I knew and loved.
One thing Bob didn’t mention was Larry’s passion for photography—whether it was shooting huge drain pipes for a Seattle waterfront-construction project or a pastoral scene, with a winding road and an aging barn in the background. In fact, I have a photo hanging in my den at home of the Paramount Theatre in Seattle that Larry framed and presented to me as a birthday gift several years ago. I gave it an extra-long look when I got home, after hearing of his passing.
“Larry Guilliatt passed away Dec. 17 at his home in Ocean Shores. He was found by a good friend who came by to pick him up for a planned event.
“Larry was my ‘bestest’ friend. We lived in the same ’hood growing up, went into the Navy together, served in different areas of Vietnam at the same time, graduated from Western Washington University in Visual Communications, were partners in a graphic-design firm, watched our families grow and prosper and helped each other throughout our lives. We communicated about this and that on an almost daily basis, via text, email and/or phone. We’ve called each other ‘bro’ since we were in our 20s. The waters ran very deep between us.
“Larry was a fictional character come to life. He had the ability to make anyone feel at ease with his great sense of humor and warm, welcoming way. Many will remember that Larry had his beginnings in commercial art as the staff artist on the Highline High School newspaper. His professional life as a designer was filled with awards and kudos from his peers and clients in every field imaginable. For many years, Larry taught graphic design and production part-time at Highline Community College and still was seated on its Advisory Board.
“Larry’s love of automobiles and all things gasoline-powered is renowned. At last count, he was approaching past or present ownership of 100 vehicles of every description during his lifetime: scooters, motorcycles, mini-cars, muscle cars, trucks, vans, etc. He was actively running a small, home-based business called Hot Rod Larry’s, which was a platform for his wonderful custom artwork, featuring vintage automobiles and motorcycles. Most of the art was transferred to T-shirts, but he was working on an entire line, and his brilliant artwork recently had caught the attention of a national distributor, who wanted to franchise it.
“In 2017, Larry moved from Maple Valley to a new home in Ocean Shores. He loved living close to the ocean, and always would brag about how much sunnier it was there than in Seattle. When he moved there, I sent him a CD of the Beach Boys’ greatest hits, and he started each and every day listening to the great California surfer music of our youth. In 1964, Larry was the first on our block to own a skateboard, which he made by hand. He and Walt Perkins (a Mt. Rainier H.S.grad) and I used to scare the daylights out of pedestrians on the sidewalks of Seattle as we whizzed by on our boards.
“Larry appeared to be in excellent health, constantly worked on his home-addition projects, rode his bicycle every day and enjoyed going to the beach regularly for clam digging with his friends and family. He was very happy with how things were going in his life and looked forward to every day with high expectations and optimism. Larry often remarked about how great our 50th high school reunion was and how he really enjoyed the after-reunion events with his renewed friends. He will be sorely missed by all of us.
He is survived by sons David (wife, Jody) and John and daughter, Michelle, grandchildren Crystal, Sydney and Jacob and great grandchildren Damien and Arianna.
“P.S. Larry. Please know that Larry treasured his friendship and professional relationship with you and your daughter, Melissa. He was extremely proud of his MARKETING awards and his standing with his colleagues in the Seattle marcomm community, and he gave great credit to you for helping to keep him relevant.
Best regards,
Bob”
Because of COVID-19 restrictions, there will be no service.