Laurence L Champion (AKA: Larry Lyn Champion) died peacefully in his sleep from natural causes at his home on April 18, 2022, in Viera, FL.
He was born on April 23, 1941, in San Gabriel, CA to Catherine Mary (Vernon) and Paul Richard Champion. He grew up in San Gabriel and graduated from San Gabriel HS in 1959. He was accepted into an aviation cadet program for non-college graduates at Harlingen, TX. On completion he was commissioned as a second lieutenant and assigned to Undergraduate Navigator training at Mather AFB (Sacramento County), CA. Later during his USAF career he earned his bachelor's degree from University of Nebraska, Omaha, NE.
Larry flew C-130, C-124, C-135 and RB-57 (both long and short winged versions) during his 20-year USAF career. These were the days before modern Global Positioning Satellites and their receivers helped planes (and cars) travel from place to place. Many of the missions involved tracking North Vietnam's movements of American prisoners of war and collecting air samples to monitor atomic/nuclear testing. He was proud that every assignment after his first was to a selectively manned unit.
Besides his 20 years (1960 - 1980) in the USAF, Larry worked for TRW Space & Defense of Redondo Beach, CA, in computer security and was president of Computer Security Services, Inc. He fully retired in 1997.
He moved often. His travels included San Antonio, TX; Harlington, TX; Warner Robbins, CA; Albuquerque, NM; Topeka, KS; Tan Son Nhut AB, Vietnam; Rapid City, SD; Bellevue, NE; Lynnfield, MA; Cerritos, CA; Crofton, MD; Merritt Island, FL; and finally, Viera, FL.
Larry was married twice. In 1962 he married Joyce Mardell Cox in Sacramento County, CA. Before they divorced in 1973 in Yolo County, CA they had two children -- Tracy and Todd Champion. In 1974 he married Patricia Ann Worthen, a USAF air intelligence officer he had met when they were both station in Viet Nam.
In retirement, Larry had a chance to explore his many passions:
* Military aircraft. Not only did Larry love flying them, he loved restoring them. He volunteered countless hours at the Warbird Museum in Titusville, FL. He loved turning on British version of the RB-57 (one of the planes he had flown on active duty). He was a regular docent who spun informative stories for museum guests. And he often helped with set-up and clean-up for the scheduled fly-ins.
* US space program. Larry and Patti watched dozens of space launches -- manned Space Shuttles, unmanned military and commercial satellites -- from the Florida Space Coast. They frequently drove to Cheri Down Park in Cape Canaveral. From the beach they could see launch towers, watch the boosters ascend into space and -- after SpaceX began landing/reusing the Falcon 9 stage one -- sometimes come back to earth.
* Where's George? Larry began this hobby -- which involves updating currency serial numbers online, marking the bills with the web site, spending them, and then waiting for others to reenter them in the database --in July 2001 when he lived in Maryland. His handle was originally "Larry from Maryland" though he later switched to "Larry from Merritt Island." In all he entered 75K bills and had almost 14K hits on them. Although the average life span of a $1 bill is just 22 months, some his bills "called home" over 10 years after he or Patti first spent them. He was a founding member of Brevard County's monthly WG? lunches and kept the conversation with his comments about space, airplanes, nature, etc.
* Genealogy. Larry loved researching his and Patti's family trees. They often included stops at cemeteries to visit the graves of deceased families and to document them for genealogical sites like Find-A-Grave.
* Bird Watching. Larry began watching birds as a young man. His travels gave him the chance to see them all over the world. He and Patti often visited the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge to see which residents and migrating birds were in that area.
* Other wildlife work. These included several years as a volunteer wildlife rehabilitator for Hands-On Wildlife Safari. He and Patti often hosted rescued wild animals in their home, providing round the clock care. He once joked that they taught him always to make sure a Florida panther was ahead of him and not behind, since it was an ambush predator which might suddenly strike if it was walking behind you. He also documented many wildlife and wildflower sightings on iNaturalist.org.
He is survived by his loving wife Patti of Viera, FL, and their daughter Lisa Ann (AKA: Bear Elizabeth) Champion of Pownal, VT; also by his first wife Joyce Mardelle (Cox) Champion of Sacramento, CA, and their children, Tracy Lynn Champion of Paso Robles, CA, and Todd Laurence Champion of Keene, NH and Todd's daughter Aleetha Rose Champion.
He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother Richard Paul Champion.
He was interned above ground at Florida Memorial Gardens, Rockledge, FL.
He was born on April 23, 1941, in San Gabriel, CA to Catherine Mary (Vernon) and Paul Richard Champion. He grew up in San Gabriel and graduated from San Gabriel HS in 1959. He was accepted into an aviation cadet program for non-college graduates at Harlingen, TX. On completion he was commissioned as a second lieutenant and assigned to Undergraduate Navigator training at Mather AFB (Sacramento County), CA. Later during his USAF career he earned his bachelor's degree from University of Nebraska, Omaha, NE.
Larry flew C-130, C-124, C-135 and RB-57 (both long and short winged versions) during his 20-year USAF career. These were the days before modern Global Positioning Satellites and their receivers helped planes (and cars) travel from place to place. Many of the missions involved tracking North Vietnam's movements of American prisoners of war and collecting air samples to monitor atomic/nuclear testing. He was proud that every assignment after his first was to a selectively manned unit.
Besides his 20 years (1960 - 1980) in the USAF, Larry worked for TRW Space & Defense of Redondo Beach, CA, in computer security and was president of Computer Security Services, Inc. He fully retired in 1997.
He moved often. His travels included San Antonio, TX; Harlington, TX; Warner Robbins, CA; Albuquerque, NM; Topeka, KS; Tan Son Nhut AB, Vietnam; Rapid City, SD; Bellevue, NE; Lynnfield, MA; Cerritos, CA; Crofton, MD; Merritt Island, FL; and finally, Viera, FL.
Larry was married twice. In 1962 he married Joyce Mardell Cox in Sacramento County, CA. Before they divorced in 1973 in Yolo County, CA they had two children -- Tracy and Todd Champion. In 1974 he married Patricia Ann Worthen, a USAF air intelligence officer he had met when they were both station in Viet Nam.
In retirement, Larry had a chance to explore his many passions:
* Military aircraft. Not only did Larry love flying them, he loved restoring them. He volunteered countless hours at the Warbird Museum in Titusville, FL. He loved turning on British version of the RB-57 (one of the planes he had flown on active duty). He was a regular docent who spun informative stories for museum guests. And he often helped with set-up and clean-up for the scheduled fly-ins.
* US space program. Larry and Patti watched dozens of space launches -- manned Space Shuttles, unmanned military and commercial satellites -- from the Florida Space Coast. They frequently drove to Cheri Down Park in Cape Canaveral. From the beach they could see launch towers, watch the boosters ascend into space and -- after SpaceX began landing/reusing the Falcon 9 stage one -- sometimes come back to earth.
* Where's George? Larry began this hobby -- which involves updating currency serial numbers online, marking the bills with the web site, spending them, and then waiting for others to reenter them in the database --in July 2001 when he lived in Maryland. His handle was originally "Larry from Maryland" though he later switched to "Larry from Merritt Island." In all he entered 75K bills and had almost 14K hits on them. Although the average life span of a $1 bill is just 22 months, some his bills "called home" over 10 years after he or Patti first spent them. He was a founding member of Brevard County's monthly WG? lunches and kept the conversation with his comments about space, airplanes, nature, etc.
* Genealogy. Larry loved researching his and Patti's family trees. They often included stops at cemeteries to visit the graves of deceased families and to document them for genealogical sites like Find-A-Grave.
* Bird Watching. Larry began watching birds as a young man. His travels gave him the chance to see them all over the world. He and Patti often visited the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge to see which residents and migrating birds were in that area.
* Other wildlife work. These included several years as a volunteer wildlife rehabilitator for Hands-On Wildlife Safari. He and Patti often hosted rescued wild animals in their home, providing round the clock care. He once joked that they taught him always to make sure a Florida panther was ahead of him and not behind, since it was an ambush predator which might suddenly strike if it was walking behind you. He also documented many wildlife and wildflower sightings on iNaturalist.org.
He is survived by his loving wife Patti of Viera, FL, and their daughter Lisa Ann (AKA: Bear Elizabeth) Champion of Pownal, VT; also by his first wife Joyce Mardelle (Cox) Champion of Sacramento, CA, and their children, Tracy Lynn Champion of Paso Robles, CA, and Todd Laurence Champion of Keene, NH and Todd's daughter Aleetha Rose Champion.
He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother Richard Paul Champion.
He was interned above ground at Florida Memorial Gardens, Rockledge, FL.
Laurence L Champion (AKA: Larry Lyn Champion) died peacefully in his sleep from natural causes at his home on April 18, 2022, in Viera, FL.
He was born on April 23, 1941, in San Gabriel, CA to Catherine Mary (Vernon) and Paul Richard Champion. He grew up in San Gabriel and graduated from San Gabriel HS in 1959. He was accepted into an aviation cadet program for non-college graduates at Harlingen, TX. On completion he was commissioned as a second lieutenant and assigned to Undergraduate Navigator training at Mather AFB (Sacramento County), CA. Later during his USAF career he earned his bachelor's degree from University of Nebraska, Omaha, NE.
Larry flew C-130, C-124, C-135 and RB-57 (both long and short winged versions) during his 20-year USAF career. These were the days before modern Global Positioning Satellites and their receivers helped planes (and cars) travel from place to place. Many of the missions involved tracking North Vietnam's movements of American prisoners of war and collecting air samples to monitor atomic/nuclear testing. He was proud that every assignment after his first was to a selectively manned unit.
Besides his 20 years (1960 - 1980) in the USAF, Larry worked for TRW Space & Defense of Redondo Beach, CA, in computer security and was president of Computer Security Services, Inc. He fully retired in 1997.
He moved often. His travels included San Antonio, TX; Harlington, TX; Warner Robbins, CA; Albuquerque, NM; Topeka, KS; Tan Son Nhut AB, Vietnam; Rapid City, SD; Bellevue, NE; Lynnfield, MA; Cerritos, CA; Crofton, MD; Merritt Island, FL; and finally, Viera, FL.
Larry was married twice. In 1962 he married Joyce Mardell Cox in Sacramento County, CA. Before they divorced in 1973 in Yolo County, CA they had two children -- Tracy and Todd Champion. In 1974 he married Patricia Ann Worthen, a USAF air intelligence officer he had met when they were both station in Viet Nam.
In retirement, Larry had a chance to explore his many passions:
* Military aircraft. Not only did Larry love flying them, he loved restoring them. He volunteered countless hours at the Warbird Museum in Titusville, FL. He loved turning on British version of the RB-57 (one of the planes he had flown on active duty). He was a regular docent who spun informative stories for museum guests. And he often helped with set-up and clean-up for the scheduled fly-ins.
* US space program. Larry and Patti watched dozens of space launches -- manned Space Shuttles, unmanned military and commercial satellites -- from the Florida Space Coast. They frequently drove to Cheri Down Park in Cape Canaveral. From the beach they could see launch towers, watch the boosters ascend into space and -- after SpaceX began landing/reusing the Falcon 9 stage one -- sometimes come back to earth.
* Where's George? Larry began this hobby -- which involves updating currency serial numbers online, marking the bills with the web site, spending them, and then waiting for others to reenter them in the database --in July 2001 when he lived in Maryland. His handle was originally "Larry from Maryland" though he later switched to "Larry from Merritt Island." In all he entered 75K bills and had almost 14K hits on them. Although the average life span of a $1 bill is just 22 months, some his bills "called home" over 10 years after he or Patti first spent them. He was a founding member of Brevard County's monthly WG? lunches and kept the conversation with his comments about space, airplanes, nature, etc.
* Genealogy. Larry loved researching his and Patti's family trees. They often included stops at cemeteries to visit the graves of deceased families and to document them for genealogical sites like Find-A-Grave.
* Bird Watching. Larry began watching birds as a young man. His travels gave him the chance to see them all over the world. He and Patti often visited the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge to see which residents and migrating birds were in that area.
* Other wildlife work. These included several years as a volunteer wildlife rehabilitator for Hands-On Wildlife Safari. He and Patti often hosted rescued wild animals in their home, providing round the clock care. He once joked that they taught him always to make sure a Florida panther was ahead of him and not behind, since it was an ambush predator which might suddenly strike if it was walking behind you. He also documented many wildlife and wildflower sightings on iNaturalist.org.
He is survived by his loving wife Patti of Viera, FL, and their daughter Lisa Ann (AKA: Bear Elizabeth) Champion of Pownal, VT; also by his first wife Joyce Mardelle (Cox) Champion of Sacramento, CA, and their children, Tracy Lynn Champion of Paso Robles, CA, and Todd Laurence Champion of Keene, NH and Todd's daughter Aleetha Rose Champion.
He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother Richard Paul Champion.
He was interned above ground at Florida Memorial Gardens, Rockledge, FL.
He was born on April 23, 1941, in San Gabriel, CA to Catherine Mary (Vernon) and Paul Richard Champion. He grew up in San Gabriel and graduated from San Gabriel HS in 1959. He was accepted into an aviation cadet program for non-college graduates at Harlingen, TX. On completion he was commissioned as a second lieutenant and assigned to Undergraduate Navigator training at Mather AFB (Sacramento County), CA. Later during his USAF career he earned his bachelor's degree from University of Nebraska, Omaha, NE.
Larry flew C-130, C-124, C-135 and RB-57 (both long and short winged versions) during his 20-year USAF career. These were the days before modern Global Positioning Satellites and their receivers helped planes (and cars) travel from place to place. Many of the missions involved tracking North Vietnam's movements of American prisoners of war and collecting air samples to monitor atomic/nuclear testing. He was proud that every assignment after his first was to a selectively manned unit.
Besides his 20 years (1960 - 1980) in the USAF, Larry worked for TRW Space & Defense of Redondo Beach, CA, in computer security and was president of Computer Security Services, Inc. He fully retired in 1997.
He moved often. His travels included San Antonio, TX; Harlington, TX; Warner Robbins, CA; Albuquerque, NM; Topeka, KS; Tan Son Nhut AB, Vietnam; Rapid City, SD; Bellevue, NE; Lynnfield, MA; Cerritos, CA; Crofton, MD; Merritt Island, FL; and finally, Viera, FL.
Larry was married twice. In 1962 he married Joyce Mardell Cox in Sacramento County, CA. Before they divorced in 1973 in Yolo County, CA they had two children -- Tracy and Todd Champion. In 1974 he married Patricia Ann Worthen, a USAF air intelligence officer he had met when they were both station in Viet Nam.
In retirement, Larry had a chance to explore his many passions:
* Military aircraft. Not only did Larry love flying them, he loved restoring them. He volunteered countless hours at the Warbird Museum in Titusville, FL. He loved turning on British version of the RB-57 (one of the planes he had flown on active duty). He was a regular docent who spun informative stories for museum guests. And he often helped with set-up and clean-up for the scheduled fly-ins.
* US space program. Larry and Patti watched dozens of space launches -- manned Space Shuttles, unmanned military and commercial satellites -- from the Florida Space Coast. They frequently drove to Cheri Down Park in Cape Canaveral. From the beach they could see launch towers, watch the boosters ascend into space and -- after SpaceX began landing/reusing the Falcon 9 stage one -- sometimes come back to earth.
* Where's George? Larry began this hobby -- which involves updating currency serial numbers online, marking the bills with the web site, spending them, and then waiting for others to reenter them in the database --in July 2001 when he lived in Maryland. His handle was originally "Larry from Maryland" though he later switched to "Larry from Merritt Island." In all he entered 75K bills and had almost 14K hits on them. Although the average life span of a $1 bill is just 22 months, some his bills "called home" over 10 years after he or Patti first spent them. He was a founding member of Brevard County's monthly WG? lunches and kept the conversation with his comments about space, airplanes, nature, etc.
* Genealogy. Larry loved researching his and Patti's family trees. They often included stops at cemeteries to visit the graves of deceased families and to document them for genealogical sites like Find-A-Grave.
* Bird Watching. Larry began watching birds as a young man. His travels gave him the chance to see them all over the world. He and Patti often visited the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge to see which residents and migrating birds were in that area.
* Other wildlife work. These included several years as a volunteer wildlife rehabilitator for Hands-On Wildlife Safari. He and Patti often hosted rescued wild animals in their home, providing round the clock care. He once joked that they taught him always to make sure a Florida panther was ahead of him and not behind, since it was an ambush predator which might suddenly strike if it was walking behind you. He also documented many wildlife and wildflower sightings on iNaturalist.org.
He is survived by his loving wife Patti of Viera, FL, and their daughter Lisa Ann (AKA: Bear Elizabeth) Champion of Pownal, VT; also by his first wife Joyce Mardelle (Cox) Champion of Sacramento, CA, and their children, Tracy Lynn Champion of Paso Robles, CA, and Todd Laurence Champion of Keene, NH and Todd's daughter Aleetha Rose Champion.
He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother Richard Paul Champion.
He was interned above ground at Florida Memorial Gardens, Rockledge, FL.
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