Zehe remembered for kindness
Share
Tweet
Larry Zehe, a retiree who drove the senior services bus part-time, died Dec. 11 in Tacoma, Wash. of brain cancer. He was 69 and had been in hospice care since August.
Zehe transferred to Haines with phone utility GTE from Everett, Wash., in 1993. He worked for a few more years for GTE and for Alaska Power and Telephone before retiring, joined the Presbyterian Church, and quickly became popular with the senior citizens he drove around town for the last few years.
"Larry was the best bus driver, and so friendly. He helped all the poor little old ladies," said Haines Assisted Living resident Nicki Hopper.
"In addition to being a member of my congregation, Larry was a friend," said Pastor Ron Horn. "We went fishing together. He loved the outdoors and he was always laughing."
Zehe was born Aug. 19, 1946, in Everett, Wash. His father Howard Zehe worked for a lumber company; mother June Abbott Zehe was an orthodontist's receptionist. He graduated from Cascade High School in 1965, enlisted in the Army and served in communications in Vietnam.
While home on leave he married high school sweetheart Nina Worstman on June 24, 1966.
Zehe settled in Everett and took a job with GTE, where he worked 35 years. He and Nina raised two sons. He attended the Lutheran church and volunteered as a Boy Scout leader.
In Haines, Zehe spent much of his time fishing, hunting, "playing on snowmachines," and cross-country skiing, wife Nina said. "And he loved his ladies on the senior bus. I called them his harem."
Zehe fell ill traveling in Mexico last March, and upon returning discovered brain cancer. He and Nina chose to stay with friends and family in Tacoma for treatment.
Doris Ward counted the Zehes among her good friends. "I liked to hear Larry sing in our choir, and I liked to watch him live what he professed in church. The more I became a senior the more I admired the way he treated seniors as the gentleman he was. I miss his sense of humor. I am glad he had his last days with Nina and the family he loved."
An informal celebration of Zehe's life will be held in Tacoma in February. "When I asked Larry if he wanted a funeral, he said, 'No. I want you to go out and buy a big keg of beer,'" Nina said.
Zehe leaves his wife of 49 years, Nina Zehe of Haines; mother June of Roseburg, Ore.; and sons Brian and Rich, and three grandsons, Jacob, Daniel and Philip of Washington.
Memorial donations may be made to Hospice of Haines.
