Larry C. Waddell, 76

Larry C. Waddell, 76, passed away March 1, 2016. Larry was born in 1939 in Mott, N.D., to Lawrence and Catherine (Reinhart) Waddell.

Larry had two sisters and three brothers. He attended Mott High School where he met his wife, Margy. He joined the Army and served in Germany. He and Margy were married on Aug. 2, 1958. They eventually settled in Dalton Gardens, Idaho, where they lived for the past 50 years. Larry worked at Essley Auto for 25 years. He could identify any vehicle make, model and year just by looking at it. In 1972, Larry started working at the Polaris dealership and immediately fell in love with snowmobiling.

He spent years riding, repairing snowmobiles and advocating for snowmobile access as the Idaho State Snowmobile Association President from 2000-2002. In 1981, Larry and Margy started a family business, The Sweep. Larry could be seen all over North Idaho in his big red water truck. He was proud to sell the business to his sons when he and Margy retired. That same year Larry gave up snowmobiling for the warm winters in Arizona. He took up ATV riding and loved to go on rides with Margy and their friends, so much that he started an ATV club.

Margy was his greatest love and he often said that he would have to go first because he couldn’t live without her. Larry and Margy had five children. Their second child, Danny, died as an infant. Larry and his son, Randy, spent many years together working in the family business and ate lunch every weekday at the Broken Egg. Larry considered Randy his best friend. Larry was well-known at the Broken Egg and when he walked in everyone would say hello. When his grandkids went with him it felt like they were with a celebrity.

Larry was proud of his daughter Mary, and her military service. He and Margy traveled to Europe and Guam to visit her. One of his proudest days was attending her retirement from the Air Force. Larry spoke with her often and said she was so easy to talk to. Larry called his daughter, Karin, his guardian angel. She did so much for her parents in the past year. Karin’s devotion to them is appreciated by the family. Larry and Margy took their kids camping every summer and that remains one of the family’s favorite memories. Larry instilled the love of the outdoors to Bruce. He was the inspiration for Bruce getting involved in Boy Scouts, which lead to his grandson becoming an Eagle Scout. Bruce also worked in the family business and became co-owner with Randy.

Although Larry’s love for his wife and kids was immeasurable, it was his grandkids and great-grandkids who gave him a reason to live. One of the things he was most proud of was knowing that every one of his grandkids was going to be a college graduate. Larry loved his great-grandkids, Josslyn and Ashton, who were his greatest joy.

Larry was preceded in death by his parents; his brother, Jerry and his son, Daniel. He is survived by his wife, Margy (Fuchs) Waddell; his children, Randy Waddell, Mary Waddell, Karin (Clayton) Martin and Bruce (Tammy) Waddell; his grandchildren, Amanda Waddell, Jenny (Nate) Clements, Justin (Ashley) Waddell, Carrie Waddell, Mikaela (Mario) Martinez, Samantha Martin and Chelsea Waddell; his great-grandchildren, Josslyn Clements and Ashton Budd; brothers and sisters; many nieces and nephews, cousins and friends.

Services will be held at 3 p.m. Tuesday, March 8, 2016, at Christ the King Lutheran Church, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Coeur d’Alene. Please visit Larry’s online memorial and sign his guest book at www.yatesfuneralhomes.com.