Lawrence Arthur Olin, of Alton N.H., laid his burden down in a Boston hospital on April 27, 2024. The son of John and Mura Fifield Olin, “Pastor Larry” was a hardworking, God-fearing man all his life.
Born in Brockton, Mass. on May 12, 1930, Larry grew up in East Sutton, N.H. Living on a rural New Hampshire farm in the shadow of the Great Depression, Larry learned to embrace hard work early and he had to grow up quickly when his father died in 1942.
He attended Simonds Free High School in Warner, dropping out before graduation to work on a farm. Enlisting in the U.S. Army, he obtained his high school diploma and served in the Korean War, earning two bronze stars.
Returning home, Larry built roads and bridges, and drilled wells for A.B. Wells before he went to work for R.E. Prescott Co., assembling well pumps and water filtration systems and earning his master electrician’s license.
For the last 15 years of his first career, he kept a commercial laundry in business, maximizing the capabilities of the company’s aging equipment.
With encyclopedic knowledge fortified by a staggering collection of tools, Larry could seemingly build or repair anything. He was equally skilled as an electrician, carpenter, plumber, and mechanic.
In May 1956, while giving his sister a ride to work, an attractive blonde caught his eye. Three months later, Larry and Dorothy Russell married in her parent’s home in Rochester, N.H. The marriage would last 53 years, until her passing in January 2010.
The newlyweds lived in Concord N.H. before buying property in Canterbury, N.H. in the 1960s and building a house themselves. In 1977 they sold their home and moved to nearby Belmont, ultimately relocating to Alton in 1995.
As the darkness of dementia descended on Dorothy in the last decade of her life, Larry cared for her at their home almost to her final day.
When he was courting Dorothy in 1956, Larry told her then he wanted to be a minister. In the late 1980s he began working toward that dream, ultimately earning ordination in 1997 at the age of 66. He remained active in the ministry well into his 90s, delivering his final sermon in July 2023.
During his second career, Pastor Larry planted a church in Bartlett, N.H., pastored congregations in Woodsville, N.H. and Waterboro, and he was devoted to prison ministry.
He enjoyed fishing, camping, and the outdoors. He was a Scout master; a skilled, self-taught photographer; a voracious reader; and he never understood why people watched television.
Larry was extremely shy, but he had a disarming charisma. He loved to tell stories. He loved to laugh. He loved people and he loved children. While raising three sons of their own, Larry and Dorothy fostered 53 children over a period of 20 years.
The second of five children, Larry was predeceased by his parents; his wife, Dorothy; his sister, Barbara, of Contoocook, N.H.; and his brother, Arnold, of Concord.
He is survived by his sons, Bruce Olin, of Alton; Timothy Olin and his wife, Stephanie, of Ashland, N.H.; and Sherwood Olin and his wife, Cynthia, of Newcastle; sisters, Esther Murray, of Concord, N.H. and Emily Evans, of Warren, N.H.; three grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and dozens of nieces, nephews, friends, and admirers.
There will be a celebration of life at Kezar Falls Assembly of God, at 213 Federal Road, Parsonsfield, at 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 15.
Larry was a proud supporter of the American Red Cross and a 10-gallon pin blood donor. On Larry’s behalf, the family encourages anyone who can to make a donation to their local Red Cross in his memory.
