Larry Grant Britner

Larry G Britner passed away on Friday, September 23, 2022, due to complications of COPD. He was born in Lorain, Ohio in 1940 to John and Edna Britner as one of ten children. His parents fostered babies who he and his siblings helped to care for, instilling in them the qualities of nurture, empathy, and generosity at an early age. He spent his formative years in Saint Petersburg, Florida, which was still very wooded then, hunting rattlesnakes by Joe’s Creek with his older brother David. Being smaller than most, he gained the nickname Pee Wee, which stayed with him throughout his life. But God help anyone who thought because of his stature that they could pick on him, even though those that did, after a good bruising, sometimes became his friends. He was a freshman at Northeast High School in the year it first opened and graduated there in 1958. A few months later, he joined the Marine Corps where he became a drill instructor. He later served as an Army corpsman. His stints took him to Japan, Germany, and the Vietnam War. He married in 1962 and returned stateside in 1965 to start a civilian life with his wife, Eva Sue, and baby daughter, Valarie. Two years later, they had a son, William, and eventually moved to his wife’s hometown of Leesburg. In those early days, he played baseball and once played out a game with a broken hand because he was so involved that he didn’t realize he was injured. He also dabbled in art. He enrolled at Lake-Sumter Community College but soon dropped out as he became aware of the events concerning the Mỹ Lai massacre and was too troubled to continue his studies. Most of his career was spent in retail and restaurant supervision. He believed that the best ideas came from employees and not from management, and being a hard worker himself, did what he could to encourage pride in a job well done and to promote from within. A fierce defender of the vulnerable, he had the presence of mind to do nothing during several other robberies but wrestled a loaded shotgun from a man who came into his shop because he could see the craziness in the man’s eyes and was convinced someone was going to get hurt. In his spare time, he collected and sold coins, something that started as a hobby and turned into a lucrative sideline with the guidance and support of his wife, who said that if he wanted the good stuff, he was going to have to pay top dollar. For a while, he became one of the better-known dealers in Central Florida, known for his honesty and fairness. In his later life, he lost a leg to health issues but never lost his nerve. He could still scale a fence when he had the need or climb a tree to put up a tire swing. Though his 40-year marriage to Eva Sue had ended by then, they remained close. He found love again with his new wife, Luise, in 2010 after working together to help organize their fiftieth high school reunion. Always having a knack for research, he had an uncanny ability to find lost classmates and continued to help each subsequent year’s classes with their reunions. In 2018, he was substantially involved in managing his sixtieth reunion and used the excess funds to set up a scholarship. Throughout his life, he always had projects, whether it was in earlier days typing out baseball stats on his 1917 Underwood typewriter or later building genealogies in Ancestry.com. His interests included history, religion and politics, all of which he would happily debate, often to others’ chagrin. He took pride that he had applied to the position of manager to every baseball team in the league and had been turned down by each one. Despite a reputation as sometimes cantankerous, he loved people deeply and helped organize family reunions. If anyone was in need, even if he barely knew them, he was quick to offer a hand. Seldom at a loss for words, he was known for his long stories and almost breathless gift of gab. In his motorized wheelchair, he could be seen all over downtown, wearing his Vietnam veteran hat, handing out American flags, and turning strangers into friends. At 5’3” and 120 pounds, he had never let himself feel small. He is survived by his brother, Jerry, his sister, Doris, two children, eight grandchildren, eleven great-grandchildren and many others. His brother David passed two months before him. In their youth, David could often be heard calling behind him, “Come on, Pee Wee.” If anyone is so inclined, in lieu of flowers, we request donations to Meals on Wheels or Suncoast Hospice, as both organizations were instrumental in Larry’s care. Donation Links: Meals on Wheels https://give.mealsonwheelsamerica.org/page/38516/donate/1?ea.tracking.id=22_popup&_ga=2.131903567.1398092909.1664232639-1641007625.1664232639 Suncoast Hospice Donation Link: https://suncoasthospice.org/online-donations/

Larry Grant Britner

December 17, 1940 - September 23, 2022