Lawrence S. Parente

Lawrence (Larry) Stephen Parente, age 89, died peacefully at his home in East Walpole on May 29th, 2020. Larry was born in Warwick, RI on March 26th, 1931 to Lorenzo and Luigia (Mancini) Parente, the twelfth of fourteen children. He attended Lockwood High School in Warwick where he played football and graduated as president of his class in 1950.  He graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 1954 with a degree in civil engineering.  Larry served in the Army for two years.  He was stationed in Kaiserslautern, Germany where he used his engineering expertise to help rebuild their infrastructure.  Upon his honorable discharge, he married his college sweetheart Ann V. Amoriggi of Johnston, RI on May 11th, 1957.

Larry and Ann first moved to Brighton when he began his career at the Army Corps of Engineers.  They later settled in East Walpole, where they have lived for sixty-two years, and raised four children. In 1964 Larry earned a master’s degree in engineering from Northeastern University.  He retired from the Army Corps of Engineers after thirty-five years and worked another fifteen years at a private engineering firm, Maguire Group.  One of his proudest achievements there was a tunnel project near South Station for the Big Dig in Boston.

Larry was a devout Catholic and devoted member of St. Mary’s Parish in East Walpole.  He was instrumental in building the parish center and helped organize numerous fundraising events over the years.  He was a member of the Finance Committee and the Parish Advisory Council, a religious education teacher, and a lector for forty-two years. Larry was also one of the original members of a men’s prayer group that met weekly for almost forty years.

In his spare time, Larry enjoyed his vegetable garden and tending to his yard.  He always had a project that he was working on including a beautiful addition to his home, and nothing pleased him more than a job well done. On Sundays in the fall, he could always be found watching his beloved Patriots, a loyal fan from their lean years to their more recent success.   In his retirement he traveled extensively with his wife Ann and volunteered many hours for the Friends of Francis William Bird Park.  Above all, Larry was a quiet, hardworking man of great integrity and humility.  He was devoted to his family and took the greatest pleasure in the simple things in life, whether it was making homemade wine with his brothers or entertaining his many grandchildren at his workbench. He treated everyone he encountered with dignity and respect and his kindness and compassion will be missed by all who knew him.

Beloved husband of Ann V. Parente.
Loving father of Cheryl Kelly and husband James of Hopkinton, Susan McGillicuddy and husband Thomas of Stow, Stephen Parente and wife Cathrine of Urbana, IL and Lisa Dougherty and husband John of Dover.
Cherished grandfather of John, Mary, Joseph, Lawrence, Matthew, Paul, Michael, Emily, Sean, Magnus, Christopher and Andrew.
Brother of Eva Senerchia of Warwick, RI, Pasquale Parente of Little Compton, RI, and Simeone Parente of Cranston, RI.