Larry Friedrich
Larry Bruce Friedrich passed away peacefully on July 2, 2024 due to complications from brain cancer.
Larry was born in Philadelphia, PA but was mostly raised in San Jose, CA. From a young age, Larry’s quick wit and intelligence was apparent, as he taught himself to read before entering preschool. While growing up, Larry enjoyed competing in sports as well as performing in theatre.
He graduated from Lynbrook High School in San Jose, CA (Class of 1977) and then earned a Chemical Engineering degree from California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, CA in 1981. Following graduation, Larry married Jane Aspinwall and they settled in Mountain View, CA. They both became dog lovers and very much enjoyed spending time with their Welsh Springer Spaniels over the years.
Larry worked for Intel as a chemical engineer and trainer from 1981 – 2006. While working for Intel, Larry earned his Master’s degree in Statistics in 2004. He continued his acting career at several local theaters; in addition, he volunteered for more than 2 decades at the Mountain View H.S. tutoring center. After retiring from Intel, he followed his passion and began a second career as a high school teacher and tutor.
Larry is survived by his wife Jane Aspinwall Friedrich, his mother Sheila Friedrich, his brother Robert Friedrich, his sister Sheri Friedrich Kennedy and her husband Michael and their two children Jacob and Kierra, his sister-in-law Anne Leeper and her son Matthew, and his sister-in-law Julie Aspinwall. Larry is preceded in death by his father Joseph Friedrich and his younger brother David Friedrich.
In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to glioblastoma research in Larry’s memory.
Interesting stories:
While in high school, Larry was cast as a drunk in one production. He volunteered to bring his prop (a gin bottle) and after the production was completed, we learned that he never replaced the gin with water and instead enjoyed sipping on the spirit throughout each show.
During college Larry played on Caltech’s baseball and soccer teams. While playing baseball he made a hard throw to his friend Jamie at first base, which ended up going right through the old glove Jamie used and broke his nose. Larry often talked about the time he “broke his friend’s nose.”
Larry proposed to Jane in 1980 at his favorite Chinese restaurant, Ming’s. He created his own realistic fortune cookie insert (remember, this was back in the days before computers and scanners became ubiquitous) with the restaurant backing and the front said “Jane, I love you more than life itself, will you marry me?” He gave the fortune cookie to the waiter to deliver at the end of dinner.
Jane knew he liked watching the 49ers football games, but didn’t realize until she visited Larry at college that he would watch “just any two teams playing.” During their wedding ceremony, Larry lovingly leaned over and said “Michigan is up over Notre Dame at half time.” Jane, expecting something more like “I love you”, was a bit nonplussed. This became a running joke on their anniversaries to check who won the most recent Michigan/Notre Dame game.
While working as a program developer and trainer at Intel Larry developed a course on how semiconductors are manufactured. To demonstrate the different layers processed onto the silicon wafers, he asked the cafeteria to make him a dish with discrete layers of different colored Jello and cream cheese and the like. This made his course very memorable, and caught the attention of the upper-level managers. Later on they changed to using Play Dough for the layers.