Obituary for Larry Selk
Larry Selk (March 4, 1931 - June 22, 2021) was a man of convictions. He was born and grew up in Ontario, California with two brothers and a sister. His parents, Nathan and Leah, emigrated from Russia around 1920.
Larry graduated from Fairfax High Class of ’48 in Los Angeles where he was a member of the Debate Club and ran Track and Field. He earned a BS in Zoology from UCLA in 1955 after which he was then drafted and served in the US Army from 1955-1957 at Ft. Polk, Louisiana. Larry met Bonita during his third year of law school at USC in 1966; he graduated with a JD in June and they were married in November. They raised their family of three girls on the westside of Los Angeles. They were active at Adat Shalom for over 25 years and then were engaged members at Temple Beth Am when Bonita began teaching at Pressman Academy. Jewish traditions, rituals, and community were paramount in importance to Larry and he derived comfort from being embedded in a positive social fabric.
Larry had a variety of employment experiences. He worked in a hospital lab for many years followed by a career in Real Estate. His most important qualities, however, were not captured by his career experiences. He loved learning and absorbed and immersed himself in ideas. He was a writer, a lover of nature, and a deep thinker. Larry deeply believed in social justice and lived this through his actions. He wrote a book on addiction recovery which he gave away at Venice Boardwalk as the self-named “Boardwalk Philosopher.” If Larry heard of any injustice, his family and friends would hear about it and be expected to care about it deeply as well.
Larry loved his whole fam-dam-ily. He was an active parent and grandfather; he knew how to play and be goofy with his three children and six grandchildren and also engaged in intellectual conversations with them from a young age. He had only daughters, and was delighted to have three sons-in-law who he treated with the same joy and cerebral expectations. We miss him.
Larry graduated from Fairfax High Class of ’48 in Los Angeles where he was a member of the Debate Club and ran Track and Field. He earned a BS in Zoology from UCLA in 1955 after which he was then drafted and served in the US Army from 1955-1957 at Ft. Polk, Louisiana. Larry met Bonita during his third year of law school at USC in 1966; he graduated with a JD in June and they were married in November. They raised their family of three girls on the westside of Los Angeles. They were active at Adat Shalom for over 25 years and then were engaged members at Temple Beth Am when Bonita began teaching at Pressman Academy. Jewish traditions, rituals, and community were paramount in importance to Larry and he derived comfort from being embedded in a positive social fabric.
Larry had a variety of employment experiences. He worked in a hospital lab for many years followed by a career in Real Estate. His most important qualities, however, were not captured by his career experiences. He loved learning and absorbed and immersed himself in ideas. He was a writer, a lover of nature, and a deep thinker. Larry deeply believed in social justice and lived this through his actions. He wrote a book on addiction recovery which he gave away at Venice Boardwalk as the self-named “Boardwalk Philosopher.” If Larry heard of any injustice, his family and friends would hear about it and be expected to care about it deeply as well.
Larry loved his whole fam-dam-ily. He was an active parent and grandfather; he knew how to play and be goofy with his three children and six grandchildren and also engaged in intellectual conversations with them from a young age. He had only daughters, and was delighted to have three sons-in-law who he treated with the same joy and cerebral expectations. We miss him.