Meet The Person:

The Person: Larry Kieffer. Father-in-law

Larry is one of those people when you put into writing what he has done over his life you think, "wow!" Larry spent the past 32 years working for Synfin/TSG Finishing in various positions, with the last 12 years being the Director of Engineering. Over the 32 years, he retrofitted old equipment, photographed company and industrial needs, redesigned their lab into a state of the art textile R&D facility, created a company newsletter and helped the company transition to North Carolina as part of the companies consolidation. After the company decided to move south, Larry chose to stay here to spend time with his family and grandson.

Larry has many career accolades including having one of his pictures featured in a trade magazine, helping develop a lamination procedure for Kevlar bulletproof vests, various car seat fabric embossing designs and designing and constructing an in-house wash down water treatment system that was replicated at a local water department.

Personally, Larry has many many interests. He is an avid musician who loves playing guitar and composing his own music. He loves nature and being outdoors on his canoe, hiking, and being on the beach. He also has enjoys woodworking, carpentry and construction (didn't I mention how he does it all?!) He loves creating something from start to finish!

Larry also has enjoyed the last 18+ months of his new Grandson. He feels really lucky and blessed to have him in his life. Any time he is around, all of his cares seem to go away. He is happily married to his wife of 32+ years, has raised two wonderful children, has a son-in-law(awesome guy!) and a soon to be daughter in law who have also joined his family. 

Influence 9/52Larry Kieffer Larry in his canoe at Lake Galena (Peace Valley Park)

Influence: 

Father-in-law, do-it-all, and one hell of a fun guy! Larry is one of those people who you want to be around all the time. He is fun, down to earth and good natured.

I met Larry a little over 12 years ago now when I took Ashley out on our first "date." He and his wife Debby have been such a huge influence in my life. At a time when I was stuck at home, working for my dad and grinding out night classes in college, they were a welcome relief to be around.

Larry is very kind and extremely talented. Want a beer? No problem, he picked up some that you like. Need help doing something? No problem, he'll be right over. Want to know the most obscure, random and completely useless information in the world? No problem, Larry knows everything! No, seriously, he knows everything. You somehow made it onto "Who Wants to be a Millionare?" I will give you Larry's number right now for phone a friend. Haha, guy just knows stuff!

Larry is also a stark contrast to my father. Larry just wants to have a good time and to relax. So it is a great contrast that I have with my father-in-law. Hanging out with my in-laws is a blast. They just want to have fun. I know some people just laughed out loud because they don't have the best relationships with their in-laws. It's funny because I obviously don't know any better. I think it's weird that other people don't like spending time with their in-laws!

One of my most memorable moments with Larry was during our wedding. At the reception, by the pool, Larry broke out his guitar. The DJ moved a microphone over to a chair where he was setup and Larry started playing. He was singing a song to Ashley and I. And not just any song from the radio. Larry made up his own song. He made up all of the lyrics and guitar notes himself. He played that song right there in front of everyone. It was an awesome song and he still sings that song every few weeks while we are over at their house. 6+ years later he still knows that song inside and out. See, that's Larry - he took his passion for music and his kids and turned it into something that we were able to enjoy. Thanks for being a great Dad, Larry!