Obituary of Lawrence Peter Stampfl

Lawrence Stampfl passed away Thursday, April 20, 2023, in Jackson, CA at the age of 81 years old. He was born in Queens Village, NY at Irwin Sanitarium on Sept 30, 1941, to parents, Alphonse (Frank) and Helen Stampfl.

He attended Sacred Heart grammar school and was a member of the very first graduating class of Holy Cross High School in Flushing, NY. After graduating, he attended one semester at Parks College inSt. Louis, MO before joining the Marine Corp where he requested for air division and was given the choice to join Pappy Boyington's group in Hawaii (although Pappy was no longer in the service), as it was only a 2-year stint. There he served as a jet engine mechanic. Many, many years later, while living in Jackson, Pappy showed up for a special air day at the local airport and gladly signed Larry's photo of his squadron. After serving two years he returned home to serve his last year at Cherry Point, North Carolina, first with one month's vacation. During the first week of vacation his next-door buddy had met a couple of gals in the previous week and needed Larry to double date. Thus, on a blind date he meets his future wife, Marjorie Lefever, who had, a month earlier, arrived in NY after driving across the states from CA with her two friends. This led to a 4-year courtship then marriage on Oct. 29, 1966. Upon leaving the service he joined his dad at a firm that made jet engine test equipment for a couple of years then tried out for Nassau County Police Force, serving in the town of Floral Park. Desiring to attend college, he attempted for a long time to acquire shifts that would afford this and not finding acceptance, quit the force, and joined Potter Instrument in Farmington, NY, a college town. After 2 years he moved to CW Post where he finished his degree in business. This college was created by a donation of land and buildings from Marjorie Weather Post, thus CW Post. Following graduation, he took a few days off to replace our bathroom (always a very good handyman), applied to GE and reluctantly took the job offered, its only requirement was to sit in a very small room just to satisfy the required-by-law position, and just two days after he accepted a job at PRD Electronics as quality control engineer. Truly enjoyed traveling to different states to check products being produced for PRD and the VAST Operational system for our Navy ships. He traveled to Mississippi (tallest and skinniest trees he ever saw), Minnesota (where his boss took him out, in minus degree weather, ice fishing), and upper New York State where the owner was a former boss of his from Potter Instrument. The only problem with this job was that he would be gone for a week at a time, and then return to company with his secty providing him with very heavy correspondence (laden with whiteout). A decision was made to move to CA as he'd been stationed there for several months while in service and loved the weather, thinking he'd return someday. Didn't hurt his decision by marrying a gal from there. The move was made in August of 1976 to Jackson, where Marje's parents lived and where she grew up. Dropping belongings in the backyard, they took a trip through WA, Minnesota, Kansas visiting old roommates, friends, etc. Then spent a week in San Diego, with former NYC workmate of Marje's, and then in SF with a gal she moved to NY with, while looking for a biz they could purchase, tired of working for others. The decision was SD, but upon arriving back in Jackson, a great aunt working for Chamber in Placerville told of a motel for sale and they might be interested. Chatted with the owner but had no idea if the price would be right. On the way back to Jackson they passed another small motel and went to ask for a comparison. The owners had just that week decided to sell, thus beginning 38 years of ownership, and doing all the work with the Linda Vista Motel. Fantastic experience, wonderful customers - went through 3 generations of several groups. Became bored with only 10 rooms so added 21 additional rooms and by July of 2014 decided it was time to retire. In 2002 they purchased a house with a view of their dreams and although Larry often asked 'who said I wanted to be a farmer' truly enjoyed using his tractor and cutting wood that fell. He is survived by his wife, Marje Stampfl of Jackson, CA, brother, Thomas and his wife, of LA, of Houston, TX and numerous nieces and nephews in Carmel, New Jersey and North Carolina, cousins in Los Angeles and Florida.