Santa Cruz

Dr. Lawrence A. Edler passed away on April 29, 2024 at the age of 90 in Santa Cruz, California. Everyone called him Larry. Larry was born in St. Louis, Missouri on September 24, 1933. He grew up there with his parents Wilbert and Constance and his younger brother Alan. He graduated from Cleveland High School in St. Louis. While in high school, he worked part-time at BF Goodrich, played trumpet in the band, and participated in the youth group at the Lutheran church his family attended. Larry also played basketball on the church team, played piano, and was a member of the Boy Scouts.

Larry received his Bachelor’s degree from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. While at Bradley, he was a member of Theta Xi fraternity. He was on the wrestling team and was in ROTC. He also worked part-time for Motorola.

After graduating from Bradley, Larry served in the Air Force as a Squadron Commander. While at Williams Air Force Base in Arizona, he attended Arizona State University and received his Master’s degree in Education.

After leaving the Air Force, he moved to San Francisco to work as a professor at San Francisco State University. While living in San Francisco, Larry attended UC Berkeley and received his Doctorate in Education.

While working in San Francisco, Larry was offered the opportunity to start a Regional Occupational Program in Santa Cruz, so after graduating from UC Berkeley, he moved to Santa Cruz, where he lived for almost sixty years.

While living in Santa Cruz, Larry was a member of the City Council and served for one term as Mayor of Santa Cruz. He served on several committees, including the Sister City Committee. He also served on the Santa Cruz County Grand Jury. He was amember of the Chamber of Commerce. He was active with the Red Cross and served on adisaster action team. He was amember of the Dominican Hospital Board of Directors. He was a member of the Rotary Club in Santa Cruz. Larry retired from the Santa Cruz County Office of Education after working there for almost thirty years.

Larry had several hobbies, including woodworking, stamp and coin collecting, and ham radio. He built over thirty clocks, including seven grandfather clocks and numerous wall clocks. He built much of his own ham radio equipment and spoke to people all over the United States and approximately two hundred countries. Larry also traveled extensively in North America, Europe, and Asia. Another of his hobbies was genealogy, and he put in considerable work tracing his German ancestors. Larry was also a member of Messiah Lutheran Church in Santa Cruz.

Larry is survived by his three children, two sons-in-law, four grandchildren, and one niece. They are his daughter Elizabeth McCarley of San Jose, California, her husband Craig, and their children Connell and Darcey; his son Erik Edler of San Luis Obispo, California; his daughter Catherine Kregel of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, her husband Eric, and their children Carys and Ashlyn; and his niece Tracy Solak and her husband Jeffrey of The Woodlands, Texas.