Lawrence “Larry” F. McCabe, 82, St. Joseph

July 10, 1939 - August 25, 2021

Lawrence Francis McCabe, loving husband, father and grandfather, teacher, gardener, carpenter, baker, nature lover, glass blower, birdwatcher, and stargazer, passed away
Wednesday, August 25 at Quiet Oaks Hospice House in St. Cloud, surrounded by his family.

Lawrence was born July 10, 1939 in Madelia, MN, the 12th of 16 children of Osmond & Mary (Kreutzer) McCabe. He married Florence Aida Hershberger on August 22, 1966 in Levittown, New York and spent the next 55 years building a life with her. Lawrence and Aida lived for a time in Brainerd, MN and Moscow, ID, finally settling in Roseau, MN, where they raised 4 children. Lawrence taught high school science, including chemistry, physics, and computer science. He impressed his chemistry classes by making explosions and boiling water in a paper bag.

As a father and teacher, Lawrence enjoyed sharing his love of learning and fascination with the world and universe. From sub-atomic particles to far away constellations, he encouraged his children and students to pursue their own interests. He also taught by example the importance of caring for the earth and each other.

After Lawrence retired from teaching high school, he taught some college chemistry classes while he and Aida looked for a place to retire. They wanted to live near water, and finally settled on a lakeshore property near Spooner, WI. Their house on Potato Lake was his retirement project, and he used his carpentry skills to create a beautiful home. He was constantly working on further improvements, and his family enjoyed recurrent gatherings at their home.

Lawrence was a member of the Potato Lake Association in Spooner, in keeping with his love of nature and concern for the environment. He enjoyed spending time at the lake, fishing, vegetable gardening, camping, canoeing, baking sourdough bread, grilling, and he was a pie maker extraordinaire. For anyone visiting the cabin, anytime was a good time for pie!

Survivors include his wife, Florence Aida; children, Mary (Alex) Boyer, Larry, Theresa (John) Lau, and Suzanne (Garrett) Copeland; brothers and sisters, Gregory, Richard (Janice), Roy (Christine), Donald (Janis), Ellen (Ronald) Chapman and Jeanette (Richard) Kouba and sister-in-law Patricia L. McCabe; grandchildren, Jessica Copeland, Rae Boyer, Sebastian Lau and Charlotte Lau; and great granddaughter, Lillianna Brettin. Lawrence was preceded in death by his parents; brothers and spouses Myron (Avis), Carrol (Adelone), Clarence (Dorothy), Ramon and Kenneth; sisters and spouses Joan (Lyle) Hennis, Kathleen (Norman) Carstenson, Nona (Loren) Whiteman and Marian (Richard) Paul and sister-in-law Patricia A. McCabe.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, September 11, 2021 at Williams Dingmann Family Funeral Home in Sauk Rapids. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the funeral home.

Memorial donations may be made to St. Jude Children’s Hospital or to Conservation Minnesota:

https://www.stjude.org/donate/donate-to-st-jude.html?sc_icid=home-btn-donate-now
https://www.conservationminnesota.org/donate