Larry A. Lonis 8/05/2022

 

 

 

Obituary for Larry A. Lonis

Larry Alan Lonis, 73, of Geneva, Illinois passed away peacefully on Friday evening August 5, 2022. He was born in Aurora, Illinois on January 28, 1949, to Walter and Lucille (Vandeveer) Lonis.

During his childhood he enjoyed spending summers with his Uncle Glen and Aunt Juanita in Glenwood, Missouri. He enjoyed camping, hiking, and horseback riding. As a teenager on a summer trip to Colorado to see his brother Walt, Larry was saved when he accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior and was baptized.

On his 19th birthday, January 28,1968 he went to a dance with his friends at “The Dungeon”, a teenage dance club in Aurora, Illinois. Unbeknownst to him, he would meet the love of his life and future wife, Roswitha Brendli. For him it was love at first sight and when he spotted her across the room, he turned to his friends and said, “See that girl, I’m going to marry her”. They ended up dancing together that night and he got her phone number. Love at first sight for him, and a growing relationship led to their engagement on Thanksgiving 1968. Rose worked while Larry went to college. They were married August 22, 1970, at Sacred Heart Church in Aurora, IL and started their married life living in North Aurora. Once Larry completed his undergraduate degree from Northern Illinois University in 1971, they started to plan their life together including children. They had three children together; David (1973), Melissa (1976), and Kristina (1977).

Larry was a graduate of West Aurora High School. During his educational years, Larry worked various jobs while trying to make ends meet. One of the more impactful jobs was working for Frank’s Service Station in Aurora. Larry managed the overnight shift and found out quickly this wasn’t for him when a car fell off the lift. No one was hurt except his ego, as he realized working with his hands was not his future. This motivated him to finish his undergraduate education in marketing and he pledged to never stop learning. He was driven to improve his quality of life and that of his family as well. He went on to earn his Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree at Northern Illinois University. Larry also became a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in 1977. He worked as an auditor for Belden and Cooper Industries in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Larry worked his way up through the accounting/banking ranks doing basic accounting services, auditing, managing banking portfolios, land management and real estate trusts, REITS, and became a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). In 1984, he began working for the First National Bank of Chicago. He worked through the mergers of First Chicago NBD (1995), Banc One (1998), and Chase (2004). In 2009, he made the difficult decision to leave and join Bank of America and never retired, working was a true passion of his. Based out of Chicago, Illinois, he traveled for work to various places around the globe. Some his most notable stops were India, and domestically Manhattan, New York and Columbus, Ohio. He was inspirational to countless team members and always took the time to help or volunteer to lead projects.

Larry was also an adjunct professor at DePaul University teaching graduate classes from 1993 thru 2020. He also taught for the CFA program around the world including in Thailand and Germany.

In November 2017, Larry was honored with a CFA Lifetime achievement award from the CFA Society.

Larry had many passions in life including family, faith, history, trains, traveling, music, and work. Larry had a sharp mind and was able to remember the smallest details of all his life experiences. Every week at family dinners he would comment on how wonderful someone was that he met, or how interesting a geographic location was, or how music made strong connects to life events. Larry’s catch phrase “It’s a beautiful thing” was typically preluded with his right hand touching his eyeglasses. This was his sign he was about to tell a story and to pay attention.

One of his biggest joys was becoming a grandfather. His grandson Tyler meant the world to Larry and was a true blessing. Larry was incredibly thankful to have a grandchild and blessed to have the energy to be active with him. They had many great excursions together, but his favorite was a train trip they took together to visit his brothers Walt and Jack in Colorado. His love of trains came from his father who was a train conductor. The clickety clack of the track was music to his ears. This explains why he did not mind the hour plus commute from Aurora to Chicago and back for work for over 35 years. For him it was time to relax and reflect on all his happy memories.

Larry was selfless and an inspiration to all who knew him. His life was full of accomplishments, but he was most proud of his ability to guide his family though the heartache of recent health issues.

He is preceded in death by his Parents, Walter and Lucille (Vandeveer) Lonis, and two brothers Jack Lonis and Dale Lonis.

He leaves behind to mourn his passing his wife of 51 years, Roswitha (Rose) and three children David Lonis, Melissa (Jaret) Adrian, and Kristina Laurie. One grandson, Tyler Adrian; one brother, Walt (Joanne) Lonis; two sisters-in-law, Kelly Brown Lonis and Cindy Lonis.