Obituaries

Lawrence Louis Wilsher was born on January 23, 1940 to William and Kathleen Wilsher in Detroit, Michigan. He was the oldest of their two children and is survived by his sister, Mary. When he was a child, his family moved to Royal Oak, Michigan, where he spent the rest of his childhood.

While attending Royal Oak schools, Larry was forced to transfer for his senior year due to the construction of a new school, Royal Oak Kimball. There, Larry worked in the library writing the numbers on the backs of the new books with a girl named Cynthia who would later ask him to the Sadie Hawkins dance. Before his graduation in 1958, they began dating. They married on November 11, 1961 and went on to enjoy 58 years of marriage together. They would welcome five children: William, Ann, Amy, Sarah, and Sally.

Larry went on to attend the University of Detroit and worked in a factory sweeping floors. Before he graduated, he acquired a job in a mail room at an advertising agency as a mail boy. He received many promotions and worked his way up in the company to become the second highest person in the financial department. He advertised for Pontiac and Cadillac where he purchased “trash and trinkets” as part of his job. He would often bring Ann to work with him on the weekends, a memory she treasures, and he would bring home advertising toys and jackets for the kids. When Larry was 55 years old, the company he worked for was bought out and he was forced to retire.

Larry was an entrepreneur ahead of his time when he founded his company, A Share Plus. He had an idea, rather than giving his grandchildren savings bonds as most people did in the late 1980s and early 1990s, he wanted to gift one share of stock because it could become a lifelong investment. He also wanted the stock to be art. In a news article from March of 1993, his business was dubbed “stock art” as he sold individual shares of stock with the certificate framed. Due to the nature of selling stock, the Securities and Exchange Commission required him to sell the one share of stock at more than two times the value of a single share. The first stocks he sold were Walt Disney. Larry soon expanded from selling only framed Walt Disney stock to McDonalds, Harley Davidson, and more.

Larry loved everything Disney. He was first able to take the family to Disney in 1976 when he successfully fought the city of Troy to pay him for his property during the 15 Mile Road widening. Larry hired an attorney and convinced the neighbors to go in on the lawsuit because the city wanted the residents to pay for the widening. All the money from the purchase of his front yard went to taking his family of 7 to Disney as they loaded up the station wagon and headed to Florida. He would later use his profits from A Share Plus to take all his children and grandchildren to Disney in 1993. In the 2000s, he was standing in line and some young children thought he was Santa Claus and were whispering about it. He just grinned and remarked he was on vacation with his family, going along with their idea much to their delight.

Larry and Cynthia travelled the world, from Hawaii to London to Australia for five and a half weeks in their trip of a lifetime. Larry and Cynthia had decided when they got married, they would one day take a trip to Australia - it was their dream vacation. Larry made enough profit from A Share Plus to make the trip a reality. But his favorite vacation spot was always the family cottage in Oscoda. There, he would often wade into the deep water with the kids on his shoulders.

Larry loved his 1957 Chevy convertible and always dreamt of another. He would cruise with his sister, Mary, and let her play the records she wanted. Later, his son William sat in the middle of the front seat where there was a hole cut in the floor for the shift and he would watch the cracks in the pavement go by as they drove.

Larry could figure anything out. The first time he and William did the Pinewood Derby race, they lost terribly. That day Larry watched the track and determined what they needed was more weight. The next year, he used screws to add weight and a visual appeal for headlights, rocket engine style exhaust, and in the engine area. The extra weight ended up being exactly what they needed to beat the competition.

With four daughters, Larry would often mix up the name of the one he wanted to talk to. This prompted to him to rattle off all their names - Ann, Amy, Sarah, Sally - so they would all come. Then he would be able to talk to the one he wanted.

In 1997 Larry stopped drinking and smoking. He has been sober since and was an avid Alcoholics Anonymous member. He was able to help several friends stop drinking and sponsored many people in their recovery. Larry carried his AA chip with him in his wallet and it was always a source of pride.

Every morning at 6:30, Larry could be found at Big Boy reading the Wall Street Journal and the Detroit News. When his granddaughter, Shelby was in kindergarten, he used to pick her up from school and take her to lunch at Big Boy and give her some pocket change to buy stickers. This was a highlight of her day.

Larry loved Star Wars and saw every movie. He was a homebody that enjoyed staying in and being on his computer. He also loved the University of Michigan and always watched the games on television, even in the 1960s.

He loved his family and was happy when everyone would get together, and he would just sit there and watch everyone. He was at his happiest when everyone was together and getting along. He loved being a grandparent and great-grandparent. When one of his grandchildren was a child, he would play store with her around the house, giving her old credit cards and coins to use to buy things around the house so she could use her little cash register.

Larry also had a sense of humor. When Ann was a child there was someone riding their bike down the sidewalk in front of the house. With the window open, Larry made a loud, monster-like noise and the person jumped and pedaled away as fast as they could. Larry and Ann laughed and laughed together about that.

Larry may not have regularly attended church, but he was very spiritual. He was very fond of Father Solanus and every year hoped he would make it to sainthood. He told his kids growing up that they may not go to church but there is a heaven and a hell and to always know the difference between right and wrong. More recently he would say, “I don’t care if it rains or freezes, as long as I have my plastic Jesus.”

Larry would want everyone to know his one life lesson. He would often recite the serenity prayer: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change those I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. After years of reciting that prayer, Larry figured out the secret to it - the part about the wisdom to know the difference. The difference between what you can and cannot change is simple. You cannot change people, you cannot change places, and you cannot change things. All you can change is yourself. Larry imparted that wisdom upon anyone that would listen and that advice is cherished every day.

The Funeral Mass will be on Friday, January 17, 2020 at 10:30 a.m. at Christ, Our Light! Catholic Church, 3077 Glouchester, Troy. Visitation at church begins at 9:30 a.m.

Memorial tributes to Capuchins or donor’s choice or Henry Ford Health System, The Howard Neff Fund for Vision Rehabilitation, c/o Dept of Ophthalmology, One Ford Place, Detroit, MI 48202 or online at http://henryfordgiving.com/giving.