Larry Joseph Mashek

Family and friends are saddened at the death of Larry Joseph Mashek of West, on November 8, 2016, at the Veterans Community Living Center in Waco. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 10:00 a.m. Monday, November 14, 2016 at St. Marys Church of Assumption of West, with Rev. Paul Hudson as celebrant. Military Graveside Rites will follow at St. Marys Cemetery, conducted by the West Veterans Honor Guard. The family will receive visitors from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Sunday at Aderhold Funeral Home. Larry was an unexpected surprise when he was born May 9, 1947. His mother Mary Eleanor (Morgan) Mashek and father Jerry Mashek, Sr. knew they were expecting a baby but didnt know there were two buns in the oven. Imagine their surprise after Larrys twin brother Jerry Jr. was born when here came another. Jerry and Larry might have been tagged Double Trouble but Sister Denise can verify her first year of teaching first grade was a triple challenge with three sets of twins in the same classroom. Larry grew up in West, attended St. Marys School, and graduated from West High School in 1965. He attended Hill College but his college days were cut short when he was called to serve in the United States Army. After basic training at Fort Polk, LA, Larry was soon fighting in the jungles of Vietnam where he was wounded, recovered, and soon returned to the battlefield. After another close brush with the enemy, Larry returned home in 1967 with a Purple Heart honoring his service to his country. After his honorable discharge from the army, Larry worked for several years in advertising and sales with Louis Glazer at Glazer Wholesale Distributors in Dallas. He moved back to West in the 1980s as owner and operator of Bearkats Bottle Shop. He later returned to Dallas to continue his career in the wholesale liquor business until his retirement, when he again returned to his hometown of West. During his lifetime, Larry was an avid deer, wild turkey, and dove hunter, especially at his beloved deer lease near Evant. He enjoyed landscaping, gardening, collecting art, and good times with his friends and family. His claim to fame happened early in Larrys life when an innocent move with his first BB gun triggered him to shoot one of the bad guys sneaking up on the Lone Ranger. The result was a shattered TV screen which just happened to be the Mashek familys very first television set that Christmas. Larrys sharp-shooter incident made the front page of the Waco newspaper, but that didnt keep him from remaining an avid fan of watching old westerns for the rest of his life. Larry is preceded in death by his parents, and twin brother Jerry Mashek, Jr. He leaves behind two sisters, Betty (Mashek) Ingram Bankston and husband Wesley of Dallas, Margie (Mashek) Davis and husband San of Italy, TX, and a brother Joe Mashek of West. Every Christmas Larry was lovingly called "Uncle Scrooge" by his two nieces, Susan (Ingram) Lacina and Shannon (Ingram) Dawson, and four nephews Clint Mashek, Curtis Mashek, Derek San Davis and Trevor Guy Davis. Larry also leaves behind many special friends and relatives in West and Dallas, but Larrys all-time best friend, Cheryl (Glatter) Marak was his most cherished. Pallbearers are Nephews, Derek and Trevor Davis, and life-long friends, Jimbo Kolacek, Ronnie Pustejovsky, Bill Wolf and Kenny Ochs. Honorary pallbearers are Cheryl Marak, Jim Bisson, Tommy Wolf, Clint Mashek, Curtis Mashek, and Jane (Mashek) Conoley, Pat Wolf, Ron McCartney and Denny Ochs. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. Judes Childrens Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105 or to the charity of your choice.