Greenberry Friends Gather to Say Goodbye and Remember "Thor"

Smoldering cigars. Bad jokes. A deep understanding of God.

These were among the fragments of memories shared by 25 friends who gathered at twilight on the patio of Greenberrys Coffee Shop Wednesday night to remember their friend Thorbjorn "Thor" Rudd Larsen II who died suddenly Aug. 28.

"I think I found out about Lady Gaga from him," said Guy Schum, who runs a McLean graphics firm.

"This was the most curious guy since Pandora," said John Paul Johnson, long-time McLean resident, who loves poetry and literature.

"He knew more scripture than I did," said Diane Schum, a long-time resident and wife of Guy Schum. "He taught me how natural God is. . . I do look forward to seeing him again," she said.

The affectionate remembrances flowed for more than an hour. A circle of friends created at Greenberrys, speaking up randomly sharing fragments of their friend to form a mosaic of his life with them.

Greenberrys,the friendliest coffeeshop in downtown McLean, nurtures communities of friends who simply bond over coffee because they are regulars who come to know each other.

Larsen, tall, perennially tanned and fit, was part of one of these communities, an eclectic group of Greenberry regulars. A long-time McLean real estate appraiser, born in Pittsburgh, Larsen, 65, died suddenly Aug. 28 while visiting a friend, Sharon Grant, in Takoma Park.

"He loved his (three) children and he was a grandfather," said Louisa Pelz, of McLean.

"I didn't understand all of his jokes but I liked the way he told them," recalled Amin Bonnah, a professor of Arabic at Georgetown University.

"We shared a love of jazz, said Joe Gerstner, McLean's well-known electrician and Greenberrys regular.

"He was really into the latest gadgetry," said Owen Epstein, a telecommunications expert, who organized the remembrance.

"Thor was the first person we knew who was friends with the ambassador to Fiji," said Terrence Brown, a patent attorney. Grant and others recalled that Larsen visited Fiji and simply fell in love with it.

Another passion: Morgans, hand-made British motor cars. "He loved those cars. He loved his kids. He was a good friend in fair weather and foul. I knew him for about 30 years. . . Few people have given me such a variety of experiences," said an unidentified friend.

Others recalled more stories and testimonies as the darkness began to shroud the remembrance-gathering. After an hour, all the goodbyes had been said.

Someone suggested a picture as a souvenir of the gathering. As people gathered Prof. Bonnah wrote:

"I knew him right here in this Greenberrys patio. But I met his inspiring smile long before I began to speak with him. Now he is gone but his smile remains with me and it still inspires."