CLEARLAKE OAKS – On Monday, as friends and colleagues remembered former District 2 Supervisors Carl Larson, the word that kept coming up was “gentleman.”
Larson, a three-term supervisor, died Sunday. He was 81 years old.
County Administrative Officer Kelly Cox called Larson “one of the finest people I have ever known,” and someone who wanted to be a supervisor for all the right reasons.
Larson didn't take on the job for personal gain or to satisfy his ego. “He just wanted to do something good for Lake County and he worked very hard at it,” said Cox.
Former District 4 Supervisor Karan Mackey called Larson a “spectacular board member” whose quiet, reserved exterior belied a man who did his homework, knew the issues and, above all, always was a gentleman, even in the face of disagreements with colleagues.
“He never lost his temper like I would once in a while,” Mackey said.
In February 1981 then-Gov. Jerry Brown appointed Larson to the District 2 supervisorial seat that became vacant upon the death of Supervisor Bill Whalen.
The following year Larson ran unopposed and was elected to a full term, at the end of which he decided not to seek reelection, retiring in 1987.
However, whether he knew it or not, Larson was far from done with public service.
Several years later, friends and supports talked him into leaving retirement and running for supervisor once more. He was elected to his final term in 1994 and took office again in January 1995. He would leave office for the final time four years later when the current District 2 supervisor, Jeff Smith, succeeded him.
Born in the Midwest in 1928 and raised in Oklahoma, Larson served his career in the US Air Force. While stationed in England he met his future wife, Mavis. Not long before his death he and his wife had celebrated their 57th anniversary.
The couple came to Lake County after he retired from the Air Force in 1974. They had built a home in Clearlake Park, but later moved to Clearlake Oaks, where they've lived since 1982.
Voris Brumfield, who today works as the county's code compliance manager, served on the Board of Supervisors, representing District 1, during Larson's tenure. She first arrived on the board in 1984.
Larson represented his constituents well, and was supportive of his colleagues on the board, as well as being caring and sincere, said Brumfield.
She said he was first a gentleman. And, she added, “he knew his stuff.”
He was also sensitive and sensible, Brumfield said. “He wasn't very showy. He didn't do a lot of grandstanding.”
Retired District 1 Supervisor Ed Robey said he considered Larson a friend and respected colleague.
They worked together closely on many issues, and shared a fiscally conservative outlook. Robey remembered that at one point they were the only two board members who voted against the state's marijuana eradication program, “because we both felt that it was not solving the problem.”
They then came up with the idea of sending a letter to state representatives, asking them for permission to spend the program's money more effectively, a practice the board has continued in recent years.
Larson said about that issue that they couldn't wait for change to come from the top, but needed to be willing to push for change from the local level, said Robey.
“He said, 'If we had waited for change to come from the top we would still be part of the British Empire,'” Robey recalled.
Larson had a quiet strength, said Robey, and was serious, but not somber.
“He did a good job representing his district and he wasn't afraid to take a strong position on things he believed in,” said Robey. “In other words, he wasn't a politician in the negative sense. He was a community leader.”
Mackey, who joined the board in 1985, said Larson was a very private person, so for him to give so much of his time to community service was a sign of his commitment. She said she was especially impressed that he was willing to come out of retirement to run again.
Mavis was very supportive of her husband's effort, said Mackey, who is an Anglophile who recalled that her first English scone was a recipe Mavis and her husband shared.
There was much about Larson that people didn't realize, such as his people-oriented nature, said Mackey.
“It was a real joy to work with Carl,” she said. “And we didn't always get along, mind you.”
Cox said he believed everyone respected Larson, who spent a lot of time in the courthouse working with county staff. Larson was “solid as a rock and told it like it was, even if that might upset certain individuals.”
They used to have great debates, but Cox said Larson never lost his cool or showed any indication of disrespect toward others, whose opinions he valued.
“He gave me a lot of good advice during the early years of my career in Lake County and I learned lessons from him that are still helping me today,” Cox said.
There also was a fun side to Larson, who everyone remembered as being a major fan of Fleetwood Mac and singer Stevie Nicks.
Mackey said he would turn his radio up and blast it when Nicks came on the radio.
“That was the part that really just cracked you up, that he was in love with Stevie Nicks,” said Brumfield, adding, “Still waters run deep.”
Mackey said Brumfield was very much a gentleman, “except for that Stevie Nicks thing,” she joked.
In addition to his service on the Board of Supervisors – which he also chaired – Larson was a member of the Lake County Planning Commission along with other committees, commissions and joint powers authority governing boards.
After his second try at retirement, Larson was a volunteer board member for the SPCA of Clear Lake and the SPCA Endowment Fund Board, and served as a director of the Redbud Health Care District.
Larson, true to his private nature, requested that no services be held. Instead, his family has requested that donations in his memory be made to the SPCA of Clear Lake or to the local charity of one's choice.
To see Larson's obituary, click here: Carl M. Larson, 1928-2010 .
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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