Lindgren memory to live on
Larry Lindgren, longtime owner of Lindgren’s Jewelery, passes away
Larry Lindgren, the longtime owner of Lindgren’s Jewelry, has died. He was 78. Lindgren was the patient who, on March 26, was reported as being treated for the coronavirus.
Lindgren was a local business owner, a long time member of the Lions Club, an avid golfer and a world traveler. In 2014, Lindgren’s Jewelers was honored by the Porterville Chamber of Commerce as the Business of the Year. Lindgren’s Jewelry was in business for 68 years before Lindgren announced his retirement at the time of receiving the Business of the Year honor in 2014.
“I’m very honored,” said Lindgren at the time when he received the Business of the Year Award in 2014. “I’m very honored,” Larry Lindgren said shyly. “When I was planning my retirement, I didn’t know this was coming up. Knowing what other businesses that have received the award, I feel honored.”
Lindgren’s Jewelry originally opened as Ekman’s Jewelry in 1946 and was located on Main Street. The business remained on Main Street in different locations throughout its entirety. In 1979, Lindgren took over the jewelry and the business was renamed to Lindgren’s Jewelry. Larry and his wife, Jennifer Lindgren, owned the business for more than 35 years. Country Pleasures, owned by Pam Hughes, was the neighboring business to Lindgren’s Jewelry while it was still in business.
“He was just a wonderful man,” said Hughes. “Always friendly to everybody. He always spoke kindly about every body and was nice. I remember when he got robbed and him and his dad were locked in the bathroom. I remember he came running through my back door and through the store shouting to call the police because he just got robbed. He ran out the door and after the person who had robbed him. He was just a wonderful man, and he’s going to be truly missed.”
Friends of Lindgren spoke nothing but the kindest words about him. A few shared some of their favorites memories with Lindgren before his passing.
“He was a great guy. I knew him for years from the Lions Club, and then of course with his business. He was a jeweler,” said Del Pengilly, a good friend of Lindgren’s. “My wife and I went to concerts with Larry and his wife Jennifer, and before that we would go out to eat. He was just a great guy. I went on a trip once to Sedona with him and we had a great time. I was still playing golf with him on a regular basis, on Wednesdays and Fridays. I just couldn’t say
anything but good about him. I just can’t believe that he’s not here anymore. He was a pretty strong guy and I thought he would make it, and unfortunately he didn’t. I’m really sorry for Jennifer and her family. I couldn’t pray for them more. He was such a swell family man.
Pengilly and Lindgren shared quite a bit of time together on different courses, where Pengilly says some of their favorite moments were spent together.
“Probably the best about that was he was a superior golfer,” said Pengilly. “We took him to Sedona and I was just a mediocre golfer then, and I remember how easily he could beat me.
Still it was so much fun being with him. He made it just like a game. Later on, we were competitive. It was just fun to be with him always. He was always one of the first ones there, even though he had to come from Porterville to River Island [Country Club]. He was always helpful.”
Dan Stadtherr, a fellow Lions Club member and friend of Lindgren’s briefly reminisced about some of the memories he shared with Lindgren over the years.
“My feeling right now is that Larry is about six years older then me, so he’s like a big brother to me,” said Stadtherr. “We’ve been fellow members of the Lions Club for many years, so we know each other very well. We’ve gone on trips with our families together and just been really good friends.”
John Buckton, another close friend to Lindgren, spoke of him in admiration and sorrow. Buckton’s voice shook with sadness during a phone interview on Wednesday afternoon.
“He was the most thoughtful, kindest person I’ve ever known,” said Buckton. “He had a great sense of humor, always had a joke. He was just a wonderful human being. There are so many memories. We did fishing trips year after year to Edison Lake up in the Sierras, and it was kind of a standard joke that Larry would always forget something. One year he forgot to bring a jacket and it got cold, so he took the sides out of a trash bag and wore that as a raincoat. One year he forgot an air mattress. It was always something, but he was just the nicest guy.”