Lawrence "Larry" Dunlap

Lawrence C. Dunlap, 82, of Rockford passed away November 27, 2023. Born January 5th, 1941, in Rockford, IL. to Leslie and Ida (Kothe) Dunlap. Larry attended Highland Grade School, Lincoln Junior High School and East High School before attending Northern Illinois University. In 1961, Larry joined the Army where he spent the next three years serving his country, part of which time he was stationed in Germany. In 1969, Larry married Nancy Bertchie, who predeceased him in 2011, and they had two daughters. Larry was a hard worker who was employed by the Rockford Printing Company for 18 years and Sundstrand Aviation for 32 years. Larry was also a long-time member of Christ United Methodist Church. Larry was a family man who had a great sense of humor, was proudly stubborn, enjoyed a good meal, was a wonderful storyteller, and loved animals. While he always considered himself a dog person, Larry most recently shared his home with a rescue cat named Buttons. One of his most prized possessions was a picture of him sitting on his bed with his hand resting on a lump in the covers. This was mostly all anyone else ever saw of Larry’s cat as she hid in his bed the entire time someone else was around. Larry loved his antisocial cat with all his heart!

Larry is survived by his daughter, Cathy (Steve) Dunlap and grandchildren, Selena and Daniel. Predeceased by his parents, wife, daughter Julie, and siblings Marion Hirtz, Effie Hudson and Richard Dunlap.

Visitation will be at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 16th at Fitzgerald Funeral Home, 3910 N. Rockton Avenue, Rockford, IL 61103, followed by a celebration of life service at 2:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, Larry previously suggested that he would like everyone to go adopt a shelter animal in his honor, but if that is not possible, his family suggests that memorial gifts may be made to either the Winnebago Animal Shelter or Christ United Methodist Church both located in Rockford, IL.