Updated with funeral arrangements below.
It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of our friend, our colleague, our family – Larry Allen Estlack. Larry passed away peacefully after a courageous battle with cancer early this morning, Monday, December 16. He was 64.
Larry started at the Michigan Association of Broadcasters in 2002 and during his time here, he oversaw all technical programs including the Alternative Broadcast Inspection Program for radio and TV stations and the MAB Engineering Hotline where many Michigan stations, and his engineering colleagues, counted on Larry for his engineering expertise to help them through all sorts of technical issues.
Larry was appointed by the FCC as the chairman of the Emergency Alert System in Michigan, a position he held for 21 years, and served as Chairman of the South Central EAS area since 1977. Larry was also appointed by the Governor of Michigan to the Michigan Citizen-Community Emergency Response Coordinating Council (MCCERC) and served on the Broadcast Warning Working Group (BWWG) nationally. He was always passionate about building better alliances between the Emergency Management community and broadcasters to improve public warning.
From 2008 to 2011 Larry worked tirelessly on five federal NOAA grants in coordination with Michigan State Police and Department of Natural Resources, to bring emergency alert sirens to five remote Northern Michigan state parks in an effort to keep all Michigan citizens safe, even while on vacation. Those efforts proved vital as the sirens saved 83 people during a severe storm at Muskallonge Lake State Park in September 2010.
In addition to his time at MAB, Larry had been involved in both radio and television engineering for more than 30 years. He received the Michigan Association of Broadcasters’ first Carl E. Lee Engineering Excellence Award, and was inducted into the Michigan Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2008. His passion for broadcast engineering went far beyond the station walls as he spent many hours training and educating future broadcast engineers. In addition, Larry was an active member of the Society of Broadcast Engineers Chapter 91, was certified as a Professional Broadcast Engineer and served as a frequency coordinator for much of the State.
Larry was a very genuine and passionate person, always caring, always giving to others before himself. He will be greatly missed by his family, fans, friends, and his MAB family. Services for Larry will be Saturday, Jan. 4th, 2014 at Estes-Leadley in downtown Lansing. Visitation will be 2-4pm, service to follow at 4pm. Wake details to be announced at service. In lieu of flowers, the family is asking for donations to Larry’s scholarship fund.
Finally, a few words from Larry himself recorded in December 2012 as part of the MAB holiday greeting: http://youtu.be/_ihhTlPjLxw