My Story - Larry Lorenzen
Last Updated on 07/29/07

I got a music scholarship to the U of A out of high school. I tried to keep up the oboe commitments, play in a rock band and pursue an engineering degree but it didn't work out. I lost the scholarship so I put the oboe down. I joined the Arizona Air National Guard in '70 to avoid the draft. When I learned I wouldn't have been drafted anyway (lottery number too high) I got out. I quit college 12 units short of my engineering degree - burnt out. I worked with my father doing electronic repair and played guitar until '75 at which time I decided to pick up the oboe again (and put down the guitar) and pursue a degree in music composition.

In music school I met a flautist named Jan Butler (first cousin to Bruce Butler, class of '68) and we married in '79. I finished both degrees in '80 and went to work for Hughes aircraft in Tucson.

Mia and Larry

My son Richard was born in '81 and Matthew was born in '83. In '83 we moved to Phoenix where I went to work for Motorola. I picked up the guitar again and became a collector since I now have real job can afford some nice ones.

'86 through '88 was the worst time of my life. I lost my father, sister ( Lesli, class of '64) and mother to cancer in a span of 18 months. My close friends and family helped me through it and I tried to move on. I am still very close to my brother in law (Frank Stryker, owner of Silverbell Nursery in Tucson) and my niece, Blaire, and nephew, Jason.

I now spend my time playing guitar wherever the opportunity arrises and watching my boys grow. Richard is the basketball player I wished I was. He is a member of the Honor Society and plays varsity at Paradise Valley High School. Matthew is mean defenseman for his roller hockey team. He works at the local hockey shop and is the unfocused, joker screwball that I always was.

2004 – My sons are grown and attending college. Richard is working at a structural engineering firm and seeking a degree in construction management at ASU and Matthew is attending Mesa community college and working doing furniture repair and custom cabinetry. They share an apartment in Mesa and find time to play rock’n’roll with their Dad now and then.

I hired on at Fender Musical Instruments in Scottsdale in 2001 – a fox in a hen house. I design guitar amps and have greatly expanded my guitar collection. I am active in the Unitarian Universalist Church and also find time to jog and play oboe in the Scottsdale Community Orchestra.

I got divorced in 2007. Now that the kids are gone, we had little in common. I met a wonderful woman and pianist at church and we started playing music together and found we had a lot in common. We love music, movies, travel and each other. Mia and I married in May and are looking forward to spending the rest of life together.

Larry Lorenzen
llorenzen@fender.com