OXFORD — “No” wasn’t in Larry Fournier’s vocabulary. 

“He had the drive and the desire. I’m fortunate enough to have that from him,” Fournier’s son, Dennis Fournier, recently said. 

Laurier “Larry” Fournier, who passed away April 21, 2013, at age 82, suffered from polio but never let the crippling disease define him. He led a vibrant life filled with charity organizations, family and his beloved golf. 

In his memory, the local snowmobile club, the Rock O’Dundee Riders, has started a charity ride and spaghetti dinner to raise money and awareness for children with crippling conditions. 

The dinner will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, at the American Legion Post 112 at 169 King St. Participants are encouraged to ride their snowmobiles — one of Larry’s favorite pastimes — to the event. The meal costs $8 for adults, $5 for children and teenagers. Families can eat for $25. Additional donations are welcome.

All proceeds will go toward scholarships at the Pine Tree Camp, a summer camp in Rome for children with disabilities. 

Fournier wrote his autobiography in 1988 named after his motto “I did it! So can you!” detailing his life with polio, which he had suffered since a young age. He also write about the normal life he constructed in spite of needing to use crutches, having one of his legs fused straight at the knee and being unable to move some of his limbs. 

Fournier’s physical limitations didn’t daunt him, Dennis said, and the autobiography starts with these words: “Had my mother been a different type of person, I might well have become disabled or disadvantaged — but since such words were not in her vocabulary, they also were never in mine.” 

By all indications, Fournier meant them and rebelled against adversity. He worked as a trucker, then owned the Handy Store in Paris, now Doughboys Variety, before retiring in 1980. He pursued golf, playing on national television and in pro-golf tournaments. At one time, he was sponsored by both Ping and Daiwa golf companies. 

“He didn’t want to be treated differently and nothing pleased him more than to beat you if you had a pair of legs,” Dennis said. 

Dennis said he wanted to give back to the camp his father stayed at, then served as a camp counselor because it had meant so much to his dad. 

“He saw kids in worse condition than himself, and it snapped him right around,”  Dennis said.

Growing up, Dennis said that his father would pitch him baseballs, shoot hoops with him or toss a football.

Dennis, who owns Polly’s Variety in Oxford, said they bonded over fishing trips. In the winter, a snowmobile represented freedom from the treacherous, slippery winters. 

“I didn’t know my father was handicapped until I was about 25,” Dennis said.

ccrosby@sunmediagroup.net 

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