LEWISTON – It’s with a huge, heavy heart that we announce the passing of this amazing man. The angels from heaven came to get him early Sunday morning, June 14, 2020. Larry was born in Topsham to Elzeard and Josephine Brillant on Oct. 30, 1922. He grew up in Topsham and was the youngest of 11 children. He was often referred to by siblings as the baby of the family because he was.He was a brilliant man so his last name fit him perfectly. There wasn’t anything he couldn’t make either with metal since he was a machinist or with wood which was his hobby. Family was very important to Larry. He is known to be a kind, gentle, mild mannered, funny, sweet, considerate, helpful, well liked, loving man. At the age of 17, Larry joined the CCC: Civil Conservation Camps which he was proud of and helped build Sebago Lake Park. He made the coffee for his troop using water from Sebago Lake. After, he went to work at BIW and sometimes he and his buddies would go to the beer joint to get a glass of beer. He got himself a 1935 Harley Davidson Knucklehead and enjoyed riding it. Larry built his own house in Topsham and in 1945 met the love of his life Cecile Guay. They married in 1946 and were married for 55 years until she passed in 2002. He never dated afterwards.He worked as a loom fixer and weaver in the mills for a few years then they moved to California where he landed a job at Rocketdyne on a government job. No one at the time knew what they were working on because it was top secret but he worked on turbo thrust pumps and later learned they were used to lift the Apollo that went to the moon. He got to watch them test the rockets in the desert where they lifted from a huge hole. Although they stood a good distance away behind a fence, when the rocket lifted, Larry said the powerful force still pushed them back. They moved back to Maine in 1960 and in 1966 bought a home on Sixth Street in New Auburn and raised their two girls. He lived there alone until almost age 97 where he went to live at Clover Assisted Living in his own apartment until May 21 when he moved in with his daughter, Ann Marie. When asked how have you made it to live this long? He’d reply “I didn’t abuse my body”. He didn’t smoke, drink, nor eat fat and he exercised by golfing, riding his bike and working in the yard.He is survived by daughters, Ann Marie Perkins and her husband Jerome, Michelle Doyon and her husband Raymond; four grandchildren, Shaun Sturgis and his fiancee Katie Sardella, Amanda Splude and her husband Ben, Donnie Hamel and his companion Tammy Turcotte, Craig Hamel; and nine great-grandchildren, Benjamin Marquis and his wife Celeste, Natalie and Owen Hamel, Chase Joler, Jacob, Tyler, Elijah, Jazzlyn, and Lillyona Hamel, and Gabriella Sturgis; along with many nieces and nephews.He was predeceased by his wife, Cecile; and beloved first grandchild, Corey Laurent Sturgis, who was named after him and passed in 2004. They were extremely close. Larry was the last one to pass in his immediate family. A special thank you goes out to Tammy Turcotte RN at St Mary’s ED, Beacon Hospice Kayla, Beth and Chaplin Phil, and Nan Boucher ANP for your compassionate guidance. Online condolences and sharing of memories may be expressed at http://www.lynchbrothers.com .A Memorial Mass honoring Laurent’s life will be celebrated on Tuesday, June 23, at 11 a.m., the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul Church (upper church). Committal services will then follow at St. Peter’s Cemetery. There will not be any visitation. Arrangements by the Pinette Dillingham and Lynch Funeral Home 305 Alfred A. Plourde Parkway in Lewiston, 784-4023.

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