Larry and Susan Fukunaga
Sad news: Larry Fukunaga, long-time chief engineer at Det 8, 1369 AVS, Hill AFB, UT (now 2nd Combat Camera Squadron) and the technical brains behind the decades of cutting-edge technology in Air Force video production, lost his battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 67.
I hope he’s having a cigarette and a cup of coffee with the Good Lord in heaven right now. Thoughts and prayers with Susan, his wonderful, bright, fun wife. They were a perfect match and avid golfers. RIP Larry.
I don’t have much information at this point, so I will update this as I get additional information. Long-time chief of production at Det 8, Bill Harris, added the following:
“I just returned home and there was a voice message. Dean Komatsu (who worked with Larry and replaced Larry when he retired) told me that Larry had passed away on Monday evening as a result of Pancreatic Cancer.
Susan and family have opted for a private funeral service.
Cards may be sent to Susan, who is a former admin. specialist and den mother of Det 8, at her address:
Susan Fukunaga
231 Rose Anne Cr.
Pleasant View UT 84414-2225
Larry’s friendship is a thread that runs through my entire career and post career. We didn’t start off eye-to-eye however. When I was a “junior” 1st Lt., I went to Det 8 TDY from our newest AAVS TV det at Nellis, Det 3. I was getting ready to start some training production in the studio and I had just posted a hand-written sign on the monitor that read, “NO SMOKING.” At the time, smoking was permitted everywhere, or so it seemed. Larry walked (stomped?) in and grabbed the sign. He crumpled it up grumbling something about not taping anything on the equipment. That was the rocky start of a long, deep friendship.
Larry’s life is one of excellence in all he did. I will have much more to add as I talk to Susan and Dean to clarify my memories. I’m sure he’s wiring Heaven with some new equipment, tearing down signs anyone may have taped to the equipment, and mentoring anyone who asks or shows a need.
I know Larry started at Det 8 as an Airman, but I want to get the facts straight as I should as a DINFOS-trained journalist. He, Dean, Bill Harris and Billy Devlin were the perfect storm that made Det 8 the incredible production house that it was, and a great place to work and learn.
Update 6 Sept 2012 – Larry came to Hill right out of tech school. It was July 1967 and 1st Lt. Bill Harris was the chief of Operating Location 1, 365 photo Sq. Bill says right away they recognized Larry’s talent. When his enlistment was up, Larry chose to separate with no definite plans.
“This kid was a wizard,” Bill Harris said recently, “we realized we couldn’t operate at the professional level we were at without Larry. We jumped through hoops to get Larry to stay. He worked so well with everyone.”
Well, Bill was a bit of a wizard too, and he convinced the Air Logistics Center, the host command, that the TV production mission couldn’t work without Larry. They got Larry a wage-grade position with the ALC and detailed him to the Det. (Not sure when they changed from an OL to a detachment.) At some point Larry got a GS-9 position around the time the unit got one of the “white whales” equipped with 2-inch Ampex VTRs, the state of the art in video recording. I recall the cost of one reel of tape: $100 for 1-hour of recording!
Larry’s career touched so many lives. Bill and I reminisced what a great professional and personal friend we had in Larry. Not a technical decision over the years was made without Larry’s stamp of approval. I had the privilege of being the Det 8 commander during the transition to 1-inch editing suites with Avid editing. It was an exciting time.
– Frank Urben, former Det 8 commander, former PAO, former DINFOS instructor. See you in Charleston.