Dementia might steal Larry Scheidt from us, but it can’t take the gift he gave Tacoma’s East Side

Larry Scheidt, a longtime East Side community organizer and local superman of sorts, should have been working with his hands last weekend.

Saturday was Green Tacoma Day — the annual event that invites volunteers throughout the city to roll up their sleeves, dig in the dirt and make Tacoma’s green spaces, well, a little bit greener.

It’s Scheidt’s kind of deal. An outdoor lover, he participated in it regularly throughout the years — particularly at McKinley Park, the expanse of trails, reflection ponds and stone structures he salvaged nearly single-handedly.

Instead, Scheidt was at an assisted-living facility not far from the mall — of all places — battling what his Lincoln High School sweetheart, longtime wife and partner in caring, Lynette, describes as the final stages of dementia.

“It’s just a waiting game,” Lynnette Scheidt said this week, by phone, stationed by her husband’s side. “It’s not going to be too long.”

Diagnosed in 2013, Larry Scheidt is only 66. It’s an age when he should be enjoying retirement with his wife, two daughters, four grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

Then again, Scheidt — who more than earned his “Mayor of McKinley” nickname — isn’t known for taking it easy.

He’s known for digging in and making a big difference, especially on the East Side.

While Scheidt’s lasting impact can be found in a number of places throughout the neighborhood, nowhere is it more evident than at McKinley Park.

“It’s all due to Larry,” said Metro Parks Executive Director Shon Sylvia when asked about McKinley Park and the impact Scheidt made there.

It’s high praise but no exaggeration.

Fifteen years ago, the park was overgrown with ivy and blackberry bushes, better known for harboring trouble than children and families. It was a far cry from the turn of the 20th century, before Interstate 5 cut through the city, when McKinley Park was seen as “a gem and the crown jewel” of Tacoma’s parks system, according to Mary Anderson, Metro Parks Tacoma natural resources manager.

“It used to be sort of a scary place,” Anderson recalled of the park back in 2003, putting it mildly.

That all started to change shortly after the formation of Friends of McKinley Park.

Then in 2009, as former News Tribune columnist Kathleen Merryman chronicled, Scheidt “kicked into high gear.”

McKinley Park is 24 acres of hillside, wetlands and native habitat. After years of neglect, there was plenty of work to be done.

Partnering with Metro Parks and the city, Scheidt was just the man for the job. He would arrive at McKinley Park before heading to work at the exterior design business he owned, clearing overgrowth and reclaiming trails, typically spreading the gravel himself.

He and Lynette organized weekly work parties, with volunteers feeding off what Merryman described as the couple’s “unflagging energy.”

By and by, dumpster after dumpster was filled, hauling out tons of debris and garbage that had accumulated from years of unauthorized encampments. At one point, 240 goats were brought in to help clear brush, though, by all accounts, the voracious animals had little on Larry.

Through it all, Scheidt remained steadfast in his dedication to the park — and, even more, to his community and his conviction that it deserved this particular space.

“I can’t even begin to convey the amount of impact Larry has had,” recalled former City Councilman Marty Campbell, who represented the East Side for eight years. “He dedicated years to this, not just a weekend.

“He would be out there working, all by himself, when no one was watching. It was leadership through example. He probably applied that more than anyone.”

Campbell is right. Scheidt’s work at McKinely took years, not days or months, but by 2014, according to Anderson, McKinley Park had been significantly restored.

“It is what it is because of him. No doubt about it,” Lynnette Scheidt said. “As soon as the sun came up, or even before, he was down there. He was determined.

“One of his main things was to make it safe for families. And he did.”

Scheidt was steadfastly committed to families and willing to take on even the tallest tasks on his community’s behalf. That’s what makes his current predicament so heartbreaking.

Now, when his own family needs it most, he’s unable provide the kind of help he provided others throughout his life.

Struggling with the cost of around-the-clock medical care, with the bills totaling $4,000 per month, Lynnette Scheidt acknowledges the stress is taking a toll.

“Four families are putting money together every month just to make it,” she said. “It’s crazy. We have to liquidate every single thing that I own.”

It’s not the way this story should end.

Rather, Scheidt’s story should fade out on a scene like one that transpired on a recent sunny morning, with mothers pushing their children in strollers along a McKinley Park path with a fitting name.

Larry’s Loop.

“He had so much energy. He was just a force. He was undaunted,” Anderson said of what Scheidt accomplished at McKinley Park. “I know he’s not gone, but some of who we know of him is gone, and we all miss that.

“Larry was one of a kind.”

This story was originally published October 17, 2018 at 4:32 PM.