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Barry LarockAssistant GM & Video Coach
by Gordon Gibb When he was 9, doctors told his parents their son—born with a heart condition—would likely not see 30. Barry Larock fooled them all. But more than that, for a man who endured six open-heart surgeries he lived with such heart and passion. It wasn't his heart that claimed Barry in the end, but a rare form of cancer that he had battled over four long years. Hard. He gave it everything he had—which is how he lived his life. Barry—'Rocko', or 'Rocky' to his friends—has been a part of my life for some 25 years. He married Jennifer, who has known my wife since their college days at Loyalist in Belleville. They've been over to our place for dinner and we, over to theirs. They've been up to our various summer places over the years. We were there when they got married, we were there when Trent was born and we've watched him grow up. Trent and my son Braeden have been lifelong friends. And there are hundreds of stories like mine. Everybody knew and loved Rocko, and he knew everybody. At one time he worked at Peterborough This Week as their sports writer. Later he worked as a recreationist for the City of Peterborough. But Barry was a sports guy and avid lacrosse fan and supporter. Trent plays. And Barry was a valued member of the Peterborough Lakers family. He'd had a rough winter in 2010, after the experimental treatments he had dared to try—to fight the horrendous disease that was ravaging his body if not his soul and spirit—stopped working. With medical intervention no longer an option, he was left to let nature take its course and acknowledge his fate. I say acknowledge. Note I didn’t say surrender. With the possible exception of his wife and son, to whom he surrendered fully and completely, Barry Larock refused to surrender to anything. He may have been resigned to it, as we are all resigned to our respective fates one day—but surrender was not in his vocabulary. I knew he would be acknowledged at the Lakers home opener in May 2010. But I didn't expect to see him. Throughout the spring he had been spending increasing amounts of time at home, hooked up to oxygen. I had last spoken with him a few weeks prior when I picked up my son from a sleepover at Trent's house. Rocko, in PJs and dragging an oxygen tube, made sure he came out to say hello. That was Rocko. A people person to the end.
And when I looked up during that evening in May at the Memorial Center, there he was. In one of the suites. Rocko was part of the Lakers family, after all. A vital part. An irreplaceable part. There was no way he was going to miss it. I tried to get his attention, but he was too focused on the game, sitting up there in the box next to the corner Molson suite, lights off, together with a few friends and team staff. I would have gone over between periods to say hello, but he looked tired and there would have been a lot of people in that building pressing to greet him. I just would have been just one more. So I held back, and simply continued waving to get his attention. I never did… He was at a ball game just a few days before he died. It was the Westmount tournament at Morrow Park and Trent was pitching. There was no way he was going to miss seeing his son play. There he was, with his oxygen, enjoying a nice sunny day and a game or two of ball from the stands. In hindsight, just 5 days before the end came, it must have taken a superhuman effort for him to be there. But that's the kind of father he was. Barry Larock was a man who succeeded in building, and leaving a legacy we would all be proud to foster. This was a man who touched many, many lives in this community, and beyond. For a man who faced so many personal challenges, he rose above them time and time again with a strength and stubbornness that would put us all to shame. Of course, those latter two qualities he came by honestly through his parents, Lorraine and Patrick. Pat has since joined his son in the Hereafter. Barry embraced life and those around him. Perhaps it was because he had to work so hard to get here. He had his first of six open-heart surgeries at the age of 2. In his 45 years, he accomplished more than many people would in several lifetimes. He will forever be a part of the Lakers family. A true fan of the game, Barry was instrumental in helping to build the current Lakers dynasty. It is fitting, in a drive to the championship that the team dedicated to Barry last year that the Lakers won the Mann Cup in 2010, at home, in front of record crowds. Crowds that Barry Larock helped to build. A series, and a championship season, for the ages. It was also, and always will be, for Barry. |
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2011 WINNERS |
