'Running through Heaven'

At Sen. Tom Udall's weekly reception in Washington, D.C.

Larry is running through heaven right now and has fought an heroic fight with cancer. -from Ellen Buelow's Facebook post on March 8, 2019.

Larry Buelow was one of the healthiest persons I knew. He tried to eat right and he exercised frequently. His favorite type of activity was running. In fact, he was part of a local running club.

Exercise gave us a common theme to discuss. I try to work out as frequently as I can, but I hardly seemed to achieve the same results as Larry, who seemed like a very fit guy.

Larry was a strong supporter of our anti-hunger efforts. He mostly worked from the sidelines, while Ellen was the one who became involved directly in our Bread for the World and Interfaith Hunger Coalition committees and the active work of ending hunger. Larry often offered the support we needed. He recorded some of the speakers for our local celebration of Bread for the World;s 35th anniversary and then posted the videos on his vimeo account. One year, Larry also recorded Rev. Bob Campbell, the former pastor of  Our Lady of our Most Holy Rosary Catholic Community, endorsing our Offering of Letters campaign

Panel with Amanda Dezan (Oxfam), Larry and Ellen Buelow

An advocate for advocacy
Larry enjoyed the legislative advocacy process, participating several years in Bread for the World's Lobby Day. He was also very willing to share his insights and expertise regarding our roles as citizen advocates.

In our 2017, Offering of Letters workshop, he and Ellen were part of a panel of local anti-hunger advocates who spoke about their experiences connecting with elected officials.

Very often, our visits to congressional offices were with legislative aides (whom we got to know well). But Larry and Ellen were fond of speaking about their encounter with then Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham on an airplane coming back to Albuquerque. They conversed about the ask of the year's Offering of Letters, which Rep. Lujan Grisham wholeheartedly supported. Larry, a lifelong Republican, was a strong believer that hunger can be best addressed in a bipartisan manner.

Larry participated in a local Lobby day in 2017

One of the last times I had a chance to spend a meaningful amount was in March of 2018, when we walked from the Roundhouse  to a coffee shop in Santa Fe. Instead of just picking up coffee, we had chance to sit down and chat on a variety of subjects related to hunger and politics and his work with refugees via Catholic Charities.

We happened to be in Santa Fe for End Hunger Day, and also to connect with the lead sponsors of House Memorial 90, which proposed the creation of a Hunger Council to address hunger in New Mexico in a comprehensive manner and on a long-term basis.

Larry was unable to join us in March 2019, when House Memorial 65 not only reaffirmed the existence of hunger council, but also provided for the creation of a hunger caucus, led by Rep. Joanne Ferrary (a co-sponsor of both HM90 and HM 65). Even though he was unable to join us, Ellen was there in Santa Fe, offering not only her support but that of Larry. That was on the Tuesday before he passed away.

Larry will be greatly missed. and our efforts to end hunger in New Mexico, in our country, and around the world are stronger because of his participation. We continue our anti-hunger work with his strong blessing.