Larry Meuwissen
By Barb Van Eyll
Larry Meuwissen, the Honorable Judge Meuwissen, was raised in Chaska, the son of Gene and Rose Meuwissen, eldest of 10 (7 boys, 3 girls) children. The family with the first 3 kids lived in a small house on the west side (3rd Street between Elm and Hickory) of Chaska, sharing the kitchen and 1 bathroom with the owner of the house. In 1953 when Rose was expecting a set of twins, they built a new house on the east side of Chaska, at the end of 6th Street.
Larry remembers his dad was nicknamed “Hollywood” because he always wore sunglasses while serving as the scorekeeper for the Cubs. Before the games on Sunday afternoons. Gene would grill hamburgers for the family and, giving their mom a break, he took the older kids to Athletic Park for the game.
Larry attended Guardian Angels grade school. Not being a fan of how the nuns meted out discipline, he convinced his mother that he was interested in woodworking. Since GA did not offer shop, his mom agreed to let him attend Chaska High School. Once there, he took only one shop class (a required course in 9th grade) and excelled in math and science. Having little interest in sports, he joined the choir because “that’s where all the girls were.”
Growing up, Larry always had a job because with a family of 10 kids, there never was an allowance. He mowed neighbors’ lawns and had a paper route. He worked for Royal Linne, owner of the Chaska Bakery, from whom he learned a great deal about plumbing and electricity. One summer, he helped paint the grandstand at Athletic Park and, in another year, along with Skip Rief, painted the inside and outside of Pearson and Gastler’s new furniture building. He spent one year after college teaching Chemistry and Physics at Waconia High School, but decided to enter Law school. He then worked as a bookkeeper for Milfred Pauly at the Chaska Marine until landing a legal assistant job at a Law firm in Richfield.
Larry has great memories of growing up in Chaska. Where the Carver County Government Center now stands, he and his neighborhood buddies Lee Roepke, Todd and Tim Helmecke, the Englehardt boys and the Brandenberg twins would trek off through the woods where they had discovered 8 tunnels with tracks and carts used by the Howe Brickyard that had been located there. They would race through these tunnels with someone in the cart to the end of the tunnel, a wonder that no one ever suffered serious injury. They also found a stash of someone’s off-color magazines in these tunnels. In the woods behind Cuzzy’s there was a train track along with an abandoned steam engine that had been used by the brickyards. Larry loved playing and imagining running this steam engine so much that in May of 2019 he actually wrote a two-part poem “An Ode to the Old 471,” this also includes pictures of the steam engine.
After his 1965 graduation from CHS, he attended the University of Minnesota graduating with honors in 1969. In 1970, he entered law school at William Mitchell in Saint Paul, where he graduated with honors in 1974. He practiced law in Minneapolis, focusing on workers compensation and personal injury litigation for three years.
In 1977, he went to Washington D.C. to work as a trial attorney in the US Department of Justice. During his years in Washington, Larry tried cases in Federal Courts all over the country, and as far afield as Guam and the Virgin Islands. He still found time to earn an advanced degree in Tax Law from Georgetown University, graduating in 1980. He returned to Minnesota in 1986 and worked in a number of different firms as a litigator until returning to government service. Larry became an Administrative Law Judge for the US Department of the Interior in 1997. In 2001, he became a Judge for the US Social Security Administration until his retirement in 2015.
Larry has been married to Joyce Maddox for 31 years. They reside in a Queen Ann style home on the Mississippi River bluff, just east of downtown St. Paul. He has spent many hours restoring and renovating the home and its surrounds. Together, they have 4 children from prior marriages: Larry’s 2 daughters, and Joyce’s son and daughter, whose daughter and son are their only grandchildren.
They have traveled to 103 countries (so far), his favorite probably being their 2017 trip to Myanmar in Southeast Asia. They experienced a hot air balloon ride over the small village of Bagan flying silently above hundreds of pagodas, temples, and stupas (Buddhist commemorative monuments housing sacred relics.) One trip that stands out for him though, is a road trip to Montreal, Canada with his best friend, Dana Kamerud, just after high school graduation. They had a pup tent and sleeping bags along with a notarized note from Larry’s father that gave his permission to travel to Canada in his father’s car. He has listened to classical music daily for many years, but one of his favorite tunes is Lee Marvin’s song, “I was born under a wandering star,” from the movie, “Paint your Wagon.”
Larry greatly enjoys getting together with his high school friends. His long-term plans are to someday return to the Chaska area and, perhaps, reside at Chaska Heights Senior Living. To that, we would gladly welcome him as a volunteer at the History Center.
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