He was born on Jan. 10, 1939, in Budapest, Hungary.  His parents were Laszlo and Maria Rabai.  Larry and his mother escaped from Hungary in 1956 shortly after the death of his father.  They arrived in the United Stated on Christmas Eve.  Larry and his mother moved to New York City where he learned the English language by watching movies.  He would spend a day in the theater watching the same movie several times.

In 1959, Larry joined the US Army where he met his lifelong friend, Tomas Udvari.  He requested to be stationed in Germany but was sent to Schofield Barracks in Hawaii.  While in Hawaii, he was a mechanic in the motor pool and played the accordion in the entertainment unit, an instrument he had played since he was a child.

In November 1961, he became a US citizen and was discharged from the Army in December of the same year.  He moved back to New York to be near his mother.  In the mid-1960s, they both moved to Los Angeles.

Larry worked as a mechanic in Los Angeles.  He met his wife, Diana, in 1969 by offering to buy her dinner if he didn’t fix her car correctly.  They met again four months later when she stopped by the gas station.  Her car was still fine.

Larry and Diana were married December 19, 1970, and on May 10, 1973, their daughter, Katherine, was born.  They lived in California until 1981 when they moved to Kingman, AZ.

During his 26 years in Kingman, he worked at Dunton Motors, K-Mart and Stockton Hill Tire.  He also had his own mechanic shop for a couple of years, which he called Larry’s Car Care.  In 1993, Larry started work for the City of Bullhead.  Larry was happy every day he got to go to work, especially when he could ride his BMW motorcycle.

He liked and respected the people he worked with and loved learning new things about the city government.  He was proud of the job he was doing and loved getting a good deal.  For anyone who sold parts or equipment to him, he loved to get the “Larry Rabai Discount” which was usually lower than anyone else’s prices.

Larry belonged to the Rocky Mountain Fleeet Managers Association and was recently asked to be on the Policy and Procedures Committee for the American Public Works Association.  He was proud to be a member of the RMFMA and was honored to have been chosen for the APWA.

Larry loved his wife, daughter and new son-in-law, Patrick Fish.  He was also glad to have been welcomed so warmly into the Fish family and would be glad to know they will be taking care of his wife and daughter.

Larry loved his extended family and his friends.  He loved getting together for golf games, dinner and cards, and his special New Year’s Eve tradition of “sandwiches”.

Larry Rabai passed away April 16, 2006.  In lieu of flowers, please send a donation to the Kingman Hospital Foundation.