‘A second father’: Larry Gebert’s coworkers recall his openness, kindness, holiday meals
There’s a lot that Larry Gebert will be remembered for by those closest to him.
His willingness to help out and offer advice to those in need. His positive attitude every day, whether at work on a weekday morning or cheering on the company softball team on the weekends. Even his “famous turkey and stuffing” that he would cook every Thanksgiving.
To those who best knew Gebert, KTVB’s longtime meteorologist who died Friday at the age of 65, he is “irreplaceable.”
Gebert joined Idaho’s NewsChannel 7 in 1992 as a meteorologist after starting his career as a sports reporter and news director in Montana.
“You never know what you have until it’s gone,” KTVB anchor and reporter Brian Holmes told the Idaho Statesman on Tuesday. Holmes met Gebert in 2001 when he joined KTVB and became close to him in 2009 when he joined Gebert on the weekend weather team.
“I will be the first one to admit, and I said this the other day, I took Larry Gebert for granted,” Holmes said. “I figured he was always going to be here. He was here before I got here. He was going to be here after I left. Because it was just a big part of who he was.”
In his 30 years in Boise, Gebert was heavily involved in the community — one year he helped at 86 events around Boise, according to KTVB.
That willingness to assist those around him was especially evident to the people who worked directly with him every day.
Photographer Theresa Palmgren, who started at KTVB in 2005 and became Gebert’s photographer in 2007, remembers fondly the time Gebert came along to go car shopping with her because she was nervous.
“I’m thinking, ‘Maybe he’ll go with me the next day or later on that week.’ But he looked at his watch and he was like, ‘Nope, let’s go right now,’ ” Palmgren recalled. “We went to the dealership between the morning and noon show and he was there for moral support. And I needed him. And he was amazing.”
Palmgren described Gebert as a “second father” to her. Gebert and his wife, Julie, invited Palmgren over for Thanksgiving dinner on several occasions in her early years at the station.
“He was my family. My actual family lives in Seattle, so they were really happy to have someone like him in my life,” Palmgren said. “And when I told my dad the horrible news a few days ago, he was really grateful for everything that (Gebert) has done for me.”
KTVB anchor Maggie O’Mara also had the opportunity to join Gebert’s family for Thanksgiving and Christmas, where she got to experience his “famous turkey and stuffing” on Thanksgiving and his “famous prime rib” at Christmas. O’Mara worked with Gebert for 20 years and said she was welcomed into his household with open arms when she first joined Gebert’s team.
“Larry has been there for me every step of the way, almost like a father, or your favorite uncle,” O’Mara said in a Facebook post. “He was at my wedding, celebrated each new baby I had, and always kept up with each of them. They loved Larry, too. He always gave me the best parenting advice. He was a wonderful dad, and it showed.”
“I have no idea how to do this show without him,” O’Mara told the Statesman. “It’s going to be really tough.”
Holmes expects that a second wave of grief will kick in for many who knew Gebert in a week or two. Right now, he told the Statesman, it feels like Gebert is just on vacation and will be back in the office next week.
“I think it’s really going to hit us hard that he’s not (coming back),” Holmes said. “And I think that it’s going to be another wave, I think, of sorrow, and it’s going to come over the station for a bit.”
Gebert’s funeral will take place on Tuesday, April 12, at 10 a.m. at the Cathedral of the Rockies. The service is open to the public and will be streamed online, according to KTVB. Anyone wanting to donate in Gebert’s honor can do so at 7Cares Idaho Shares fund.
This story was originally published April 5, 2022 at 3:52 PM.
