Larry Mulholland, founder of Mulholland Positioning Systems, was a man who rose with the sun to begin a new day of productive activity, until 5:31am on 10 September 2017 when he decided to give the whole getting up thing a miss. He died aged 84 from complications of a stroke.
His company was his passion and his inventions revolutionized the care of children with cerebral palsy. He started the company in his garage in 1971 making wheelchairs based on physical therapy techniques that returned voluntary muscle control to those children previously trapped by their condition.
The company started as a fusion of Larry’s engineering skills and the physical therapy knowledge of his second wife, Nancy Bouhaben. The company soon outgrew the one-car garage, then a two-car garage, then industrial space in Saticoy, then Santa Paula and finally Burley, Idaho. Over 45 years Larry constantly improved the design of the original chair and created standers and walkers, all of which inspired the truest form of admiration---imitation.
Larry was an inventor at heart who studied mechanical engineering at Michigan Tech and Michigan State, which were close to where he grew up in Saginaw.
Larry is survived by his sister Anya and all four of his wives: Loraine Despres his first wife and mother of his first child David Mulholland; Nancy Bouhaben, mother of Terry Mulholland and Chris Mulholland; Cathy Hilton; and Gwen Erickson, who was the one who finally convinced him to retire and enjoy his life. And for a whole eight months he enjoyed hiking and losing at bridge.
He was passionate about sailing and spent 10 years getting his children to help him build a large sailboat that he loved to sail out to the Channel Islands, work schedule permitting. He also loved hiking and backpacking.
Larry was also heavily involved with the Rotary International Club, serving as the president of the Oxnard and Burley branches, as well as being the chair of the educational foundation of Ojai branch. He was also involved with the Elks and the Presbyterian Church, where he will have his final participation at his memorial service at the Ojai Presbyterian Church, 304 North Foothill Road, Ojai, CA 93023 on Friday 15 September at 10am.
Please don’t send flowers, instead help someone who needs it by sending a donation to the Rotary Club of Ojai Educational Foundation, P.O. Box 1036, Ojai, CA 93024.