Lawrence “Larry” Leroy C oveyou

Lawrence “Larry” Leroy Coveyou, 90, of Suttons Bay passed away on Sunday, March 29,2026, at home surrounded by his family.

Born in Petoskey to Lawrence and Myrtle (Burrows) Coveyou, Larry served in the United States Army Reserve with active duty in the early 1960s before returning to northern Michigan — the only place he ever really needed to be.

In 1966 he married Patricia Elaine Hughes in Traverse City, a woman he first noticed at R.L. Polk, where she wore a fake ring to keep men away. He saw her again that same day at a laundromat and the rest, as they always told it, took care of itself.

Together Larry and Patricia built Chateau Reef, a resort on the shores of Suttons Bay, and ran it side by side for nearly thirty years. Families returned summer after summer, and the Coveyou children grew up working alongside their parents — and when the day was done, swimming, sailing, and water skiing off that same beach. A founding member of the Grand Traverse Yacht Club, Larry raced his Columbia Saber, Touché, on the bay in his earlier years. As the resort grew, the racing gave way, but he and Patricia kept Touché for quiet days on the water whenever life allowed.

If you knew Larry, you likely knew him from the water’s edge. Fishing was his element — surf fishing at the mouth of the Boardman, off the docks at Fishtown in Leland, at the mouth of that river. Steelhead, salmon, perch, walleye.

He was out early, often before anyone else, and was a familiar face in Fishtown for decades — the kind of man who knew who’d be there before he arrived, and they knew he would be too.

He fished his whole life and never seemed to need a reason beyond the water itself.

Larry is survived by his wife of 60 years, Patricia; his daughters Kimberly Hopkins (Tom), Laurel Coveyou, and Hollie Coveyou-Rohloff (Ron); his grandchildren Treyton and Tessa Rohloff, Tommy and Zachary Hopkins (Yahaira Rodriguez), and Adeline Emperor; and his great-grandchildren Aloura and Logan Hopkins. He was preceded in death by his parents, Lawrence and Myrtle Coveyou.

A celebration of Larrys life will be announced at a later date.

Condolences may be shared at www. martinson.info.

Arrangements are with Martinson Funeral Home and Cremation Services of Leelanau.