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PACIFIC PALISADES, LOS ANGELES () — The Pacific Palisades community is mourning the loss of a man who survived last year’s devastating fire and became a beacon of hope for other survivors.
Larry Vein, the founder of the Pali Strong Foundation, has died. He was 61 years old.
Vein was a tireless champion for victims of the Palisades Fire. Eyewitness News interviewed him several times over the last 17 months at events seeking to help those who lost everything in the fire.
If you’ve attended any event in the last year and a half dedicated to victims of the Palisades Fire, you’ve likely seen Vein.
Eyewitness News spoke with Larry one year ago at an event he organized and helped fund on the Santa Monica Pier.
“Come here smiling. Come here to give a hug, and leave all of your worries behind. It’s been a long four months,” Vein said at the 2025 event.
Sadly, last week, the Palisades community lost Vein, who took his own life.
“It’s just an amazing, amazing loss for our community, for myself and for many others,” said Jim Kirtley, the Executive Director of the Lowe Family YMCA. “He just wanted the community to be good. He wanted the community to be OK, and wanted everybody else in it to be OK.”
Vein’s home survived the fire, but almost immediately, it became an obsession of his to help those who were not so lucky.
“Early on, everything he did was out of his own pocket, and Larry was not one with great resources, and he was doing everything full time,” said Jon Vein, his older brother. “Other than his children, it was his life for a year and a half.”
Vein has two children — his daughter, Amalie, and his 1.5-year-old son, Sammy, who was seen in his arms everywhere he went.
“Sammy became Larry’s world… Everywhere he went, he brought Sammy with him. From the time he was a couple months old through his last days, they were inseparable, and it was his life,” Jon Vein said.
“He was always there. Larry Vein was always there, pushing a stroller. It was like seeing a tree in the same place,” said Kim Marshall, the founder of L.A. Rising.
And with this tragedy now hitting a place that has known so much of it over the last 17 months, it’s important to remember that the trauma of the fire has not ended.
“For our neighbors to understand that, just because the fire was a year and a half ago, doesn’t mean that we should all just buck up and get over it. It’s trauma, and if you repress trauma, it’s going to come out in some way or another,” Marshall said. “We have to make sure that we’re helping the helpers too. It’s not airy, fairy. It’s not Florence Nightingale. It’s reality. It’s very important.”
Vein’s brother said he was under a number of stresses, including recent unfounded accusations that he misused some of the funds that were raised for victims.
There will be a memorial celebration of Vein’s life on Wednesday at 10 a.m. at the Palisades Recreation Center.
If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or are worried about a friend or loved one, help is available. Call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 for free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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