BOSTON, MA (FEBRUARY 6, 2024) Larry Kessler, beloved community organizer and tireless activist, passed away on Thursday, February 1st, at the age of 81.

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on June 20, 1942, Larry’s life was dedicated to his fight for social justice in many forms. Before coming to Boston in 1973, Larry had already made an impact in Pennsylvania as an anti-poverty worker, and an active leader in the anti-war movement and the struggle for economic justice. He was also, briefly, a seminarian, ironworker, and small businessman. 

In Boston, Larry continued his commitment to social justice as the Director of the Office of Peace and Justice at the Paulist Center from 1973 to 1979. In 1982, he was part of a group that addressed the emerging crisis affecting gay men by establishing the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts. Larry became its first employee and Founding Director in 1983.

Larry was fearless and big-hearted. He was loved because during the darkest of days, he reminded everyone of their humanity. Throughout his leadership of the AIDS Action Committee during the critical first decades of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Larry touched and saved thousands of lives. He raised funds and advocated for services and support for people living with HIV/AIDS, he educated the public about HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and safer sex, lobbied politicians, enlisted volunteers, and oversaw some of the only programs supporting people living with HIV/AIDS in the early days of the epidemic.

A national leader, Larry was a founding member of the National AIDS Network. He also served on the bipartisan National Commission on AIDS that advised the Congress and the White House on policy, the Harvard AIDS Institute’s Advisory Board, and on the Board of Directors of the National Leadership Coalition on AIDS. Larry officially retired in 2003 but stepped up to serve as Executive Director at the Boston Living Center, a community center for those living with HIV/AIDS, from 2013 to 2015.

In recognition of his lifetime of service, activism, and compassion, Larry was honored with The History Project’s HistoryMaker Award in 2017. Larry’s legacy and impact on the fight against AIDS is unmatched, and his unwavering dedication to social justice lives on through all touched by his work. We invite you to watch the AIDS Action Committee's A Community Responds (1995) about the first fifteen years of the epidemic to hear some of Larry's story in his own words.

May he rest in power.