Sydney Lawrence Rogow was born in Louisville, Kentucky on February 25, 1925 to Sidney and Helen Cronin Rogow. Known to friends and family as Larry, he was raised in Forest Hills, New York. In high school he was editor of the school newspaper, and competed on the swim team. Larry started college at Columbia University, interrupting his engineering studies to serve his country during WWII. He enlisted in the Navy in 1943, where he trained as a pilot and reached the rank of Aviation Cadet. Just as he was learning to land planes on naval carriers, WWII came to an end. He was honorably discharged in 1947. Larry returned to college on the GI bill, graduating from Columbia University in 1949 with a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Arts degree. He was president of his fraternity Sigma Chi when he met Joanne (Jan) Bush a Barnard College student. Jan and Larry were married in 1950 in Little Rock, Arkansas. They celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary on November 19, 2016.

Larry was licensed to practice professional engineering in 1955. He returned to school to pursue a degree in city planning and traffic engineering from the School of Art and Architecture, Yale University receiving his master's degree in 1963. Initially, he worked for the city planning department in New Haven, Connecticut during a creative period of urban renewal. Larry spent the balance of his career with Wilbur Smith & Associates where he specialized in feasibility studies for toll roads. He traveled extensively while our country expanded our infrastructure of highways. When we no longer built new roads, Larry's work took him to other countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, India, and the Philippines. One of his final feasibility studies was for the rail tunnel under the English Channel between the United Kingdom and France called the Chunnel.

After leaving Connecticut, Jan and Larry lived briefly in Los Angeles and San Francisco, California retiring to West Columbia, South Carolina in the 1980s where Larry enjoyed playing tennis, and was active in support of the symphony. Together they took adult education classes at the University, enjoyed theater, visited the city of Charleston often, continued their travels, and were happy in the company of their many good friends.

Larry passed away in Portland, Oregon, after a short illness on January 27, 2017. He took his final breath surrounded by his wife, daughters, Elizabeth and Margarett, and his grandchildren. He was nearly 92 years old. He was cherished by his family, and will be remembered for his intellectual curiosity, sweet demeanor, dapper elegance, and graceful dignity.