By Ruth Ann Ruiz
The Post Newspaper Features Editor
Her voice has grown richer since the first time I heard her sing. She explains it simply as a matter of confidence.
“I feel so confident now singing at our historic churches. I used to get nervous, but now my breath control is better and I’m more relaxed,” said Amy Larison, who shares her talent with the parishioners of Holy Family Parish, serving as cantor and music director at Sacred Heart Church in Galveston.
Amy has been singing in Galveston churches for close to 25 years, and her soulful soprano voice is often called upon for funerals and weddings across the island. She attended Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts several decades ago and continues employing the classical training she received as a young woman.
Winston’s reputation as an airplane mechanic on small-engine aircraft has spread throughout the region.
“He’s an artist as he builds planes and works on other people’s planes,” said Jerry Scott, facilities manager at Lone Star Flight Museum.
Winston has built aircraft of his own in the past, and he continues rebuilding antique vehicles. His newest airplane is a brilliant red Great Lakes Biplane. Amy, who once was hesitant to fly with her husband, has grown very comfortable as a passenger in his travels by air.
“His landings are as smooth as glass,” said Amy.
His Great Lakes can climb to 10,000 feet, and Amy especially loves flying through the clouds.
Amy and Winston have been married for 16 years. Although I first met and profiled each of them separately in 2021, seeing them together today, it is easy to understand how they complement one another so well.
They live in a simple raised historic cottage in Galveston’s East End Historic District, and everything about their home and their spirit radiates the warmth and comfort of a past era.
Winston brought his love of antiques to their marriage and their home is filled with antique fans, Tiffany lamps, and other historic treasures, along with replicas of historic pieces and numerous framed posters and flyers from eras. Though antiques were not a passion for Amy, she has grown to appreciate her husband’s artistic design with period pieces.
Since meeting them, they have added two antique vehicles to their lives: a 1923 Dodge Roadster, which they are known to take out for evening drives on The Strand, and a Ford pickup.
Winston, a history enthusiast, reminded me that it was Henry Ford himself who coined the term “pickup.”
The couple are both independent contractors, with Winston believing that being their own bosses is the best way to earn a living. Amy works with a family-owned business in marketing in addition to her musical career.
Speaking with other aviators and friends of the Larisons, they all seem familiar with their cat, Pumpkin Puff. She does indeed look like a puff of pumpkin, with fur the color of pumpkin, puffed up like a dandelion that appears as if it might blow away.
Growing around their home are what Amy calls butterfly plants, which she delights in watching as the caterpillars feast on the leaves before eventually emerging as monarch butterflies.
Their mornings consist of Winston preparing coffee, and if it is cold outside, they sip their coffee near their wood-burning stove. On warmer mornings, they enjoy their coffee on the front porch, watching the people walk by and shouting out friendly hellos.
Beyond their appreciation for a simpler way of life, the Larisons have earned a reputation for being kindhearted and helpful to just about everyone who knows them. They seem to have found a way to live the American dream while still living as though they are in one.
They have family in Hawaii and, over the years, have enjoyed visiting the islands, but they have no intention of leaving Texas.
“It would cost too much just to send Pumpkin Puff to Hawaii,” the two shared with me.
“There is hardly any aviation and no antique airplanes over there,” said Winston. “Not like here.”
Since they have ruled out Hawaii as an alternative island, it appears the Larisons will continue blessing Galveston and the region with their talents and their rare 1930s brand of grace, where genuine kindness guides how they speak, how they love, and how they live.
If you would like to read their original stories, you can find them here:
