Larry Eiler holds the unofficial world record for losing wedding rings. He’s “misplaced” seven or eight of them.

His wife, Sandy, meanwhile, holds the unofficial world record for patience, as she’s faithfully replaced every missing ring. And she keeps buying ones he likes: big, heavy and loose-fitting. So loose-fitting that they sometimes fly off when he’s doing things like throwing corn to feed the deer in his backyard.

Sandy even wrote a book for the Eilers’ eight grandchildren in homage to her husband’s heedlessness. At the end of “Papa’s Golden Rings,” she challenges the youngsters to go find that ring in the backyard.

She has fun with it because, like everyone else who knows Larry Eiler, she’s aware he’s never going to spend a great amount of time thinking about rings he doesn’t have. He’s more interested in what others don’t have … and helping them get it. You could say he’s a serial volunteerer.

Larry’s big at the Ronald McDonald House in Ann Arbor. He helped raise money so it could open in 1985, and then expand a few years later. His and Sandy’s idea of a night out is taking homemade meals by the house for the families staying there.

He’s been on the board or worked in various capacities with such diverse groups as the Great Lakes Center for Independent Living, the IT Zone, the local chamber of commerce, the Michigan Technology Council, the Michigan High Technology Task Force, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Catholic Charities, St. Mary's Student Parish and local rec league teams.

He’s even turned personal problems into opportunities to help others. After Sandy had breast cancer in 1989, Larry wrote a book, “When the Woman You Love Has Breast Cancer,” that led to speaking engagements all over the country. After Larry was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2001, he wrote “Prostate Cancer’s Emotional Maze: Forging Your Way.” He hopes he’ll never have to write another book about cancer.

Giving starts at home with Larry. He and Sandy have seven children, ranging in age from 45 to 28, and including three adopted daughters. “I don’t know which three,” Larry says with a laugh. He doesn’t see race, either; he and Sandy are white, one of their adopted daughters is bi-racial black and Korean and another is black and Caucasian. One of the great joys in his life, he says, is watching his large family build relationships and trust. “They can all count on each other for anything,” he says proudly.

He learned a lot about giving from his mother, Helen, when he was growing up in Syracuse, N.Y. She ran a Cub Scout troop in which every member had cerebral palsy. Larry was about the same age as the troop members, and he was expected to help out at meetings. “I learned compassion for other people,” he says of the experience. “Somebody always has something worse than what you perceive you have. And I learned that lesson when I was under 10 years old.”

Larry worked his way through Syracuse University as a newspaper reporter. He earned an undergraduate degree in history and a graduate degree from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, specializing in newspapers.

After graduation, he launched a career in public relations, eventually moving to Minneapolis to work with Honeywell before being recruited to move to Ann Arbor in 1980 to work with Comshare, a computer time-sharing company. As that industry evolved -- no one time-shares on computers these days -- Larry opened his own company, Eiler Communications, in 1987. It was a hit from the start, “helping several emerging tech companies grow and become known.” He even had an office in Silicon Valley for 12 years.

He still runs his company, and also has a radio segment with Lucy Ann Lance focusing on Michigan entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, angel investors and others involved in “reinventing” Michigan. “Re: NEW Michigan” airs live on 1290 WLBY at 8:40 a.m. every Tuesday.

But he’s antsy to do more. “I’m interested right now in contributing to organizations based on experiences I’ve had,” he said. He also wants to write a book about the value of relentless positivity, which he knows plenty about. And he’s fascinated by new media and social networking (which he’s high on, up to a point) and anonymous comments on websites (which he’s uncompromisingly against).

Larry Eiler is one of those guys who will never run out of projects. Unfortunately for Sandy, none of them involve keeping up with his wedding ring.

Kyle Poplin is publisher of The Ann magazine, which is inserted monthly in various print editions of AnnArbor.com. (The next issue is coming out June 30.) He’s also searching, through this column, for the most interesting person in Ann Arbor. If you have anyone in mind, email your idea to