October 2, 2026

Bob Larkin Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

DUXBURY, MA– This summer, the Massachusetts Assisted Living Association (Mass-ALA) hosted its annual Excellence Awards Dinner to honor the standout communities, residents and employees who have made meaningful contributions to the senior living industry. In front of a room full of senior housing professionals, vendors and clients, Duxbury resident Robert Larkin accepted the most prestigious honor of the night: The Lifetime Achievement Award.

Larkin co-founded Senior Living Residences (SLR) in 1990 following a trip to Florida in the late 1980s, where he witnessed the birth of that state’s assisted living movement and saw an opportunity to bring it home to Massachusetts. There was just one problem: the industry didn’t exist yet in this state. Bob turned to the skills he’d honed as a state legislator, joining with a handful of fellow pioneers to found what is now Mass-ALA. He worked tirelessly with state officials, including then-Secretary of Health and Human Services (later, Governor) Charlie Baker, to draft and pass the legislation that created the state’s assisted living industry. Then, putting his vision into action, Bob converted his own newly purchased South Boston nursing home into an assisted living community, opening it in 1994 as SLR’s flagship community, Compass on the Bay. This was the first Nursing Home to Assisted Living conversion in Massachusetts history.

After the foundation was set, “assisted living began to flourish here in Massachusetts,” Larkin reflected during his acceptance speech. “Families and referral sources began to see that high quality care could be delivered consistently in a non-institutionalized, residential setting by caring individuals.”

With his current business partner, fellow Duxbury resident Tadd Clelland, Larkin led SLR to open, acquire, and manage nearly 50 communities, each built around his belief that care should center on the individual, not the institution. That conviction has shaped SLR’s culture as much as its services. Today, the organization is recognized not just for its person-centered approach to care, but for a work environment where every team member feels respected and valued.

While receiving this award was immensely special, Larkin shared that what truly inspires him to make a difference in the lives of residents and colleagues each day comes from the support his family continuously shows him.

“This has been a career of pleasure and privilege. It’s business but it’s also personal. If it were not for my wife Lee and business Partner Tadd Clelland who worked by my side building the business over the years along with many other dedicated professionals at SLR, I wouldn’t be standing here today. And of course, as much as I appreciate the Lifetime Achievement Award from Mass-ALA, my real lifetime achievement is my family,” Larkin said..

Senior Living Residences (SLR), based in Braintree, MA, has been at the forefront of developing and providing service-enriched independent living, assisted living and memory support options for seniors in New England for nearly 40 years. SLR currently operates 24 senior communities throughout the Northeast. More information about Senior Living Residences and their Compass Memory Support Neighborhood® can be found at SeniorLivingResidences.com.