Obituary of Donald Lee Larson

Donald Lee Larson, 88, of Castle Rock, Colorado passed away peacefully of April 28, 2016 with his family at his side. Loving husband of 68 years to Ramona, Father of Charlotte (Keith) Copley, David (Linda) Larson and Luana (Joseph) Pacheco, 5 Grandchildren, 14 Great Grandchildren and 2 Great, Great Grandchildren. After returning from the Navy in 1947 Donald attended Nebraska Central College. He married Ramona McHargue of Chapman, Nebraska in April 1948. Donald and Ramona owned Larson Chevrolet in Fullerton, Nebraska during the 1950’s and 1960’s moving to Colorado in 1970. He was active in many civic affairs throughout his life and a Masonic Mason for over 50 years. Memorial Services will be held on Friday, May 6, 2016, at 11:00 A.M. at the First United Methodist Church in Castle Rock, Colorado. Final Resting Place will be Cedar Hill Cemetery. Military Honors will be provided by the United States Navy at the Graveside. This is Don’s story in his own words. On August 20, 1927 a bouncing nine- pound baby boy, namely me, was the first born child of Clarence and Florence (Anderson) Larson in Central City, Nebraska. Four years later came Wayne, seven years later Gerald and finally Gene twelve years later. I had a paper route at the age of ten that consisted of fifteen miles in town and also in the country. I also worked at the grocery store. The streets were all dirt at the time and I worked all day on Saturdays until midnight for $3.00 per day. I had a good Friend named George Eller. He was older than I was. We would often stop at the Ice Cream Store in Central City where we would buy a pint of ice cream and we eat all of it in one sitting. In the Summer we would ride our bicycles out to the Union Pacific sandpit and swim; then come home and ride my paper routes. We found a piece of pipe that had a cap screwed on the end. So George drilled a little hole in the cap. We would put a firecracker in the pipe, then put the fuse through the little hole in the cap and screw it on the pipe. Then we could load the pipe like you would an old muzzle loader rifle. We carved a handle for it like a pistol grip and we had a real gun. We would shoot marbles, gravel and rocks. The City water tower was right behind our house. One day I climbed to the top. It was 100 feet tall. My adventure resulted in the City removing the lower section of the ladder. When I was 15 I worked on the Union Pacific railroad during the Summer as a Gandy Dancer. We put in new rails and railroad ties. I did this for two Summers. The pay was good and we thought this hard work would get us in shape for football. I think it did! I made the first team in my Sophomore year. And I played 60 minutes of every game through my Senior year. Before I graduated from High School I went to Omaha to join the Navy. They wouldn’t take me until I turned 18. So on August 6th, 1945 they swore us in. It was the same day they dropped the Atomic Bomb on Japan. I went to Boot Camp in San Diego, California: then to the Philippines in the South Pacific. It took two weeks of sailing to get to Samar in the Philippines. It was February 1, 1946 when I was to be on my first ship as a crew member. The LSM 330. I guess all the new men were usually assigned to the Deck Crew. Anyway, they put me with eight other men and it looked like we were going to do some painting. Just then another fellow came up to me and said to follow him. He told me “We want you in the Quarter Master Corp”. I did not know what that meant. I soon learned that I would be helping to steer the ship and keeping the log of temperature, time and watching different gauges in the tower. While at sea I was on duty 4 hours then off duty 4 hours, round the clock. On February 28, 1946 seven of us were on Liberty. We borrowed a truck from the Army Base and drove to Baggio. This is on top of a mountain. This is one trip I should not have taken. On the way driving down this narrow jungle road the driver lost control and rolled the truck. I was knocked out. I remember waking up and laying in the middle of the road. One man was killed. I pulled myself along the ground with my arms to where he was. I had fractured my hip so I could not get up. I drug myself to a post along side the road, grabbed it and pulled myself to a standing position. My hip did not feel too great during that time. They put me on a metal stretcher and put me in the back of the Army SP Jeep. They took me to an Air Force Base that was not too far from there. The hospital was a tent. The next day they put me on a two engine plane that was full of holes and the wings flapped like a bird. There was just the pilot and a co-pilot and me. I ended up at the CivitiAir Force base. After two weeks I flew to Guam where I was in the hospital for three weeks. I was up and around by then so one day they called me in and asked me if I wanted to go home or back to my ship. I chose the ship. I remember receiving a paycheck for $166.00. I sent $125.00 home and kept $41.00. I was discharged August 19, 1946. I had made Gunners Mate 3rd class during my stay on the LST 711. Unknown to me the Navy had sent word to my parents I would be home on a certain day. It so happened another fellow & I met and decided to stay in St. Louis one more day and see some sights, going home the next day. The folks met the train I was to be on but I was not there. The next day I arrived home, had to walk home and found Mom sitting on the couch. She just said “Oh!” and went to the phone to call Dad. I came home & went to see my high school girlfriend, Ruth. It was not long before I found out I didn’t have a girlfriend, as she had been going with someone else. She never mentioned it in her letters. The thing of it is, if I had known this, I would have stayed in the Navy. I like the sea and I like to travel. On the day I arrived home, Ramona McHargue and her Mother had been in town. As they drove by my house, they saw me and stopped to say “Hello”. We had doubled dated as a foursome (each with a different partner) in High School. I attended Nebraska Central College in Central City and was employed as a Bookkeeper and Parts Man at Larson Chevrolet, the dealership my Father and his brother Earl owned. I invited Ramona on a movie date and she said, “Yes”, much to my surprise. When I took her home to Marquette on the farm, a startling event took place. Her Dad came out with a shotgun! I thought Boy, what have I gotten myself into here? Well it turned out that he had heard something in the chicken house. He ran right by the front of my car and on to the chicken house. For a few seconds I thought I certainly had dated the wrong girl this time. This was still during the time of gas and tire rationing. Ramona lived fifteen miles out in the country, so we dated only twice a week. It was a 60 mile round trip for a date. We both went to the same college where I played football and Ramona was Secretary to the President for Room and Board. I attended a year and a half. We were engaged on October 15, 1947 and we were married on April 4, 1948 in the Friends Church in Central City. We went to Lincoln for our Honeymoon and stayed at the CornHusker Hotel. We then went on to Kansas City. We first lived in a new apartment. We were the first tenants for three weeks. I thought I wanted to be a farmer and cattle feeder, so we moved to Ramona’s folks farm. Our little house had three rooms, a cold water faucet, no bath and an oil heating stove. No more modern conveniences! We were paid $100 per month plus milk and eggs. This did not work out so well, so we decided to move to Castle Rock, Colorado in March 1950. Our firstborn, Charlotte was a year old, having been born in Central City. She was a fair little angel with blond peach fuzz hair. I was a Father! I worked at DuPont in Louviers, Colorado. I made dynamite for a few years. While working there I was also finishing a new house below the Rock. The outside structure was finished, wiring, plumbing and heating completed. But I finished the rest of the house along with my brother Jerry. Both David and Luana were born and returned to this home in Castle Rock. David was born on May 12, 1953 and Luana on June 18th, 1957, both in Denver, Colorado. David had dark hair and blue eyes. Luana had blond hair & brown eyes. At this time I went to work for Reddy Chevrolet in Castle Rock where I was a Parts Man. My brother Wayne called and wondered if I would move to Fullerton, Nebraska to run a Chevrolet dealership. We moved to Fullerton, found a place to live and began doing business. This was 1958. While living in Fullerton I joined the Masonic Lodge. I sat on the City Council for eight years, was President of the Chamber of Commerce, President of the Loup Valley United Chambers (which included 8 towns). I was also on the Town Board and served as Mayor. I was a Sunday school teacher for an adult class and President of Pastor Relations. During my first year as Mayor the town had a 65 year flood, the second year a disastrous elevator fire. And the town wanted me to run again for Mayor! After a time farm prices went down and the area farmers were going broke. Nothing was irrigated then. Many businesses, including all the dealerships in the towns around us were going out of business. The Buick & Ford dealers quit in Fullerton. After a while, we had to close the Chevrolet Dealership too. I ran a Used Car lot for some time and sold a few cars out of Central City. In Fullerton we had bought a ten room house, on a big corner lot with a double car garage for $7,500.00. We were living on $400 per month including the house payment. Things were really tight. So we decided to moved back to Castle Rock in March 1970. I went to work for a new Chevrolet dealer as a Salesman. We won an all-expense paid trip to the Bahamas. While working for Reddy Chevrolet earlier, we had won a trip to Las Vegas. Five years later, I felt I could do better working for a larger dealership and went to work for George Irwin Chevrolet in Denver as a Salesman. Later they offered me the job of Inventory Control Manager. I ordered all their cars and trucks and bought units from other dealers as we needed them. The dealership closed to make way for commercial buildings on Colorado Boulevard. So I asked for a position with Kerr Leasing. I had worked with some of their people before. Another fellow and myself handled the Service Control System for our lease units throughout the United States. Before the drivers of the units could even change oil or have repairs done, they had to have the repair shop call us for permission. I was not there long before they asked me to also do the ordering of the units. In no time we had nearly ten thousand leased vehicles on the road! In 1976 I was Chairman of the Building Committee for the First United Methodist Church in Castle Rock and we built and dedicated a beautiful new church. Ramona & I also served three years in the Choir and took part in the Colorado Centennial performance. We eventually sold some land in Arizona so I retired on March 27, 1986. Ramona had already retired in October of 1982 as Secretary to the Douglas County Commissioners and Secretary of the Methodist Church. The staff at Kerr’s gave me a nice retirement party which was a big surprise. Then when I got home that evening, Ramona had a family party too. Luana and her family even came from Nebraska. We designed a new dream home and had it custom built in 1984 in the Deerfield subdivision in Franktown, Colorado. We moved in two days before Christmas. The house sat on 5 treed acres, had a beautiful panoramic view of the Rocky Mountains with underground utilities and paved roads! We had peace & quiet, and lots of wildlife. We had looked at homes and home sites for two years. We were finally home. As we now had the time, we purchased a motorhome and did some traveling. We traded 4 times finally purchasing a new 1989 34 foot Pace Arrow Motorhome. We went to Arizona or Texas for two months in the wintertime. We also took a long trip through several Southern states. We really enjoyed the traveling and people we met. So, as of this writing in 1997 and I recollect …. If I had remained in the Navy, I would not have met Ramona, gotten married and have the wonderful family we have. We are proud of each and every one of them, their accomplishments and their families. So, if any of our children read this, you can thank my old girlfriend for you being here today! At the present time we have seven Grandchildren and one Great Grandchild. Two married Grandsons – Charlotte’s Bryan and Troy (who graduates from college this month), a Granddaughter in college, Dave’s Julia, a Grandson graduating from High School, Luana’s Andy, with lots of sports swards, Eric – a Junior in Castle Rock, Laura – a sophomore in Ogallala, and Heather – in 8th grade in Ogallala. Little Zachery, our first Great Grandchild, is now three years old. Who knows how many more the good Lord will provide? We are enjoying our life! ********************************* Reflecting on his life, Dad wrote those words back in 1997. Our family sure has grown since that time as there are now 14 Great Grandchildren and with Bryan’s family, 2 Great Great-Grandchildren. We know Dad was very proud of his family. He loved and appreciated everyone. He truly enjoyed the time every family member shared with him. His last years were spent in Castle Rock. He & Ramona were inseparable and did everything together. They lived for 2 years in a patio home at Plum Creek, an additional year at Bonaventure, a Senior living community and finally, 9 months at Garden Terrace in Aurora, Colorado. While at Garden Terrace, true to his nature, he was kind, easy to get along with and kept his great sense of humor. He was loved & respected by everyone who knew him. He would always try to make the best of a situation and just one small example is he always had the nurses doing something extra for him. The nursing staff would sneak him a Pepsi now and then, which was not on his diet, and every day at 3:00 P.M. the ice cream lady would bring an ice cream cone to each resident. He sweet-talked this lady into always bringing him 2 cones each day! On April 28th, Dad decided he had done all the good he could on this earth and passed away peacefully. His belief in God made him a man with a strong moral code, a quiet strength, the patience of a Saint and a fun sense of humor. He had a deep love for his wife and family, and his family is his legacy. We all carry a little of Don Larson’s spirit within us. We should all endeavor to make the world a little better by living our lives with the same kindness and integrity that he demonstrated. Go and make him proud. Service Information