Richard L. “Dick” Larson, age 86, of Beaver Dam, died on Sunday, March 15, 2015 at Hillside Manor.
The memorial gathering will be at Trinity Church-United Methodist on Saturday, March 21, 2015 from 10:00 a.m. until 12:00 noon. The Dodge County Masonic Lodge #72 will conduct a fraternal service at 10:00 a.m. and the American Legion Post #146 will do a walk through at 11:45 a.m., both at church on Saturday. The funeral service will follow at church at 12:00 noon with Rev. Eileen Kuehnl officiating. Military Honors will be conducted at the church following the service and inurnment will be at Oakwood Cemetery in Beaver Dam at a later date. Lunch will be provided at the church on Saturday following the services.
Richard L. (Dick) Larson was born on April 14, 1928 at Lutheran Deaconess Hospital in Beaver Dam. He died on Sunday, March 15, 2015, with his loving family at his side.
He graduated from Beaver Dam High School in 1946 and entered the Armed Forces in September of that year, entering the US Army Air Corps. His transfer from the Army to the USAF took place in 1948 while he was serving 15 months in Adak, Alaska (Aleutian Chain) He was attached to the Airways and Air Communications System (AACS) which was responsible for communications between an aircraft and control tower among other communication responsibilities. He spent his last year in the service at Wright-Patterson Field in Dayton, Ohio. He left the service in the month of September 1949 with the rank of S/Sgt.
On April 14, 1950, he married Roselyn (Ulbricht) and together they had four children. After retiring from the USAF, he spent a number of years that included work on his father’s turkey farm and a period of 2-1/2 years in Waupun at Buteyn Hardware. In 1958, he joined the Briese Company in the furniture department. He spent the next 35 years at that job with the last 15 years as manager of the store which then came to be known as Briese Home Furnishings, retiring at 65 years of age in 1993. Since no one was able to take over the furniture store, it was closed and the inventory sold off.
He was a participating member of Trinity United Methodist Church on Oneida Street in Beaver Dam, in many capacities including about 15 years as Treasurer concluding that responsibility in 2010.
He was also a member of Dodge County Lodge #72 Free and Accepted Masons, was Master of the lodge in 1983 and became the Secretary Treasurer in 1984, concluding that assignment, also in 2010.
He was a member of AM Kiwanis in its formative years serving as the secretary for a period of about five years. He resigned in 1993, when he retired.
He developed kidney disease in 2010 and was an outpatient at the Kidney Dialysis Unit in Beaver Dam on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday of each week, until he went on Hospice care on February 24th.
Special thanks go to his second family at the Dialysis Center in Beaver Dam, to the Hospice Service in Beaver Dam, to the caring staff at Hillside Manor and to the many relatives and friends who visited him in his home and at Hillside Manor prior to his death.
Preceding him in death were his parents, Lloyd & Doris Larson, his wife’s parents, Leo & Edna Ulbricht, his brother Jack in June 2013, brother Russell in an automobile accident in August 1954.
He is survived by his wife Roselyn, his four children Linda (Perry Hirthe), Nancy (Paul Krause) Craig (Sheila), James (Andrea), brother Bill in Philadelphia and sister Sue in LaPorte, Indiana, numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Nieces and nephews.
Memorials can be sent, instead of flowers, to Trinity United Methodist Church in Beaver Dam and to Dodge County Masonic Lodge #72, Beaver Dam or to the charity of your choice.
The Koepsell-Murray Funeral Home in Beaver Dam is caring for the family. To leave online condolences, or for directions and other information, please visit our website at www.KoepsellFH.com
