Larry Neil Dall, born 03-April-1937 in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, died 21-Dec-2014 in Normal, Illinois. He graduated from Broken Arrow High School in 1955 after wreaking havoc on the town and learning to milk a cow and throw a knife in his mom’s barn. He served in the US Navy for 4 years aboard the U.S.S. Kearsarge, where he was a radioman and was once struck by lightning (which explains a lot).
He was 25 when he and a friend volunteered to go fishing for a church fish fry. Larry had some dynamite handy, and thought it would be a quick way to get lots of fish for the church. One of the quarter sticks had a short fuse, and it exploded as he tried to throw it into the lake. After one of the more interesting ambulance rides and hospital stays in history, he lost his class ring, became left-handed, and took on the CB radio handle "One-Armed Bandit". He delighted in telling children that his hand had been bitten off by either a tiger or a shark. He could tell you exactly how many minutes he served in the Navy and the dimensions of everything he ever built, but he couldn’t tie his own shoes. His favorite invention may have been Velcro.
He moved to Illinois, where he designed and built an A-frame home for his new family east of Bloomington that was his pride and joy. His three kids were all "born Normal", but he wasn’t sure what happened after that. He later moved to St. Joseph / Benton Harbor, MI, and finally retired to Woodsboro, TX.
He was a bona fide pack rat whose greatest loves in life were fishing, telling stories and jokes to anyone who would listen, making black raspberry jelly, fixing things in his shop, mowing the lawn, and keeping vehicles running longer than should be legally allowed. He leaves behind 3 rugrats Dawn (Glen), Adam (Kelly), and Kristi (Arturo); 5 grandchildren and 1 step-granddaughter (Hailie, Sydney, Aidan, Gabriel, Lance, and Jillian); his loving wife Carolyn and her children Carrie, Ben, and Mike; 10 step-grandchildren (Chad, Shanna, Delania, Jamie, Kayla, Brianna, Zack, Zane, Dylan, and Dalton); his "bruthie uglier" Jim and his favorite sister-in-law Toby; and his stepdaughter Holly. He was preceded in death by his father, Laurits Dall, his mother Esther Hougham, his son Jason, his niece Kelly (Danny) Lake, and his stepson Tim.
The family wishes to thank the entire staff at the McLean County Nursing Home for providing exemplary care and friendship to Larry. Contributions in his name may be made to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Now he wishes you’d all stop crying and go have a party: Celebration of his life to be held at McLean County Nursing Home on Saturday, Jan 10 at 2 pm, followed by interment on Jan 23 at Park Grove Cemetery in Broken Arrow, OK. Love ya later!
Condolences may be left for the family at kiblerbradyruestman.com.
