Larry Turner, 84, longtime Atlantic resident and businessman, passed away in his sleep on March 29, 2023, of complications from Alzheimer’s. He and his wife, Mary have been residents of Wesley Acres Senior Living Center in Des Moines since 2019, and he had recently been recovering from a broken hip.
Born February 25, 1939, in his grandparent’s farmhouse southwest of Coon Rapids, the son of Lawrence and Eleanor (Cretsinger) Turner, he attended elementary and high schools in Coon Rapids, graduating in 1957. That Fall, he enrolled at the University of Iowa, joined the Delta Upsilon fraternity, and ultimately graduated from the University of Nebraska-Omaha in 1963. While at Iowa, Larry paid for school by busing tables and taking a semester off to work back home for Garst and Thomas. It was during this time he had a face-to-face encounter with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in a field outside Coon Rapids during his 1958 visit to the United States. He moved to Omaha in 1960 to finish college and started working at the investment firm of Storz-Wachob-Bender.
In 1966 he accepted an offer from Mal Livengood to move to Atlantic and join him in a newly opened branch office of First Nebraska Securities. In 2014 he retired as Vice President of Stifel Nicolaus & Company, serving as the Atlantic branch manager for over 40 years. Prior to Stifel, he served in the same capacity at the 301 Chestnut Street offices for First Mid America, Paine Webber, and UBS. For many years he provided the daily radio market reports for KJAN and KMA, and he appeared in financial columns in the Des Moines and Omaha newspapers.
On April 1, 1961, Larry was married to Mary Janss of Des Moines. Besides his wife of 62 years, he is survived by two sons, Pete Turner of Arvada, Colorado, and Stu Turner of Des Moines, his wife Janelle, and daughter Eleanor. He leaves a sister, Mary Fulton of Urbandale, schnauzer Heidi, and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by a sister, Janice O’Neil, his Mother Eleanor Yager, Father Lawrence M. Turner, and stepfather Clare Yager.
Larry learned at an early age the value of hard work and community, and this was demonstrated time and again by his civic engagement. He was a decades-long champion of Atlantic’s businesses, schools, and health facilities, and he served on the boards of the Atlantic Municipal Utilities and the Atlantic Industrial Development Foundation. He was the public address announcer for the Atlantic Football and Basketball games for many years and helped support the recent renovations to the Trojan Bowl and the Baseball/Softball complex. Alongside Mary, he was a key backer of the Atlantic Animal Shelter.
A firm believer in sports and physical fitness, he was a star athlete at Coon Rapids, a four-year letterman earning all-conference honors in football, basketball, and track. He’ll be remembered as a fierce competitor on the basketball court and the golf course. He loved to compete and was often his own worst critic. He was a longtime supporter of the Nishna Valley YMCA, coached Little League, and served as the equipment manager for several years. Most notable, however, is Larry’s time spent at the Atlantic Golf & Country Club with his friends and family, playing a sport he often loved and hated at the same time. On April 24, 1991, his game hit its apex when he scored a hole-in-one on #15.
There will be a visitation from 4-7 Friday, April 14, 2023, at the Atlantic Golf and Country Club in Atlantic. Family services will be held at the Atlantic Cemetery and the Orange Township Cemetery outside Coon Rapids later this year.
Memorials may be directed to the Atlantic Community School Foundation in honor of Larry. They may be mailed to the Schmidt Family Funeral Home P.O. Box 523, Atlantic, IA 50022.
Arrangements are handled with the Schmidt Family Funeral Home of Atlantic, IA.
