Visitation will be on Thursday June 8th, 2023, at the Sturm Funeral Home in Sleepy Eye, from 4-7 p.m. with Parish Prayers at 4 p.m. Visitation will continue Friday at 9 a.m. at St. Mary’s Catholic Church-Sleepy Eye in the north entrance, with Christian Mothers leading the rosary at 10:00 a.m. in the church. Everyone is invited to attend. The Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Mary’s Catholic Church-Sleepy Eye, on Friday June 9th, 2023, at 10:30 a.m. The clergy will be Fr. Mark Steffl and Deacon Mike McKeown. Interment will be at St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery. Military Honors will be provided by Sleepy Eye Honor Guard.
Arrangements are with the Sturm Funeral Home in Sleepy Eye. Online condolences may be left for the family at https://www.sturmfh.com/.
James Edward Larson was born on November 15th, 1932, to Pearly Lee and Martha Larson in Sleepy Eye, MN. He was the youngest of 3 boys and grew up in Sleepy Eye. He attended St. Mary’s grade and high school graduating in 1950. For several years, starting in early grade school every lunch hour James would run home from school and take lunch uptown to his father Lee Larson who ran the Skelly station then located at the intersection of highways 4 and 14. It is at this early age he learned to pump gas and wait on customers while his father ate. This led Jim to not quite always making it back to school for the beginning of afternoon classes. This aggravated the classroom level nun to no end, and she complained to the head master. The senior nun calmly and firmly educated the instructor that it was far more important for Jim to assist his father than to miss a few minutes of class.
After graduation in 1950 he worked for his father at the station prior to being drafted into the United States Army. During his active duty years he was a member of the Signal Corp. Following basic training completed in San Louis Obispo, California he was stationed at Camp McCauley in Linz, Austria from June 29th, 1953, to April 29th, 1955. He received the Army of Occupation Medal and the National Defense Service Medal. While in the service he traveled extensively in Germany and Italy. James was honorably discharged in the rank of Private First Class in June of 1955. As a Veteran he has been a member of the local VFW & Legion for 67 years. For more than 40 of those 67 years Jim has been cooking Mulligan stew for Veterans Day noon lunch, a job he has now handed down to his boys.
Upon returning to Minnesota, he pursued Business and Finance degrees at the Business College in Mankato. After graduation in 1957 he worked at Forster’s Furniture in Springfield as both a salesman and the accountant.
On December 31st, 1960, James and Elizabeth Mohr of New Ulm were married at New Ulm Cathedral, then making their home in Sleepy Eye. In the early 1960’s Jim began working at the Broich Insurance Agency in Sleepy Eye with lifelong friends James and Joe Broich. He also counted Francis Broich as a lifelong friend. It was at this time in 1962 the couple welcomed their first child, Jeff. Jim’s wife Elizabeth taught multiple levels of grade school, special education and Kindergarten for 30 plus years commuting to the Fairfax Public school. On July 4th, 1969, with the help of many relatives, James and Elizabeth moved into their home on Sleepy Eye Lake that they occupied for the remainder of their lives. 1970 brought about their second son, Eric. Later that decade, James switched employment while remaining in insurance to the First Security Agency in Sleepy Eye, retiring in the summer of 1998.
During his 40 plus working years, Jim was involved in numerous functions to support and improve the City of Sleepy Eye. Starting in the early 1970’s James served with other local businessmen on the 1972 Centennial Committee & Lake Committee, Sleepy Eye Economic Development Committee, Sleepy Eye Labor Society, and the Plate Glass Society. He was a Police Commissioner from 1981 to 1984. James also volunteered with the Minnesota Special Olympics in the 1990’s helping fund-raise and set up events statewide.
Jim was an active and charter member of the Knights of Columbus supporting St. Mary’s for 66 years. James spent 41 of those years as the Treasurer of the Knights of Columbus from 1968 to 2009. As Treasurer he was the overall chairman of the Cadillac Dinner for many years distributing the tickets and gathering and accounting the final proceeds. Additionally, as Treasurer James oversaw the KC auction and was central to helping each new Grand Knight with their projects and priorities over the years.
James loved to play golf and was a member of the Sleepy Eye golf course playing every Wednesday Men’s Day for 30 plus years. With patience and practice he perfected his game routinely shooting in the low 40’s and coming home quite pleased to have broken 40 with the occasional 39. In addition to golf James loved reading, woodworking, winemaking, stained glass, cooking, stone carving, Black Labradors, boating, and yard work/tree planting.
Especially after retirement, he took the opportunity to travel extensively making it to 45 of the 50 states. Jeff remains on active duty in the Air Force primarily stationed in the south. This allowed James and Elizabeth to escape numerous cold Minnesota winters while on extended visits. This is where Jim really perfected his cooking skills as he knew two boys would eat almost anything.
True to his vows of “for better or for worse, and in sickness and in health” James took on the task of being a full-time caregiver for his wife Elizabeth when she needed extensive care for several years. James never needed a lot of words. As a husband and a father, he led by example.
A piece of history that never left Jim was the attack on Pearl Harbor. Many times over the years, James told his boys that he remembered vividly as a 9 year old boy sitting in front of the radio on December 7th, 1941, listening to the live broadcasts. In 2016 James and his sons were able to travel to Hawaii for the 75th Anniversary commemoration. This was a special moment for Jim and his boys.
Jim didn’t really need any help maintaining his youth long into his life, but he proved the point anyway by buying himself a new convertible Corvette for his 72nd birthday. He also enjoyed a vintage 1966 Cadillac convertible that he purchased mostly by accident at an auto auction and loved taking the top down and driving every summer.
Jim’s love of dogs started as a young lad of 4 when his father ordered a Black Labrador Retriever puppy, which was shipped out of Chicago, arriving at the train depot in a beer crate. Pal immediately became part of the family, ruining Jim’s jeans, going hunting, carrying meat home from the butcher shop uneaten and in perfect condition all while being unattended and loving car rides.
Pepper, a Black Labrador puppy came home when Eric and Elizabeth walked across town and brought her home. Jim was unaware of the new little friend he was about to have for 12 years but it was OK with him as he loved dogs.
Maxx 1, Jim’s 3rd Black Labrador puppy was also courtesy of Elizabeth and Eric as Mom couldn’t seem to put the little gal down. Jim again didn’t plan on having a Lab for 12 years but immediately fell in love with the little girl.
Maxxx 2, came home when Jim was 81 and was the only planned Black Labrador that Jim got. His patience was immediately tested by the puppy and the vehicle as it took 14 hours to arrive home. Dad enjoyed walking the dogs hundreds of times each summer to Sportsman’s park and loved it when friends drove by and honked and waved. Dad enjoyed having Black Labs for 48 of his 90 years. There is something to be said about a pet keeping one young at heart.
James was preceded in death by his parents, Pearly Lee and Martha Larson; older brothers, Gerald (Adrian, MN) and Jerome Larson (Waseca, MN); and his wife, Elizabeth (Mohr) Larson. James is survived by his two sons, Lt Col Jeff Larson (Jacksonville, AR) and Eric Larson (Sleepy Eye, MN); and 4th Lab Maxxx.
James Edward Larson will be missed by all.