|
The Class of 59 extends its condolences and prayers to the family and friends of Larry McRae upon his passing. Below is an obituary.
Knox Larry McRae passed away on April 6, 2022. Born and raised in Decatur, Alabama, Larry was the son of former Alabama State Docks Director, Morgan County Sheriff, and Mayor of Decatur, Knox McRae, and Vera Steward McRae. Larry spent most of his childhood surrounded by his loving aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. He attended Decatur City Schools and Castle Heights Military Academy in Tennessee, and Marion Military Institute in Alabama. Larry graduated from Decatur High School in 1959 and joined the Alabama National Guard, and served at Fort Hood, Texas, during the Berlin Crisis. In 1960, he married his high school sweetheart, Judith Ann Parker, and they have spent the last 61 years having a wonderful life together. He graduated from the Alabama Military Academy and received his commission. He served as a Lieutenant in the Reserve for three years. In 1965, Larry graduated from the University of Alabama. They had two children, Knox Alan McRae and Emily McRae Heisler. Larry was a resident of Pelham, Alabama, for the past 35 years but also lived in Mobile, Alabama, and Nashville, Tennessee, prior to that time.
Larry’s career was in sales, and he retired in 2006. He worked for Metropolitan Life and Commercial Solvents, but most of his career was in trailer sales with Fruehauf, Polar, and Utility Trailers.
Judy and Larry have been members of Riverchase United Methodist Church since 1985. Larry served as an usher and a church bus driver. After retirement, he enjoyed his hobbies of fishing, golf, and visiting his friends at the Shelby County YMCA. He enjoyed traveling, watching Alabama football, and spending time with family and friends. His favorite times were spent with them, especially his two grandchildren, Mallory Heisler and Collin Heisler. Larry will be remembered most by his friends for his compassion for others and his keen sense of humor that kept everyone laughing.
Larry is survived by his loving wife, Judy, daughter Emily McRae Heisler (Kris), and his two grandchildren, Mallory Heisler (fiancé Louis A. McDonough III) and Collin Heisler. He is also survived by his brother-in-law, Dr. Lamar Snow, and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his son Knox Alan McRae and his sisters, Jean McRae Stroud and Glenda McRae Snow.
A Celebration of Life will be Saturday, April 9, 2022, at Riverchase United Methodist. Visitation will be at 2:00 PM, and the service will be at 3:00 PM. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts can be given to Big Oak Ranch, 6000 Shelley Drive, Springville, AL 35146.
|
Richard Allen
I did not know Larry very well even though we were classmates. I did not even know that he and Judy Parker were high school sweethearts and later married. Judy was a Gordon-Bibber and was part of our class untill her family moved away not long before we all graduted. I have always thought of Judy as an honorary member of our class.Marrying Judy had to have been one of the best things Larry ever did. I am glad to know a little about Judy's life after DHS, and I'm also glad to see that Larry and Judy had a good life together.
Although Larry and I were not close, we did have one thing that sort of tied us together--late in life my grandmother married his grandfather. It is my impression that each of them were looking for someone to look after them, so the marriage was short lived since neither could fulfill the others expections.
Larry Durham
Larry Durham
As I hope can be seen in a photo that I attempted to load in this system, Larry McRae and I were in Explorer Scout Post #19 along with a number of others whom many of you reading this post might recognize. Mr. Ed Price had been our Scoutmaster and "moved up" with us to become the Advisor for our Explorer Post that was sponsored by the First Methodist Church in Decatur. This was our "gang" of good friends and classmates. Most of us lived over in "Old Decatur".
So, in spite of his sojourns in military school, Larry and I grew up together in more ways than one. Our families knew each other and interacted on frequent occaisions. My father drove Buicks; so, I hung out at McRae Buick a lot and got to know the staff as well as his father, Knox McRae. Larry and I often joined some other guys at "Miss Sallie's Field" in his neighborhood to play baseball and football. We had a lot of fun together over the years.
After graduation from DHS, our paths parted but came back together many years later when we were both here in the Greater Birmingham area. Occaisionally, Larry, Don Church, and I would get together -- with our wives, of course -- to meet other DHS alumni for dinner. Unfortunately, such gatherings have suffered from the pandemic.
As was noted in his obituary, Larry McRae had a most successful business career. He demonstrated the principles we had learned in Scouting in all of his activities: family, church, community, and business. Plus, as all who were so fortunate as to know him realize, his sense of humor infused levity into every aspect of his life. While he will be sorely missed, his infectuous spirit will endure in those of us who were blessed to be his friends.
Larry Durham
Bob Thomas
Funeral Home Web Site:
https://www.forevermissed.com/knox-larry-mcrae/about?fbclid=IwAR2_KcCgB8UdbzRyTzjUTnaZzu-MKPMbmHUJhu9ovJoMznVvCZPdEkilwww
Skip Cox
It was good to see Larry and renew our friendship at our 59 Class Reunions!
Larry's dad was a Buick automobile dealer and, for our trip, Larry got to use a big purple Buick with massive elongated bullet shaped tail lights. They were so large, only Dolly Parton walking backwards would command more attention. Larry, Eddie Tiller and I went to Panama CIty, FL on Spring Break in 1959. I had too much to drink one day and passed out on the beach. The sun cooked the back of my legs so badly that the tendons contracted and I could not stand up. I lay in bed in our room for the remainder of our "vacation". Larry and Eddie had a great time. The drive back was agony and I was still not recovered in time to go on the Washington Trip with the Class of 59.
I will miss seeing Larry at our reunions. He was my friend.
Skip Cox