Larry passed away on September 7, 2002 at Fort Meade facility in Sturgis, SD and is buried at Black Hills National Cemetary, Sturgis, South Dakota. He served in the army from 13 Jun 1960 to 12 June 1963.
Larry was a big guy even in the 7th grade. I remember a track meet that we had with the Pierre Indian School kids. We didn't stand a chance as they were older and bigger than most of us. However, one event was a football throw for yardage. Two of the Indian athletes threw the football around forty five yards. I didn't think that Larry stood a chance, but he threw the ball almost sixty yards. I could not believe it and neither could his competition. Larry was a gentle guy and served his country in the armed services. My sister-in-law, Sandra Middleton, worked as a nurse at the VA facility in Sturgis and cared for Larry. He must have asked if she was related to me. God bless you Larry. Harley
Back in the '80's, our office had a job fair for veterans. There we at least 150 vets in the room where we were meeting. From somewhere in the middle of the crowd, I heard a person say...Hey, there is dennis coull. I looked around the crowd and there was Larry Hill. We had a great conversation, catching up with what had been going on with each of us over the years. The time before that when I saw Larry was in the early '70's. I was working in Huron, and there was a parade in Huron that day. And again, as my family and I were watching the parade, a voice from the crowd said...dennis coull. It was Larry. Again, we had a good conversation about what we were both up to. After our meeting at the job fair, I found out that he was living at Ft Meade, so I was able to get up there from time to time to visit with him. It was always good to visit with him.
Larry was a different type person but he was a good friend. I only saw him once after high school. I was in pierre visiting and I bumped in to him. We had a long talk about a lots things.
Larry’s older brother (class of 59) was a rock solid tackle for the Piere Governor’s football team. As a senior, Larry made the Varsity team. He was slow and did not have football knowledge, but he showed up for practice and became a part of the team. He always managed to make us laugh as he could come up with the darnest sayings that would even have coach Dave Dafnis, who coached the second string, laughing out loud— much to the chagrin of Coach Trautner who directly coached the first stringers. Due primarily to Mike Isenburg and myself—- we urged both coaches to put in a play for Larry as he could toss that mall about 75 yards in the air. We practiced that play all season long where Larry would actually take the ball from the quarterback and throw it downfield as far as he could. Sometimes in practice we would purposely not block for Larry and he would get smothered. He would get up and all of us would be laughing, him included, after calling us names. He was part of the team. We were never far enough ahead of a team until the last game of the season. The year before Sioux Falls Cathedral had beaten us. We remembered that and wanted to even the score. We were leading 46 to 0 in the 4th quarter when all of us started chanting “Larry Hill”, “Larry Hill,” special play. Finally Coach Trautner allowed Larry to enter the game as a passer. We were on her own 20 yard line and Larry heaved the ball all the way down to the Goal line. Unfortunately none of our receivers were fast enough to get down there to receive the ball and it was not a successful play but to all of us that had practiced all year long it was a huge success and we all congratulated Larry. He made us feel good and I think it made Larry feel very good. He received many back slaps, helmet taps and shoulder pad touches when he came off the field as all the first stringers were pulled out of the game about the middle of the fourth quarter.
Harley Middleton
Larry was a big guy even in the 7th grade. I remember a track meet that we had with the Pierre Indian School kids. We didn't stand a chance as they were older and bigger than most of us. However, one event was a football throw for yardage. Two of the Indian athletes threw the football around forty five yards. I didn't think that Larry stood a chance, but he threw the ball almost sixty yards. I could not believe it and neither could his competition. Larry was a gentle guy and served his country in the armed services. My sister-in-law, Sandra Middleton, worked as a nurse at the VA facility in Sturgis and cared for Larry. He must have asked if she was related to me. God bless you Larry. Harley
Dennis C. Coull
Back in the '80's, our office had a job fair for veterans. There we at least 150 vets in the room where we were meeting. From somewhere in the middle of the crowd, I heard a person say...Hey, there is dennis coull. I looked around the crowd and there was Larry Hill. We had a great conversation, catching up with what had been going on with each of us over the years. The time before that when I saw Larry was in the early '70's. I was working in Huron, and there was a parade in Huron that day. And again, as my family and I were watching the parade, a voice from the crowd said...dennis coull. It was Larry. Again, we had a good conversation about what we were both up to. After our meeting at the job fair, I found out that he was living at Ft Meade, so I was able to get up there from time to time to visit with him. It was always good to visit with him.
Wayne W. McGruder
Larry was a different type person but he was a good friend. I only saw him once after high school. I was in pierre visiting and I bumped in to him. We had a long talk about a lots things.
Thomas M. Woods
Larry’s older brother (class of 59) was a rock solid tackle for the Piere Governor’s football team. As a senior, Larry made the Varsity team. He was slow and did not have football knowledge, but he showed up for practice and became a part of the team. He always managed to make us laugh as he could come up with the darnest sayings that would even have coach Dave Dafnis, who coached the second string, laughing out loud— much to the chagrin of Coach Trautner who directly coached the first stringers. Due primarily to Mike Isenburg and myself—- we urged both coaches to put in a play for Larry as he could toss that mall about 75 yards in the air. We practiced that play all season long where Larry would actually take the ball from the quarterback and throw it downfield as far as he could. Sometimes in practice we would purposely not block for Larry and he would get smothered. He would get up and all of us would be laughing, him included, after calling us names. He was part of the team. We were never far enough ahead of a team until the last game of the season. The year before Sioux Falls Cathedral had beaten us. We remembered that and wanted to even the score. We were leading 46 to 0 in the 4th quarter when all of us started chanting “Larry Hill”, “Larry Hill,” special play. Finally Coach Trautner allowed Larry to enter the game as a passer. We were on her own 20 yard line and Larry heaved the ball all the way down to the Goal line. Unfortunately none of our receivers were fast enough to get down there to receive the ball and it was not a successful play but to all of us that had practiced all year long it was a huge success and we all congratulated Larry. He made us feel good and I think it made Larry feel very good. He received many back slaps, helmet taps and shoulder pad touches when he came off the field as all the first stringers were pulled out of the game about the middle of the fourth quarter.