Howard Oscar Larson
September 16, 1928 ~ April 28, 2024
Howard Oscar Larson was born September 16, 1928, in Tescott, Kansas, the tenth and youngest child of Ralph Bernard and Neva Lambertson Larson, and the grandson of early Kansas settlers. He passed from this life on April 28, 2024, in Minneapolis, Kansas. Oscar attended Tescott schools, graduating in 1946, and completed one semester at Kansas State University before returning home to manage the family farm following his father’s death. At age 8, he drove a team of mules to haul his first wagon load of wheat to the Tescott elevator, taking along with him a neighbor boy who had hopped on for the ride. Oscar farmed and raised cattle actively for most of the remainder of his 95 years. Living in the Saline River valley west of Tescott, he persevered through the Great Depression, World War II, droughts and floods.
Oscar was active in the Kansas Farm Bureau, served on the Ottawa County Extension board, the Tescott school board at the time of school unification, and served many years on the Franklin Cemetery board. He was a member of the Kansas Crop Improvement Association raising and selling certified wheat seed for many years. The Larson farm was recognized as a Farm Bureau Century Farm. Oscar was a recipient of an Ottawa County Conservation Grassland Award and also a Kansas Bankers Soil Conservation Award in 2010. He was a member of the Tescott United Methodist Church.
Oscar was preceded in death by his wife Marilyn, his parents, four sisters—May, Lura Vivian, Thais, and Trudy—and five brothers—Lambert, Bob, Chris, and Don and Dean who both died in the Philippines while serving during World War II. He was also preceded in death by his son Robert and step-children Leslie and Joe. He is survived by his sons Allen (Diane), Ralph (Janet), Dean (Valerie) and daughters Betty Furney and Sally Morrison (Todd), and stepdaughter Sue Jordan (Don) and many grandchildren and great grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, May 4, 2024, at 2:00 PM at the Tescott United Methodist Church. Visitation will follow in the fellowship hall. In accordance with Oscar’s wishes his body was donated to the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas. The family suggests memorials to the Ottawa County Health Center, 215 East 8th Street, Minneapolis, KS 67467, where Oscar received kind and excellent care during the last year of his life.
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