Obituary for Larry Hill
Larry Eugene Hill at age 76 took his final curtain call on Good Friday, April 2nd, 2021. Surrounded by his family, he stepped behind the curtain one last time to be greeted by friends, in-laws, and family waiting there to greet him. Family members waiting to hug him were his parents Wilbon George and Pansy Ellsworth Hill, his brothers Henry, Bill, Elmer, and Bobby, and sisters Darlene Cupp, and Dolores Lynch.
Left here to watch his now empty spotlight are his wife Margie of the home, children Michael Koehler (Kansas City, Mo.), Mimi Eckart and Gene (Bucyrus, Ks.), and Tim Hill and Kristi (Overland Park, Ks.), six grandchildren Danny, Brett, Kaley, Charlie Hill, and Grace and Cole Eckart. He also leaves his sisters Clara King, Violet Turley and Diana Trompeter, and his in-law family, Ed and Mary Friebe, Patty Butler, Mike Mandl, Cassie Lippert, Bob and Susie Lippert, along with a host of extended family members and special friends.
Larry was first cast into his earthly role on June 4th, 1944 in Kansas City, Kansas. He was the 9th of 10 children—and the youngest son. As a young child, Larry’s family moved around quite a bit but always in the rural areas of Wyandotte County. He started school at the age of 4 accompanying his older siblings to a one-room schoolhouse which has been preserved and now sits at the Ag Hall Of Fame in Bonner Springs. As a teenager, Larry’s family moved into the Argentine area and Larry discovered several new roles to perfect. He attended Junior High and High School in Argentine where he excelled at football, basketball, track, baseball, and of course, theatre. His love of football and theatre earned him a scholarship to Emporia University and motivated him to move to Emporia after graduating high school in 1962. He was the very first in his family to attend college and it was quite a hardship on the family to support his decision. After his first year at Emporia, he left school to return home and help support the family. He stayed home working odd jobs in construction, and banking, and taking a class here and there at junior college for about two years and then returned to his role as a full-time student. This time he enrolled in Pittsburg State University (PSU) where he naturally got involved in theatre in addition to his formal classes. He graduated from PSU in May of 1968 with a bachelor degree in Education.
From 1968 to August of 1972 Larry pursued his love of the theatre by accepting roles in community theatre productions, commercials, and dinner theatres while working at a variety of paying jobs. By August of 1972 he was ready to finally use that teaching license. He accepted a full-time teaching job at Center North Junior High School as a science teacher. He didn’t have the smoothest start to his new career as he overslept and had a flat tire on his first day on the job. Not sure his principal, Jim Lemery, ever let him forget that one, but Jim recognized true talent in working with adolescents and let him stay. After a few years, his teaching assignment was changed from Science to speech and drama thus enabling him to merge his excitement for acting with his school duties by taking on the extracurricular responsibility of the annual school show. In addition to teaching young students the art of performing, Larry continued to find time to perform himself in the community while also being cast in a motion picture, Bucktown “starring” as Deputy Sherriff Duane and co-starring Kansas City Chief Fred Williamson, and in a TV movie Friendly Persuasion. Larry retained that role of actor and educator until the district closed Center North in 1979.
While this scene closed, it was not without a happy ending, because during his time there, he met the love of his life, Margie, who was also a teacher at Center North. He also met a wonderful group of teaching professionals. 5 of these couples, the Lemerys, Neals, Reagans, Parkers, and Bennetts formed a dinner club in 1982 and have met every month for dinner for the past 40 years. Lately COVID has prevented physical visits but these have been replaced for now with Zoom calls.
The new role of husband and father premiered on July 8, 1977. Larry and Margie began to build their family and welcomed Mimi and Tim to the cast that already included Michael. The next several years found Larry in a role of provider and putting family above everything working several jobs such as an overnight trucking company dispatcher and trying to begin two transport companies, Crown Express and Lamar Met. Neither one brought the fulfillment or enjoyment as teaching, so once again he returned to the teaching role he was always meant to play as he accepted a new job and began teaching again at Ray-Pec Middle School. In 1988, he opened Oxford Middle School in the Blue Valley School District, and two years later he opened another Blue Valley school, Overland Trail Middle School. It was here that he was partnered up with two great co-starring teachers, Caroline Unruh and Owen Evans, who produced some of the best middle school theatre events anyone could imagine. The trio built one of the best theater programs in the area. So much so, parents of middle school students interested in theater transferred their children to OTMS to be part of their shows. It was amazing to see such incredible set designs and performances from such young students, but it was all due to the skills and expectations these educators imparted to their students. And those students never failed to surpass their lofty goals every time. We stand in awe of the number of messages of thanks and appreciation that have been pouring in from past students. It is humbling to realize just how many students’ lives he touched and the differences he made in those students’ lives. What an amazing legacy he left.
The return to teaching gave Larry the chance to build upon his greatest role as father and family man. Summers were spent working around the house to make it better by adding decks and porches. Thousands of miles were put on the family van as he drove them to the east coast, west coast, Yellowstone, New Orleans, and many other landmarks and cities across the country. And whenever possible, he would find a way to sneak by Las Vegas for a few nights each year. During these yeas at Overland Trail Middle, Larry went back to school and earned his master degree in Administration. He never really wanted to give up his classroom work with his students to take on the role of building principal, but it did provide him an opportunity to fill in for building administrators from time to time. After retirement it qualified him to step in as a long-term substitute for district assistant principals.
This phase in his professional career came to an end as his grandchildren came along and he devoted all his time to helping care for them. Being Papa was his most cherished role. No matter what school event, sporting games (and even practices) he was always there. He loved being there to show his support. Those grandbabies never had enough toys! He always wanted to get them the newest and coolest thing, and he was the target audience for the random toy on late night infomercials. He designed and built swing sets from scratch for them and as they entered teenage years, he helped them each buy their first cars just because he wanted to do something special.
Larry also loved family parties. It didn’t matter if it was just the immediate family, the entire in-law Lippert side, the entire Hill side, or best of all, all sides together for a gathering. The biggest gathering was always his beloved “Weenie Roast!” Held around Halloween every year, he would spend months preparing the house, the yard, planning the menu and figuring out who was bringing what. There was a bonfire to make s’mores and more food than anyone knew what to do with.
He absolutely loved food. He loved cooking it, he loved eating it and he loved watching people cook food all day long. The Food Network channel was on almost nonstop. Without fail, every Christmas someone would get a new kitchen utensil, pots or pans, cutting boards etc. and it usually came from an advertisement he saw on the Food Network. His greatest fear was that someone would not be able to enjoy a particularly favorite food item or something they really wanted to eat at the gathering, so he always made sure there was more than enough of everything. He always made an overabundance of everything--- enough food to feed a small country. As everyone would be sitting around the table after finishing their meal, he would say the same thing, “there is a whole lot of food in there, guys better not be full.”
Larry was fairly simple and easy to please. In addition to cooking shows, he loved musical and old westerns. He was always happy if there was a Royals, Chiefs or KU basketball game on to watch or listen to, but his favorite was when the grandkids popped in for a visit. Larry battled many health challenges the last few years, but somehow managed to keep his humor and positive attitude. Through all of the different acts in his life’s play, Larry left us wanting an encore, which all of his family and friends look forward to when we meet again. Till then RIP, Lamar!
On Friday, April 9th a visitation will be held from 9:30am to 11:00 am at Alden-Harrington Funeral Home in Bonner Springs (masks required), followed by an 11:30 graveside service at the Bonner Springs Cemetery. The graveside service will be livestreamed through the Alden Harrington website. Friends and family are welcome to attend a luncheon immediately following. Larry always said the best part of a funeral is the lunch! In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to St. Jude Children’s Hospital or Coronation of Our Lady Food Pantry, 13000 Bennington, Grandview, MO 64030
Left here to watch his now empty spotlight are his wife Margie of the home, children Michael Koehler (Kansas City, Mo.), Mimi Eckart and Gene (Bucyrus, Ks.), and Tim Hill and Kristi (Overland Park, Ks.), six grandchildren Danny, Brett, Kaley, Charlie Hill, and Grace and Cole Eckart. He also leaves his sisters Clara King, Violet Turley and Diana Trompeter, and his in-law family, Ed and Mary Friebe, Patty Butler, Mike Mandl, Cassie Lippert, Bob and Susie Lippert, along with a host of extended family members and special friends.
Larry was first cast into his earthly role on June 4th, 1944 in Kansas City, Kansas. He was the 9th of 10 children—and the youngest son. As a young child, Larry’s family moved around quite a bit but always in the rural areas of Wyandotte County. He started school at the age of 4 accompanying his older siblings to a one-room schoolhouse which has been preserved and now sits at the Ag Hall Of Fame in Bonner Springs. As a teenager, Larry’s family moved into the Argentine area and Larry discovered several new roles to perfect. He attended Junior High and High School in Argentine where he excelled at football, basketball, track, baseball, and of course, theatre. His love of football and theatre earned him a scholarship to Emporia University and motivated him to move to Emporia after graduating high school in 1962. He was the very first in his family to attend college and it was quite a hardship on the family to support his decision. After his first year at Emporia, he left school to return home and help support the family. He stayed home working odd jobs in construction, and banking, and taking a class here and there at junior college for about two years and then returned to his role as a full-time student. This time he enrolled in Pittsburg State University (PSU) where he naturally got involved in theatre in addition to his formal classes. He graduated from PSU in May of 1968 with a bachelor degree in Education.
From 1968 to August of 1972 Larry pursued his love of the theatre by accepting roles in community theatre productions, commercials, and dinner theatres while working at a variety of paying jobs. By August of 1972 he was ready to finally use that teaching license. He accepted a full-time teaching job at Center North Junior High School as a science teacher. He didn’t have the smoothest start to his new career as he overslept and had a flat tire on his first day on the job. Not sure his principal, Jim Lemery, ever let him forget that one, but Jim recognized true talent in working with adolescents and let him stay. After a few years, his teaching assignment was changed from Science to speech and drama thus enabling him to merge his excitement for acting with his school duties by taking on the extracurricular responsibility of the annual school show. In addition to teaching young students the art of performing, Larry continued to find time to perform himself in the community while also being cast in a motion picture, Bucktown “starring” as Deputy Sherriff Duane and co-starring Kansas City Chief Fred Williamson, and in a TV movie Friendly Persuasion. Larry retained that role of actor and educator until the district closed Center North in 1979.
While this scene closed, it was not without a happy ending, because during his time there, he met the love of his life, Margie, who was also a teacher at Center North. He also met a wonderful group of teaching professionals. 5 of these couples, the Lemerys, Neals, Reagans, Parkers, and Bennetts formed a dinner club in 1982 and have met every month for dinner for the past 40 years. Lately COVID has prevented physical visits but these have been replaced for now with Zoom calls.
The new role of husband and father premiered on July 8, 1977. Larry and Margie began to build their family and welcomed Mimi and Tim to the cast that already included Michael. The next several years found Larry in a role of provider and putting family above everything working several jobs such as an overnight trucking company dispatcher and trying to begin two transport companies, Crown Express and Lamar Met. Neither one brought the fulfillment or enjoyment as teaching, so once again he returned to the teaching role he was always meant to play as he accepted a new job and began teaching again at Ray-Pec Middle School. In 1988, he opened Oxford Middle School in the Blue Valley School District, and two years later he opened another Blue Valley school, Overland Trail Middle School. It was here that he was partnered up with two great co-starring teachers, Caroline Unruh and Owen Evans, who produced some of the best middle school theatre events anyone could imagine. The trio built one of the best theater programs in the area. So much so, parents of middle school students interested in theater transferred their children to OTMS to be part of their shows. It was amazing to see such incredible set designs and performances from such young students, but it was all due to the skills and expectations these educators imparted to their students. And those students never failed to surpass their lofty goals every time. We stand in awe of the number of messages of thanks and appreciation that have been pouring in from past students. It is humbling to realize just how many students’ lives he touched and the differences he made in those students’ lives. What an amazing legacy he left.
The return to teaching gave Larry the chance to build upon his greatest role as father and family man. Summers were spent working around the house to make it better by adding decks and porches. Thousands of miles were put on the family van as he drove them to the east coast, west coast, Yellowstone, New Orleans, and many other landmarks and cities across the country. And whenever possible, he would find a way to sneak by Las Vegas for a few nights each year. During these yeas at Overland Trail Middle, Larry went back to school and earned his master degree in Administration. He never really wanted to give up his classroom work with his students to take on the role of building principal, but it did provide him an opportunity to fill in for building administrators from time to time. After retirement it qualified him to step in as a long-term substitute for district assistant principals.
This phase in his professional career came to an end as his grandchildren came along and he devoted all his time to helping care for them. Being Papa was his most cherished role. No matter what school event, sporting games (and even practices) he was always there. He loved being there to show his support. Those grandbabies never had enough toys! He always wanted to get them the newest and coolest thing, and he was the target audience for the random toy on late night infomercials. He designed and built swing sets from scratch for them and as they entered teenage years, he helped them each buy their first cars just because he wanted to do something special.
Larry also loved family parties. It didn’t matter if it was just the immediate family, the entire in-law Lippert side, the entire Hill side, or best of all, all sides together for a gathering. The biggest gathering was always his beloved “Weenie Roast!” Held around Halloween every year, he would spend months preparing the house, the yard, planning the menu and figuring out who was bringing what. There was a bonfire to make s’mores and more food than anyone knew what to do with.
He absolutely loved food. He loved cooking it, he loved eating it and he loved watching people cook food all day long. The Food Network channel was on almost nonstop. Without fail, every Christmas someone would get a new kitchen utensil, pots or pans, cutting boards etc. and it usually came from an advertisement he saw on the Food Network. His greatest fear was that someone would not be able to enjoy a particularly favorite food item or something they really wanted to eat at the gathering, so he always made sure there was more than enough of everything. He always made an overabundance of everything--- enough food to feed a small country. As everyone would be sitting around the table after finishing their meal, he would say the same thing, “there is a whole lot of food in there, guys better not be full.”
Larry was fairly simple and easy to please. In addition to cooking shows, he loved musical and old westerns. He was always happy if there was a Royals, Chiefs or KU basketball game on to watch or listen to, but his favorite was when the grandkids popped in for a visit. Larry battled many health challenges the last few years, but somehow managed to keep his humor and positive attitude. Through all of the different acts in his life’s play, Larry left us wanting an encore, which all of his family and friends look forward to when we meet again. Till then RIP, Lamar!
On Friday, April 9th a visitation will be held from 9:30am to 11:00 am at Alden-Harrington Funeral Home in Bonner Springs (masks required), followed by an 11:30 graveside service at the Bonner Springs Cemetery. The graveside service will be livestreamed through the Alden Harrington website. Friends and family are welcome to attend a luncheon immediately following. Larry always said the best part of a funeral is the lunch! In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to St. Jude Children’s Hospital or Coronation of Our Lady Food Pantry, 13000 Bennington, Grandview, MO 64030