A celebration of the life of Larry Dean Tourte, 81, of Paton was held Thursday, Oct. 18, at the Salem United Methodist Church with Rev. David Arulnathan officiating. Doyle Carlson was soloist and Danille Curtis as organist. Honorary casket bearers were Gordon Roese, Wilber Schumaker, George Ziehm and Ron Delance.
Serving as casket bearers were Roger Wessling, James Sandberg, Daniel Johnson, Darwin Grow, William Clarke and Jack Fredrickson. Burial with Navy military honors were made in the Paton Township Cemetery near Paton.
The family was assisted by Brown Funeral Home of Jefferson.
Larry Dean Tourte, the son of Leslie and Elizabeth Batcheller Tourte, was born July 30, 1937 on a farmstead south of Paton, IA, and passed from this life with his family beside him at his home in Paton on October 14, 2018. He lived a full and active life to the age of 81 years, 2 months and 14 days.
Larry grew up in the Paton area and attended Paton High School. He joined the U.S. Navy in May of 1955 and served with the Seabees, rebuilding hospitals and schools. After his discharge in July of 1958, he returned to Paton and farmed with his father and brother Jerry.
On June 21, 1959, Larry was united in marriage to Donna Gilley at the Methodist Church in Paton.Two sons were born to this union, Donald and Douglas. Larry continued to farm with his father and brother until his father retired and then the brothers started farming on their own. Larry continued to farm and retired in his 60s and then continued to help with the fall harvest. In 2000, he and Donna moved into their present home in Paton.
Larry was active in his community, serving on the Paton-Churdan school board, as president of the Greene County Pork Producers and on the elevator board. As well as farming, Larry operated the Paton Farm Store and was a sales representative for J & M Manufacturing. Larry enjoyed life planning/going on Canadian fishing trips, playing cards and pool. He and his wife Donna spent 20+ winters in Arizona. Of most importance to Larry was his family of whom he was very proud!
Left to remember his life are his wife Donna; two sons and their wives, Don and Sally of Geneva, IL, and their children David (Amy) Tourte, Michael and Annie Tourte, and Doug and Becky Tourte of Paton and their children Kelsey (Bill) Bruce and Mitchel (Leslie) Tourte; and his brother Jerry and his wife Loretta of Paton. Those who preceded him in death were his parents.
