Larry J. Friesen

Larry John Friesen, age 75 of Hampton, NE, died on
Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at his home. He was born on Sept.
9, 1946 at the hospital in American Falls, ID, to Henry and
Louise (Isaak) Friesen. The youngest of seven children,
Larry loved telling the story of how after his next oldest
twin brother and sister were ready to go to school, his
mother told his father that she wasn’t ready to be home
alone yet – thus Larry was born!
Larry grew up in the Aberdeen area and their family
moved many times from farm to farm as his
dad worked for the farmer and was provided a home for their family.
Hard work was common growing up in
potato country. Larry would move sprinkler
pipe during the irrigating season before and
after school. A great memory also was when
the school would let out for two weeks so
the students could help with harvest.
During high school and after, he worked
for Vern Thiessen in town at his gas station
and tire shop. He graduated from Aberdeen
High School in 1964 and then attended Idaho University for a short time and also
Bethel College for a short time.
The family were members of First Mennonite of Aberdeen where Larry was baptized.
Larry married Beverly Friesen in 1969
and to this union three children were born:
Melissa, Amber, and Christopher. The family were members of Bethesda Mennonite Church in Henderson, where
he served as an usher for many years.
Larry farmed for a short time in the Henderson area
and owned Larry J’s Construction. In 1989, he purchased
A & L Sales and was proud to start the business over under his name. He became a Chief, DMC, NECO, Hutch/
Mayrath, and Sukup dealer. During this portion of his career, he became a member of the Chief President’s Club,
inducted into the Chief Hall of Fame, and served on the
Chief Advisory Council. He received various Top Volume
Dealer and Builder of the Year Awards and several Project
of the Year Awards.
Larry loved his customers. Many of his customers
could attest to the fact that if they had experienced a loss
or other tragedy in their family and work was done on
their farm by Larry and his crew that year, they would
receive a bill marked “no charge”. That’s just how he was
– honest and compassionate.
Larry had been a member and EMT for the Henderson
Volunteer Fire Department and on the Henderson Telephone Board (before Mainstay). He was currently a member of Bethesda Mennonite Church in Henderson.
In May of 2004, Larry married Teresa (Troester) Klipp
and gained the Klipp boys. He loved them like his own
and felt their reciprocation of love, especially when his
health began to fail and they helped Teresa in any way
they could to make life easier, so they could still be together as often as possible.
Larry and Teresa looked forward to their long oneweek trips in Arizona during the winter months to visit his
brothers, which eventually became the entire winter. They
loved their annual summer trips to Idaho to
help his brother Jim make sausage and render lard, always ending in a stay in Yellowstone and Jackson, WY, on the way home.
Every year of their married life together, Larry and Teresa traveled on an incentive earned Chief trip and other company
trips.
He enjoyed camping, attending sprint
car races (especially in Knoxville, IA),
weekend drives around Nebraska, and traveling to Branson, MO. He looked forward
to date nights with Teresa at Buffalo Wild
Wings, Troester camp outs, and Saturday
nights together at Junction Motor Speedway.
Larry is survived by: his wife Teresa of
Hampton; stepchildren, Greg (Kristina)
Klipp of Aurora, NE, Tim (Joseph) KlippLockhart of Washington D.C., Jon (Morgan) Klipp of Malcolm, NE; and grandchildren, Tinsley
and Hudson Klipp and Hayden, Bryn, and Nelson Klipp,
who lovingly referred to their grandpa as Dandy Papa. He
is also survived by his children: Melissa (Zachary) Sloan
of Colon, NE, Amber (Chris) Koehn of Hesston, KS, and
Chris (Jennifer) Friesen of Mons, Belgium; and grandchildren, Bowman Sloan, Alex, Emily, and Joshua Koehn,
and Henry and Viola Friesen.
Larry is also survived by his siblings: Jim (Leone)
Friesen of Idaho, Don (Elaine) Friesen and sister Mildred
(Stan) Schmidt, all of Washington, many nieces, nephews,
and so many friends, including special friends: The Bauerlein’s of Munich, Germany.
He was preceded in death by his parents and brothers
Vernon, Leo, and Melvin.
Memorial services were Monday, June 27, at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in York. Private inurnment will be
held at a later date. Cremation. No viewing or visitation.
In lieu of flowers and plants, memorials may be directed
to Bethesda MCC Meat Canner.
Condolences may be emailed to Metz Mortuary. Messages will be given to the family