Larry Dean Manasmith

Larry Dean Manasmith

Iowa City

Larry Dean Manasmith (Mean Lar Dean), 87, died suddenly from a heart ailment on January 17, 2024.

A time of remembrance will be held on Sunday, February 18 from 2:00-5:00 pm at The Kirkwood Room, 515 Kirkwood Avenue in Iowa City. Lensing Funeral & Cremation Service is handling arrangements. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be directed to the family and will go towards Parkinson’s research at the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics.

Larry was born on August 27, 1936, in Iowa City to Mildred (Bishop) and Lester Manasmith. He was raised on a farm outside of Wellman and graduated from Wellman High School in 1955. Following graduation, he farmed with his dad and worked at Amana Refrigeration.

He met the love of his life, Jean Curran, while “scooping the loop” in Iowa City. On April 15, 1958, they were married at Zion Lutheran Church. Shortly thereafter, he began working at Procter & Gamble. He retired 35 1/2 years later.

Larry enjoyed hunting, fishing and most things outdoors. He spent a great deal of time hunting squirrels, geese, coyotes and deer. He went moose hunting in Saskatchewan and grizzly bear hunting in British Columbia. For many years, he took fishing trips to Canada with family and friends. Larry and Jean were fortunate enough to travel to places like Alaska, Australia, New Zealand, Italy and to Ireland on 3 occasions.

Losing Larry leaves us with great sadness. There was never a dull moment when he was around and there was always plenty of laughter. He would often tell us, “Hey, I do the funny stuff.” He had a sweet tooth like no other, especially for dark chocolate, ice cream and cookies.

Survivors include his wife, Jean; children – Mikki Manasmith, Jeff (Deb) Manasmith and Stacey (Gary) Gates; grandchildren – Sara, Natalie, Kyle (Danny), Sean and Madison (Demetrius); great-grandchildren – Jhemar, Jhalie, Lincoln, Parker, Luna, Lawson, Rocket and Bryson. He is also survived by his brother-in-law Bill (Emily) Curran and sister-in-law Vicki Curran plus several nieces.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his sister Jackie Rummelhart; parents-in-law Bud and Florence Curran; nephew Randy Rummelhart; niece Danielle Fulton and his dog Maggie.

We will “endeavor to persevere”.