Laurence "Larry" Cox, 78, of Tecumseh

Laurence "Larry" Jennings Cox was born May 20, 1945 to Luther Jennings and C. Fern (Burgess) Cox in a farm house in Ringgold County, Iowa.  He was the youngest of six children.  He started school at the age of four in a one-room country school where he walked 2 1/2 miles to and from with his older sisters.  After attending seven different schools in three states, Laurence started the fifth grade in Mound City, Missouri where years later he graduated in 1962 at the age of sixteen.  At a very young age, when he had time, Laurence went to work with his father who was a John Deere mechanic. By the time he was seventeen, Laurence was a fairly accomplished mechanic and his first "real" job was with H&H Chevrolet in Omaha working on used cars and driving the tow truck. 

Laurence joined the Air Force on December 7, 1962 in Omaha.  He received 5 weeks of basic training in Lackland, Texas.  He then attended Aircraft Mechanic/Crew Chief school in Amarillo, Texas where he was an honor student, ranking in the top 5% of the Air Force.  His first assignment was Malmstrom AFB Great Falls, MT, where he crewed T33 aircraft for two years.  Laurence was then assigned to Incirlik Air Base in Turkey for his last 18 months of active duty where he worked in transit alert.  After spending two years in the reserves, Laurence was honorably discharged on December 6, 1966.  

After leaving the Air Force, Laurence returned to Mound City were he met Mary Elizabeth Freed.  They were married on October 13, 1967 (which was a Friday) in Mound City.  They lived there for 1 1/2 years where Laurence worked as a bookkeeper for Desert Gold Elevator before moving to Tecumseh, Nebraska where he was a route salesman for a soft drink company, later working for Jack and Jill Grocery for 12 1/2 years as manager.  During this time, Mary and Laurence had two daughters, Leha was born in September, 1968 and Tracy in November, 1969.  

In 1982, Laurence started as a delivery driver for the United Parcel Service in Auburn.  After driving for three years, he went into supervision in Auburn and then became Operation Manager for the Beatrice and Auburn UPS areas.  Laurence retired in 2000 at the age of 55.  At that time he was the Business Manager in Charge of Operations for the Beatrice and Auburn areas.  

Laurence served on the Tecumseh Volunteer Fire Department for 7 years, he took EMT classes and was on the Johnson County Rescue Squad.  He also served 4 years on the Tecumseh City Council where he was in charge of parks and recreation.  He later served on the Tecumseh Board of Equalization.

In his spare time, Laurence enjoyed traveling and camping with Mary, Leha and Tracy, especially traveling to national parks in their VW Thing.  He also had many hobbies such as gardening, RC aircraft, washing his vehicles and camping. 

He passed away Tuesday, June 6, 2023 at his home in Tecumseh at the age of 78 years.

Laurence was preceded in death by his parents, brother and sister-in-law, Myron and Margie Schnackenberg, sister and brother-in-law Janice and Jim Brown, father-in-law LeRoy Freed and mother-in-law Shirley Jackson.

Laurence is survived by his wife Mary, daughters Leha and husband Chris Lenhoff of Lincoln and Tracy Cavanzon of Nebraska City, granddaughter Macie Lenhoff, step-grandsons Jacob and Joey Lenhoff of Lincoln, sisters and brothers-in-law, Helen and Fred Gernadt of Omaha, Evelyn and Robert Taylor of Raymore, MO and Florence and Byron Gibson of Moberly, MO, sisters-in-law Betty Jean Schnackenberg of Lenox, IA and Virginia Scarbrough of Amazonia, MO, and many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.     

Larry’s wishes were to be cremated and private graveside services to be held at the New Liberty Cemetery, Mound City, Missouri at a later date.

Memorials may go to the Avenue of Flags in care of the family.

Online condolences may be left @ www.wherrymortuary.com.

Services are entrusted to Wherry Mortuary, Tecumseh, Nebraska.