Larry Eugene Kirkland passed away suddenly on February 10th, 2024 at the age of 78, at his home in Rochester. He was born on October 5th, 1945 in rural Kasson, MN to Amos (Pete) Kirkland and Marion Hemingway. He attended school in West Concord until 1960 when his parents moved to Hayfield where he graduated from high school in 1963. He served in the U.S. Army from June 1963 until June 1966 where he achieved the rank of Sergeant. Larry remained an ardent supporter of veterans throughout his life, even serving as Sergeant-at-Arms for several years at his local American Legion (Post 119) in Byron.
Larry was hired by IBM Rochester in 1966 and retired in 1999. He held numerous positions in the areas of finance, shipping and receiving, warehousing, and numerous management & project management positions in finance, distribution, and electronic card assembly and testing. After retiring from IBM, he worked for Celestica in Rochester from 1999 until 2002 as project manager in their electronic card assembly and testing business. He then obtained a General Contractor’s License and used it to build numerous homes locally and remodel numerous distressed properties. He enjoyed the building business and even undertook the rebuilding of his own family’s home when it burned down in 2005 after a lightning strike. From 1984 to the present, he farmed in the Rochester/Byron area. Larry honestly enjoyed his work, especially farming.
Larry was much beloved by those who knew him and worked with him. He will be deeply missed by his family and friends. He is survived by his three sons, Sean Kirkland (Lisa Mahoney) of Chicago, IL (mother, Maureen O’Brien – deceased) and his twin sons Alex (fiancée Jordan Freeman), of Minneapolis, MN, and Paul (partner Natalie Hanson) of Mountain View, CA (mother Lori Jones), and his love, Deb Thornhill of Rochester, MN, with whom he spent many happy years, and all her family. He was preceded in death by his father in 1964, his mother in 2011, his brother Robert in 2013, and his sister Nancy Brannan (husband Cecil) in 2014.
A gathering will take place from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 9th at Dibble Funeral Home, 213 W Main St, Kasson, MN. Burial will be at Fort Snelling on Friday, March 15th at 1:30 pm.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to your local American Legion Post.
Larry was the kind of a guy that you could enjoy a conversation with about just about anything and have a lot of good laughs. He made business conversations comfortable, and he was a real decent easy guy to work for and with. It was almost like working for a friend every time we did connect and business! Larry is going to be missed every day by family and friends and he is one of the good guys you hate to see go! Our prayers go out to Larry‘s family and friends he will truly be missed.
Sean & Family,
My condolences to the family. Larry was a great man from all of my memories. Many, many fond memories of being around Larry as a young boy. Exceptionally kind! I’ll always remember his love for his corvettes. You’ll be missed Larry!
Tony Hedberg