Alton 'Jim' C. Larson

Alton C. 'Jim' Larson WEST BRANCH, Iowa -Alton C. Jim Larson, 89, of rural West Branch died December 16, 2008, on the farm where he was born nearly 90 years before, the place he pledged to live out his days. No services are planned, but memorial gifts may be sent to the West Branch Community Schools Foundation. The Henderson-Barker Funeral Home in West Branch is in charge of arrangements. 'Jim' was born on September 19, 1919, the son of Lindon and Bertha Larson. He grew up in the pre-electric era of neighborhood harvest crews, horse-drawn school busses, and rutted mud roads, days he later recounted in short essays for the local paper. As a young bachelor farmer, he hunted and fished, raised hound dogs and saddle horses, and cultivated an abiding love for nature. He married Charlotte Thompson in 1964, a girl he had known most of his life, and together they raised two sons. He wore bib overalls year round, wrote pithy letters-to-the-editor on politics and society (and late-night missives to his children), never possessed a credit card or set foot on a plane, and felt the presence of the divine while riding a tractor or strolling a fence line. He is surviv...[more]

View Full Online Obituary and Tributes

by his sons, Lin and Nick and their respective partners, Pat Deming and Beth Larson; and his three grandsons, Abraham, Eli, and Isaac. He was preceded in death by his parents, brothers and beloved wife.