Larry Loomis

Larry Neil Loomis September 5, 1938- August 26, 2024 Larry Loomis was born in Rapid City, SD and raised in Belle Fourche, SD. He loved to tell everyone he was born and raised in the Black Hills of South Dakota. His first official job was washing saddles at the Belle Fourche Rodeo, and that theme made its way into his art. He had a great love of art and athletics which he pursued all his life. Larry attended University of South Dakota where he distinguished himself on the 1957-58 University of South Dakota national small college championship basketball team. He was a sophomore guard when South Dakota won the 1958 NCAA national title, and was later inducted into the Coyote Sports Hall of Fame in a special ceremony in 1980. His name was engraved on a plaque in the USD DakotaDome along with his teammates. Larry met his wife Ruth at an art class at the University of South Dakota, and later married in 1961. They went on to have 2 children, Lisa and Mark Loomis. He was on staff at Iowa State in the Publications Art Dept where he won Art Directors of Iowa awards in 1969 before moving to Des Moines and starting his career as a commercial artist. For 50 years Larry...[more]

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ned and operated Loomis Graphic, Inc. - an art studio in Des Moines, IA. Many of his clients became friends. He enjoyed traditional illustration that segued into computer illustration. He never shied away from innovation or challenge. His love of people and helping others was always evident in his art and life. Larry never retired from art and always carried a sketchbook with him to document the good, the bad, and the funny, wherever he happened to be. He was constantly curious about art and the world around him. Since he "gave his knees to basketball" he enjoyed seeing all the nature around him on long walks in his later years, even documenting the wildlife there. He is preceded in death by his father Howard, mother Leila, brother Ronald, and brother Gene. He is survived by his wife Ruth Loomis, children Lisa and Mark Loomis, Sister Janice Allen, Nephews Christopher Loomis and Nicholas Allen, Nieces Sharon Loomis Arellano and Kelly Camerer, and Grandson Jason Loomis.