Larry C. Emerson

Larry Emerson, 66, currently residing in Osceola, Nebraska, was born in Fremont, Nebraska, December 7, 1952, to Charles and Marion (Rockwell) Emerson. After a heart attack, Larry passed peacefully surrounded by his wife and daughters on June 29, 2019, at Bryan Heart in Lincoln, Nebraska. Larry grew up in North Bend, Nebraska, spending countless hours at the family business, the Corner Café, where his parents taught him his strong work ethic. Larry was a graduate of North Bend Central High School, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Central Michigan University.

Larry met Karen Johnson while they were both working in the tuxedo rental department at Ben Simons in Lincoln. On September 2, 1978, Larry and Karen were married in Osceola, Nebraska, and he spent the next 40 years making her happy. Larry and Karen were blessed with three daughters who were their father’s pride and joy: Joslyn (Colby) Brown, Charlotte, North Carolina, Kit (Jeff) Frank, Henderson, Nevada, Chloe (John) Seipel, Lincoln, Nebraska, and six rambunctious grandchildren: Konrad, Meyer, and Laurel Brown; Waylon and Boone Frank; and Cullen Seipel. Larry is also survived by his brother Cliff Emerson of Ashland, Nebraska, and sister and brother-in-law Sandy and Wayne Strenger of Plano, Texas, brothers-in-law Gregg and Steve Johnson of Osceola, as well as many nieces and nephews.

He enjoyed traveling, Husker sports, listening to talk radio while driving (he commuted countless hours every week), and teaching himself how to fix almost anything around the house. He was “handier than a pocket in a t-shirt” and championed himself at making cars last as long as possible-his record well over 370,000 miles. Most of all he loved spending time with his family. Larry and Karen were planning for his retirement in the coming year and building a lake home on Bucktail Lake outside Clarks, Nebraska.

Larry’s passion was helping others, and he chose health care administration as his career. Throughout his career, he felt privileged to be a leader at Tilden Community Hospital, Tilden, Nebraska, Webster County Community Hospital, Red Cloud, Nebraska, Axtell Christian Hospital, Newton, Kansas, and integrally involved as a member of the team who merged two hospitals and created Newton Medical Center in Newton, Kansas. Larry also served as CEO of Beatrice Community Hospital, Beatrice, Nebraska, and for the past 15 years has led the Dialysis Center of Lincoln as CEO. Larry was a fellow in the American College of Health Care Executives, and an active board member and past president of the board of the National Renal Administrators Association and Renal Services Exchange board, receiving the Mark Zawiski Award for Outstanding Leadership in 2012. Larry was a member and past president of Delta Tau Delta fraternity on the UNL campus. He was also a Shriner, a Mason, and a member of Centenary United Methodist Church in Beatrice, Nebraska.

Larry requested no funeral, but rather a celebration of life, time and place to be announced at a later date. Condolences and memorials may be sent to the Dialysis Center of Lincoln, 7910 O Street, Lincoln, NE 68510, for the Larry Emerson Memorial Fund, where Larry’s mission to help others will be continued.