Laurance Starr Staples Jr.

Laurance Starr Staples Jr. (Larry) of Overland Park, KS passed away on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, at the age of 93. He was born on January 19, 1931, in the Kansas City area where he grew up and remained throughout his life.

During his childhood he was an acolyte at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, taking on more responsibility over the years. He later served on the vestry and supported the attached day school. He was also involved with other churches in the Kansas City area.

He graduated from the University of Illinois in 1956 with a Bachelor of Science in General Engineering and was a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE) collegiate fraternity.

During his time in college, he was drafted into the US Army on October 26, 1953. After eight weeks of basic training at Fort Ord in Monterey Bay and a few weeks painting “No Parking” signs, he was ordered to report to the G-3 Section of 6th Army headquarters at the Presidio of San Francisco, California, where he served as a draftsman for 14 months. During that time, he was promoted to PFC and finally Specialist 3rd Class (SP3) and was discharged on August 30, 1955, after being awarded a Letter of Commendation by Colonel Stacey Gooch, Head of the G-3 Section.

He worked most of his professional career in cooling tower sales at Marley Cooling Tower (now SPX Cooling Tech) and was actively involved in ASHRAE (the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers). He was an expert in Legionnaires' disease, which can be caused by the Legionella bacteria growing in cooling towers.

He was also an amateur radio enthusiast or ham. ‘First licensed in 1960, he was active over the years in VHF operating and public service communications. He played Santa Claus for the KCVHF club for mentally impaired children at the state school in Higginsville, MO; helped provide logistical communications for the American Royal Parade; and for 33 years was the ham coordinator for the March of Dimes Walk-a-Thons (later WalkAmerica, and now March for Babies); and many other public service events. In 1980, he started using e-mail as a way to recruit ham volunteers for the public service activities. This eventually evolved into Larry's List which had a positive effect on amateur radio operations and promoted good relationships among Kansas City Metro area amateur radio clubs.’

He was preceded in death by his wife, Barbara Ruth Hazard Staples, and brother Robert L. Staples.

He is survived by his son, Laurance S. Staples III and his wife Midori, granddaughter Marie Chiyo, and daughter, Mary Ruth Staples Mills and her husband Matthew.

The family would like to thank Village Shalom for his six years of residence in his villa and for the care and compassion they showed him in his final days. Thanks also to Kansas City Hospice & Palliative Care.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Larry's memory may be made to the organizations listed in the donations section below.