Laurence Leroy Wisdom, son of Leroy Davis and Maude Helen Ryman Wisdom was born on July 1, 1915 at the home of his grandparents, David and Etta Ryman, 15 miles north of Colby, Kansas. It is this farm home, which his grandfather had built about 1903, that he and his mother called home for the first four years of his life. His father, Leroy Davis Wisdom, had died in May, just weeks before he was born.
Maude and Laurence moved into Colby and again lived with David and Etta Ryman after David retired from farming and built a home in Colby. David Barnes Ryman was the primary male role model for Laurence and Laurence was devoted to him.
Laurence graduated from Kansas State College of Agricultural and Applied Science, now Kansas State University, in 1937. While in college, he was a member of the Acacia Fraternity. After graduation, he went to work at Sears and Roebuck in Denver, Colorado and then transferred to the new Pueblo, Colorado store where he met a co-worker, Ethel Mae LaHue. Due to company regulations against employees dating, it was rather a surprise to the other fellow employees when it was announced that Ethel was resigning and that she and Larry were to be married.
On Easter Sunday morning, April 9, 1939, Ethel and Larry were married at the Methodist parsonage in Pueblo, Colorado.
In 1942, Larry was promoted to Assistant Manager at the Sears store in Colorado Springs so they moved back to Ethel's home town. In 1943, Larry was inducted into the Army and after basic training, he was sent to Pennsylvania for further training and Ethel was able to accompany him. Larry soon was sent to Hawaii. He arrived in Pearl Harbor about two years after the bombing and was there for three years during the war.
Ethel went back to work to wait for Larry's return and in 1946, they resumed their lives together. Larry went back to Sears and began on odyssey of transfers to Iowa, Illinois and Kansas. During that time, they had four children.
In 1954, Larry left Sears and purchased a Ben Franklin Store in Marysville, Kansas and they finally started to establish some roots. Ethel worked beside him in the store and the children were given tasks as they grew older.
In the 1960's, many factors made them abandon the store and Larry took a position with the Alumni Association at his alma mater, Kansas State University. Larry moved to Manhattan, Kansas in 1965 and commuted on week-ends as Ethel worked to sell the business. They kept their home until their daughter could complete her senior year of high school. Then the family moved to Manhattan.
After Larry retired, they spent the summer months at Manitou Springs, Colorado, in a cabin built in the 1920s by David Barnes Ryman. They had remodeled the cabin to add a modern bathroom and bedroom. True to his heritage, the landscape of the cabin became a profusion of flowers in the summer.
After Ethel died, Larry continued to go to Manitou in the summer and volunteered at the Manitou Springs Chamber of Commerce, a role he deeply enjoyed.
On his 80th birthday in July, 1995, the children planned a surprise birthday party with the Manitou Chamber staff and one can only wonder what he thought when a huge contingent of children,grandchildren, and spouses suddenly arrived at the cabin door.
When Larry's health began to decline and it didn't seem he would be able to summer in Manitou, the children piggy-backed their vacations which allowed him to spend a few weeks in Manitou with the children rotating weeks to have someone with him.
Larry died at St. Mary's Hospital in Manhattan, Kansas.
Larry and Ethel have one grandson who has a memorial on Find A Grave: Michael Scott Lange
DAR Lineage Accepted December 2012
Maude and Laurence moved into Colby and again lived with David and Etta Ryman after David retired from farming and built a home in Colby. David Barnes Ryman was the primary male role model for Laurence and Laurence was devoted to him.
Laurence graduated from Kansas State College of Agricultural and Applied Science, now Kansas State University, in 1937. While in college, he was a member of the Acacia Fraternity. After graduation, he went to work at Sears and Roebuck in Denver, Colorado and then transferred to the new Pueblo, Colorado store where he met a co-worker, Ethel Mae LaHue. Due to company regulations against employees dating, it was rather a surprise to the other fellow employees when it was announced that Ethel was resigning and that she and Larry were to be married.
On Easter Sunday morning, April 9, 1939, Ethel and Larry were married at the Methodist parsonage in Pueblo, Colorado.
In 1942, Larry was promoted to Assistant Manager at the Sears store in Colorado Springs so they moved back to Ethel's home town. In 1943, Larry was inducted into the Army and after basic training, he was sent to Pennsylvania for further training and Ethel was able to accompany him. Larry soon was sent to Hawaii. He arrived in Pearl Harbor about two years after the bombing and was there for three years during the war.
Ethel went back to work to wait for Larry's return and in 1946, they resumed their lives together. Larry went back to Sears and began on odyssey of transfers to Iowa, Illinois and Kansas. During that time, they had four children.
In 1954, Larry left Sears and purchased a Ben Franklin Store in Marysville, Kansas and they finally started to establish some roots. Ethel worked beside him in the store and the children were given tasks as they grew older.
In the 1960's, many factors made them abandon the store and Larry took a position with the Alumni Association at his alma mater, Kansas State University. Larry moved to Manhattan, Kansas in 1965 and commuted on week-ends as Ethel worked to sell the business. They kept their home until their daughter could complete her senior year of high school. Then the family moved to Manhattan.
After Larry retired, they spent the summer months at Manitou Springs, Colorado, in a cabin built in the 1920s by David Barnes Ryman. They had remodeled the cabin to add a modern bathroom and bedroom. True to his heritage, the landscape of the cabin became a profusion of flowers in the summer.
After Ethel died, Larry continued to go to Manitou in the summer and volunteered at the Manitou Springs Chamber of Commerce, a role he deeply enjoyed.
On his 80th birthday in July, 1995, the children planned a surprise birthday party with the Manitou Chamber staff and one can only wonder what he thought when a huge contingent of children,grandchildren, and spouses suddenly arrived at the cabin door.
When Larry's health began to decline and it didn't seem he would be able to summer in Manitou, the children piggy-backed their vacations which allowed him to spend a few weeks in Manitou with the children rotating weeks to have someone with him.
Larry died at St. Mary's Hospital in Manhattan, Kansas.
Larry and Ethel have one grandson who has a memorial on Find A Grave: Michael Scott Lange
DAR Lineage Accepted December 2012
Laurence Leroy Wisdom, son of Leroy Davis and Maude Helen Ryman Wisdom was born on July 1, 1915 at the home of his grandparents, David and Etta Ryman, 15 miles north of Colby, Kansas. It is this farm home, which his grandfather had built about 1903, that he and his mother called home for the first four years of his life. His father, Leroy Davis Wisdom, had died in May, just weeks before he was born.
Maude and Laurence moved into Colby and again lived with David and Etta Ryman after David retired from farming and built a home in Colby. David Barnes Ryman was the primary male role model for Laurence and Laurence was devoted to him.
Laurence graduated from Kansas State College of Agricultural and Applied Science, now Kansas State University, in 1937. While in college, he was a member of the Acacia Fraternity. After graduation, he went to work at Sears and Roebuck in Denver, Colorado and then transferred to the new Pueblo, Colorado store where he met a co-worker, Ethel Mae LaHue. Due to company regulations against employees dating, it was rather a surprise to the other fellow employees when it was announced that Ethel was resigning and that she and Larry were to be married.
On Easter Sunday morning, April 9, 1939, Ethel and Larry were married at the Methodist parsonage in Pueblo, Colorado.
In 1942, Larry was promoted to Assistant Manager at the Sears store in Colorado Springs so they moved back to Ethel's home town. In 1943, Larry was inducted into the Army and after basic training, he was sent to Pennsylvania for further training and Ethel was able to accompany him. Larry soon was sent to Hawaii. He arrived in Pearl Harbor about two years after the bombing and was there for three years during the war.
Ethel went back to work to wait for Larry's return and in 1946, they resumed their lives together. Larry went back to Sears and began on odyssey of transfers to Iowa, Illinois and Kansas. During that time, they had four children.
In 1954, Larry left Sears and purchased a Ben Franklin Store in Marysville, Kansas and they finally started to establish some roots. Ethel worked beside him in the store and the children were given tasks as they grew older.
In the 1960's, many factors made them abandon the store and Larry took a position with the Alumni Association at his alma mater, Kansas State University. Larry moved to Manhattan, Kansas in 1965 and commuted on week-ends as Ethel worked to sell the business. They kept their home until their daughter could complete her senior year of high school. Then the family moved to Manhattan.
After Larry retired, they spent the summer months at Manitou Springs, Colorado, in a cabin built in the 1920s by David Barnes Ryman. They had remodeled the cabin to add a modern bathroom and bedroom. True to his heritage, the landscape of the cabin became a profusion of flowers in the summer.
After Ethel died, Larry continued to go to Manitou in the summer and volunteered at the Manitou Springs Chamber of Commerce, a role he deeply enjoyed.
On his 80th birthday in July, 1995, the children planned a surprise birthday party with the Manitou Chamber staff and one can only wonder what he thought when a huge contingent of children,grandchildren, and spouses suddenly arrived at the cabin door.
When Larry's health began to decline and it didn't seem he would be able to summer in Manitou, the children piggy-backed their vacations which allowed him to spend a few weeks in Manitou with the children rotating weeks to have someone with him.
Larry died at St. Mary's Hospital in Manhattan, Kansas.
Larry and Ethel have one grandson who has a memorial on Find A Grave: Michael Scott Lange
DAR Lineage Accepted December 2012
Maude and Laurence moved into Colby and again lived with David and Etta Ryman after David retired from farming and built a home in Colby. David Barnes Ryman was the primary male role model for Laurence and Laurence was devoted to him.
Laurence graduated from Kansas State College of Agricultural and Applied Science, now Kansas State University, in 1937. While in college, he was a member of the Acacia Fraternity. After graduation, he went to work at Sears and Roebuck in Denver, Colorado and then transferred to the new Pueblo, Colorado store where he met a co-worker, Ethel Mae LaHue. Due to company regulations against employees dating, it was rather a surprise to the other fellow employees when it was announced that Ethel was resigning and that she and Larry were to be married.
On Easter Sunday morning, April 9, 1939, Ethel and Larry were married at the Methodist parsonage in Pueblo, Colorado.
In 1942, Larry was promoted to Assistant Manager at the Sears store in Colorado Springs so they moved back to Ethel's home town. In 1943, Larry was inducted into the Army and after basic training, he was sent to Pennsylvania for further training and Ethel was able to accompany him. Larry soon was sent to Hawaii. He arrived in Pearl Harbor about two years after the bombing and was there for three years during the war.
Ethel went back to work to wait for Larry's return and in 1946, they resumed their lives together. Larry went back to Sears and began on odyssey of transfers to Iowa, Illinois and Kansas. During that time, they had four children.
In 1954, Larry left Sears and purchased a Ben Franklin Store in Marysville, Kansas and they finally started to establish some roots. Ethel worked beside him in the store and the children were given tasks as they grew older.
In the 1960's, many factors made them abandon the store and Larry took a position with the Alumni Association at his alma mater, Kansas State University. Larry moved to Manhattan, Kansas in 1965 and commuted on week-ends as Ethel worked to sell the business. They kept their home until their daughter could complete her senior year of high school. Then the family moved to Manhattan.
After Larry retired, they spent the summer months at Manitou Springs, Colorado, in a cabin built in the 1920s by David Barnes Ryman. They had remodeled the cabin to add a modern bathroom and bedroom. True to his heritage, the landscape of the cabin became a profusion of flowers in the summer.
After Ethel died, Larry continued to go to Manitou in the summer and volunteered at the Manitou Springs Chamber of Commerce, a role he deeply enjoyed.
On his 80th birthday in July, 1995, the children planned a surprise birthday party with the Manitou Chamber staff and one can only wonder what he thought when a huge contingent of children,grandchildren, and spouses suddenly arrived at the cabin door.
When Larry's health began to decline and it didn't seem he would be able to summer in Manitou, the children piggy-backed their vacations which allowed him to spend a few weeks in Manitou with the children rotating weeks to have someone with him.
Larry died at St. Mary's Hospital in Manhattan, Kansas.
Larry and Ethel have one grandson who has a memorial on Find A Grave: Michael Scott Lange
DAR Lineage Accepted December 2012
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