Larry E. Grunden, age 82, of Rochester, passed away on December 10, 2024, at Mayo Health System-St. Marys Campus following a brave, albeit brief, fight against metastatic cancer.
Larry was born on March 28, 1942, to Leonard and Dorothy (nee Jackson) on the home farm in Redwood County, Minn. When he was a teenager he made a decision for Jesus and was baptized at the Church of Christ in Tracy, Minn. After graduating from Walnut Grove High School in 1960, Larry enlisted in the United States Army. He served at Fort Hood, Tex., and then went overseas to the Kruezberg Army Post in Zweibrucken, Germany. He also served in Augsburg, Germany, before returning to Fort Benjamin Harrison, Ind. It was during Larry’s time in the Army that he began his work with computers. Following his honorable discharge, he began working for IBM-Rochester where he was a keypunch operator and later a respected member of the security division. In 1965, he married Sharron Lee Solberg in New Hope, Minn. The couple later divorced. In the early 1970s he transferred to IBM-Boca Raton, Fla., where he spent 16 years before moving back to Minnesota where he remained employed with IBM until his retirement. Whether in the pop-up, the RV, or the 5th-wheel, Larry loved to camp with his family. Traveling to the family reunions in Walnut Grove was something he looked forward to each year. Larry was not a man with a lot of hobbies, but he very much enjoyed watching TV with and caring for his daughter Joyce, shopping for the most unusual family gifts and apparel, and listening to polka music or good old-time country music. If there were music playing, Larry would be whistling along with his carefree, spirited whistle. He liked to laugh and joke around with people, especially the grandkids.
Larry will be missed by his children Rose (Steven) Sires of Houston and Joyce Grunden of Rochester; his grandchildren Jamie (Zeb) Baumann of Houston; Brittany (Shane) Karlsbroten of Chadwick, Ill.; Andy (Shannon) Sires of La Crescent; Troy Sires of Ringgold, Ga.; and Christian (Melody) Sires of Lewiston. He is further survived by his five great-grandchildren: Kate and Emily Baumann, Oakley Karlsbroten, and Elsie and Lyndon Sires; sister-in-law Kay Grunden of Remsen, Iowa, brother Art (Jane) Grunden of Sun Prairie, Wis., and sister Bonnie Pagel of Lake Havasu City, Ariz.; and many nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents, brother James Grunden, brother and sister-in-law Ronnie and Kathy Grunden, and brother-in-law John Pagel.
Funeral services will be held on Saturday, December 21, 2024, at 1 p.m. at the Hoff Funeral Home in Houston, with his son-in-law Steven Sires officiating.
Visitation will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Hoff Funeral Home on Saturday, December 21, 2024.
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