Larry Joe Heller

Larry J. Heller, beloved husband and father, passed away at the age of 72 on Sunday, March 29, 2020 peacefully at his home. Although stubborn at times, it was nothing compared to his calm and gentle manner, warm generosity, and quiet wisdom that touched so many.

Larry was born December 15, 1947 in Topeka, the son of Elmer and Thelma (Phillips) Heller. He graduated from Seaman High School with the class of 1965.

He served in the U.S. Navy from 1966-1972 during which time he found it rewarding to save his pay and loan it to friends when they blew through theirs. He enjoyed acquiring beautiful and unique possessions during his travels and his passion for doing so continued throughout his life. Among other things, he had much appreciation for a good quality pair of gloves, boots, coats and tools. Whatever project you might be working on, he always had the tool for the job, and shared his helpful insight.

In 1972, he began working at Southwestern Bell Telephone and worked in numerous technical and management positions in which he was clearly indispensable and relied upon. Shortly after retiring in 2001, he worked for Creative Landscape which satisfied his joy of the outdoors and putting his green thumb to use. Larry was a member of the Mother Teresa Catholic Church.

Larry is survived by his overly patient and accepting wife Sue. Larry married Susanne Schmidtlein on October 28, 1983 and over the course of their 36 wonderful years together, they built their family home with their own two hands, where they loved and raised seven children including his, hers, theirs, and somebody else’s. They are Abbey (Sean) Heller, Christopher (Jennifer) Heller, Andy Leiker, Greg (Shelby) Leiker, Brian Leiker, Cherish (Brent) Allshouse, and Adam Erb (deceased); they were also blessed with nine grandchildren, Kaveryn, Connor, Fisher, Maddux, Jace, Luke, Jackson, Lauren and Taylor.

Funeral Mass will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, August 6, 2021 at Mother Teresa Catholic Catholic Church.  The family will greet friends beginning at 9:30 am at the church that morning.  Davidson Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.  davidsonfuneral.com