Larry Don Porter

Larry Don Porter, beloved husband, father, grandfather, educator, coach, entrepreneur, mentor and friend, passed away peacefully on Sunday, August 30, 2026, while in hospice care at John Knox Village in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. He was 85 years old, just days shy of his 86th birthday.

Larry was born September 2, 1940, in Macon County, Missouri, to John Al and Imo Gene Thompson Porter. Raised in rural Missouri, his early life was rooted in farming, agriculture, family and hard work.

From those humble beginnings, education and athletics would open a much larger world for Larry.

After graduating from Macon High School in 1958, Larry enrolled at Missouri Valley College in Marshall, Missouri, where his athletic ability earned him the opportunity to play football for the Vikings. He played guard for four years under Coach Volney Ashford, was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity, played in the Tangerine Bowl in 1958, and was a member of the undefeated 1961 Viking football team, which would later be recognized in the Missouri Valley College Athletic Hall of Fame.

College wasn’t all football and mathematics. Ever resourceful, Larry earned extra spending money cutting hair for many of his football teammates—an early glimpse of the entrepreneurial spirit and natural ability to connect with people that would become hallmarks of his life.

Larry graduated from Missouri Valley in 1962 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education, with an emphasis in mathematics. He began his professional career as a math teacher and football coach at Pleasant Lea Junior High in the Lee’s Summit R-7 School District. His natural leadership abilities soon led him into administration, where he served as assistant principal.

His commitment to education and the Lee’s Summit community continued through his service on the Lee’s Summit R-7 Board of Directors. He was elected to the school board in 1984 and served as vice president during the 1986–1987 school year. In that role, Larry brought the same dedication, thoughtful leadership and belief in the importance of education that had guided his career as a teacher, coach and administrator. His service reflected his desire to help strengthen the schools and community that had become such an important part of his life.

In February 1965, Larry married Jo Carol Watson of Atlanta, Missouri. Together, they built a marriage and family grounded in faith, love, commitment and shared adventure. Jo remained Larry’s beloved partner throughout their 61 years of marriage.

Never one to stop pursuing new possibilities, Larry took early retirement from education and began a new chapter as an entrepreneur in network marketing. It proved a natural fit for a man who loved connecting with people and believed strongly in small business, free enterprise and the opportunity to create one’s own future. His success gave Larry and his family the freedom to travel, but perhaps his greatest satisfaction came from helping others succeed.

Larry was a natural mentor. He challenged people to recognize their potential, encouraged them to pursue greatness, and took genuine pride in watching others grow in confidence and create opportunities for themselves. For Larry, leadership wasn’t simply about personal achievement; it was about helping others discover what they were capable of achieving.

He was known for sharing favorite sayings about leadership, attitude, personal responsibility and becoming the best version of yourself. One of his favorites was, “Your life only gets better when you get better.”

Faith was another cornerstone of Larry’s life. He served as a spiritual leader within his family, living his Christian faith not only through his words but through his daily example of reading Scripture, participating in Sunday school and sharing his faith with others. The friendships Larry and Jo formed through their church community were deeply meaningful to them and became an important part of their lives.

Family, however, was at the heart of Larry’s world. He treasured traditions and took great pride in seeing them carried from one generation to the next. More than 50 years ago, Larry helped establish an annual family reunion that continues to this day—a lasting testament to his belief in staying connected and making family a priority.

Larry also believed life was meant to be lived. Summers brought boating at the Lake of the Ozarks and annual fishing trips to Canada. There were Jeep adventures through Southwest Colorado, snow-skiing trips each winter, and travels throughout Europe with friends from his network marketing years, many of whom became like family.

Retirement brought Larry and Jo even more opportunities for adventure. Together they traveled by RV through state parks across the country, often arranging their journeys around opportunities to meet friends and family along the way. Among their most memorable adventures was a long-haul RV journey to Alaska. When Missouri winters arrived, Larry and Jo especially enjoyed heading west to Arizona to visit their daughter and family.

Sports remained a thread throughout Larry’s life. Football had helped carry a farm boy from rural Missouri to college and eventually to the Kansas City area, and his love of the game never left him. He remained an avid college football fan, frequently returned to Marshall for Missouri Valley games, and faithfully followed the Kansas City Chiefs and Kansas City Royals.

But no teams mattered to Larry quite as much as the ones his grandsons played on.

Whether it was football, baseball or basketball, if Papa could be there, he was there. And in later years, when Parkinson’s disease sometimes made it physically impossible for him to attend, Larry still found a way to show up—streaming games from afar and following every play. His grandsons were an immense source of pride, and staying involved in their lives and accomplishments brought him tremendous joy.

Larry took equal delight in the individual gifts of each of his grandchildren. He held an especially tender spot for his only granddaughter, Soledad, the musician of the family. When she visited, she loved playing the piano for her grandfather, and Larry would proudly gather his friends at John Knox Village for one of her “private concerts.” It wasn’t necessarily a great love of piano music that filled the room—it was a grandfather’s unmistakable pride in his granddaughter and her talent.

For more than a decade, Larry lived with Parkinson’s disease. As the disease gradually changed what he was physically able to do, it never changed what mattered most to him. He continued to find ways to stay connected—to his faith, his friends and, above all, his family. If he couldn’t be in the stands, he watched from a screen. If distance separated him from those he loved, he found another way to remain part of their lives. Larry understood that showing up for people did not always require being in the same room.

Larry was preceded in death by his parents, John Al Porter and Imo Gene Thompson Porter, and his brother, Kenny Porter (Ronda).

He is survived by Jo Carol (Watson) Porter, his beloved wife of 61 years; his brother, Ronnie (Mary Lou) Porter of Marshall, Missouri; his son, Kyle Porter and wife Cherie of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, and their sons Zach, Noah and Brayden; and his daughter, Andrea Tumialán and husband Luis of Paradise Valley, Arizona, and their children Julian, Andreas, Soledad and Lucian.

Larry leaves behind seven grandchildren, countless friends, former students, colleagues and people whose lives were touched by his encouragement, mentorship and example.

From football fields, classrooms and school hallways to building businesses and traveling highways; from church and family reunions to grandstands and piano concerts, Larry’s life was one of faith, leadership, adventure and connection. He believed people could become more than they thought possible, and he spent much of his life encouraging them to do just that.

Larry had a saying of his own that perhaps captures his approach to life better than any other: “Don’t look back, because we aren’t going that way.”

Those who loved him will undoubtedly look back—with gratitude, laughter and countless memories. But perhaps the best way to honor Larry is exactly as he would have wanted: to carry forward the faith, family, friendships and lessons he valued so deeply, and to keep going in the direction he always preferred — forward.

A Celebration of Life honoring Larry will be held Saturday, September 26, 2026, at The Summit Church, 3381 NW Chipman Rd, Lee’s Summit, MO 64081. Visitation will begin at 9:00 a.m., followed by the Celebration of Life at 11:00 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the wonderful hospice caregivers at John Knox Village in appreciation of the compassionate care they provided to Larry and his family.