Larry Ray Bone
March 28, 1957 - October 30, 2024
Larry Bone, age 67, of Rapid City, South Dakota, formerly of Lusk, died in Rapid City on October 30, 2024. A funeral service is scheduled for 10:30 a.m., Saturday, November 9, 2024, at the Pier Funeral Home in Lusk, Wyoming. Burial will be at the Lusk Cemetery.
Larry Ray Bone came roaring into the world March 28, 1957 in Lusk, Wyoming. His proud parents were Don and Lois Bone also of Lusk.
Larry spent the entirety of his educational career and the majority of his life in Lusk. He was very interested in fast cars as a young man and built himself one from scratch. I wish I could give you the specifics but suffice it to say, it had no top and no seat belts, but could put you back into your seat when the peddle was put down. Very likely it was breaking other traffic laws when driven on the public highway, so it was pretty fun.
Just after high school Larry went to work for the county grading roads. He was very good at it leaving a polished surface for travelers. In that type of work, he would often be out at the end of the line, nowhere near an eatery. So, he would have his favorites for his lunches and that was often “beans and weenies” which he would warm up on the manifold of the grader.
In the summer of 1987, Larry took it upon himself to seek out frequent visits to the hair salon 60 miles away where a young lady worked. He liked her and his haircuts so much that eventually, one day, he produced a ring. He married Carmen, the love of his life, and they had 37 wonderful years together. During this time, he lovingly took on the role of Stepdad to her three children. A fond memory is of goofing around with his stepsons while he was building the new addition to accommodate his growing family. They played games of mini-basketball and partook in rubber-band wars; which made them laugh so hard it was difficult to keep playing.
Of course, while the county employed him, he was simultaneously being a rancher and farmer along with his dad. In the mid 1990’s Larry exclusively ranched and farmed but with the way of things he again needed to supplement his farming habit by finding work off the land. That is when he spent several years building and repairing fire trucks for the fire district. We believed he really enjoyed that work converting old military trucks into fire trucks. The novelty of it, each one being a unique challenge and getting to work in a heated garage had a lot going for it. But eventually he ran out of trucks to build and repair and so he went back to his real love, ranching.
Larry was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the early 1990’s. It was a disability that plagued him for much of his life after that. Not that many would ever hear him complain about it. Towards the end of his ranching career, it became a real challenge to walk or climb into a tractor. After taking a few too many hard falls Larry and Carmen decided to sell the ranch and retire to Rapid City.
This should have been the relatively happy ending for Larry, but cancer had different ideas. Larry thoroughly routed a prostate cancer but repeated skirmishes with a colon cancer eventually got the best of him. Though he lost the battle with cancer, it didn’t diminish his love for his family.
Larry, in his passing, was welcomed with open arms by his mother and father, Lois and Don, his stepson Mark Mundlein, nephew Scott Freeman, his Grandparents Ed and Emmett Bone, Herb Spain, Etta and JB Parsons.
Shedding a tearful goodbye are his loving wife Carmen Bone, sisters Sandy (Doug) Buckly and Teresa (Mark) Cawthorn, stepdaughter Penni (Travis) Almond, granddaughter Bailey (Jade) Konst, stepson Dan (Kate) Mundlein, grandsons Max and Archer Mundlein, nephew Nickolas (Sarah) Buckly and niece Angela (Chad) Lease.
Pier Funeral Home in Lusk is in charge of the funeral arrangements.
