Larry James Willemsen

Larry James Willemsen, 73, of DeRidder, LA, passed from this life on Sunday, March 3, 2024.

Larry was born in McCook, Nebraska on October 7, 1951. He was raised in Lincoln, NE and after graduation from the University of Nebraska he entered the Air Force and became a C130 pilot. He began his Air Force career flying the AC130 “gunship” at the end of the Viet Nam war and ended his career flying the HC130 refueling helicopters in Desert Shield and Desert Storm. A week after he retired at Eglin AFB in Florida, he was offered a job even though he had planned to take 3 months off. For the last 30 ½ years Larry was a contractor for the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk(now Fort Johnson) in Louisiana. He was chief of the airlift mobility division as a C130 analyst. Larry kept saying he was going to retire but he loved his job and enjoyed the people he worked with. He will be missed.

Larry was preceded in death by his parents, Henry “Hank” Willemsen and Elizabeth “Betty” Willemsen, and numerous fur babies.

He is survived by his wife, Susan(whom he met in Greece), his sister, Nancy Willemsen(Steve), his daughter, Ashley Shull(Rob), and three grandchildren, Kaylee, Hunter, and Megan Shull. He is also survived by fur babies Ozzie and Heather.

Visitation will be held on Friday, March 15, 2024 from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM at Myers Colonial Funeral Home in DeRidder, LA. Larry will be buried with military honors in Lincoln, NE.