Obituary of Larry Dale Carr
Updated service information:
A funeral service was previously held for Larry Carr on Friday, February 6, 2026 at Aly Funeral Home.
A graveside memorial service will be held Monday, May 25, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. at Empire Cemetery in Elizabethtown. Pastor Doug Uzzle will officiate.
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Larry Dale Carr passed mercifully into the arms of his Heavenly Father, Friday, January 30, 2026 at Baptist Health in Paducah, Kentucky.
Larry was born March 9, 1947 at his home in Elizabethtown, Illinois with his Granny Carr assisting Dr. Dusch with the delivery. He was the fourth child born to Joseph Hubert Carr and Martha Mae (Goins) Carr.
Larry married Sheila Cullum, October 30, 1976, at the First General Baptist Church in Elizabethtown. To this union two sons were born. Heath Carr on May 17, 1977 and Aaron Carr on August 25, 1981.
Larry was preceded in death by his parents, Hubert and Mae Carr; a brother-in-law, Ken Braden; a nephew, Kevin Frailey; and his in-laws, Don and Jewel Cullum.
Larry is survived by his wife of forty-nine years, Sheila; his sons, Heath and Aaron (Austin) Carr; grandchildren, KayLee Carr, Lacie Carr, Rhyan Carr, and Killian Crabb; siblings, Peggy Braden, Dorothy (Jim) Frailey, Gary (Candy) Carr, Gail (Charlie) McDowell; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.
Larry graduated as a Hall of Fame student from Rosiclare High School in 1965. He attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale and graduated in 1969 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering.
After graduation he worked for the Illinois Department of Transportation, District Seven Office in Effingham, Illinois. In November of 1980, he moved his family back to Hardin County and worked for a series of mining companies over his career: JJ Track Mining, Jim Smith Mining, Jader Fuel, Vision, Phoenix, Jader Coal, Illinois Fuel, Black Beauty, and Cheyenne Resources.
In addition, Larry and his brother, Gary, did permits for small mining companies and land surveying as Carr Bros. Even as his health was failing, he continued doing Discharge Monitoring Reports for the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
Growing up, Larry spent many hours with the neighborhood kids playing and riding bikes in Empire Cemetery and riding out to the Iron Furnace to go swimming. Occasionally, they’d cross the old iron bridge and take the old road to Rosiclare, but they’d be in trouble when they got home if they got caught.
Later when they got fishing poles, the pond on the family farm wasn’t stocked so they fished Rose Pond across the highway and put any fish caught in buckets of water to carry home to stock their own pond.
When his Uncle Bobby joined the service he left his dog with them while he was gone. Larry had a dog from its litter that he called Cooch.
One time Larry was aggravating his brother by throwing rocks at the coal house while Gary was filling the coal bucket. Gary decided to throw a piece of coal against the metal roof and scare Larry off, instead it hit Larry beside his eye. Larry dropped to the ground and started shaking. Gary ran inside and told their mother he’d killed Larry. He told her, “Larry is flopping on the ground like a chicken that’s wrung its neck.” Their mother was busy taking care of a sick relative and Dorothy and Gary had to go back out and check on Larry. He carried a scar, darkened by the coal, next to his eye the rest of his life.
The neighborhood gang went on a memorable camping trip on the river one night. They ran out of water, so they used the empty Beanie-Weenie cans they’d brought to eat to boil river water in before drinking it. The next day they were so sick they couldn’t stay out of the bathroom.
His Senior year of high school, Larry was elected President of the Senior Class. James Adrian Holbrook served as his campaign manager and politicked like it was a real election. Larry won by a landslide.
When Larry and Sheila moved from Effingham back to Hardin County they borrowed a farm truck from Guy Griffith. The farm truck wasn’t recharging the battery as they drove, and when the battery was discharged, the truck died on the side of the road. They switched out the battery with one in another truck, jumped-started the dead battery now in the other truck and continued down the road letting the battery recharge. Before they made it home, the second battery was depleted in the farm truck, and they had to switch it out with the now recharged battery, again jump-start the truck with the dead battery, and continue down the road. It was a memorable move.
After moving to Elizabethtown, Larry decided to remodel his house. He coached Khoury League baseball when his son, Heath, played and served on the Khoury League Board for sixteen years. He was instrumental in designing and building the Justin Livingston Park in Elizabethtown.
He also served as a Village Trustee for Elizabethtown where he worked on road improvements and access to the ball park.
He also served on the board of Empire Cemetery and devoted many hours working to improve the community.
When Larry wasn’t remodeling his house, he also spent countless hours on a lawnmower making sure the grass was cut just right so the lines in the yard were all going the right direction.
No matter what was going on, when the third weekend of November rolled around, it was time to go deer hunting. Larry and his brother started hunting with Guy and Gary Griffith in 1965 and went together as a group every year for decades. They learned much of their ability to hunt from Guy and took many people on their first deer hunting trip including his sons.
When Heath and Aaron were in school, Larry and Sheila attended many games and school activities. Later, as the grandkids in Tennessee and Illinois were active in sports, many trips were made watching games and activities with his grandchildren; when he wasn’t working on his house.
When Sheila was growing up, she would go with her grandparents to the Macedonia Baptist Church in Mitchellsville, Illinois. Her grandfather was a deacon at the church. Larry and Sheila felt drawn to this church and attended when his health would allow. Macedonia Church became a great comfort to him. After talking with his pastor and other ministers, Larry’s soul found spiritual peace that is now in eternal rest.
Larry never had any hobbies besides work. He was always there to get the job done and was always helping his neighbors. He was a jack-of-all-trades. And even in these last few months when he wasn’t feeling well, Larry was still making plans to remodel his house–true to a life defined by work, service, and looking forward.
Funeral service was held at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, February 6, 2026 at Aly Funeral Home in Eddyville, IL. Pastor Doug Uzzle conducted the service. Family visitation was from 3:00 p.m. until time of public visitation from 4-7 p.m. on Thursday, February 5, 2026 at the funeral home. Visitation hours were also held on Friday from noon until time of service.
Memorials may be made to Empire Cemetery, C/O Banterra Banks.
Published in the February 12, 2026 issue of the Hardin County Independent.
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