Larry Crates

Larry Gene Crates

After a long and courageous journey with Alzheimer's disease, Larry G. Crates, 82, was gently released from its grasp Tuesday, December 16, 2025. While the disease slowly took memories, it never touched the love he gave so freely, nor the legacy he leaves behind.

Larry was born on April 25, 1943, in Bluffton, Ohio, the first son of Herbert Hazen George and Lillian Irene (Koontz) Crates, both of whom are deceased. He grew up on the family farm with his four siblings. He was active in the high school band and graduated from Arlington High School in 1961, where he was the class valedictorian and penned the AHS Alma Mater. Following graduation, he pursued a pre-med degree at The Ohio State University, where he also played in "The Best Damn Band in The Land", (the OSU Marching Band) getting into the band on a challenge. While in college, Larry worked and lived at Rutherford Funeral Home in Columbus; it was here that he found his calling in funeral service. He later graduated from Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science and became a licensed funeral director and embalmer. Larry served in the US Air Force Reserve.

On August 22, 1970, he married Drinda (Rindy) McNett at St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jenera. Larry and Rindy shared 55 years of marriage. The couple has two daughters, Amanda (Joseph, deceased) Bayliff and Katie (Rich) Kramer; and seven grandchildren, Kellen, Reis, Raena, Kendall, Noah, Ella and Braden.

Larry was a beyond-the-box thinker when it came to business, and his compassion for the bereaved solidified his decision to return to Hancock County and open a funeral business with his own family. He started his funeral career in 1968, opening Crates Funeral Home in Arlington, and then purchasing the Goff Funeral Home in Carey, which he sold in 1976 to purchase the Coldren Funeral Home in Findlay. In 1987, Smith Funeral Home in North Baltimore was acquired, and the three funeral homes became Coldren-Crates Funeral Homes.

Larry lived to learn; he was interested in everything. He served as the president of the Ohio Funeral Directors Association. While he was involved with the state association, he was instrumental in bringing trust-funded funerals to Ohio. Larry retired from funeral service in 2019 upon his Alzheimer's diagnosis. He was an excellent cook and loved to entertain. His wit and sense of humor (although sometimes mischievous) were always appreciated.

He was a life-long member of St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church, where he also served as organist over the years.

He is also survived by two sisters, Sandra Dacre and Mary Phillips and two brothers, Charles and Jack Crates.

Funeral services will begin at 11 a.m. Monday, December 22, 2025, at Good Hope Evangelical Lutheran Church with Pastor Steven Ramsey officiating. Burial will be at St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery, alongside four generations of the Crates (Krotz) family, who emigrated to the United States in 1831. Larry took great pride in his German roots, his church, his family, and bringing beautiful music to this area; however, ushering local residents and their families out of this world with great care seemed to be something he was divinely appointed to do. Please join us as we humbly try to do the same for him.

Visitation will be from noon–5 p.m. Sunday, December 21, 2025, at his residence, 630 North Main Street, Arlington, and for one hour prior to the funeral at the church.

The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, memorials be directed to The Findlay-Hancock County Foundation Celebration of Life Fund (Memo: Larry G. Crates).