Lawrence "Larry" Gregory Stroot, 75, passed away on December 14, 2023, at Fort Meade VA Hospice.
Larry was born on September 9, 1948, in
St. Louis, Missouri, to Harold and Mary Ann (Wachter) Stroot, the second of five sons. He graduated from Cleveland High School, St. Louis, in 1966. Having always been a hard worker, he went to work for Southwestern Bell when he turned 18. Shortly after, Larry enlisted in the United States Navy during the Vietnam conflict and proudly served his country on the USS Waller for six years. Upon leaving the Navy, he returned to work at Southwestern Bell, during which time he met the love of his life, Linda, on a blind date on New Year's Eve, 1971. Ten months later, on November 4, 1972, they were married in
St. Louis, Missouri. Larry eventually transferred to AT&T Longlines, traveling throughout the Midwest, and even moved 66 times in just one year. Eventually settling in Gillette, Wyoming, Larry and Linda adopted and raised two sons.
He was a very loving and involved father, and spent as much time as he could staying active with his boys, including wrestling around with them on the living room floor, building snow forts after blizzards, constructing a play set from his own design, participating in karate classes with them, playing Legos and Nintendo, and so on. He also enjoyed traveling all over Wyoming and Montana to watch them play hockey, and eventually built an ice rink in the backyard for them to practice. Larry also loved taking his family on camping trips, fishing, canoeing, and hiking. He would also spend time taking Linda on motorcycle rides and road trips around the country, helping his sons with home improvements, working on vehicles, gardening, landscaping, and especially pulling weeds.
After more than 30 years of working for the phone company, he retired from U.S. West and moved to Henderson, Nevada, where he worked as a cable technician for ten years before retiring once again. Larry and Linda then moved to
Summerset, South Dakota, to be closer to their sons and grandson. Larry wasn't one to sit down and relax. He was always busy working on something. Besides all of his other hobbies, he stayed active keeping up with his grandson: attending his hockey games, cross country meets, track meets, football games and soccer games. Carter was the light of his life. Larry was always asking if he had enough gas money or "pizza" money. Even when Carter said, "Grandpa, I'm good," Larry would always slip him $100 or so and tell him, "I can't take it with me."
Larry was always a blood donor and has no doubt saved many lives throughout the years.
He was one of a kind and will be truly missed by all who knew him.
Larry is survived by his loving wife of 51 years, Linda Sue (Herzog) Stroot; sons Nicholas "Nick" (Elizabeth) Stroot, and Scott Stroot; one grandson, Carter Gregory Stroot; two grandpups, Abe and Maggie; one bonus daughter, Chelsey Olson (Carter's mother); three brothers, Harold (Cindy) Stroot, Wayne (Robin) Stroot and Jonathan (Serena) Stroot; and one sister-in-law, Janie Stroot. He was preceded in death by both parents; one younger brother, Randolph C. Stroot; and one grandpup, Santos.
In lieu of flowers, Larry would like memorials to be made to
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.