Marquette––Nancy Ann Larson, 72, passed away at Marquette General Hospital on Thursday evening, January 31, 2008, following a brief illness.
Nancy was mother to seven children and influenced countless others through her efforts in cub scouts, girl scouts, 4-H, babysitting, and doing everything she could to see that the youth of her era became the competent people of the next generation.
She was born November 27, 1935 in Ironwood to Frank and Ida (Pohjala) Turovaara, who farmed in Erwin Township. Living on a farm with a Swedish immigrant father taught her much about hard work, responsibilities, and opportunities, mixed with a touch of “progressive socialism.” She was graduated from Luther L. Wright High School in 1953 and was president of the student council her senior year. Nancy went on to Northern Michigan University where she studied nursing and was capped at St. Luke’s Hospital.
She met Robert William Larson, a 1953, civil engineering graduate of Michigan Tech. They married in 1956 and made their home in Grayling, Michigan, for the next 25 years where all their children were born.
One of Nancy’s keen interests was sewing, where she gained quite a reputation for her costumes in addition to clothes by the truckload. Folks in Grayling would look forward to each year’s creation for the annual cub scout skit night, where she would have her ‘pack’ paraded in outfits ranging from monkeys to eagles. When son Ralph gave his valedictory address to Grayling High’s graduates in 1976, she presented him in her own bicentennial salute in a recreated Revolutionary War soldier’s uniform. Son Kurt wore racing suits skiing for Michigan Tech in the late 70’s, that were known then as “Nancy’s jester suits”; the style would be considered commonplace today. Nancy and Bob moved back to Upper Michigan in 1981 following his retirement from the US Geological Survey. They lived at Superior Location, Houghton, to be closer to their children, all of whom were attending either Michigan Tech or Northern. Son Frank John preceded her in death in 1994 and husband Robert died in 2003. She moved to the Marquette area in 2007.
Aside from those mentioned above, she was preceded in death by both her parents in Ironwood and her brother Frank in Negaunee. She is survived by her sister Joyce Lake of Ishpeming and children Bernard Raymond of Houghton County, Ralph William of Olivet, Michigan, Kurt Matthew of Kingairloch, Fort William Scotland, Bonnie Ann Marie Janssen of Howell, Michigan, Benjamin Robert of Mt Iron, Minnesota, and Paula Nannette Larson of Boyne City, Michigan. There are four grandchildren living in Michigan and two in Scotland.
A memorial service for immediate family will be held at the Fassbender Funeral Home on Thursday, February 7, at 2:00 pm with Rev. Paul Weber officiating. In lieu of flowers, memorials to Nancy can be made to the Frank John Larson Scholarship Fund, in care of Michigan Technological University, 1400 Townsend Avenue, Houghton, MI 49931.