Now we lay down in death a big, big man. Today, we must write something we thought we had years to write. Our father, uncle and husband, Larry Gene Schifferns, Sr., died Thursday, January 26,2023 at home from brain cancer. He will truly be missed.
Larry was born on April 25,1947, in Kimball, Nebraska to his parents Ann Elizabeth Schifferns and Lloyd George Schifferns. He had a brother, Marvin Dean, and a sister, Sharon. They were both older than him. His family eventually settled in Wyoming, and more importantly in Gas Hills and the Federal Partners Uranium Mine, where he met the love of his life and wife of 50 years, Judith Helene Knowles Schifferns. They had two children, Larry Gene Jr. and Maria Ann.
My dad was a trailblazer and the last to judge anybody. He made up his own mind about people and taught that to his kids. He didn’t care where you came from, just how hard you worked and how you treated others. Dad worked any job he could to keep his family in food and shelter. No job was too beneath him, if it meant putting food on the table. There were many nights that my dad and mom went hungry so us kids could be full. We never knew hunger because of him.
Larry loved to hunt and fish. He especially liked hunting freaks. This is where he gained his “second” son, Kevin Rieman, a child neighbor that grew up and became like a second son to him. He loved hunting with Kevin and his family. When his nephew, Rodney, moved here, he found a second hunting buddy that liked to stare down their prey eye to eye for hours. Many hours were spent fishing the creeks and ponds around Dubois.
Larry accomplished many firsts in his family. He was the first to graduate high school. He was the first to go to college for mechanics. Dad was the first to go to the military and war. He was proud to be a Marine. He fought for our country in the Vietnam War with 7th Motors Transport (King of the Rough Riders 1968-1969) and was berated for doing so until he and his fellow veterans became an icon for our country.
Larry never met a stranger. He was quiet and shy, but when you got to know him, you were family, no matter who you were. He was a man of strong morals and chose to show his faith in his God by giving to others with no limits or reservations. If you needed it and he had it, he would give it, even the shirt off his own back. He was my hero and strength. He is the man that every man should look up to, and a daddy that every little girl should have. His Christian morals have given his children the morals to be kind and to love all no matter what. To give all and take nothing was an instilled motto for our family and it started with my dad.
He is survived by his wife, Judy, and his children; Larry Gene Schifferns, Jr. (wife Lynn Lescrynski), and Maria Ann Schifferns as well as his sister, Sharon Smith (husband Jim Smith). He is survived by his “second” son (he claimed him; I don’t know why ;)), Kevin Rieman, and by his nephew, Rodney Kevin Schifferns, and many nieces and nephews as well as his friends and family that he made over the years. He is preceded in death by his brother, Marvin Dean Schifferns and mother and father, Ann Elizabeth and Lloyd George Schifferns respectively.
As we say goodbye, the one thing I hope you take away from this is that my dad had a heart of gold, a strength that could move mountains if needed and lived a life full of love and joy. Hardships happened, but he didn’t let that beat him down. Take heart in that, if you are reading this. Don’t give up. He was a Marine, through and through. Semper Fidelis, Dad. We love you.