04 Mar Larry Crabbe

Larry Duane Crabbe, age 81, of Bismarck, and formerly of Minot, passed away March 1, 2022 at CHI St. Alexius due to complications following a stroke.

A funeral service will be at 10:00 AM on Wednesday, March 9, 2022 at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Bismarck, ND.   Burial will be at North Dakota Veterans Cemetery, Mandan, ND at 2:00 PM. There will be a Family and Friends gathering from 5:00 -7:00 PM on Tuesday, March 8, 2022 at Bismarck Funeral Home.  A livestream of the service will be available on the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church website.

Larry was born on August 20, 1940 in Fargo, North Dakota. His parents were Doris and Nelson Crabbe. He and his siblings entered the foster care system at the Children’s Village in 1949 when he was 9 years old. While in foster care Larry spent time at the Hilton Christ farm at Leal, North Dakota. In 1954, at the age of 14, Larry went to live on the Henry and Bessie Fluevog farm-3 miles east of Barton, North Dakota. He was baptized and confirmed into the Barton Lutheran Church. He graduated high school from Barton in 1960, which was the last class that graduated from Barton, as the school was closed. He attended the Bottineau School of Forestry, and Wahpeton State School of Science.

Larry served in the U.S. Army from November, 1962 through October, 1964 when he was honorably discharged. During his time of service Larry was stationed Ft. Leonard Wood, MO. Ft. Sill, OK, and Ft. Bliss, El Paso, TX. He was the Battery Clerk with the Pershing Missile Assignment, which he was honored and proud to be a part of.

On December 31, 1962 Larry married Carol Medalen in the Barton Lutheran parsonage, and together they moved to Oklahoma until they returned to Rugby, North Dakota at the completion of Larry’s military service. Shortly after that Larry worked for Massey Ferguson in Bottineau, and from there he started his career working in grocery stores starting in Crosby, Minot, Dickinson, and Rugby all the while being able to farm in the Summers through 1989.

Larry and Carol moved to Minot in 1989 where he worked at Miracle Mart during the day, and drove a mail truck 6 nights a week between Minot and Devils Lake, and back to Minot. Larry finished out his working years as a custodian at Minot State University from 1996 through his retirement in 2009. Even after he retired, he kept working at Miracle Mart, as Larry was not one to sit idle. He took many trips to Bismarck to watch his grandkids in their sporting and music activities that they were involved with cheering them on. He always had a listening ear for all of his grandchildren.

Larry was an example of a humble, servant leader. He was Treasurer for his church council for many years. 10 plus years, upon his retirement, he helped haul potato dumplings from the church to the Hostfest, making many trips per day while that event was going on. You would often find Larry working basketball, or baseball games taking tickets. He was an active member of Golden “K” Kiwanis in Minot, and rang the bell for the Salvation Army each holiday season. He would sell poppies for the American Legion in support of veterans each year. He would offer and help anyone in need. In 2017 Larry and Carol relocated to Bismarck to be closer to family.

Larry is survived by his wife, Carol; sons, Duane (Kathy) Crabbe, Daniel (Melinda) Crabbe-Highland, CA.   6 grandchildren-Heather (Kevin) Jones, Samantha, Alexander, Ashlynn, Cami, and Paul; sisters, Connie (Ray) Steiger, Gloria (Frank) Kramer, Mary Jo (Gene) Grussing, Mimi (Bob) Weijland; brother, Terry Palmer.

He was preceded in death by parents, Doris and Nelson Crabbe, foster parents, Henry and Bessie Fluevog, foster parents, Hilton and Bernice Christ; brother, Donald; sisters, Dixie and Georgia.

In lieu of flowers send memorials in Bismarck to The Village, Good Shepherd Church, or Pro-Cathedral of St. Mary.

The recording of the service will be posted to the Bismarck Funeral Home website where you can also sign the online guestbook and share memories with his family at www.bismarckfuneralhome.com.