CHARLES R. LARZALERE, LTJG, USN
Charles Larzalere '47
Lucky Bag
From the 1947 Lucky Bag:
Charles Reid Larzalere
Hays, Kansas
With a personality as easy-going and gentle as the plains of Kansas, Lere made many friends at the Academy. Always a good man in a bull session, he never neglected to advance his opinions strongly. Basketball held his main interest in sports during the long weeks of the winter, and the week-ends found him pursuing the art of dragging, although he has yet to discover that certain one. Lere never was quite won over to the system, for formation bells invariably found him still with one foot in the shower and a shirt still to be rigged.
The Class of 1947 was graduated in June 1946 due to World War II. The entirety of 2nd class (junior) year was removed from the curriculum.
Charles Reid Larzalere
Hays, Kansas
With a personality as easy-going and gentle as the plains of Kansas, Lere made many friends at the Academy. Always a good man in a bull session, he never neglected to advance his opinions strongly. Basketball held his main interest in sports during the long weeks of the winter, and the week-ends found him pursuing the art of dragging, although he has yet to discover that certain one. Lere never was quite won over to the system, for formation bells invariably found him still with one foot in the shower and a shirt still to be rigged.
The Class of 1947 was graduated in June 1946 due to World War II. The entirety of 2nd class (junior) year was removed from the curriculum.
Loss
Charles was lost on February 13, 1950, when his plane crashed near Pensacola, Florida.
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
Father Gus owned a bakery; mother Myrtle. Great-grandfather Gus Ehly started a bakery in the early 1880s. His four sons owned bakeries, as did his four grandsons - including Charles's father.
Charles attended Fort Hays State University and was a member of Phi Mu Alpha.
He married Betty Jane Seward at the Tenafly (New Jersey) Presbyterian Church on July 31, 1949. Best man was Ensign Edgar G. Hanson (’47) and ushers were his brother Lawrence and Frank G. Sorensen (’47). Charles was stationed that year in Pensacola.
"LTC Robert "Bob" Leland Larzalere, USA (Ret) passed away on Tuesday, April 26, 2011, in Fort Collins, Colorado. Bob, the son of August "Gus" William and Myrtle Beck Larzalere was born on December 1, 1928 in Minneapolis, Kansas. Bob was the middle child of three sons. His brothers were pilots in the armed forces and both died going down with their aircraft: Charles Reid Larzalere at Pensacola, Florida in 1950 and 1st Lt. Lawrence Larzalere '55 in Korea in 1954."
Related Articles
Lawrence Larzalere ’55 was his youngest brother.
Roy Anderson '47 and David McCoskrie '47 were also in 5th Company.
Charles is one of 29 members of the Class of 1947 on Virtual Memorial Hall.
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
