Larry Dennis Sheely
Larry Sheely
December 05, 1950 – February 26, 2012
Hendersonville, Tennessee and formerly of Oskaloosa, Iowa
Visitation: will begin at 11 a.m., Wednesday morning, February 29, 2012 at Garland-Van Arkel-Langkamp Funeral Chapel. The family will be present from 5 – 7 p.m. to greet visitors.
Funeral Service: 11 a.m., Thursday morning, March 01, 2012 at Garland-Van Arkel-Langkamp Funeral Chapel with Pastor Vince Homan of the What Cheer Methodist Church officiating.
Interment: Union Mills Cemetery.
Larry passed away Sunday, February 26, 2012 at the Alive Hospice in Madison, TN.
Larry Dennis Sheely, son of Darwin Thomas and Shirley Nadine White Sheely, was born December 5, 1950 in Oskaloosa, Iowa. Larry was a 1969 graduate of Oskaloosa High School. After attending University of Northern Iowa for two years, Larry returned to Oskaloosa where he worked for Clow Valve Company machine shop and then for various construction companies until 1980. Larry moved to Florida, where he continued in the construction industry for a short time. In 1986, Larry and his hometown friend, Ron Smith moved to Hendersonville, TN and together they developed Ranger Construction, a bleacher construction company. They were entrepreneurs in the truest sense; the company’s success was due to their hard work and Larry’s understanding of every aspect of the construction process from bidding to supply management. They traveled with their crews all over the United States constructing 133 bleacher and press box projects in venues ranging from little league parks to professional sports stadiums. They took their Iowa work ethic to Hendersonville, TN and then to the U.S. sports world –large and small. Larry had an uncanny ability to read and understand any blueprint he saw; in his gentle unassuming way, he would often help architects and construction engineers understand the way a project needed to be developed.
While he and Ron were home in Hendersonville, they enjoyed frequenting Dicky’s Hickory Pit Barbeque, a sports bar and restaurant. By the time they bought the establishment, Hawkeye, Yankee and Twins memorabilia were part of its décor. Larry was an avid reader, he scoured the newspapers and most of the time was reading a novel. Larry played the drums in the Oskaloosa High School Band and living in Nashville area, he was able to attend many concerts and performances. Larry loved sports: his first love was the New York Yankees, he attended the Yankee World Series five times; his second love was NASCAR, he traveled to many racetracks and he especially relished the trips to Talladega; his third love was the NFL, the Tennessee Titans were a local substitute for his beloved Oakland Raiders. Larry had many friends over the years and he mixed business and friendship easily. His success over the years can be attributed to his integrity, his character and his generosity.
Larry’s family includes his father, Darwin Sheely of Oskaloosa; sisters and brothers-in-law: Cathy and Dennis McCrea of Rose Hill and Shari and Dick Pyle of Prior Lake, MN; a brother and sister-in-law, Terry and Angela Sheely of Oskaloosa; several nieces and nephews; his long-time business partner and friend, Ron Smith of Hendersonville, TN and his community of friends from Tennessee.
Larry was preceded in death by his mother, Shirley Sheely on October 24, 2001. Memorials may be made to Alive Hospice in Tennessee.
