Larry E. Biles, 82, Owensville, departed this life on March 21, 2026.
He was born April 23, 1943, to the late Wendell and Avonell Biles in Owensville.
He and his siblings were raised on farmland, and he often described the responsibility of milking 36 cows before getting on the bus for school.
Larry graduated from Owensville High School in 1961 and moved to Atwood, Kan., to work with an uncle in construction before attending college in Hays, Kan., and ultimately graduating from the University of Missouri in Columbia in 1967 with a degree in Forestry.
Larry worked his way through college by driving a school bus, pumping gas and washing dishes all night each weekend at a 24-hour diner.
Upon graduation in 1967, he moved to Hiawatha, Kan., working as a regional forester. That is where he met and married the local high school home economics teacher, Sarah Yates. They had a whirlwind courtship that resulted in being happily married for 52 years until Sarah’s death in 2020.
Larry also served two years in the U.S. Army in the Military Police stationed in Brussels, Belgium at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE). It was during this time in Belgium that their son, Brian, was born. Upon returning to Hiawatha, daughter Tracey was born and the family quickly moved to Manhattan, Kan., where Larry earned a Master’s Degree from Kansas State University in Ornamental Horticulture. His career continued to grow taking the family to Georgia and Maryland where Larry held positions in Urban Forestry and Forest Management with the USDA Forest Service and the USDA Extension Service. He failed retirement twice and ultimately ended his 52-year-career in forestry as the state forester for the Kansas Forest Service, retiring in 2019.
Always ready for an adventure, Larry and Sarah were able to travel to all 50 states and several foreign countries together.
As a couple, they enjoyed playing mixed doubles tennis, co-ed softball, a variety of card games, serving in the Methodist Church, and hosting family and friends in their home. Larry was also an avid golfer playing multiple times each week in what he called his repetitive meetings on turf management.
Consistently focused on the value and blessing of family, he was very proud of the close relationship he had with his siblings and extended family, and he and Sarah honored that love of family by establishing and endowing the Wendell and Avonell Biles Family Scholarship at the University of Missouri.
Larry was preceded in death by wife, Sarah; parents, Wendell and Avonell Biles; and brothers, Clifford and Edgar Biles.
He is survived by son Brian Biles and wife Diane; daughter, Tracey Biles; grandchildren Zack, Claire and Sam Biles; sister, Mary Lou Thomas; brother, Roger Biles and wife Joyce; sister-in-law, Ruth Biles; and several nieces and nephews.
Visitation will be held from 9 until 11 a.m., Friday, March 27, followed by funeral services at Gottenstroeter Funeral Home in Owensville, with Pastor Jeff Remelius officiating. Interment will be in Countryside Memorial Gardens with Full Military Honors.
In lieu of flowers, please plant a tree.
Arrangements entrusted to Gottenstroeter Funeral Home in Owensville.
