Charles Larimore

Charles Ronald (Ron) Larimore, 82, died May 26, 2023 in Taos, NM amid the landscape that he loved.  Ron grabbed life with both hands.  He lived a meaningful, active, life filled with many interests and passions.

Born in Wellington, KS, September 21, 1940, to Kenneth Charles (Kenny) and Edna (Hale) Larimore, Ron pumped gas at his father’s Wellington station from age 12 through high school, learning the value of hard work, community, and the importance of America’s small businesses.  The Larimores were an avid hunting and fishing family often causing Ron to be late to school during hunting seasons.  His favorite English teacher let him slip into class without first having to get a late pass from the office.

Ron was the first of his family to graduate from college, Kansas University, in 1962 and started his own family while working his way through school. Later, he served on the KU School of Business Board of Advisors.  Supporting education through scholarships was one of Ron’s lifelong priorities.

In 1964, Ron got his lucky break – or as he called it THE lucky break -- when he was recruited by Ted Jones to be a financial advisor for the Edward D. Jones, Co. in Liberal, KS.  He was a member of many philanthropic and community organizations during his 17-year tenure in the Liberal office. 

Favorite family memories center around adventures. Whether skating on frozen ponds and streets while pulling his 3 kids on a Western Flyer sled, piling the family in the station wagon for marathon road trips to undisclosed locales, flying a hull on the Hobie Cat sailboat, skiing or playing golf and tennis, his love for the outdoors was contagious.

Ron later moved to St. Louis with his beloved wife Carol.  He was a partner and member of the Edward Jones management team in charge of Branch Administration during a period of organizational transition and robust growth.  His was a rewarding and successful career.

Ron and Carol enjoyed extensive travel and gardening.  They transformed and expanded two historic homes and filled the walls with art and the hearths with fires.    He shaped the landscape of both homes with the help of successively larger tractors and loved every minute he was pushing dirt.

After he retired, Ron moved to Taos, NM in 1997 to pursue two passions – downhill skiing and painting.  Never one to do anything by half measures, he skied around the world including heli-skiing in Canada.  Ron skied more than 1,000,000 vertical feet at Taos Ski Valley for several consecutive seasons.  How do we know this?  He kept a spreadsheet, of course, one of many such ways of measuring achievement. 

Ron started painting in his 30’s when he discovered its power to refocus his mind. The vistas, skies and colors of Taos fed that passion.   A dozen years ago he opened a studio and enjoyed both the friends and visitors from far flung places that drifted in. Ron wandered the backroads, immersing himself in the landscape, art, culture and archeology of the American Southwest, often accompanied by his cherished dogs.  He was Board Chair of the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center and of the Taos School of Music and was a member of the St. James Episcopal Church.

Ron is survived by his wife, Carol Bentley Larimore, Taos; daughter, Kise and her husband, Tom Randall, Paola, KS; daughter, Kris Bennett, Seattle, WA; son, David Larimore, Ben Lomond, CA; stepdaughter, Barbara West, Carver, MA; brother, Mike Larimore and his wife, Christine, Rieux Minervois, France; 6 grandchildren, Jess, Spencer and Will Randall; and Collin, Landon and Nathan Bennett; and 4 great-grandchildren.  Preceding him in death are his parents, adoptive mother, Ruth Crane Larimore; brother Richard Larimore, and one grandchild.

Donations to the American Cancer Society (https://www.cancer.org/) or Stray Hearts of Taos (https://www.strayhearts.org/) are suggested by the family instead of flowers.

Arrangements by Rivera Family Funeral Home, Taos.  To share a memory, please visit our website at www.riverafuneralhome.com