Cooke County native Lary Kuehn, age 84, died on Jan. 2, 2024 from multiple metastatic cancers in the NTMC ICU. His family was by his side as his earthly journey ended peacefully but way too quickly. 

Born in Gainesville on Oct. 19, 1939,  Lary graduated  Gainesville High School in 1957, continued at TCU earning a BA in Fine Arts degree in 1961 and jumped into various sales careers in Dallas for 41 years. 

With a gift of gab, Lary could sell anything, from TV commercials to jewelry, and he was enthusiastic fundraiser for favorite charities, including  Morton Museum where he was a Lifetime Member. 

He served on the  Southwestern Diabetic Foundation Board for many years, the NCTC Foundation Board for 10 years and for 32 years on the Paris Junior College School of Jewelry Technology.

Lary’s creativity touched upon many areas. He was an early user of computers and the internet. 

He was an avid reader. 

He was a woodworker and loved his garage shop where he could tinker and build things for hours or days. 

He was a traveler and collector and surprising to many, a magician who started at age eight in J. M. Lindsay Elementary’s talent show and never quit. 

He taught a legion of psychic entertainers tricks of the trade through his series of eight “how to” books.

Returning to his roots with the purchase of a small tract near Lake Kiowa in the late 1990s, Lary and Shelly jumped into clearing their wooded patch for several years, developing a connection with the friends and “characters” in eastern Cooke and western Grayson counties, who came to their assistance. 

With Lary’s typical gusto, he reached out and soon found Carrie Lewter in the Collinsville cafe, who became his “go to” employment agency, a source who knew everyone who could help out the city slickers with the project at hand.  

That included putting her twin sons to work after they reached 16 and could drive, and later her youngest. 

Lary taught the twins how to build a bridge “native style,” by felling large trees across the chasm named “Troubled Waters,” which  lasted until the floods of 2015. 

The Lewter family held a special place in the hearts of both Kuehns, for the memorable adventures and misadventures that occurred while they developed their property.

Lary is survived by Shelly, his wife of 59 years; sons Scott (Julie) of McKinney;  and Blake (Celeste) of Marquette, MI; grands Tyler Kuehn, New York City, and Allison Kuehn, Denver, CO.; brother William Jackson Kuehn (Frances) of Woodville, TX; brother-n-law Jim Caldwell, Conroe, TX; nieces Kathy Kuehn, Beth Kuehn Stanford; nephews Jackson Kuehn, Chris Caldwell; and great nephew Cillian Stanford and great-niece Paz Kuehn.
He was predeceased by mother Maxine Lary Kuehn (1997) and father Leo M. Kuehn, Jr.  (2006). He will be interred near them in Gainesville’s Fairview Cemetery Section “J.”
A member of St. John the Apostle Episcopal Church, Pottsboro, and regular attendee at First Christian Church, Gainesville, at Lary’s request, cremation arrangements were handled by Geo. J. Carroll Funeral Home.  

A Celebration of his Life is scheduled for April 6 in their chapel. For information on memorials or updated information, see the geojcarroll.com website for details.
Lary Kuehn was well loved and will be long missed by his family and many others, but especially his border collie Macey.