Lawrence Wayne Pleasant, 91

Lawrence Wayne Pleasant, often called either L.W. or Larry, passed away peacefully in his sleep on Nov. 2, 2013.

Military services were held at the Summit Ridge Cemetery in Colorado, also known as Sunset Memorial Gardens, on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013.

Larry was the former co-owner and co-publisher of the Dolores Star and the Dove Creek Press and a long-time resident of Montezuma County, Colo. He lived his life “trying to be a friend with everyone.”

Larry was born in Hillsboro, Ill., on Nov. 3 1921. He graduated from Mattoon High School in Mattoon, Ill. After serving as a volunteer in World War II, he graduated from the University of Illinois with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.

Larry is the son of Benjamin Pleasant and Myrtle Pleasant, both deceased. They were both professional photographers in their own rights. They had eight children, of whom now only one survives.

During his youth and teens, Larry and his entire immediate family worked to financially survive the Great Depression by traveling across the United States, starting from their home base in Mattoon.

They journeyed from town to town, selling photographic portraits for pennies apiece, and made their way as far west as Phoenix, Ariz. Working in teams and often developing photographic portraits in tents on the outskirts of cities they passed through, the family left a photographic heritage across the United States one picture at a time.

During World War II, Larry joined the U.S. Navy, and served the nation throughout the war.

He primarily served as a communication specialist in the Pacific theater, but was in training to become a pilot as the war ended.

In 1955, he married Marilyn Lawrence of Neoga, Ill., and they raised three sons: Daniel Lee Pleasant, Timothy Wayne Pleasant, and Andrew Franklin Pleasant. In 1960, Marilyn and Larry moved their family to Dolores and purchased and published The Dolores Star and later also purchased and published The Dove Creek Press. They later divorced.

Larry was one of the first members of his family to earn a bachelor’s degree. He always held education as a valued and worthwhile goal, serving as a member of the Dolores Board of Education at one point and often commenting on the state of education (among many other topics) in a weekly newspaper column in The Dolores Star titled, “Plez Sez.”

Excerpts from the “Plez Sez” column still appear regularly in the column, “Dolores 40 Years Ago” in The Star. Larry and Marilyn’s three sons all attended and graduated from high schools in Dolores or Cortez, have earned three bachelor’s degrees (B.A. and B.S.), three master’s degrees (M.S. and A.M.), one doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.), and two law degrees (J.D. and LLM) from such universities as Stanford University, Vanderbilt University, Stetson University College of Law, Brown University, and Cornell University.

Other than co-owning and co-publishing The Dolores Star and The Dove Creek Press, Larry loved the history and politics of the American Southwest.

Growing up in areas of the country where people hunted frog legs for both amusement and food, he found in the desert Southwest – and later the Idaho and Montana region – special places where he could explore how people had interacted with the spaces over the years.

Larry held the natural and social history of the Four Corner’s region near to his heart, but explored the entire world with equal enthusiasm.

On any give day, he could be found writing an article or editorial for the newspapers, hunting for arrowheads or pottery shards as an excuse to go for a long and healthy walk, fixing a now out-dated yet original hot-type newspaper printing press that he needed to repair, communicating with other printers around the world about their presses, having coffee with Four Corners community leaders, taking pictures on the sidelines of high school sporting events, climbing Mt. Sneffels, exploring the Grand Canyon, or traveling around the world.

Larry and his longtime companion Mary (Porter) Dufur – an exceptional artist, librarian, long-time resident of Dolores, and continual advocate for the betterment of the community – later lived in Libby, Mont., and Bonners Ferry, Idaho, enjoying the climate and small-town nature of those communities.

Mary survives Larry, along with his sister, Emma Jean, his three sons, two grandchildren, Robbie and Haley Rose, and numerous nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations in Larry’s memory can be made to the Dolores Public Library, any local food bank, or to Canyon Ranch Institute, a 501c3 non-profit public charity working in communities to eliminate inequities in health across the United States.

For information or to send condolences, log on to www.ertelfuneralhome.com and click on the obituary section.