Larry Stuart Pendell

Mr. Larry Stuart Pendell, 89, of Elkhart, passed away peacefully of natural causes at his home on Wednesday, October 25, 2023 at 4:15 am.

He was born in Spokane, Washington on August 24, 1934 to the late Claude Bertram and J. “Vivian” (Stuart) Pendell and later married his beloved Barbara A. Batchman on December 28, 1959. She preceded Larry in death in Elkhart on May 12, 2018. Additionally, Larry is also preceded in death by a brother, John Pendell.

Surviving are his daughters Bobbi Ann Pendell of Payson, Utah, Larilynn (David) Longley of Brandenburg, Kentucky, Shawn Marie (Ivan) Thompson of Ogden, Utah and Jay Vivian Pendell of Highland Ranch, Colorado; his sons Stuart “Deed” (Julie) Pendell of Elkhart and Brandon A. (Dinah) Pendell of Eagle Mountain, Utah; Brother Raymond (Peggy) Pendell of Spokane; sisters Melva (Richard) Jasso of Spokane, Patrice Pendell of Japan, 17 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren. Additionally, he will be remembered by a host of extended family and good friends as well.

Services for Larry will be held at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 3415 Pleasant Plain Avenue, Elkhart, on Monday, October 30, 2023 with visitation from 9am – 11am followed by a service at 11:00 am. Bishop Joe Null will officiate and burial will follow at Rice Cemetery.

Larry worked most of his life as a self-employed mechanical and electrical engineer, which served him well as he was very “tech” driven and his mind was always in a constant state of assessment on whether he could make something better or not. To illustrate this, Larry was once tasked with a company that wanted to produce 6,000 toolboxes of multiple solid colors per day at the same time without building multiple assembly lines. Larry’s solution was to build a type of “pie” pan separated dipping tank that held all the multiple colors needed and automatically rotated to the next color to be used as the boxes came down the assembly line. As an added bonus, Larry’s kids got to ride in the newly crafted paint carousel before it was put into service.

Larry was also an accomplished private aviator and sailor and loved to “pilot” small sailboats around some of the local lakes in the area. He was also very patriotic, and was well versed on his knowledge of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. He always jokingly lamented that the only thing he ever wanted was for the Washington DC crowd to run the country right.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be given to the Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints’ Humanitarian Func, c/o the local Elkhart LDS Church.

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