OBITUARIES

Larry Joe (Pops) Sevier


Funeral Service will be 1:00 p.m. Monday, October 11, 2021 at First Baptist Church Chickasha, Chickasha, OK. Interment will be under the direction of Sevier Funeral Home. Family Visitations will be held at Sevier Funeral Home, Chickasha, OK on Thursday, October 7, 2021 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. as well as Sunday, October 10, 2021 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Larry Joe (Pops) Sevier, of Chickasha, OK, passed away on Monday, October 4, 2021 in Chickasha, OK at the age of 76. He was born to Jodie and Virginia (Hambrick) Sevier on August 10, 1945 in Chickasha. His service will be at First Baptist Church with Luke Harris and Michael Butler officiating.

Larry lived his entire life in Chickasha. He attended Chickasha public schools and graduated from CHS in 1963. Larry was a three sport Letterman and played on the 1963 State Championship Basketball team that was coached by Jerry Jobe. He received an honor scholarship medal for scholastic excellence in 1967 when he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Funeral Service.

Larry worked at Sevier Funeral Home starting at the age of 10 and received his license as a funeral director and embalmer in 1967. He married Linda Knowles on August 12, 1966 after dating for several years. They had their son, Joe Todd, in 1967 and their daughter, April Dawn, was born in 1972. Larry and Linda purchased Sevier Funeral Home in 1976. April and Todd, who received his funeral director’s license in 1991, became owners in 1996.

Larry was involved with many church and community activities. He served as a deacon, and Sunday school teacher at First Baptist Church of Chickasha, where he attended his entire life starting in the nursery. He was also involved in Little League Baseball, Mighty Mite and started a Little Dribblers basketball program. He was directly involved with USAO basketball the first couple of years it began.

Larry served in Kiwanis, Chisholm Trail Committee, Chamber of Commerce, City Planning Commission, and Library Board. He received Boss of the Year, Outstanding Man of the Year, and four Pursuit of Excellence Awards from the National Funeral Directors Association–But his greatest love was for family and his Lord.

He supported all the activities that his and Linda’s children and grandchildren were involved with their entire lives. He was generous and faithful. He was very grateful to be actively involved in the lives of his grandsons.

He felt called to minister to families and the path of grief that so many traveled. Larry appreciated the colleagues he was able to serve with, many of whom he worked 20 years and some over 30 years. He was able to play full-court basketball until the age of 60 and had a workout routine his entire life. He enjoyed fishing and hiking especially in the wildlife refuge at the Wichita Mountains. He loved working on class reunions. He loved to dance and he and his wife Linda were partners in a dance group called the Go-Lee Kickers that raised money for Jane Brooks School for the Deaf. Larry loved music, especially Todd’s karaoke recordings of him singing and his Elvis CDs. Larry enjoyed reading and He read his Bible and prayed daily.

His greatest challenge was when his dad, his son, his wife, and his mother all died within five years. He was their caregiver and the emptiness followed him the rest of his life, particularly when Todd and Linda died in less than two years of each other.

He found all his strength in God and prayed daily for so many hurting families as well as continued to work and serve others in their time of grief. He found comfort and joy spending time with his grandsons, his daughter and son-in-law Jeff, and special friend Alice Hurry. He also enjoyed the family gatherings with Linda’s family, and eating lunch each Sunday with his grandsons, daughter and son-in-law, Austin’s fiancé, Ereka, and nieces, Candice Knowles and Danielle Knowles Hodge.

He was grateful to see all three grandsons graduate high school and to see grandson Austin graduate with his Bachelors of Science in Funeral Service from UCO in May 2021. Larry always looked forward to summers where all three of his grandsons were able to work alongside him. He was most grateful that he was able to work alongside his family. Jeff, Jeremy and Austin daily, and Brayden working each summer. He was thrilled to mentor Austin and teach him how to lead well in the funeral business.

We are so grateful for all the time we had with him.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Jodie and Virginia Sevier; wife, Linda (Knowles) Sevier; son, Joe Todd Sevier, and niece, Brandie Kay Hughes.

Larry is survived by his daughter, April Dawn (Sevier) Kile, and husband, Jeff Kile; grandsons: Jeremy Todd Kile, Austin Quinn Kile and fiancé, Ereka Tallent, and Brayden Christopher Kile;

Sisters: Betty Rogers, Patsy Holstein, and Janice Say; and many special nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers the family has requested donations be made to Crossroads Community Church in Chickasha, OK chickashacrossroads.com/give and to the Gideons International. gideons.org