Mr. Larry Lankford Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

Larry Dean Lankford, age 68, of Henderson, Texas, passed away on Monday, February 28, 2022. He was born on January 9, 1954 in San Juan, Texas, the youngest of 6 boys to Carmelita “Carmie” and Walter Lankford. Larry spent most of his childhood in Mission, TX before moving to Henderson, TX in 1971 where he met his wife of 48 years, Sharla. Larry worked for Big 3 Industries/Air Liquide for over 20 years until his retirement in 2001. Larry’s largest passion in life was his family, he was a loving and generous man who loved seeing his family together. His last words to his grandchildren were “Do your best and be your best” His second largest passion was sports. He served as the Dixie Boys Baseball Umpire-in-Chief for the State of Texas, he also umpired baseball for over 38 years and officiated football for over 43 years. Larry also enjoyed working with the Rusk County Youth Project Show, and he served on the Henderson Boys Baseball Association Board of Directors as the Director of Umpires. Larry’s love for baseball didn’t end there, he also managed the baseball concession stand in Henderson, that was eventually named “Lankford’s Café”. After years of battling with pulmonary fibrosis he was given the gift of life on February 18th, 2020, with a single-lung transplant. In November 2020, he began the largest battle of his life against Covid-19. He was known to many physicians and nurses at Houston Methodist Hospital as “A Miracle” or “Lucky Larry” for being the only single-lung transplant patient to survive Covid. The Lankford family would like to thank the family, friends, physicians, nurses and aides who were involved with his care in and out of the hospital. Larry was preceded in death by his parents Walter and Carmelita Lankford, brothers Wilburn Lankford, Merl Lankford, and Jimmy Underwood. Larry is survived by his wife, Sharla, daughter Jessica Davis and husband Jeremy of Henderson, son Jared Lankford and wife Miranda of Wylie, grandchildren Taylor, Riley and Kamden, brothers Dale Lankford and wife Nancy, Terry Lankford and wife Barbie. Funeral services for Mr. Lankford will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 5th, 2022, at Calvary Baptist Church in Henderson, Texas with Rev. Toby Tipps officiating. Interment will follow at Crims Chapel Cemetery under the direction of Crawford-A. Crim Funeral Home. The family will receive friends from 1:00 p.m. until service time on Saturday, at the church. Pallbearers will be Scott Duran, Ray Deason, James Chambless, Tom Williams, Shannon Sanders, Kirk Greenhouse, Robert Barton, and Clay Hale. Honorary pallbearers will be Happi Fuller, Cal Goss, Jacob Patterson, and Josh Carlile. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Henderson Boys Baseball Association in memory of Larry Lankford. Address: HBBA, P.O. Box 1712 Henderson, TX 75653-1712 or Venmo: @HendersonBoys-Baseball. Words of comfort may be shared with the family at www.crawfordacrim.com.

Mr. Larry Lankford

January 9, 1954 - February 28, 2022