Obituary: Hyrum Laurence Manwaring

Hyrum Laurence Manwaring 1905 ~ 2004 Hyrum Laurence Manwaring died January 5, 2005, in Provo, Utah. Larry was born in Provo, Utah, on April 24, 1905, to Bessie Bird and Hyrum Manwaring. His father was a self-made man who, deprived of childhood education, went to grade school at age 21 and eventually became President of Ricks College, thus Larry and his three younger siblings grew up in Rexburg, Idaho. He graduated from Ricks, where he was President of the student body and Captain of the football team. There he met and courted Bernice Jacobs. They were married on May 25, 1927, in the Salt Lake Temple and left that same day for a three-year mission teaching at the Maori Agricultural College in Hastings, New Zealand. Returning from New Zealand at the height of the Great Depression, Larry taught grade school for a year in Rexburg, then he and Bernice moved to Washington, D.C., where he took a job in maintenance at the Department of Agriculture and completed a degree in economics at George Washington University. He worked at USDA for 37 years, rising eventually to the highest rank of civil service as Administrator for Production in the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service and Vice President of Commodity Credit Corporation. He received many honors and awards during his distinguished career. In May of 1968 President Lyndon Johnson presented him with a Distinguished Service Award "in recognition of your pioneering effort and contribution to American agriculture and the public interest during the formative years of national farm policy." He was also named a "Distinguished Alumnus" by Ricks College in 1975. After his retirement from USDA, Larry served as consultant to the Food Corporation of India and he and Bernice traveled all over the world in that capacity, then retired again to run their cattle ranch in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. He excelled also as an innovative rancher, being named "Outstanding Farmer of 1963" and receiving for his bull, Wampler's McJubel, Virginia's "Get of Sire" award in 1980. He served in a number of civic positions in Rappahanock County. Larry is a Patriarch in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and was the first LDS Bishop in the state of Virginia. He and Bee served for many years in the Washington, D.C. temple, where he was a sealer. Bernice died on February 15, 1995. Their reunion now will be joyful. He is survived by his beloved "little sister" Gladys, four children: Janice M. Burton (Robert), Lindon, Utah, J. Laurence Manwaring (Madeline), Warrenton, Virginia, Edward J. Manwaring (Su), Spanish Fork, Utah, and James Robert Manwaring (Carolyn), Woodville, Virginia, 18 grandchildren, 51 great-grandchil-dren and three great-great-grand children. His parents and two siblings, Eugene Manwaring and Lucile Cullimore, preceded him in death. In a 1985 life history Bernice wrote of him: He is now eighty years old. May he live to be a hundred, and may it still be said of him, "His life was gentle, and the elements so mixed in him that Nature might stand up and say to all the world, "This was a Man!'" (Shakespeare ... Julius Caesar). Funeral services were held Tuesday, January 11, 2005, at the Arlington, Virginia LDS Chapel, with interment in National Memorial Park, Falls Church, Virginia. A memorial service will be held January 22, 2005 in Orem, Utah. To send condolences to the family, visit www.walkerfamilymortuaries.com.