Des Moines, IA: Larry Orville Griggs, 81, passed away on February 18, 2023 in Des Moines, IA. Larry was born on March 15, 1941 to Orville and Ruth (Norton) Griggs in Washington, IA.
In 1961, Larry married Wilma Herdlicka. Larry and Wilma were blessed with four children: Teresa, Kathleen, Thomas and Christopher. After their separation, Larry relocated to Bethany, MO, where he began a farm and raised cattle.
In 1982, Larry sold the farm and moved to Des Moines, IA, where he obtained his Real Estate License and became employed with Remax. After moving to Des Moines, Larry met and married Theresa Nicolaus in 1989. With marrying Theresa, Larry gained two bonus children: Jennifer and Todd. Soon after, Larry began his construction company, Affordable Homes, Inc. His passion of building and remodeling homes brought joy through much of his life, until his retirement in 2016.
Through his entire life, Larry had a passion for all things racing. Whether it be attending NASCAR races to watch Dale Earnhardt, Sr, or helping with the circle track races at the local county fair, Larry could always be found at the track. He also had a special knack for tinkering on anything and everything – from his exceptional train room in his basement, to his bright red International tractors he used on his tractor runs. He could always be found working on or building something, eventually taking pride in passing these traits onto his grandson, Josh, when he introduced him to the hobby of building and painting model cars.
Aside from his love of all things John Wayne, Larry had a soft spot for his grandchildren. He enjoyed spending time at their events, attending county fairs with them, and even simply riding through the property on their golf carts just to show them everything he loved. The joy they brought to his life was always evident.
Larry was preceded in death by his parents; son, Christopher; sister, Sharon Logan; brothers in law, Jack Logan and Clete Kaska; father in law, Harold Nicolaus; mother in law, Grayce Nicolaus; and his prized pet, Bitsy.
Survivors include his wife, Theresa; daughters, Terri (Roy) Reese, of Mountain Home, AR, Kathi Griggs, of Muscatine, IA, and Jennifer (Paul) Latcham, of Waukee, IA; sons, Tom (Robin) Griggs, of Tipton, MO, and Todd (Carrie) Dohrmann, of Waukee, IA; sister, Virginia Kaska, of West Liberty, IA; and brother Allen (Bev) Griggs, of Washington, IA, as well as 15 grandchildren, 12 great grandchildren, and several nieces and nephews.
Larry’s family would like to thank everyone for their kind expressions of sympathy in this time of loss. Services will be held at a later date.