✦ ✦ ✦
Larry Dale Earnest, age 62 of Monticello, AR, formerly of Star City, passed away Saturday, March 16, 2024. He was born April 15, 1961, to Gene and Mae Howard Earnest of Star City.
From a very young age, Larry grew up working on a farm in Lincoln County which developed his love for agriculture and row crop farming. He was a 1980 graduate of Star City High School and attended the University of Arkansas at Monticello where he obtained a degree in Agriculture Business. Larry began his work career shortly after graduation at the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Rohwer Research Station in Rohwer, AR. He later attended the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and earned a master’s degree in Agronomy. He was then promoted to Director of the UADA Rohwer Research Station where he would spend the next 39 years there as a Weed Scientist and Director. He was a member of the Research Center Administrators Society (RCAS) and served on the National Sorghum Producers Board for several years.
He was an avid outdoorsman where he loved hunting, fishing, gardening, camping, playing golf, softball, woodworking, as well as singing and playing the guitar. However, his greatest love was spending time with his nine grandchildren and his family. Larry is a member of First Baptist Church of Monticello and was a past member of Holly Springs Missionary Baptist Church of Star City for many years.
Larry is preceded in death by his father, Gene Earnest; his paternal grandparents, Thomas McRae Earnest and Agnes Irene Hutcheson Earnest; his maternal grandparents, Adam Bradley Howard and Marie Turner Howard; a niece, Eleana Jane Earnest; nine uncles and eight aunts.
He is survived by his mother, Mae Bell Howard Earnest of Star City; his wife, Lauri Leigh Hollinger Earnest of Monticello; a son, Jarrod Earnest; a daughter, Jordyn Earnest Hastings (Stanley) of Little Rock; a son, Ryan Sawyer (Kuo) of Dallas, TX; a daughter, Kristen Harvey (Alex) of Monticello; two sisters, Terry Gale Gates of North Little Rock and Susan West (Wayne) of Star City; three brothers, Carl Earnest (Gail), Orville Lee Earnest and Donald Wayne Earnest all of Star City; uncle, Paul Howard (Bertha) of Pine Bluff; aunt, Barbara Pennington (James) of Rison; nine grandchildren, Annalise, Easton and Laney Jo Earnest, Patrick, Margo and Oliver Hastings, Quinn Sawyer, Hudson and Hadleigh Harvey; along with a host of nieces, nephews and cousins.
Funeral services will be 11:00 a.m. Thursday, March 21, 2024, at Holly Springs Missionary Baptist Church in Star City, AR with Rev. Cody Andrews and Rev. Kelly Jones officiating. Burial will be in Holly Springs Cemetery. There will be a visitation Wednesday evening from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at Stephenson-Dearman Funeral Home. Memorials may be sent to First Baptist Church of Monticello or Holly Springs Missionary Baptist Church. You can sign Larry’s guestbook registry on this page.
From a very young age, Larry grew up working on a farm in Lincoln County which developed his love for agriculture and row crop farming. He was a 1980 graduate of Star City High School and attended the University of Arkansas at Monticello where he obtained a degree in Agriculture Business. Larry began his work career shortly after graduation at the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Rohwer Research Station in Rohwer, AR. He later attended the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and earned a master’s degree in Agronomy. He was then promoted to Director of the UADA Rohwer Research Station where he would spend the next 39 years there as a Weed Scientist and Director. He was a member of the Research Center Administrators Society (RCAS) and served on the National Sorghum Producers Board for several years.
He was an avid outdoorsman where he loved hunting, fishing, gardening, camping, playing golf, softball, woodworking, as well as singing and playing the guitar. However, his greatest love was spending time with his nine grandchildren and his family. Larry is a member of First Baptist Church of Monticello and was a past member of Holly Springs Missionary Baptist Church of Star City for many years.
Larry is preceded in death by his father, Gene Earnest; his paternal grandparents, Thomas McRae Earnest and Agnes Irene Hutcheson Earnest; his maternal grandparents, Adam Bradley Howard and Marie Turner Howard; a niece, Eleana Jane Earnest; nine uncles and eight aunts.
He is survived by his mother, Mae Bell Howard Earnest of Star City; his wife, Lauri Leigh Hollinger Earnest of Monticello; a son, Jarrod Earnest; a daughter, Jordyn Earnest Hastings (Stanley) of Little Rock; a son, Ryan Sawyer (Kuo) of Dallas, TX; a daughter, Kristen Harvey (Alex) of Monticello; two sisters, Terry Gale Gates of North Little Rock and Susan West (Wayne) of Star City; three brothers, Carl Earnest (Gail), Orville Lee Earnest and Donald Wayne Earnest all of Star City; uncle, Paul Howard (Bertha) of Pine Bluff; aunt, Barbara Pennington (James) of Rison; nine grandchildren, Annalise, Easton and Laney Jo Earnest, Patrick, Margo and Oliver Hastings, Quinn Sawyer, Hudson and Hadleigh Harvey; along with a host of nieces, nephews and cousins.
Funeral services will be 11:00 a.m. Thursday, March 21, 2024, at Holly Springs Missionary Baptist Church in Star City, AR with Rev. Cody Andrews and Rev. Kelly Jones officiating. Burial will be in Holly Springs Cemetery. There will be a visitation Wednesday evening from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at Stephenson-Dearman Funeral Home. Memorials may be sent to First Baptist Church of Monticello or Holly Springs Missionary Baptist Church. You can sign Larry’s guestbook registry on this page.