Larry Viether, 72, of Clarinda, Iowa, passed away Tuesday, August 5, 2025 at the Clarinda Regional Health Center. A Celebration of Life gathering will be held Saturday August 9, 2025 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Hillside Missionary Church, Clarinda, Iowa. Memorials may be directed to Larry Viether Memorial. Memories can be shared with the family at www.nodawayvalleyfuneralhome.com. Arrangements were entrusted to the Nodaway Valley Funeral Home of Clarinda.
Larry Dean Viether was born November 6, 1952, in Atlantic, Iowa, the son of Kenneth Viether and Viola (Andersen) Viether. He was the third child of four, Richard, Dennis, Larry and Dale. He grew up in Marne, Iowa and attended school in Atlantic, graduating from Atlantic High School with the class of 1970. He loved to tell stories of his childhood with friends and cousins. He was always proud of his hot rod bicycle that he put together himself with the banana seat and sissy bar.
Larry enlisted in the Air Force in 1970 and served in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. In 1979, he met his soon to be wife Jana Thompson and on August 22, 1980 they were united in marriage. Together they enjoyed having nieces and nephews come for weekend adventures and camping trips. They also loved being available to help anyone. Larry was always willing to climb on a roof, build a garage or plant a tree. All you had to do was ask and he was there. Larry and Jana were always willing to invite people in, including nieces and nephews, brothers and sisters, and foster children. There was always enough love and patience when Larry was around.
He learned woodworking from his father-in-law and loved building new things and being creative.
He worked in construction for several years doing roofing and siding. Larry began a school for psychology and worked for ten years with mentally and emotionally challenged adults. The last ten plus years he has worked for Smith Vending in Clarinda and loved his job very much. The decision to retire was hard but he was so glad that he got to be a part of the team. Larry and Jana also joined friends, James and Brenda Martin, doing Kettle Corn events in the area. What started as a day of helping became a fun job.
Larry loved the outdoors; gardening, camping and fishing were his favorites. He also loved music of all kinds from Beatles to Statler Brothers. He also loved old westerns and collected old western memorabilia; his favorite was Roy Rogers. Larry and Jana were best friends when they met and remained that through almost 45 years. Through good times and tough times, Larry was strong and loving and always found a reason to dance in the rain.
Larry was preceded in death by his parents, Kenneth and Viola; father-in-law, Ernest (Ray) Thompson; siblings Richard (Gail) Viether and Dale Viether; in-laws Stephan Thompson, Larry Richardson, Terri Brown; nephew, Brent Stogdill.
Survivors include his wife, Jana; niece/daughter, Martina; foster son, Donovan; brother, Dennis Viether, mother-in-law, Ruby Thompson; in-laws, Dianna (Steve) Stogdill, Mary Richardson, Jim (Marcia) Thompson, Brian (Debbie) Thompson, Rod Brown; many and much-loved nieces; nephews, cousins and friends.
