Larry Taylor Wofford, 81, of Springfield, MO, sprinted into Heaven's gates and the presence of his Savior Jesus on November 30, 2022. He was at home with his son & daughter by his side. A private memorial service will take place at a later date in Springfield with a graveside service on the Crow Creek Indian Reservation in Fort Thompson, SD, in the spring of 2023.

Larry was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas, on May 2, 1941, to Burson (Harold) and Dorothy Wofford. He had one sibling, an older brother, Philip Wofford.

Larry was a 1959 graduate of Fort Smith Highschool where he played for the Northside Grizzly state championship basketball team. It was at FSH Larry met his high school sweetheart and the love of his life, Marcia Anne Allen, and joyfully married her on June 16, 1961, in Bellflower, CA.

Following high school, Larry went on to study at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, where he obtained his Bachelor of Arts in 1963. While at the U of A, Larry played basketball for the Razorbacks on a full-ride scholarship all four years. He truly loved the game of basketball and was a gifted athlete on and off the court.

After college, Larry and Marcia moved to Downey, CA, where he taught highschool English and led a highschool youth ministry at their church in Bellflower, CA. In 1965, Larry and Marcia moved to Springfield, MO, to begin a new life-chapter. It was there they grew their family with two children, Mark Allen and Joy Elizabeth. Larry dedicated himself to becoming a scholar of God's Word. While teaching at several Springfield area schools, he obtained a Theology degree from Baptist Bible College (BBC) in 1968 and a Master of Arts-History from Southwest Missouri State University (SMSU) in 1976. From there, Larry went on to teach bible classes at BBC for 18 years. For several years, he also coached men's basketball at BBC and was instrumental in getting the athletic program off the ground as their first athletic director. During this time, he and Marcia also led a young married's class at Baptist Temple in Springfield. Larry's enthusiasm for learning and teaching God's Word resounded with his students. He devoured the apostle Paul's epistles. Teaching the life and ministries of Christ and of Paul was his heartbeat. Larry also dived deeply into studying and teaching the Old Testament prophets, diligently aligning their prophetic teachings from Scripture with present day world events leading to Jesus's soon return for His Bride the Church. He carried a passion for teaching prophecy until the day he went to heaven.

In the summer of 1985, Larry and Marcia answered the Lord's call to become missionaries on the Crow Creek Indian Reservation in South Dakota where they served together in a pastoring role for 22 years. Living on the reservation among the native people and the culture was Larry's greatest honor and joy. His love for native people and sharing Jesus with them in every possible way, was Larry's life and breath. He and Marcia grieved when his increasing health struggles caused them to leave the ministry on the reservation. Until the moment Larry went to be with Jesus, the Crow Creek Reservation was his home and the Native Hunkpati Dakota Sioux people his family.

Throughout his life, Larry was deeply passionate to reach others with the gospel of Yeshua Jesus. In his last years of life, he taught the Bible from his living room recliner chair to anyone who would come in and be a student. Rarely did anyone not leave fed and freed by God's Word under Larry's teaching. And many people quickly discovered that to pay a visit to Larry meant you'd become a Bible student of Larry's whether you planned to or not. Speaking and teaching God's Word gave Larry sustaining life and renewal during the last several years of his physical hardships. Sharing Yeshua Jesus with others remained his reason for living until his final breath.

Larry enjoyed nature and was an avid outdoorsman with a love for stream and lake fishing and camping and hiking along wilderness trails. He loved planting glorious vegetable gardens and even going out for a winter run in near blizzard conditions. His music passions included classical, jazz and symphonic pieces along with contemporary Christian worship music. He didn't just listen to music, he studied it to fully understand and appreciate it. Larry was also a gifted writer of poetry and Bible commentary and was rarely caught without a book in hand or a pen on paper.

Larry will be deeply missed by his son, Mark, and daughter in love, Tracy, of Kansas City, MO; his daughter, Joy, and son-in-love, Chris, of Muscatine, IA; and his grandsons, Joshua, Kaleb, Carson and Jayden who all learned great life-lessons from their Papa about Yeshua Jesus, God's Word and how everything in this earth-life is connected to and sustained by them. Larry acknowledged each of his grandson's gifts and talents. Whether music, athletics or life-talks, he was intentional with helping them develop their thinking and gifts to the best of their abilities.

Larry has now joined his beloved bride, Marcia, and his grandson, Kyle Allen Patrick Wofford, in eternal glory with Yeshua Jesus. His family would like to express their heartfelt gratitude to Integrity Hospice and Home Health for the exceptional care and support they provided. His hospice nurse, Dianna, poured all of herself into Larry's care and became a trusted friend (and Bible student) of whom he loved and respected tremendously.

Memorials in Larry's memory may be directed to the family to go toward a college scholarship fund for native students at Crow Creek High School in Fort Thompson, SD. For more information, contact Mark Wofford via email at markwofford@hotmail.com.