Larry Lejeune Metzger, 96
Daily Inter-Lake | UPDATED 1 week, 3 days AGO
Larry Lejeune Metzger, 96, of Bigfork, passed away on May 19, after an extended illness, surrounded by his loving family. Larry was born in Spring City, Tennessee, to the late George Oren Metzger and Amanda Lois McPherson Metzger on Oct. 20, 1929.
He was preceded in death by his loving wife of 55 years, Suzanne C. (Gusky) Metzger; his son, Oren Metzger; stepson, Allen Baker; sisters, Sadye (Metzger) Lear and Winona (Metzger) Miles; and brothers, Lynn Metzger and Donald Metzger.
He is survived by his daughter, Frances (Metzger) and Daniel of Haw River, North Carolina; bonus son Erich Paul of Las Vegas; and daughter-in-law Kim (Sundsted) Metzger of East Helena. He is also survived by his grandchildren, Amber (Metzger) O’Rourke, Shawna (Daniel) Rowe, April (Baker) Christian, George Metzger and Nicholas Daniel. He had 10 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandson.
Larry had a diverse work history, which began at age 12, running moonshine in the back woods of Tennessee. After high school, he entered the U.S. Navy and served from 1948 to 1952 during the Korean Conflict and was honorably discharged. He then owned a long-haul trucking company, where he met and then married the love of his life, “Susie," after meeting her at the roadside diner where she worked. The first time she saw him, she told her co-worker she was going to marry that man. Following his trucking career, he attended Tennessee Tech and graduated with his electrical engineering degree. In 1959, he was hired by Western Electric and facilitated high clearance federal systems projects that took him all over the world. While in Europe, he raced cars and motorcycles(?) and built and piloted kit planes. He retired from AT&T in North Carolina and moved as quickly as he could to Montana, where he loved hunting and fishing in God’s country.
He was a member of many civic and charitable foundations and donated generously to dozens of causes. His interests included hunting, fishing, golfing, bowling, gardening, boating, storytelling, cooking, writing editorials for the local newspaper, playing poker, traveling, going to church and spending as much time as possible with his family.
A memorial service is planned for a later date.