Obituary
Larry John Livingston, 77, passed August 3, 2022, with his family surrounding him with their love after a fierce battle with cancer. Larry is survived by his loving wife, Sheila, and daughter, Michele Livingston, his younger sister, Constance ‘Connie’ and husband, Larry W. Jackson along with many nieces, nephews, and cousins. Born to James Leon and Lenora Godwin Livingston on April 7, 1945, in Sampson County, NC. He was the fourth of five children with Alease Peterson (Woodrow H.), Edelweiss Bulla Smith (George Hector Bulla and Owen Smith), and James G. Livingston preceding him in death. Larry participated in 4-H and the Future Farmers of America (FFA) which were organizations that taught him great leadership skills. He had many awards in the FFA including local, district, state and national recognition and held several positions of leadership in the FFA. He was awarded the State Farmer and American Farmer Degrees. Being a 1963 graduate of Midway High School (Dunn, NC), Larry attended Chowan College (Murfreesboro, NC) and North Carolina State University (Raleigh, NC) with majors in agronomy. He was selected to travel to Europe along with others from Midway and the southeastern portion of the United States to promote and understand the role of agriculture through the People-to-People educational program. This unleashed a desire to travel more and has resulted in traveling throughout the Americas and a much-appreciated trip to Europe with Sheila and Michele. Sheila and he spent much time traveling together. They enjoyed the Southwest as a favorite place to vacation and relax, particularly the small town of Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon in Arizona. A trip to Tombstone was always in order and was enjoyed every time they visited. Larry joined the US Navy Reserves after college and served two years earning an honorable discharge from service. While based in Norfolk, Larry made many trips to the Mediterranean while assigned to the USS Chikaskia, AO-54. Larry enjoyed his tour in the Navy, but was eager to return to his work in agricultural chemicals. Larry worked for several major agricultural chemical companies including Union Carbide’s E-Z Flo Chemicals, Allied Chemicals, Thompson-Hayward Chemical (a division of Philips Electronics & Pharmaceuticals), Amchem Products, Inc., and Catalytic Generators. At Amchem, Larry did field development for 2,4-DB (herbicide for soybeans and peanuts), Ethephon (Ethrel®) for tobacco, tomatoes and small grains (promoted the release of natural ethylene), several different types of brush control herbicides for use in forestry and power line transmission right-aways. While at Catalytic Generators, Larry was successful in obtaining United States EPA approval for its ethylene process of converting ethanol to ethylene and introduced its use into the marketplace for fruits and vegetables. Larry was most proud of his work in the development of ethylene, a natural plant hormone that initiates ripening in fruits (bananas, tomatoes, mangos, avocadoes, etc.) and other plants such as tobacco. On Larry’s 37th birthday, Larry incorporated his new business, Livingston Chemicals, Inc., to perfect a method using pure ethylene gas which would provide a more natural ripening effect. Larry was awarded several patents for his work both in the United States and Internationally. He is very proud of having been on the team who developed the three different ripening concepts used today in the world. Larry has operated the business (Livingston Group, Inc.) throughout the remainder of his life with assistance from Sheila and Michele. Larry learned to play tennis in his early thirties and enjoyed playing until he started his business. Friday night Round-Robins were always a pleasure. His love of the game resulted in USTA Virginia State and Mid-Atlantic Championships. Larry, as a volunteer working with Cappy Meredith, went on to lead the VBCERT (Virginia Beach Citizens Emergency Response Team) which was sanctioned by FEMA and then led the team along with Cookie Ketcham (city employee) for almost ten years. During those ten years, the team grew to approximately 1,500 members. Larry took on leadership roles with the Virginia Beach Police Department by serving as president of its Citizens Advisory Committee. During this time, Larry was selected to attend the FBI Citizens Academy graduating from the Quantico, VA training center. We would like to thank his family, neighbors, high school, college friends, and business associates for their kindness during this time. A special thanks to the physical therapists, occupational therapists, nurses, and doctors at the Sentara Brock Cancer Center, Sentara Leigh Hospital, and Freda H. Gordon Hospice. The family will receive friends 2:00pm on Sunday, August 7, 2022 at Hollomon-Brown Funeral Home, Great Neck Chapel. The Celebration of Life will follow at 3:00pm in the funeral home chapel. Donations can be made to Freda H. Gordon Hospice or Virginia Beach SPCA. Condolences may be offered to the family at www.hollomon-brown.com.
Events
02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Virginia Beach, VA 23454
03:00 PM
Virginia Beach, VA 23454