Larry Gene Ozier

Larry Gene Ozier, 77, passed away on September 9, 2020.  He was born on September 8, 1943, in Charleston, Illinois, to the home of Eugene H. and Florence Louise Ozier.

Larry started his life from humble beginnings as an only child born in a small town in Central Illinois.  He dropped out of high school to care for his children but was determined to continue his education. After going back and completing high school, he went on and studied business at Eastern Illinois University.  Young Larry worked tirelessly from the age of 10: mopping floors, working in corn and soybean fields, even shoveling manure.

He worked hard all throughout his life, working with honesty, value, and integrity. These characteristics led him up the corporate ladder towards Larry’s proudest accomplishment, starting his own company, Gas Equipment System.  In 1998 he started and built it up to its current success, finally selling it in 2014 to retire.  The company even gave him the opportunity to work alongside his family, including his wife, Allie, son Chris, and stepdaughter Vicky.

Larry had multiple hobbies and passions that he loved to share with his friends and family.  His favorite passion was cars.  He owned a Roadster that he took great pride in, displaying it at multiple car shows. Larry’s second passion was planes.  He owned his own plane, a Cherokee, logging in over 1,500 hours of flight time.  During his retirement, he loved to volunteer at the Palm Springs Air Museum as a tour guide. Larry’s third passion was boating.  His dream was to live on the water and share his boat with his loved ones.  He felt so blessed to begin to live this dream by moving out to Texas and living in a house on the lake with his wife Allie in 2019.  Other hobbies included golfing and fishing.  He enjoyed golfing several times a week with his friends and even made time to teach his grandchildren.  Recently, he started sharing his knowledge and experience with fishing with his great-grandchildren, demonstrating his dedication and love to multiple generations of his family.

He loved to gather with family and friends above all else: hearing and sharing stories, life experiences and an occasional joke or two with his dry sense of humor.  Larry loved to laugh, and always provided a consistent kindhearted presence. Larry was not a man of many words, but his loving and endearing presence was always felt by those around him.

Larry was a one of a kind man, and he will not be forgotten. He will live on in each of our hearts. We have all been touched by him and we are all better because of that. This is not a goodbye. As many of you know, Larry was a man of strong faith. We know that he is now at peace. Now it is our turn to carry on his legacy and live our lives to the fullest, like he would have wanted us to.

He is survived by his wife Allie Ozier; children Denise Fragogiannis and husband John, Christopher Ozier and wife Linda, Philipp Lindogan and wife Veronica, Julie Niagara and husband Christian, and Vicky Fox and husband Nils; grandchildren Michelle Ozier, Nicole Ozier, Stacy Agelis, Aliki Stanek, Andriana McDowell, Larry Ozier, Christopher Ozier, Leanna Ozier, Allison Zarrillo, Peyton Lindogan, Josh Fox, Jaenna Fox, and Liam Lindogan; and great-grandchildren Alex, John, Donovan, George, Peter, Destry, Patrick, Emma, Lorelei, Sean, James, and Kennedy.

Larry is preceded in death by his parents; and step-sister Carolyn Poindexter.