Lawrence "Larry" E. May, 60, Minot, and formerly of the Mohall-Lansford, died Wednesday, April 2, 2008 in a Minot Hospital.

Larry was born May 8, 1947 at Minot, North Dakota, the son of Bruce and Martha (Quanbeck) May. He was raised with five brothers and sisters on the family farm in Clay Township, near Mohall. He attended Clay Center School for six years, and then attended Junior High School at Mohall. He spent three years of High School at Dakota Lutheran Academy and then graduated from Hillcrest Academy of Fergus Falls, MN in 1965. Larry attended Minot State University, NDSU and graduated with a degree in Business Administration from Moorhead State University in 1970.

Larry became a certified professional diver and was employed with the Fred Divine Diving and Salvage Company and worked on jobs that took him from Alaska to California, and from Hawaii to the Fanning Islands in the Pacific, as well as various other ports on the West Coast. Larry returned to North Dakota to take over the operation of the family farm with his brother, Aron in 1979. He took over as sole operator of the farm in 1991 and continued to farm until 2005, when he became employed with Masterguard Corporation as a safety advisor.

Larry was united in marriage to Sally Johnson on the Johnson family farm near Tolley, ND on August 12, 1982. During the farming season, they lived on the site of Larry's grandparents homestead and during the winter months, at Gresham, Oregon. They maintained their home in Gresham until 1992, when they moved permanently to North Dakota. They moved to Minot in August of 2007. Larry and Sally adopted their children, Andrew at the age of 5, and Claudia, at the age of 3, from Columbia, South America in 1985.

The family has been members of Our Redeemer's Lutheran Brethren Church, Minot, where they have been active with the deaf ministry program, and Wednesday night dinners. Larry was a former member of Zion Lutheran Church, Mohall, and long time member of the North Dakota Farm Bureau, where he had served as a board member and past president for the Renville County Farm Bureau. Larry enjoyed sport diving, fishing, reading and spending time with his friends and family.

His loving family includes; wife, Sally; son, Andrew, Minot; brothers, Don (Caron) May, Minot, Sam (Meme) May, Bismarck; sisters, Nadia (Paul) Smetana, Lansford, and Maureen (Bill Harkey) May, Nashville, TN; several nieces, nephews and cousins.

Larry was preceded in death by his parents, daughter, Claudia and infant brother, Brian.

Funeral service: Saturday, April 5, 2008 at 1:30 p.m. in Our Redeemer's Lutheran Brethren Church, Minot;
Interment: Mohall Community Cemetery, Mohall;
Visitation: Friday from 1:00-5:00pm in Thomas Family Funeral Home, Minot
Memorials are preferred to the Lord's Prayer Project/Cancer Recovery Foundation of America or Our Redeemer's Deaf Ministry Fund.