Larry Hartman

PLEASE NOTE: This obituary is being placed on our website as a courtesy to the family.  The Hullinger Mortuary is not handling any part of these services.

Larry Donald Hartman passed away quickly and peacefully on October 29, 2023 in Provo, Utah. 

Larry was born June 12, 1938 in Ioka Utah to Edna Lemon and Donald Max Peterson. He lived happily with them in Duchesne, Utah, with his brother and sister, Laird and Sherri, until his father, Don, in 1942 passed away from a heart attack brought on by carbon monoxide poisoning on a church youth outing.

Four years later, Larry’s mother Edna married Edwin Max Hartman of Mt. Emmons, Utah.  Max was a stabilizing influence for the family, and Larry’s family was eventually sealed in an LDS temple, and Larry Peterson became Larry Hartman.

Larry was a precocious and intelligent boy. He worked and studied hard, and enjoyed ranch life with his brothers and sisters. When it came time to serve a mission, he did so without question, serving in the Northwest states mission. He was a very diligent and successful missionary, bringing many to a knowledge of the Savior Jesus Christ.  

Larry’s life was shaped mostly by three things: hard work, tragedy and overcoming challenges. Larry studied hard in high school and qualified for a scholarship to Brigham Young University. While at BYU, he was introduced to his blonde-haired, blue-eyed sweetheart, Zetta Maurie Lee. They fell in love and were married in the Logan, Utah temple. Despite the fact that Zetta had been told that she would never have children, due to ovarian damage from a severe illness, Larry loved Zetta completely and trusted in God’s mercy.

Against all odds and those expert opinions, Zetta and Larry were blessed with three children, each about five years apart: Donaldson Lee (Donny), Ticia Lauri, and Rustin Ted Hartman.

Larry and Zetta both graduated from BYU and later pursued masters degrees in education. Next Larry taught business at the Church College of Hawaii in Laie for three years. Larry’s graduate research came to the attention of the U.S State Department, which led to Larry’s appointment as the director of U.S. AID in Kathmandu, Nepal.  In this capacity, he was instrumental in the founding and funding of the Sano Thimi University, Nepal’s only public college. Larry later went on to receive a doctorate from Oklahoma State University, after which the family settled in Dekalb, IL, where Larry became a professor at Northern Illinois University. Larry was soon called to be Bishop of the DeKalb Ward, where he earned many life-long friends and oversaw the fundraising for and construction of the first modern LDS church building in the county.

During his tenure at NIU, Larry also served as the President of the American Business Communication Association and taught night classes at Northwestern and DePaul. Larry later left academia and joined Zenith Data Systems and moved the family to Naperville, Illinois, serving as an EVP and overseeing the launch of the first laptop computer manufactured in the U.S. 

Feeling the pull to return to Utah, Larry accepted a professorship at Brigham Young University, where he taught for nearly 25 years before leaving to serve as Associate Dean of the Woodbury School of Business at Utah Valley University.

Not long after returning to Utah, tragedy struck when Zetta and Ticia Lauri were killed in a traffic accident. Despite the ongoing emotional pain, Larry carried on as the great and attentive father he had always been. Luckily, about a year after this tragedy, Larry began dating a colleague at BYU, Diane Birk Chidester. Larry and Diane were married and sealed in the temple, creating a “Brady bunch” of kids: Donny, Shaun, Noal, Nicole, Ted, Devin, and Kyle.  We are so grateful to Dad and Diane for giving us this blended family that will carry on, with 29 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren, with more to come.

We know when Larry reviews his life with his Savior, his own favorite titles will be husband, father, grandpa, son, uncle, friend, and neighbor. We are at peace and happy to think of the reunion he is having, not only with those special family members he has missed so much, but also with scores of friends and others he has affected and who loved him so much in life.

Larry is survived by his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren; by three of his siblings: Sherri (Steven) Walker, Laird (Arsenath) Hartman, and Edwin (Myra) Hartman. Larry was preceded in death by his wife, Zetta; daughter, Lauri; sister, Charlene and her husband William Jessen; brother-in-law, Steven Walker, and by two grandchildren, Joseph Holbrook Hartman and Lauren Chidester.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 4, 2023 at the church at 1215 North 1000 West in Mapleton with a viewing from 9:30 to 10:30 prior to services. Interment will be at the Orem City Cemetery immediately after that.