lit a candle 1d agomy mom called and told me Larry Sparks passed, she used to know the family back when they lived near Centerville. 66 years married to the same woman. that's rare these days.
Their story
Larry Neal Sparks was a husband, father, grandfather, brother and longtime factory supervisor from southern Iowa whose life was built around family, hard work and simple outdoor pleasures. He died on Friday, September 18, 2026, at MercyOne Medical Center in Centerville, Iowa, at the age of 85. His death was…
Larry Neal Sparks was a husband, father, grandfather, brother and longtime factory supervisor from southern Iowa whose life was built around family, hard work and simple outdoor pleasures. He died on Friday, September 18, 2026, at MercyOne Medical Center in Centerville, Iowa, at the age of 85. His death was announced through an obituary published by Tharp Funeral Home and Crematory of Albia, Iowa. No cause of death has been made public.
Sparks was born on January 12, 1941, at home in Cincinnati, Iowa, to Henry and Mabel Sparks (nee Ross). When he was twelve his family moved to Rockford, Illinois, where he grew up and graduated from East High School in 1958. Two years later, on June 24, 1960, he married his high school sweetheart, Darlene Axelson, at Zion Lutheran Church in Rockford. Their marriage lasted 66 years, ending only with his death.
For decades he worked as a supervisor at the Chrysler Corporation plant in Rockford before he and Darlene returned to the Centerville, Iowa area, where he worked at Young's Radiator. Family remembered him as a skilled and hardworking man who built three houses over the course of his life. Away from work he was an avid outdoorsman: he kept a ski boat and slalom skied for years, fished at Ten Mile Lake in Minnesota and set jugs at Lake Thunderhead with his son-in-law, skied in Colorado with his family, and in later years took trips to Branson, Missouri with relatives. He and Darlene also kept horses and enjoyed trail riding with their granddaughter.
He is survived by his wife, Darlene; his daughters, Kym Caylor and Brenda Ortmann; grandchildren Neal and Emily Caylor; and his brother, Carl Sparks, along with nieces, nephews, cousins and close friends. He was preceded in death by his parents and by his son-in-law, Danny Caylor. A celebration of his life was planned for family and friends in the weeks after his death.
This memorial follows the published Tharp / Legacy family account. Larry Neal Sparks was not a celebrity, but the people who loved him still look for a place that states plainly who he was.
Biography adapted from Tharp Funeral Home and Crematory (Albia, Iowa) / Legacy family obituary for Larry Neal Sparks of Exline, Iowa; death reported September 18, 2026.
Sounds like a good man. Sorry for your family's loss.