Larry Allen Douglas died December 17, 2015 at the Harrisburg Medical Center after a fall at his Massac County home.He was the fourth child of Kenneth Raphael and Mabel Pearl Marlman Douglas.He grew up near Karnak on his family farm and went to Century High School, where he played basketball and graduated in 1964. After high school, he attended Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. While in college, he saw a pretty girl on campus and got her phone number from a friend. He took Diana Chambers to dinner and to see a performer at Shyrock Auditorium in November 1967. They began dating and married on June 23,1968 at the First United Methodist Church in Metropolis. During their life together, they settled in Massac County and had three children and one grandchild. Larry received a bachelor's of science degree in agricultural economics from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale in 1968 and later studied for a master's degree in agricultural economics from Southern. Larry served in the U.S. Air Force from April 1969 to September 1972. After basic training at Lackland Air Force Base and training in radiology at Shepherd Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas, he was stationed at Scott Air Force Base near Belleville, Illinois. While at Scott he assisted in the treatment of soldiers injured during the Vietnam War. After his discharge from the Air Force, Larry served as the executive secretary of the Massac County Farm Bureau from 1973 to 1976. Since 1975 Larry owned and operated a farm in the New Columbia area. Larry also worked at Southern Illinois Power Cooperative and was a proud I.B.E.W. Local 702 member for 29 years before retiring in 2008. Since retiring, Larry worked as a reporter for Bristol Broadcasting, Paducah; as a site tech at Fort Massac State Park and as the director of Massac County Emergency Management from 2010 to 2013. Once Larry settled in Massac County in 1973, he became active in the local Democratic Party and served for several years as the county chairman. During his time with the party a Democratic presidential candidate, Jimmy Carter, carried Massac County for the first time since before the Civil War. President Bill Clinton also twice carried the county. Larry was committed to public service. He served on the Massac-Metropolis Port District Board since 2009 and the Southern Illinois Electric Cooperative board since 2010. He was a former member of the Illinois Historical Society board and the Illinois Citizens Utility Board. He was also a member of the Massac County Historical Society, the Metropolis Kiwanis Club and the Metropolis American Legion. Larry loved to recall political and family stories. He would often recall one of the first times he and his daughter met President Barack Obama at the Crowne Plaza in Springfield in 2003. Obama Senate campaign staffers outnumbered the two potential supporters by two to one. Larry would also recall when then-state Senator Obama, who was running for the U. S. Senate, asked Larry early in his campaign to introduce him to Democrats at a Madison County picnic because Larry knew more people at the picnic than Obama did. He was a member of Zion United Church of Christ, where he served in several roles, including being a member of the church council, the fundraising committee and the sound system committee.He is survived by his wife of 47 1/2 years, Diana Chambers Douglas; his sons, Stephen Marlman Douglas, of Paducah and Cory Justin Douglas, of Belknap; his daughter, Tracy Diana Douglas, of O'Fallon, and his granddaughter, Cassandra Leigh Douglas, of Paducah. He is also survived by two sisters, Marlene Loesekam, of Arnold, Missouri; Ellen Wood and husband, Jim, of Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin; one brother, Charles Douglas and his wife, Sheila, of Karnak; and one sister-in-law, Georgia Carol Douglas of Murray. He leaves several Douglas and Chambers nephews and nieces, as well as cousins.Visitation will be at Aikins-Farmer Funeral Home in Metropolis, on Monday from 6-8 p.m. Funeral services will be at Zion United Church of Christ on Tuesday at 10 a.m. Burial will follow at Mounds City National Cemetery at 12:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the American Cancer Society and the Gateway Chapter of the MS Society. Online condolences may be left at www.aikinsfarmer-millerfh.com