Laurence "Larry" E. Gage

Laurence (Larry) Eakin Gage, age 98, passed away peacefully on Friday, May 29th, 2026.

He was born on September 15, 1927, at the Swedish Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the son of Robert Percy and Rachel Green Gage.

Larry survived by his daughters Susan Racette (Roland, deceased), Marilyn Neese (Bradley) and Kathryn Paradise (Bruce); grandsons Scott and Brian Neese, Whitney (Mike), Erikh and Mike Paradise; and great-grandchildren Tristan, Ethan, Hattie, Sydney and Willow.

He is also survived by a brother, Calvin William Gage (Margaret).

Preceding his death was his wife of 42 years Mary (Polly) Flanders Procter Gage, his parents, and brother Robert McCornack Gage.

Larry graduated from the University of Minnesota High School, attended the University of Illinois and graduated from the University of Minnesota College of Agriculture. He spent more than 40 years in Sales and Marketing of Agricultural Equipment. As a second career, he sold real estate in the Wheaton area for 16 years.

Larry served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War and was stationed at Ft. Riley, Kansas and Ft. Carson, Colorado. This is where he met his wife, Polly, on a double chair lift in the Arapahoe Basin Ski Resort.

Larry was a proud Republican and served as a precinct committeeman for 25 years. He was a charter member of the Cosley Zoo Foundation operated by Wheaton Park District. Larry enjoyed donating blood and gave over 23 gallons in his lifetime.

In his retirement, he volunteered at the DuPage Convalescent Center in the ceramics department and volunteered at the DuPage County Courthouse assisting with the weddings.

A Celebration of Life service will be held at First Presbyterian Church of Wheaton, on Friday, June 5, at 10:30 am.

Interment will be held at the historic Memorial Washington Reformed Presbyterian Church of Elgin, Illinois, his family’s ancestral church, at a later date.

If you wish, memorials can be made to P.E.O. International or the Cosley Zoo Foundation.