Larry Dale Harmon, 86, of Dawson, passed away Tuesday, March 10, 2026, at Nemaha County Hospital in Auburn, one day short of his 87th birthday.
Larry was born on March 11, 1939, in the Nim City area, to William “Bill” Harmon and Pearl Elizabeth (Jarred) Harmon. He was baptized at Prairie Union Baptist Church. Though he was born and remained deeply rooted in the Southeast Nebraska ground he loved all his life, Larry was never a man who sat still. He lived just a mile from where he was born, but his near 87 years took him far beyond home through work and travel that stretched across the country.
Larry attended Honey Creek school, where he played basketball and ran track. As a young man, he helped his father farm until the family sold the farm in 1960. Self-taught, Larry knew how to fix and figure things out. He took this skill as a mechanic to Morehead Chevrolet dealership in Falls City. He later worked at the Dawson Co-op Elevator.
Adventure was always a part of Larry’s life. As a teenager, he and a friend headed west to Oregon, taking jobs along the way and working wherever they could, including on a golf course, in peach orchards, in canneries and in fish markets, before returning to Nebraska in time to help with harvest. Later in life, he put nearly 50,000 miles on his motorcycle with his wife and spent part of his life in West Texas, proving that while home was always important to him, he was never afraid to see more of the world.
He was a talented mechanic from the start. He learned by tinkering on the farm, working on tractors and figuring out how things went together. That mechanical mind stayed with him all his life. It showed up not only in his work but also in his passion for tractor pulling, one of the things he loved most. Larry became involved in the sport and helped found the Texas Tractor Pulling Association after moving to West Texas. He was known for both his ingenuity and his showmanship. He specially built a John Deere-pulling tractor, drawing the attention of John Deere engineers, who came to see for themselves what he had accomplished.
Larry immersed himself fully in whatever he loved and never did anything halfway. He liked to laugh, have fun, and share a good story after a hard day’s work.
Larry was also a loving grandfather and great-grandfather, even if he was not always the kind to say everything out loud. He took pride in his grandchildren, in the lives they built and in the people they chose to marry. 
Survivors include his wife, Judy of Dawson; sons and daughters-in-law, Lyle and Rhonda of Dawson and Matt and Amy of Dawson; grandchildren, Nikki and Brian McKim of Falls City, Cori and Heath Christiansen of Auburn, Hannah and Andrew Asbury of Parkville, Missouri, and Rex Harmon and Gracie Hansen of Vermillion, South Dakota; great-grandchildren, Alex McKim, Lucy, Olive and Henry Christiansen and Dani Asbury; sister, Peggy Harmon of Falls City; along with other relatives and many, many friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents, William “Bill” Harmon and Pearl Elizabeth Harmon, and his siblings, Bill Harmon Helen Iliff, Clara Hollister, Bob Harmon, Kenny Harmon and Donna Harmon.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, March 20, 2026, at Hemmingsen Funeral Home in Auburn. The family will greet friends one hour prior to the service. Inurnment will take place at a later date in Nemaha Cemetery.
Memorials are suggested to the American Diabetes Association.