Lawrence "Larry" Henry Siebers Jr.

A small town boy from Tooele, UT, Larry marveled at finding himself at the apex of complex corporations in large cities. Having risen in the executive world, when asked what he considered his greatest accomplishment, he said, “My children.” Larry took many a “good walk spoiled” on the golf course and notched two holes in one. He was always ready with a joke or anecdote for any conversation.

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Lawrence Henry Siebers Jr. was born on May 26, 1933, in a home in Lincoln, Utah to Lawrence Henry Bernard and Johann (Ann) Heggie Smith Siebers. He was the oldest of three children and is survived by his sister, Jo Ann (John) Rice and preceded in death by his brother, Robert (Carol) Siebers. Married just shy of 66 years to Ruth Cannon who passed away in March 2021, he said, “We were a team. We did everything together.”

The most eventful days of his life were June 6-7, 1955, when he was commissioned an officer in the Navy in the morning, graduated from the University of Utah in the evening, and married Ruth the next morning in the LDS Salt Lake Temple. Those events set the next several years in motion as he shipped out on the aircraft carrier the USS Yorktown for 2 years of duty. He saw the world, discharging in 1957, as a Lieutenant. Returning to the University of Utah, he earned a M.S. and then a PhD from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago in the nascent field of Industrial Psychology in 1961.

Through the next 30 years, Larry worked in management development and training, recruitment, and human resource policy and research during the 1960s and 70s as equal opportunity and other cultural revolutions changed the face of industry. First with United Airlines and then 25 years with International Harvester, where he rose to the office of Vice President, he was a leader in those dynamic changes serving on the Conference Board and other industry work groups.

Subsequently he served as Vice President and on the board of Eastern Airlines and then Senior Vice President at Southeast Bank, both in Miami. He finished his career back in Utah as the Executive in Residence, teaching at Utah State University for eight years, retiring in 2000.

It was his intellect, curiosity, fairness and desire to develop rather than manage personnel, as well as his work ethic, that led to career success. He cited his college summers working at the International Smelting Company where his father worked as foreman as “helping me a great deal to know how workers thought and felt.”

A natural and experienced teacher, he was more likely to ask what you thought than give an answer. His classes from family home evening to Sunday School and priesthood lessons to university classes were framed by critical questions and critical thinking. He loved the science of psychology, giving his children the Myers-Briggs tests as tweens. He was an INTJ and aptly noted for his integrity and dislike of intellectual dishonesty.

Larry and Ruth have six children: Stacy (Troy) Tanner, Shari (Chris) Crall, Shauna (Alan) Sandberg, Scott (Paula) Siebers, Steven (Alisha) Siebers, and Spencer (Michelle) Siebers, 22 grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren.

Family and church devotion anchored his core values of honesty, humility, fairness, respect and learning. He was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, serving a mission with Ruth as Church Service Missionaries in Salt Lake City.

He enjoyed excellent health until he fell when exiting a sand trap while golfing on September 2, 2020, breaking his hip. What followed was a decline, hastened by the loss of his wife. He joked he should have taken a drop on that shot.

We thank the staff at Danville Support Services, especially Melissa and Antonio, A+ Hospice and The Wellington for their kind attention. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, September 18, 2021 at 2:00 PM. Public viewing will be held two hours prior beginning at 12:00 PM at Memorial Redwood Mortuary and Cemetery 6500 S. Redwood Rd. West Jordan, UT. Interment will follow. There are no COVID 19 restrictions at this time. You may also attend via zoom at: https://zoom.us/j/8012624631?from=join#success