Larry Vernon Satzler, 50, Manhattan, died Dec. 5, 2015, at Stormont-Vail in Topeka.
He was born Feb. 4, 1965, in Topeka, the son of Donald Dean and Julia Arlene (Montgomery) Satzler.
Larry grew up in Burlingame, and enjoyed fishing and hunting with his dad and brother, working in the family hardware store, and playing sports. He graduated valedictorian from Burlingame High School in 1983. Larry then attended Kansas State University, earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in industrial engineering from K-State, 1987 and 1989, respectively.
He worked in industry as a project and environmental engineer at Johns Manville in McPherson from 1989 to 1992 before returning to academia. Upon returning to K-State to work on his Ph.D., Satzler served as an instructor in the College of Business Administration for 11 years, where he taught operation management and project management, among other subjects during his tenure there.
Larry became assistant dean for student services in the College of Engineering in 2007. His passion was helping students successfully navigate their K-State engineering academics from new student orientation through graduation. He loved serving and interacting personally with students, faculty, and staff on a daily basis.
He was also co-owner and business manager of Envisage Consulting, Inc., Manhattan, Kan., a management and technical consulting firm he shares with his wife, Connie.
Larry was part of Grace Baptist Church in Manhattan, where he served as a Care Group leader and Elder Chair.
He was a loving, devoted, and fun father and attended all of his children’s sports, music, dance, and Riley County school activities. He enjoyed hunting, fishing, woodworking, and was a Kansas State, Royals, and Chiefs fan. He was skilled in fixing things, wise in giving advice, humble, a great storyteller, and a happy person to be around.
On Jan. 11, 1992, in Iola, Kansas, he was married to Connie J. Coltrane, also a life-long Kansan and K-State engineering alum. Connie survives of the home in rural Manhattan. Additional survivors include his three children, Julia Satzler of Manhattan, and Josiah and Stacia Satzler, both of the home; his father, Don Satzler of Burlingame; four siblings: Reggie Fosberg and husband Gary of Burlingame, Lynn Satzler and wife Mary Jo of Burlingame, Paula Hedberg and husband Paul of Redding and Jim Shum and wife Kathy of El Dorado; Connie’s parents, Ron and Irene Coltrane of LaHarpe; Connie’s brother Aron and wife Jennifer of LaHarpe; and many beloved nieces and nephews.
Larry was preceded in death by his mother, his stepmother “Aunt Jean” Satzler and his sister Karen Shum.
Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Friday at Grace Baptist Church, 2901 Dickens Ave., Manhattan, with Pastor Bill Gasser officiating. Interment will follow in the Sunrise Cemetery in Manhattan.
The family will receive friends from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday at the Yorgensen-Meloan-Londeen Funeral Home.
Online condolences may be left for the family through the funeral home website at www.ymlfuneralhome.com.
Memorial contributions may be made to Grace Baptist Church or to the “Children’s College Fund,” and be left in care of the Yorgensen-Meloan-Londeen Funeral Home, 1616 Poyntz Ave., Manhattan, KS 66502.
Larry Satzler
