Charles Wayne LaRue, son of the late Glenn Lester Perry LaRue and Margaret Louise (Foushee) LaRue, was born on August 19, 1942, in Bernie and departed this life on June 14, 2023, in Dexter, at the age of 80 years.
Mr. LaRue was a 1961 graduate of Bernie High School and later graduated with a degree in Animal Science from the University of Missouri. He was a long-time employee of Louis Rich/Oscar Mayer in South Carolina, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Missouri before working at Farbest Foods in Huntingburg, Indiana.
He is survived by three sons, Brian Eric LaRue and his wife Lisa M. LaRue of Prosperity, SC, Mark Andrew LaRue and his wife Masja LaRue of Troy, IL, and John David LaRue and his wife Katina Marie Nordloh of Derwood, MD; by two sisters, Margaret LaRue of Eldorado, IL, and Jan Hurd and her husband Gary Hurd of Louisville, KY; four grandchildren, Kathryn Taylor LaRue, Rachel Elizabeth LaRue and her husband Zack Flathmann, Jacob Horton LaRue, and Jason Daniel LaRue; and numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Carol Sue (Horton) LaRue, and one brother, Stan Alain LaRue.
A devoted husband, Mr. LaRue was also a proud father and grandfather. As an active outdoorsman he loved deer and turkey hunting, fishing, gardening, camping, canoeing, mushroom hunting and bird watching and feeding. After returning to Dexter in 2021, he regularly attended church at both First United Methodist Church in Dexter and Bernie United Methodist Church. He was a lifelong Mizzou and St. Louis Cardinals fan and enjoyed conversing with everyone he met.
Visitation will be held at Mathis Funeral Home in Bernie on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, from 9:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m.
Funeral services will then be conducted in the Mathis Funeral Home Chapel on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, at 11:00 a.m. with Pastor Larry Lawman officiating. Interment will follow in the Bernie Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to the Stoddard County Children’s Home or the Sikeston Convalescent Center.
Mathis Funeral Home in Bernie is assisting with arrangements.
