Larry Ivan Vasbinder

Larry Ivan Vasbinder, 73, of Punxsutawney, passed away surrounded by his family on Sunday, September 22, 2024, at Penn Highlands DuBois.

He was born in Punxsutawney on December 14, 1950, the eldest son of the late Harry Ivan Vasbinder and Louise Ethel (Yount) Vasbinder.  Much of his youth was spent on the family dairy farm on Porter Road.

Larry was a soft spoken, dedicated, and hard working person throughout his career.  He worked several occupations over his life starting with coal mining, appliance repair (Ragley’s Furniture Store), well drilling (Perry Drilling), and once he started driving truck for Fairman Drilling, he made this his profession for the remainder of his life.  He was not one to sit still so his retirement was brief and he found his way back to driving truck, currently at Randy Keller Excavating.  Larry treasured the time he spent driving truck alongside his brother Denny over many years at Fairman’s and most recently at Keller’s.

He was extremely patient and kind with his grandsons, it was apparent he enjoyed the time they spent together.  He taught them bass fishing techniques over the years which was his main hobby.  Family time was often spent listening to old country western songs and shooting pool for hours.  He was a quiet and reserved man but held a wealth of knowledge he gladly shared when asked. 

Larry’s other hobby included cars. His current collection was a ‘70 Dodge Dart, a ’67 Plymouth Barracuda and an ’84 S10 Truck.  These were all self-built which he could be found taking to car shows and gatherings.  In his younger years he enjoyed working on dirt and drag race cars, pulling tractors, and campaigned his own cars regularly at Nu-Be and Sunset Dragstrips. 

He is survived by two sons, Andrew Jacob Vasbinder and wife Tammy and Adam Lee Vasbinder, all currently of Boiling Springs, PA; two grandsons, Jacob and Drew Vasbinder; three brothers, Denny Vasbinder and wife Louise of Reynoldsville, Ernie Vasbinder and wife Linda of Oliveburg and Steve Vasbinder and wife Belinda of Punxsutawney; three sisters, Shirley “Shirl” Smith and husband Bob of Big Run, Helen Snyder of Valier and Donna Martin and husband Brian of Illinois.

Preceded in death by his parents, a nephew SFC Scott R. Smith and a brother in-law, Dennis Snyder.

Friends will be received from 2-5 p.m. Sunday, September 29, 2024, at Shumaker Funeral Home, Inc., Punxsutawney.

A brief service will be held at 5 p.m. at the funeral home, officiated by Pastor Doug Wolfe.

In Larry's honor, instead of flowers, please consider donating to your favorite charity, or you could listen to some Hank Williams Jr. while shooting a game of pool, go fishing, or attend a classic car show.

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