Larry Gene Pleimann's Obituary
Larry Gene Pleimann, 85, of Fayetteville left this life behind on March 6, 2020. He was born September 29, 1934 in Seminole, OK to the late Elmer and Blanche Pleimann. His family moved to Louisiana in 1945 and he graduated from Lake Charles High School as valedictorian in 1952.
He attended Louisiana State University from which he graduated with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 1956 and a B.S. in Civil Engineering in 1957. While at LSU, he participated in a 2 month work camp in Cuba which solidified his commitment to helping in 3rd World countries. He went on to serve sequentially as the local, state and national chairman of the Methodist Student Movement.
From 1958 to 1961 he completed the Bachelor of Divinity program at Perkins School of Theology at SMU in Dallas. It was there he met and married Sally Jay Hughes, to whom he was married for 34 years. In 1962, they sailed to France and spent a year studying the French language at the Universite’ de Grenoble. From there, they would go on to serve the Methodist Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1963-1966. It was there he decided to pursue graduate work in structural engineering with the intent to return to Africa to teach.
Larry returned to LSU and completed a Masters degree in Engineering Mechanics in 1968. He then would go on to earn his Ph.D. from he University of Illinois in 1973. Upon discovering that his dream of returning to Africa to teach would not become a reality, he accepted a position at Texas A&I in Kingsville, TX in 1971. In 1975, he accepted a position in the Civil Engineering department at the University of Arkansas. He would go on to a 37 year career there, where he would teach a total of 15 different courses, 6 of them electives of his own origination.
He is survived by his younger sister, Jacquetta Cochran of Lake Charles, Louisiana. In Fayetteville, his survived by his sons Jason Pleimann, MD and Chris Pleimann; grandsons Miller, Mason and Judd Pleimann; daughter-in-law Leigh Ann Pleimann and step grandsons Jacob, Garrett and Luke Womack.
As his many friends will attest, Larry was a brilliant, exceptionally well-read, and well-rounded man. He loved teaching and committed his professional life to providing an exceptional learning experience for his students. He loved his family and was very proud of his sons’ and grandsons’ achievements.
Memorial service will be held at a later date.
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