Larry Muehleisen Obituary

Muehleisen
Larry Muehleisen
February 4, 1936
December 19, 2024

Larry Ernest Muehleisen of Colorado Springs, 88, often joked that he’d always been a ward of the state. He didn’t mean it in the traditional sense of being under the protection of a legal guardian, but rather that his life had been closely entwined with service to country and community. Larry passed away on December 19, 2024.

Born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania to Albert and Gladys Muehleisen, Larry was the second youngest in a brood that included five siblings and assorted step-siblings from his parents’ previous relationships.

At 18, Larry joined the Army with his two best buddies (partly to stay out of trouble) and after basic training was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Although he loved parachuting from planes, Larry admitted he was something of a screw-up. All that changed when he was transferred to Germany in 1956, (joining the 10th Special Forces Group from 1963-66). While there he met and married Johanna Braun and in short order started a family. Larry later served with the 101st Airborne Division, Company D, 326th Medical Battalion, Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and served two tours in Vietnam, including during the 1968 Tet Offensive, managing medical aid stations.

After his last tour in Vietnam, Larry requested an assignment “out west,” which brought the family to Colorado Springs in 1971. Larry finished out his 21-year U.S Army career in 1976 as a Master Sergeant (E-8) with the 4th Medical Battalion, 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, Colorado.

During his final two years in the service, he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology and went on to work first at the El Paso County Detox Center for four years and then with the county’s Health and Human Services in adult protective care for the next 19 years.

Upon retiring, he and Johanna made travel a priority, visiting every state in the Union and many foreign countries. The couple was very active in local German-American clubs. Larry lost his beloved Johanna in 2016. He is survived by his older sister Marilyn Davidson; his children Larry (Jeanette), Deborah, and Audrey (Jeff); and grandchildren Larry, Nicholas, and Brad.