Larry S. Munson

Lawrence Shipley Munson died peacefully on Easter Sunday, March 27, 2016 at the age of 96 in Salt Lake City. Larry (“Binks”) is survived by his two children, Shipley John Munson of Sandy, UT (Erika) and Kitty Munson Cooper (Steven) of Lakeside, CA, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 62 years Gretchen Thannhauser Munson in 2009 and his four older siblings. Larry was born on January 10, 1920 in Brooklyn, N.Y. to famed Norwegian-American organist, composer, and music educator, Lawrence Josiah Munson and Anna Lee Munson of the Munson School of Music. He graduated from Garden City High School in 1938 and Harvard College in 1942.

He enlisted in the Air Force (the Army Air Corps) before graduation. He was promoted into assignments of increasing responsibility, ending the war as a major, based in Hawaii serving under General Hap Arnold, in a statistical capacity. After the war, he attended Harvard Law School under the G.I bill where he met his future wife at a cocktail party. A Radcliffe magna cum laude graduate, she was pursuing a Master’s degree in History of Art. He introduced himself as Larry Munson but she heard him say “I am very handsome.” She did allow him to court her and the misunderstanding was soon cleared up. They married in 1947.

After graduation, they moved to New York City where he went to work for Wilkie Owen (now Willkie Farr & Gallagher). Recalled to active duty during the Korean War, he was sent to England to refurbish American airfields for jet planes. On his return to civilian life, he changed careers to management consulting and spent some 15 years working at McKinsey & Company, as a consultant and then a director. He later returned to management consulting after serving as President/COO of Loral Corporation, and Vice President/CFO at Alleghany Power. His specialty was management training as a principal with Louis Allen until long past normal retirement age. His book on “How to Conduct A Successful Management Training Seminar” was published by McGraw Hill in many languages and two editions (current title: How to Conduct Training Seminars).

He and his family summered in East Hampton, Long Island where he and Gretchen retired to full time in the 1990s. An avid golfer, he was a member of the Maidstone Club in East Hampton, as well as the Devon Yacht Club. He loved music and especially to sing; he sang in the choir at St.Lukes Church long ago.

He was always active in charitable endeavors, serving on the board of the Greater New York Fund, Planned Parenthood of New York and many others. His crowning achievement was helping to found the East Hampton Village Preservation Society which was responsible for the creation of a local medical center, the East Hampton Health Care Organization. For this he received an achievement award from the town in 2002 and a lifetime achievement award in 2013 from that society.

Larry and Gretchen will be interred at: 11:30am Friday, April 22, 2016 at St Luke’s Church East Hampton, NY

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to http://www.easthamptonhealthcare.org/