Daniel Robert Larson

Dan passed away February 22, 2026 at his residence in Oak Park Heights, Minnesota. He was 71 years old. Dan was born in Grand Rapids, Minnesota on November 9, 1954, the first child of Robert L. and Betty R. Larson. He graduated in 1973 from Hibbing High School and in 1977 from Gustavus Adolphus College.

Dan is survived by his two brothers, Brian (Sonja) and Gregg (Lisa); nephews and nieces, Anders (Jenna), Annika (Jeffrey) and Hans, and Colton, Amanda (Pablo) and Race (Hanna); and grandnieces and nephew. He is preceded in death by his father, Robert, in 2004; and mother, Betty, in 2014.

Dan was an outgoing and friendly person, leading an active and interesting life throughout his teens and early young adult years. He was a good student; he played youth hockey and excelled in high school football and track. While at Gustavus, he played football for one year, and ran track all four years. Upon graduation, he worked on staff for Senator Wendell Anderson in Washington D.C. He later travelled across Europe and made friendships that led him to working in sales in Alabama for several years. He then moved to Tucson, Arizona and worked in mining equipment sales. He lived in Tucson for several years, building a house with a pool there that he enjoyed with his dog, Kelly. While in Arizona he joined Big Brothers and mentored boys needing a male figure in their lives.

Dan developed an addiction to alcohol that deeply affected his work and relationships. He moved back to Minnesota and worked in sales, living briefly with his brother, Brian. He then moved for a time to Maryland, near his brother, Gregg. He returned to Minnesota, entered treatment programs and had periods of sobriety. He lived for a time with his parents in Grand Rapids, and in Hibbing. He worked as a youth leader at First Lutheran Church in Hibbing, taking teen groups on cross-country adventures and rafting trips. He received a Master of Arts degree from Luther Seminary in St. Paul in 2003. About that time, he relapsed and spent many of his next years intermittently in treatment programs.

Dan eventually moved to the Dinkytown area of the U of M campus, working for the Minnesota Vikings and Minnesota Twins in security and sales at games. He was an usher at many U of M athletic events, a job which he greatly enjoyed. In his early 60's, he moved to Augustana Senior Apartments in Minneapolis, and stopped drinking. In 2021 he moved to Oak Park Senior Living in Stillwater, Minnesota.

In his younger years Dan had several girlfriends and was engaged to me married, but the toll of his alcoholism made long-term relationships difficult. He enjoyed family gatherings and seeing his nieces and nephews at weddings, Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners. He traveled to the cabin at Vermilion several times until he was unable due to health issues. Around 2020, he experienced increasing mobility and speech difficulties, was treated for severe cataracts, and then diagnosed with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, a Parkinson's-like neurodegenerative disease. Dan lived at Oak Park in assisted living for a year, then moved to a memory care unit there and was in hospice care for the last two years of his life. His best friend, Richard Morgan, often visited him, as did his long-time friend, Howard Ostrem. Though disease gradually made his life more difficult, he continued to enjoy watching sports and political television. At the end of his life, he was calm and resolved, and in his faith seemed ready to move on to a better life in which he strongly believed.

Please direct any memorial gifts to Union Gospel Mission Twin Cities.