Lawrence "Larry” Troudt, 94, peacefully passed away on Friday, September 12, 2025, at St Vincent’s Hospital in Billings, MT with family by his side.

Larry was born May 19, 1931, in Fort Collins, Colorado to Rose Agnes (Buechler) and Lawrence Troudt.

After school he spent a summer haying in Saratoga, Wyoming and then Larry set out to see the world and enlisted with the Navy as a Machinist Mate on the USS Chipola hauling freight and fuel from the Arctic Circle to the Southern hemisphere, Greenland to Italy and many ports in between.

At the conclusion of his service, he began work in Texas building golf clubs with Ben Hogan, then he outran the heat to Colorado and took a position with Sundstrand in Denver, Colorado where he furthered his career and unending abilities as a machinist and met and wed his wife, Louise. Suburban life left him looking north in 1966 and they packed up and headed to Sidney, MT, where Larry and Louise put down roots and raised Linda, Lee, Loren, and Lora, who still remain in the area. Over the next 60 years, Larry drove for multiple local trucking operations hauling freight from Chicago to Seattle and all parts in between, but his passion was machining, so he migrated to the shop where he was long admired for his ability as a manual machinist to rebuild, repair, and remedy the most technical and demanding problems.

In retirement Larry downsized those skills and began a new phase of woodcraft, melding the precision of his machine work with the warmth and artistry of wood. With an uncanny knack, he would take everyday items and show up a few weeks later with the jack from a Model T, a tricycle, a monkey wrench and even a cannon recreated by hand not only in miniature, but in wood, with every piece correct and filed, turned, or ground by hand. To top it off…. They even worked!

Throughout the last 50 years, Larry remained active in the VFW where he made many lifelong friends and was a fixture carrying flags at the parades, marching with the funeral procession, and twisting in a new light bulb down at the hall, ensuring it remained in top condition and welcoming Veterans from all corners.

Larry’s favorite pastimes were hunting, fishing, spending time with his grandkids and great grandchildren, and working on innumerable projects with his good friend, John Franklin. In more recent years he made 7 trips to Alaska, once in his grandson-in-law’s Cessna 180, and another time accomplishing his life-long dream of driving up the Alcan.

Larry was known for his unwavering kindness, immeasurable talent, clever quips, and his dedication to a life of servitude. He will forever be in our hearts and missed dearly by all who knew him. There were none finer.

He is preceded in death by his parents Rose Agnes (Buechler) and Lawrence Troudt, wife Louise Mary Troudt, son Loren Troudt, brothers Donald and Darrel, and several brothers- and sisters-in-law.

He is survived by his children Linda (Todd) Utter, Lee (Renee) Troudt, and Lora (Paul) Finnicum; siblings Danny (Mary) Troudt, David (Karyn) Troudt, Monica (Rudy) Munquia and Michael Troudt; and 7 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren.