Larry grew up going to church very sporadically and not aware of the Gospel at all.  After graduating high school, he moved to Crown Point, Indiana to live with his father and stepmother with the intention of attending college.  At the age of 18 and through a conversation with his stepmother Willie, he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior.  He attended Hillside Community Church (HCC) for a few months and was baptized during a service there shortly after receiving Christ.

Larry met his spouse, Paula Gushee, at HCC.  Paula attended Fort on multiple occasions for family camp and girls camp as she grew up.  Larry’s first encounter with Fort was a singles retreat that Larry and Paula’s Sunday school class attended over a weekend in the winter of ‘92 or ‘93.

After 20 years of marriage and traveling around the world as an Air Force family, Larry, Paula and their two daughters, Autumn and Kristen, found themselves back in Crown Point and attending HCC.  After a few years, Autumn met her future spouse, Nathan Duley, in a campus ministry.  He told her about a camp he had worked at during the summer up in Wisconsin.  She thought it sounded peculiarly similar to the one her parents had told her about… because it was one and the same, Fort Wilderness!

Larry and Paula started visiting Fort for family camps, retreats and later to visit Nathan and Autumn’s growing family once they were married and on staff.  Larry heard of multiple open positions on the Operations Team that he thought he could possibly help with, at least temporarily.  He came on as short-term contract staff during the summer of 2024.  It was during that time of working in the Fort community that he started praying about and considering a full-time position.

Fast Facts

Larry  has always been interested in cars.  He even wrecked his mother’s at the age of 5!

What passage of scripture is meaningful to you? The passage of scripture that has been very impactful to my life is one I found in a small book of God’s promises on the very day He saved me.  It is II Cor. 4:8-10, “8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.”  That scripture was fulfilled in my life in an awesome way the morning of March 18th, 1992!

What is your favorite Fort memory? Larry’s favorite Fort memory is sitting around the indoor campfire in the dining hall.  It is a great place to enjoy a warm fire, warm beverage, warm conversation or any combination of the three!

If you were a kitchen utensil, what would it be and why? I would be a slotted spoon.  They are a little different than other spoons and can perform marvelously in some situations that would not be well suited for a spoon, and terribly in some situations that should be!