Lawrence "Larry" Henry Rackham Obituary (1938 - 2020)

Lawrence Henry Rackham (Larry), 81, passed away peacefully on January 6, 2020, at his home in Meridian, Idaho. Larry was born November 10, 1938 in Ogden, Utah to Clyde Elmer Rackham and Inez Black Rackham. He was the second of four boys: Alan, Larry, Lynn, and Kenneth. Larry's family moved to Compton, California during World War II so his father could work repairing ships damaged in the war. Following the war, his parents moved to Nampa, Idaho where they lived for four years before moving to Carmichael, California. Larry attended and graduated from El Camino High School in 1957. While in high school he participated in ski team, debate team, cross country team, and swim club. He also loved to scuba dive. He was also a member of the California Military Cadet Corps (ROTC) for all four years and served as the commandant his senior year. Following high school, he attended college near his home in Sacramento. He then served a two-and-a-half-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1959 - 1961 in the Netherlands Belgium Mission speaking Dutch. Following his mission, he joined the Air Force and was trained as an air traffic controller. In 1965 he transferred and finished his last year of college at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. He received his degree in Marketing and Business Management in April 1966. He met his future sweetheart and eternal companion, J'Deanne Ferrin during his first week on campus. They dated for the rest of the school year and were married in the Idaho Falls Temple on August 11, 1966. Following graduation, Larry went to work for California Packing (Del Monte Foods) in Fresno, California. He was subsequently transferred to work in San Francisco, and he and J'Deanne moved to Oakland. While in Oakland, J'Deanne gave birth to their oldest son, Devaughn. Shortly afterwards Larry went back to Sacramento and helped his father with the Roto-Rooter business. While in Sacramento they added three more children to the family - Kendi, Shannon and Lance. In 1975 they moved their family to Meridian, Idaho to partner in Roto-Rooter with Larry's cousin. Larry worked at Roto-Rooter for five years before striking out on his own and taking over the Mr. Rooter franchise in Boise, Idaho. Larry left the Mr. Rooter franchise and started Master Rooter in 1985. J'Deanne answered phones and Larry did service calls as they worked hard to build the business that would support their family into the next generation. In Meridian two more children were added to the family - Courtney and Natalie. Larry maintained a lifelong faith in Jesus Christ and spent his life in service to his family and his church. Larry and J'Deanne moved to Eagle in April 2002, and Larry retired later that year, turning the business over to his son Lance and son-in-law, Chris Hayes. He served another mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with his wife. They served in the Denver North mission from April 2006 - Dec 2007 and were assigned to Kimball, Nebraska for their entire mission. They were able to teach many people in their area about the gospel and bring many people to Christ. Their efforts to teach, baptize, and reactivate less-active members helped the small branch become a ward towards the end of their mission. Larry and J'Deanne moved back to Meridian in 2012 to be closer to their children. Larry loved spending time with his children and grandchildren and could often be found at grandchildren's sporting events and concerts, family dinners, and many other events. He was a loving father and grandfather and was almost always accompanied by his little dog Banjo. He continued his life-long spirit of service the last three years of his life by delivering lunches for Meals on Wheels once or twice a week until shortly before his death. Larry was preceded in death by brothers Alan and Kenneth, his parents, and two grandsons. He is survived by his wife J'Deanne (Ferrin) Rackham, brother Lynn Rackham, 6 children, and their spouses - Devaughn (Kimberly) Rackham, Kendi (Kirby) Hylton, Shannon (Chris) Hayes, Lance (Heather) Rackham, Courtney (Cameron) Powell, Natalie (Paul) Mills, and 24 grandchildren.