Larry Worrall Jr.

John Lawrence Worrall, Jr. (Larry) passed away on April 27, 2021 in Prairie Village, KS at the age of 92. Larry was born on April 10, 1929 in Kansas City, KS to John Lawrence Worrall, Sr. and Mary E. Worrall (Irwin). A gifted athlete, he spent many afternoons playing baseball at Bethany Park with his childhood friends, who remained close throughout their lives. Larry loved nothing more than playing catch with his older brother, George, who taught him the nuances of pitching and hitting. When not playing ball, Larry was working. It was a work ethic that served him throughout his life. In elementary school, Larry picked potatoes and cherries in Argentine and rode the street car early on Sunday mornings with his friends to assemble the Sunday edition of the Kansas City Star Newspaper. To help pay for college, he silk-screened billboard canvases at Continental Advertising Company, unloaded railroad grain cars, and worked on assembly lines at Colgate Palmolive and General Motors. Larry continued to work well into his 80’s with insurance and law-related endeavors.

Larry graduated from Wyandotte High School in 1947 and was a varsity pitcher for the Bulldog baseball team. He never tired reminiscing about his shut-out against the ’47 State-bound Rockhurst High School team. Upon graduation, Larry enlisted in the United States Army and enjoyed the rigor of basic training. Within a short period of time, he became a staff sergeant.

While stationed at Camp Chaffee in Ft. Smith, Arkansas, Larry met Beverly Cope at a dance. It was love at first sight. The couple married in August of 1952 and moved to Lawrence, KS where Larry attended the University of Kansas and was a member of the Phi Delta Tau fraternity. Larry graduated in 1954 with a B.S. in Business Administration. Claiming that he was short on employment options and wanted to see Wilt Chamberlain play basketball, Larry attended the University of Kansas School of Law and graduated in 1957. During this time, he was proud to be a founding member of the KU Young Democrats, which was a challenge in a “Red State” and was seven members strong. Larry said that his decision to become a Democrat was from his many hours working on assembly lines in KCK.

Following graduation, Larry worked as a claims adjuster and attorney for a number of insurance companies, including St. Paul, Zurich, Western Casualty, and Employers Reinsurance (“ERC”). He adjusted so many claims along I-70 between Kansas City and Wichita for St. Paul that he was known as the “Turnpike Kid.” Claiming he never planned to make a career of insurance, Larry finally found his niche at ERC in early 1963 when he started supervising libel claims. ERC was a pioneer in specialty insurance coverages and underwrote the first libel insurance policy for William Allen White of the Emporia Gazette Newspaper in the 1930’s. Larry’s first libel trial at ERC was Linus Pauling v. St. Louis Globe Democrat in 1964. It was the first of many.

In 1965, Larry and Beverly moved to Overland Park, KS and started a family. The couple welcomed two children, Tracy Michelle and Laura Rachelle. Larry shared with them his love of the law, his strong work ethic, and encouraged them to pursue as much education as possible. Because of his experience adjusting product liability claims, his daughters were prohibited from close proximity to trampolines and lawn mowers.

In 1979, Larry co-founded Media/Professional Insurance with former ERC colleague and partner, Bill Bauer. Media/Professional became the world’s largest media liability insurance underwriter and claim administrator for media and entertainment companies. During his tenure at Media/Professional, Larry supervised many landmark libel suits, including Ocala Star Banner Co. v. Dameron, Pring v. Penthouse, Westmoreland v. CBS, and Sharon v. Time, Inc. Larry also developed a number of innovative insurance coverages. He loved the First Amendment and discussing defensive strategy with media defense attorneys and his in-house claims attorneys. Larry was a founding member of the Libel Defense Resource Center in New York City and a founder of the Kansas City Media & Law Seminar, which is an annual conference now in its 34th year. Following the sale of Media/Professional in 1983 to Aon - and during the pendency of a non-compete - Larry was of counsel with the law firm of Brian Smith & Associates. Later, he joined his daughter, Michelle, at First Media Insurance Specialists, Inc., which they ran together for a number of years. Larry also worked with his dear friend, Bernie Geis, at H&W Underwriters in Fairway, KS.

Larry was an accomplished doubles tennis player and passed along his enthusiasm of the game to his grandsons, Jacob and Josh. Later in life, he enjoyed traveling the world with Beverly and their couple friends. Larry loved antiques, media law conferences, Hen House, cars, cats, tennis, Mexican food, margaritas, poker, London, theater, adventure movies, westerns, the daily sports section, KU basketball, ice cream, chocolate cake, and the KC Royals. He carried a life-long grudge against the state of Missouri because of the Border Ruffians, who burned Lawrence to the ground during the Civil War. Larry tolerated his vegetarian diet, the Lyric Opera, and the many ballroom dancing clubs to which he and Beverly belonged, including the Leawoodites and the Stardusters. In the 80’s, Larry was a fixture at Shawnee Mission Cotillion dances and could be counted on to provide moral support to Shawnee Mission North and West boys.

A creature of habit, Larry was a regular at many KC-area restaurants (and taverns) and outlived the majority of them. Some of his favorites were Pub & Grub, Torey’s Pizza, the Pub at Milburn Country Club, Mama Tio’s, Fred P. Ott’s, Italian Delight, and Il Trullo. In the last few years of his life, he and Beverly were regulars at Johnny’s Tavern in Corinth Square.

Larry loved the law as much as KU basketball. He established two scholarships at the KU Law School in 2015 – one for minority students and the other for media law study. In his advanced age, he often carried the US Constitution in his pocket. Known for his dogged determination, eternal optimism, generosity, dry sense of humor – and misplacing his car keys every day, Larry was much loved by his family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers. He will be missed.

Larry is survived by his beloved wife, Beverly Jean Worrall of Prairie Village KS; his children, Tracy Michelle Worrall (Tilton) of Prairie Village, KS and Laura Rachelle Worrall-Smith of Overland Park, KS and his grandchildren, Hannah Michelle Smith (Bihuniak) of London, UK, Emily Anne Smith of Overland Park, KS, Jacob Lawrence Tilton and Joshua Charles Tilton of Prairie Village, KS. He is preceded in death by his parents, John Lawrence Worrall, Sr. and Mary E. Worrall, his brother George Worrall and his sisters, Patricia Worrall (Borchers) and Sarah Worrall (Shoopman). The family is grateful for the caregivers, whose kindness and dedication allowed Larry and Beverly to stay in their home for the last several years.

All are welcome to attend and celebrate Larry’s life at a visitation scheduled for Thursday, June 10, 2021 from 6 pm – 8 pm at the McGilley & Hoge Johnson County Memorial Chapel at 8024 Santa Fe Drive in Overland Park, KS. A private interment will follow at Leavenworth National Cemetery at a later date. Larry never met a stray animal that he didn’t like. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Great Plains SPCA at www.greatplainsspca.org.