obituary now available online / DL Capt. Larry K. Dagley
death flwnwst
Please see full obituary below, or click on this link : https://www.davenportfamily.com/obituaries/larry-dagley
~ IN MEMORY ~
DL Capt. Larry Kent Dagley
April 4, 1940 — December 25, 2025
From friends and colleagues: “Captain Larry Dagley passed away last night. He was 85 years old and had been based at ORD for many years. He retired based in ATL flying international.”
Larry joined Delta Air Lines 02-13-1970.
PCN memorial site https://pcnflightwest.blogspot.com/2025/12/dl-capt-larry-kent-dagley.html
https://www.davenportfamily.com/obituaries/larry-dagley
Larry Kent Dagley complete obituary
Larry Kent Dagley
Lieutenant Colonel Larry Kent Dagley, USAF (Ret.) Flies West at 85
Lieutenant Colonel Larry Dagley, a beloved husband, cherished father and grandfather, decorated Air Force Veteran and steadfast member of First Congregational Church of Crystal Lake, left this life at 85 on Christmas night surrounded with the comfort and love of his wife and daughters by his side.
Larry was born in the small, rural town of Herald, Illinois near Union Ridge Presbyterian Church. Union Ridge, a family church dating back to the Revolutionary War, was where Larry spent his early education in a one room school house until the 5th grade when his family moved into the town of Norris City. There he first met the love of his life at age 10, Ann (Hoskins). At 6’ 3” tall, Larry was a talented athlete who lettered in basketball, football and baseball, and track, in addition to participating in theatre, chorus, madrigals and playing trumpet in the band at Norris City High School.
Larry attended Southern Illinois University majoring in Communications. He joined the Air Force ROTC and attained rank of Wing Commander by the time he graduated in 1962. While in school, Larry took flying lessons at Carbondale airport where he soloed a Cessna 150 on 4/21/1960. These experiences allowed a country boy from a rural Southern Illinois to discover his passion for flying, expanding his access to the world for the remainder of his life. It was the beginning of his life as an “Aviator”, not just a “pilot”. He had found his true passion and calling.
Upon graduation from SIU, he was commissioned in the United States Air Force where he flew the C-130 his entire military career, attaining the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He began his career with the 61st Troop Carrier Squadron at Sewart AFB, Smyrna, TN. Larry rotated into southeast Asia and flew many missions into and out of Vietnam through 1967. He left active duty in 1970 and entered the Air Force reserves as a C-130 instructor and Flight Commander with the 64th Tactical Airlift Squadron. He was involved in the development and Instruction of the Ground and Flight Training Program for High Threat Environment. During this time, he participated in rotations in Panama, Central, and South America.
Larry was a founding member in the creation of ASMBA, the Armed Services Mutual Benefit Association in 1963. This program began the provision of life insurance and other benefits to members of the armed services and their families, at a time when no others wanted to insure active military members. He was elected to the Board of Governors in 1968 proudly serving several years and contributing a great deal to the success of the organization.
Larry was hired by Delta Airlines in 1970 beginning his career in the Convair 880 out of O’hare. He went on to captain the DC-9, Boeing 727, Boeing 757-67, and retired flying the 767ER on international routes in 2000. Larry’s career with Delta opened the door to a lifetime of travel opportunities with his wife and 3 children. In the mid 1980’s while commuting out of Salt Lake City, Utah he purchased a small condo, a home away from home, in Park City, Utah. This became a ski vacation retreat for his family where they celebrated many Christmases together. Around 1998, with retirement pending in 2000 and the upcoming Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002, Larry’s wife encouraged him to ‘get a hobby’. While Larry had enjoyed playing bridge, tennis and golf and was an avid skier through the years, those were not going to be enough to support a transition into retirement from flying. Larry became an international Bobsleigh and Skeleton judge, joining the Federation International de Bobsleigh at de Tobagganing (FITB) and the international governing body, “United States Bobsled Foundation” (USBSF). He served as Chief of Start and Supervisor of Volunteers for the 2002 Olympics in SLC and continued as an international judge in World Cup races around the world.
Larry’s lifelong passion for flying did not end with retirement. He purchased a Cessna 172 which was replaced with an RV-4, which he really enjoyed. He then replaced that with an incredible metallic orange RV-8 in 2009, affectionately called “Beauty”. Larry was not just an avid flyer but became an avid builder of airplanes as well and at 74 years young, he completed a build of his RV-12, appropriately named “Beasty”. He was a dedicated member of the Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter at Poplar Grove Airport, where he logged hundreds of hours and developed several cherished friendships with fellow pilots and enthusiasts until the last days of his life. Larry had the privilege to fly his RV-8 in a World Record formation flyover with 49 planes in honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month during an NFL game on October 13, 2013 at the Kansas City Chief’s Arrowhead Stadium.
Larry married his lifelong love and childhood sweetheart, Ann Hoskins in 1960 while they attended SIU. Ann was a devoted wife who supported his military and commercial airline career. Along with a few other Air Force wives, she even lived in Taiwan to be near their husbands as they flew in the Vietnam War.
In 1970, they established roots in Crystal Lake, Illinois with their three children, Tim, Kristen and Allison. When away from work, Larry attended hundreds of baseball, basketball, and football games, tennis matches, swim meets, piano recitals, school events, and graduations. His career with Delta afforded the family and he and his wife a life of many travels across the United States and around the world. The most memorable trip being his wife and children accompanying him on his final Delta flight which he captained to Munich, Germany. Larry shortly thereafter took on one of his most favorite roles as granddad. While Larry’s career was spent jetting thousands of people around the world, it was the rides on top of his shoulders that will be most cherished by his children and grandchildren.
Larry and his wife Ann joined First Congregational Church of Crystal Lake shortly after moving there. They intentionally sought out and found a loving and welcoming fellowship that celebrated the Golden Rule and the love of Jesus Christ and God in which to raise their children in. Through the church they became members of a social group, Fellowship Circle, along with a dozen or so other couples who have remained friends for several decades. They continue to support each other through life’s celebrations and mourn each other’s losses. The church has been a bedrock to the Dagley family through the years.
In 2006, Larry suffered the profound loss of his beloved and devoted wife of 46 years, Ann. A living tribute was planted in her memory, a memorial garden church. It was amidst the shared task of tending Ann’s garden, and the similar memorial garden of Barbara Schneider’s late husband, Barry, that a new chapter of connection began. In this space of remembrance, Larry and Barbara, who had been friends for many years within their fellowship circle, developed a connection and new love.
Barbara and Larry married in 2011. They spent much of their marriage traveling abroad and wintering in Palm Desert, CA until purchasing a winter home in Tucson, AZ. Larry was an avid supporter of Barbara’s passions as an artist, gardener, and hiker. Despite Larry’s lifelong love and passion for travel, his travels lessened over the past few years due to Larry’s battle with his health and heart disease.
Larry is survived by his wife Barbara Schneider; his daughters, Kristen Balow (Tony), Allison Lee (Dennis); his step-daughter, Ellen Schneider (Mike Anderson); his grandchildren, Kyle, Taylor, Carter and Jeremiah; and numerous extended family members and friends across the globe. He is preceded in death by his parents (Chauncy & Worthy Dagley), siblings (Malcolm Dagley, Margaret Dagley Sawyer Lesh, and Boone Dagley), his wife, (Ann Dagley) and his son (Timothy Dagley) and daughter-in-law (Angie Rowland Dagley) and step-daughter (Rachel Bachman).
Visitation will be held Thursday, January 8, 2026 from 4-8 p.m. at Davenport Family Funeral Home and Crematory, 419 E Terra Cotta Ave (Rt. 176) Crystal Lake. Visitation will continue the following day, Friday, January 9, from 9:30-10:30 a.m. with the funeral service beginning at 11:00 a.m. at First Congregational Church, 461 Pierson St, Crystal Lake.