Mary Charlotte K. Larson

Mary Charlotte Kahaleohulehua Tong Larson, the mother and matriarch of our family, peacefully passed from this life Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022, surrounded by her loving husband of nearly 56 years and all of her children and their spouses.

Mary Charlotte was the second of four children born to Sing Hung and Harriet Kunane Tong on Jan. 15, 1942, in Honolulu. As the only girl in the family, she was spoiled by her dad and taught well by her mother. She attended Kamehameha Schools as a child and boarded at Kamehameha School for Girls, graduating in the class of 1960. She attended the Church College of Hawaii in Laie, where she graduated with a degree in business education and later attended Brigham Young University – Provo. Her first mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was to the southern Far East mission then seven subsequent missions with her eternal companion, Elden Jay Larson, serving in Western Samoa as the administrative assistant to the country director, at the Riverton Employment Center, at BYU-Hawaii, and as a student mentor at the LDS Business College. She has served in various callings including Relief Society President, Primary President, Young Women’s President and as a Seminary teacher. In her professional life, she was the newsroom secretary at the Lewiston Tribune for 20 years where she wrote a regular food column for the Close to Home section, following her secretarial and clerical roles at ServCo in Hawaii, Washington State University and St. Joseph’s Hospital in Lewiston.