KUMM, Larry

The Daily Courier, Prescott, Arizona, Friday, March 08, 2013 Larry Kumm, age 93, passed away peacefully on March 5, 2013, in hospice after declining from Alzheimer's Disease. He left a legacy of accomplishments and generosity. As a young man, he graduated from California Institute of Technology and worked in the aerospace industry designing rocket engines for Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Rocketdyne and turbines for Curtiss-Wright. For most of his career, he was a lead engineer at AiResearch in Phoenix. In the late 70s, he opened his own engineering enterprise, Kumm Industries, and was a consultant to NASA. Larry was "green" well before environmentalists coined the term. He designed energy efficient transmissions, solar heating and cooling systems and other energy conservation mechanical designs. Beyond his works, Larry was a devoted husband, humanist and believer in international understanding and cooperation. In his final years living in Prescott, he became an expert pool player and known as one of the sweetest guys at the Margaret T. Morris Center. He is greatly missed and loved by his wife of 65 years, Bettie Kumm; his children, Karen and Keith; two grandsons; and close friends. Information provided by survivors.