James E. Larkin

funeral director, Warren-McElwain Mortuary Chapel, Lawrence, Kansas, died January 12, 2025, at age 74. Larkin attended mortuary science school in Chicago and did his apprenticeship at Dunn’s Funeral Home in Des Moines. He owned and operated 36 different funeral homes in five states, 10 of which he began. He operated 13 Casey’s General Stores and through the years owned and operated (with various degrees of success and failure) a car wash, a clothing store, a monument company, an internationally famous nightclub in Costa Rica and several hotels.

Larkin was a member of Crest City Masonic Lodge, Elks Lodge and Rotary Club. He served the community on the Senior Housing Board and on the Southwestern Community College Board of Directors. He was a founding member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.; founding member of the Smithsonian Museum of African-American History and a member of NAACP.

After his divorce, he moved daughter Emily to Costa Rica to secure better care and climate for her. It was during this time that he met Victor, and after 18 years together, they were married on January 9, 2015, in Riverside, California. Emily predeceased her father in 2000.

Larkin is survived by spouse Vika, foster son Joe Herrera, three grandchildren and five sisters.