Larry Pyatt

Kermit Larry Pyatt passed away Wednesday, November 19, 2025, in Crestview, Florida, following a lengthy illness. He was eighty-two. Larry was born in St. Louis, Missouri on December 20, 1942, to Kermit Lawrence Pyatt and Opal Marie Finger Pyatt. Larry graduated from Esther Senior High School in Esther, Missouri, where he was a star athlete in baseball and basketball.

A life-long entrepreneur, Larry began the summer after his first year in college by marketing in the home improvement industry. He was so successful that he left college for a career, building his own midwestern, multi-state home siding company.

Following his sale of the company, Larry continued to build successful companies including a cattle ranch in Missouri and a national mortgage company that became one of the largest mortgage lenders in the country.

Working in Florida, Larry established multiple subdivisions including waterfront neighborhoods in Lynnhaven and Navarre, a small subdivision in Crestview and Heritage Plantation in Laurel Hill. Golf Magazine named Larry’s Heritage Plantation Golf course one of the top five in Florida.

Larry bred and raised championship Arabians, building Heritage Farms (today known as Laurel Hill Farm) in Laurel Hill, Florida. Here, he produced show stock that competed, winning across the nation. The best known was Larry’s stallion, Giaccomo, winner of the coveted 2008 Scottsdale Stallion Championship.

While Larry’s business acumen is memorable, his friends and family will remember him for his love of people, his ability to relate to individuals from all walks of life, his spellbinding story-telling ability, his generosity of spirit and the way he faced every challenge with courage, kindness, forgiveness and his inimitable sense of humor.

Larry believed in Jesus Christ as his savior and was a supporter of Christian ministries.

Larry was preceded in death by his parents, his wife of 38 years, Joan Helen Blaue Pyatt, and eldest son, Kermit Lance Pyatt. He leaves behind his son Jeffrey Charles Pyatt, his wife Dusty Pyatt, their daughters Kaleigh Pyatt and Addison Pyatt, Kermit Lance Pyatt’s daughters Kaitlen Riley Pyatt and Madison Elise Pyatt, and Barbara Dawn O’Connor, Larry’s later-years’ life-partner.

The family would like to thank the staff of Vitas Hospice who helped care for Larry in his final days.

Those of us who loved him look forward to seeing him in heaven, where we know he was welcomed with open arms. He was one of a kind and will remain forever in our hearts.

The immediate family will hold a private memorial in Gainesville, Florida, where most of his family now resides.