Lary R. Hale

A life given to love

Lary Redman Hale was born on November 13, 1954, to Marvin and Norma Hale. The youngest in the family, he had a special closeness with his mother. Her tenderness found an echo in the way he grew into a man who could feel deeply, speak openly, and comfort others without embarrassment. He admired the strength and industry of his brother Gary and the generous hearts of his sisters Vicki and Mila.

A boy with a wide world

He grew up among cousins and school friends whose company stayed precious to him. He could still light up telling stories of bicycles, BB guns, small adventures with his dog Peanuts, and days on his parents’ houseboat. His father, a Marine veteran, cared for the boat and dock, and Lary helped him. As the years went on, father and son found another ritual together in weekend boxing matches. Reconnecting with old friends at his fiftieth class reunion brought Lary the same easy laughter he remembered from boyhood.

Swimming came so naturally to him that he preferred to think of himself as part dolphin. He loved cars, weight training, and the ocean. As a young man managing a health club, he took real pleasure in helping others become healthier. He was drawn to the outdoors and learned to photograph the beauty he found there. He enjoyed language, too: he collected words, sharpened his writing, and never lost his delight in learning. Even when his health limited his exercise later in life, he kept doing what he could. He still hoped to return to the white sand and water of Destin, Florida.

The change that shaped everything

In his youth, outward confidence did not bring Lary peace. He had the hair, clothes, cars, and physical strength that attracted attention, but privately he was searching for something deeper. He briefly considered college paths in marine biology and philosophy. Neither answered what was troubling his heart.

A young woman he admired, Fay Kustes, attended a small church where people spoke of their lives being changed by God’s Spirit. Curiosity drew Lary there. After months of attending, he knelt and prayed honestly about habits he could not overcome on his own. He later described waking the next morning with an unexpected sense of freedom. He understood that experience as God delivering him, and he devoted the rest of his life to telling others what Jesus had done for him.

Fay became his wife of thirty years. Together they raised Benjamin Isaac and Elisha Daniel. Lary loved sharing what he was discovering in Scripture with them, but he wanted them to know more than religious ideas. He taught them to seek God as someone present and able to help in ordinary life. The home they built, and the love he gave his sons, meant more to him than any public recognition.

A ministry formed out of the labor of love

Lary wanted to reach people who felt lost or overlooked. He preached and taught throughout Louisville and southern Indiana, welcomed by churches of different generations and backgrounds. His energetic preaching found a particularly warm home among African American Baptist and Pentecostal congregations in the area.

He also made the tools he needed to carry his message farther. Over more than thirty years of radio and television ministry, he produced well over a thousand gospel programs. He recorded, mixed, edited, and prepared them himself, working in an analog era and often without a budget. When the internet opened a new way to reach people, he put his writing and teaching online. Later, through social media, he spent evenings answering questions, praying with people, and encouraging believers in other countries. Some came to regard him as a fatherly presence, even though they had never stood in the same room.

What he called success

For all the broadcasts, sermons, printed writing, and lives reached across the world, Lary measured his life by something closer to home. In his last week, reflecting with his family, he spoke with gratitude about Benjamin and Elisha. Their love, humility, and personal faith mattered to him more than their accomplishments. He credited Jesus for the men they had become.

His sons remember a father who stayed beside them, guided without trying to control, and was quick to apologize and forgive. When they stumbled, he urged them to “get up and go from here.” The tenderness that began in his own childhood became something he passed on. His family, friends, and the people who called him pastor or teacher continue to carry that love.

Lary died on April 21, 2024. His wife Fay; his sons Benjamin and Elisha, along with Elisha’s wife Katrine; his brother Gary; his sister Vicki and her husband Dan; and many relatives, friends, and fellow believers remember him with love. In the hope he spent his life preaching, his family looks toward reunion with him in the presence of Jesus.