A memorial service for Larry J. Gage, 76, is Jan. 13, 2010, at 4 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 5300 Main St. in Houston. Funeral services will follow on Jan. 16 at Sneed Funeral Chapel in Lampasas, with burial at Smith Cemetery in Oakalla. A reception will follow at Oakalla Community Center.

Mr. Gage died Jan. 7 at Garden Terrace Nursing Home in Houston after a battle with Parkinson’s disease.

He was born Oct. 14, 1933, in the Viewpoint community of Lamar County, the son of Oscar John and Nellie Mae King Gage.

He graduated from Delmar High School in Lamar County in 1951. He attended Paris Junior College and East Texas State College where he earned a bachelor of arts in journalism in 1955.

While in college, Mr. Gage worked in the Austin office of Sen. Sam Rayburn. He also served in the U.S. Army from 1955-57.

Mr. Gage earned a master of journalism degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1959.

He began his newspaper career at the Jacksonville Journal in Jacksonville, Texas, and later became state editor and editor for the Brownwood Bulletin, where he worked from 1959-66.

Mr. Gage married Mary Angeline Smith on Oct. 1, 1960, in Goldthwaite.

He joined the Houston Chronicle in April 1966, and worked there for 34 years, retiring as a member of its editorial board in April 2000.

Mr. Gage was an avid genealogist. He was a member of the Clayton Library Friends, Carroll County Historical Society in Arkansas, Madison County Genealogical Society in Arkansas, National Society for Historical Preservation and the Democratic Party.

He was a member of First Presbyterian Church of Houston.

Survivors include his wife; a daughter, Mary Frances Gage Lapidus and husband, Mark, of Houston; a sister, Shirley Mae Gage Madison and husband, Victor, of Grand Prairie; a brother, Gary Wayne Gage and wife, Nancy, of Grand Prairie; grandchildren, Mary Katherine and Jared Lapidus of Houston; and many nieces, neph- ews and cousins.

Donations may be made to Smith Cemetery Association, 408 W. North Ave., Lampasas, TX 76550; or to the National Parkinson Foundation, www. parkinson.org.

SNEED Funeral Chapel

Third & Chestnut • Lampasas

512-556-1183