Darayl Larsen

Darayl Larsen of Moses Lake passed away Aug. 26, 2025, at the age of 83, following a brief illness. 

Throughout his life, Pastor Larsen was deeply committed to pastoral service, notably spending 13 years pastoring the Moses Lake Seventh-day Adventist Church. 

Before settling in the Northwest, he dedicated 13 years to church service in Colombia, South America, alongside his wife and family, serving God and his church in many different capacities. During this time, he spent three years in the Amazon jungle piloting a small boat along the Nechi River, where he and his wife, Sandy, a registered nurse, provided health care to remote villages. Pastor Larsen also learned basic dental care and extracted hundreds of teeth for villagers who had no access to dental or health care.   

Upon returning to the United States and later residing in Moses Lake, Darayl proudly served as a Chaplain at Samaritan Healthcare and volunteered many hours helping young people through the Christian Scouts club, Pathfinders.   

When Darayl was not busy at church or hospital, he enjoyed leading mission trips to Baja California, hiking and camping with his family, friends and church family. He also avidly pursued his passion for wildflower identification and could easily identify any wildflower in the Pacific Northwest. 

He is greatly missed by his wife, Sandy; daughters Dawna Krause (Loren Krause) and Shawna Larsen; sons Jon Larsen and Chris Larsen (Nicole); daughters Nelly Ralston and Angela Gibson; grandchildren Katrina Krause, Kalissa Krause (Isaac Meythaler), Jordan Judge (Diana Judge), Evan Judge and Grace Judge; and sister Penny Schenker.  

Darayl’s greatest desire was to spend eternity with all of his family, whom he loved with all of his heart.

A memorial service will be held at the Moses Lake Seventh-Day Adventist Church on Saturday, Sept. 13, at 3:30 p.m. 1601 W. Valley Road.