Larry E. Hiday, 85, of Bluffton, passed away Friday, April 10, 2026, surrounded by his loving family.
Larry was born Sept. 12, 1940, in Pennville, to Malcolm E. and Justine L. (Davenport) Hiday. He graduated from Pennville High School in 1958.
Larry started his lifelong career in the car business working for Don Kaade. He quickly became the top salesman and decided to venture out on his own and opened Larry Hiday Auto Sales. In 1975, Larry was offered Don Kaade’s franchise. Larry and his wife, Nedra ventured to Detroit to meet with GM, where they received the nod to start their franchise. In 1984, the Hidays acquired the Chrysler franchise when minivans were being introduced. The car dealership grew into a family business with the addition of three of the four children; Greg, Brent and Sherry. In 1999, Chevrolet dealership was added as part of the Hiday Automotive Group. Through the years, Larry’s dealerships have survived government buyouts, increasing interest rates, hail and storm damage, and even a major flood. Larry lived by the moto of integrity, honesty and hard work. He was also known for “your word is your word, right is right and wrong is wrong.”
Before his passion for cars, Larry took lessons in an open cockpit plane and enjoyed buzzing over his friends and family. He played basketball and baseball in high school. In Larry’s spare time, if he wasn’t at the dealership, he enjoyed playing tennis and golf, driving fast cars, boats and snowmobiles.
On Dec. 30, 1961, Larry married his high school sweetheart, Nedra Jean Miner. They were blessed with almost 65 years of marriage, with 49 of those years as business partners.
Survivors include his wife, Nedra Hiday of Bluffton; and their children, Sherry Hiday, LuAnn (Doug) Scher, Greg (Diana) Hiday and Brent (Stephanie) Hiday, all of Bluffton. He was a proud grandpa to his 10 grandchildren, Courtney (Nathan) Worman, Haley Hiday, Cassidy Hiday, Connor Hiday, Emily (Mason) Schwartz, Brenna (Brandon) Horner, Grant (Kayla) Hiday, Nicole (Kanyon) Pritchard, Jacob (Taylor) McKinley and Erin McKinley; along with seven great-grandchildren, Liam McKinley, Lucas Worman, Evie McKinley, Abigail McKinley, Jonah Hiday, Quinn Hiday and Blakely Horner.
He will be remembered by his sisters, Sonja DeHoff of Bluffton, Diane (Tom) Hedges of Gallatin, Tennessee, Mary Lou (Gary) Adams of Leesburg and Cheryl (Ted) Martz of Ossian.
Larry is preceded in death by his parents.
In Larry’s own words, “When the trail gets tricky, when it’s tough to pull through, never back off the throttle. I know that your first instinct is to hit the brake and back off, but when you do that, you can’t steer very well and you’ll miss the curve every time. Stay on the gas, ride it out and then, after you have rounded the bend, stop and say ‘WOW! Can you believe that?’”
Visitation will be held from 2 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 16, 2026, at the Thoma/Rich, Lemler Funeral Home in Bluffton, and for one hour prior to the service on Friday at the church. An Elks Memorial Service will take place at the conclusion of calling on Thursday, at the funeral home.
Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday, April 17, 2026, at the First Presbyterian Church in Bluffton with Rev. Lyle Ewing officiating. Burial will follow at Elm Grove Cemetery in Bluffton.
Memorials may be made in Larry’s honor to the First Presbyterian Church in Bluffton and directed to the funeral home.
Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to the care of the Lemler family of Thoma/Rich, Lemler Funeral Home in Bluffton. Friends may share online condolences with the family at www.thomarich.com.