Mary Lou Larson, professor emerita at the University of Wyoming, consummate archaeologist, friend, spouse, and much more, died unexpectedly on 1 April 2022 while at the Society for American Archaeology Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois. She was born on 18 August 1954 in Laramie. Mary Lou was preceded in death by her parents, Mary H. Larson and UW history professor Taft Alfred (TA) Larson. She is survived by her partner and husband of 43 years, Marcel Kornfeld, and a large extended family centered in Nebraska.
First and foremost, Mary Lou loved Wyoming archaeology and was fond of saying “my father got the last 100 years of Wyoming history (and he got the Native American part wrong), I got the previous 12,000 years.” To remedy the situation she developed and taught a course Indians of Wyoming for many years. She was an excellent teacher and loved working with undergraduate and graduate students. Fieldwork was her passion and as a woman in a world dominated by men she excelled and broke barriers. Although she retired two years ago, she remained fully committed to her fieldwork and was ready to participate again this year in her long-term field project at the Hell Gap site in east central Wyoming.
When speaking of her childhood and (mis)adventures with her parents, she often mentioned watching the geologist Sam Knight build the statue of Tyrannosaurus Rex that still stands in front of the Geology building at UW, and randomly running around the history building and William Robertson Coe library, to which her father’s office was connected at the time. Later she spent time in Pasadena, California on her father’s sabbatical, where she enjoyed the ability to pick oranges right off the tree in her yard. Also memorable were fly fishing trips with her father to Lake Marie and elsewhere in the Snowy Range. One of her fondest memories was her father having skidded of old US30 near the old the Lincoln Monument location, while returning from Nebraska with the page proofs of his new book manuscript, History of Wyoming. The manuscript was the only thing removed from the car besides Mary Lou and her mother! She inherited this attitude of responsibility to her academic career from her father and never forgot it.
She enjoyed travelling. Especially memorable were shopping trips by bus to Denver with her mother, as well as train trips to visit her grandparents in West Virginia, with a stop in Chicago to shop at Marshall Fields. On her first trip she was rather upset about the trees encountered en route; no one had told her there were many trees as one heads east and you cannot see the landscape! As an older teenager she went to Sweden (her family origin) as a rotary exchange student, an especially memorable year abroad, and she often spoke of her Swedish family and their golden retrievers. Later travels took her throughout North America, and she visited the former Soviet Union and Mexico, the latter on several occasions, for both pleasure and professional activities. Sedentary enjoyments included hosting dinners and parties, the purchase and remodeling of her new house in 2002, as well as gardening and sewing. Mary Lou was an avid reader of both recreational and professional literature, often reading in the car when she was not driving or late into the night. Her friends remember her as generous. One remarked, “I once admired a blouse she was wearing, and next I knew she had made one for me!” Once she drove 900 miles from Santa Barbara, California to Lake Viva Naughton in southwest Wyoming to surprise her partner for his birthday, where she snuck up behind him in a bar! She was absolutely no-nonsense (she did not coddle herself or her friends, did not cater to complaints or self-pity), had high expectations for herself and others and was much loved and admired.
Mary Lou attended UWs Prep School (now the Lab School) through high school. Subsequently she attended UW as an undergraduate receiving a bachelor’s degree in 1976. As a young adult she moved to Santa Barbara, California to work on her graduate degree, receiving a doctorate in 1992 at the University of California at Santa Barbara. She never lost contact with the University of Wyoming, performing fieldwork through the university while in graduate school. She taught anthropology at UW, starting as a part-time instructor in the early 1980s. From 1996 to 2020 she was a professor at the anthropology department and a department head from 2011-2014. She had many excellent students and thoroughly enjoyed working with them. The focus of her research was chipped stone technology or the making and using of stone tools. Mary Lou developed now widely used new methods of analysis for better understanding of prehistory. She carried on dozens of field and lab projects in Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming. The results of her work were published five books and numerous articles. Perhaps the most notable publications are Hunter-gatherers of the High Plains and Rockies with her research partner and spouse Marcel Kornfeld and George C. Frison, The Hell Gap Site with the same co-authors, and Aggregate Analysis of Chipped Stone with her former student Chris Hall. At the time of her death she was working on an abridged, popular volume of the hunter-gatherer book.
Her first field experience was at the Medicine Lodge Creek archaeological site, a state park in the Bighorn Basin. In 1975, when she arrived for excavation in her car, irrigation of the hay meadows flooded the dirt road, causing her to get bogged down in the mud. Typical of her determination, she returned for the next field session with a new four-wheel drive pick-up truck. Mary Lou worked on and recorded archaeological sites throughout the state of Wyoming and beyond with colleagues and students. Recently, she continued working with colleagues at the Hell Gap site near Guernsey and used work at that site to train graduate students.
Mary Lou was devoted to anthropology as a discipline and to her colleagues. For example, she took on the development of the Museum in the Anthropology Building, creating exhibits and training interns. She never shirked from the difficulty of leadership and in fact was thought of as supremely conscientious as well as willing to work hard to build the best future for Anthropology at the University of Wyoming. Many considered her as one of the founders of a new generation of anthropologists/archaeologists at Wyoming. She is sorely missed by friends, colleagues, and her many students.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders) a group she frequently supported (https://www.msf.org/donate).
Sincere condolences to the family.
Marcie, My archaeologist pal, Eric Jones, had lunch with me today to talk about GIS, a log-awaited conversation that began some time ago when Mary Lou scolded me, gently, for not getting up to speed on those amazing tools, tools that she shared with so many folks. Eric gave me this sad news. Y'all have been in my thoughts a lot lately, and you will continue to be right there. Grieve hard. We all are. What a rotten deal is this life when it sneaks up on you with such force. Mary Lou-energy is still out there changing the world with compassion and good humor. Hang in there buddy, and when you feel like it, we will finally get together in Folsom. We can bark at the moon. A Remembrance A wren made a nest on our porch. Rain with stinging wind. The roses sing ancient hymns. -ken erickson
Marcel: I am, of course, very saddened to read of the loss of Mary Lou. I join the chorus of voices being directed your way. We are all thinking of you and of Mary Lou.
Marcel, Only late in life did I have a few (too few) chances to meet you and Mary Lou. I was impressed by both of you, both professionally and personally. As you know my ties to Hell Gap are deep,'tho I never had the chance to work there. I admire deeply both of your tremendous efforts at the site and I know that you will carry that forward, spurred by your love and memory of all that she accomplished. Of offer my deepest condolences.
With deepest sympathy to her family, friends, and students.
Marcel, I am so very sorry to hear this sad news. My heartfelt sympathies to you and family. Thank you for the wonderful remembrance of Mary Lou posted here.
A pioneering spirit, a brilliant intellect, a good friend, a vast sense of humor: Mary Lou is a role model I have pointed out to my students for decades. So many young archaeologists will carry on her good work and legacy. Marcel, sending warmest regards and a hug from Walla Walla.
Our family extends our deepest condolences to Mary and Mary' extended family. I had the privilege to meet Mary Lou at the Hell Gap site in 1996. Her insightful prodding made me feel welcomed and I will always be thankful; to her. We will miss her as a scholar but I will miss her the most as a teacher.
I am shocked and very saddened at the tragic news of Dr. Larson's untimely death and send my heartfelt condolences to her family, especially to Marcel. Courage. LGS
Marcel, Mary Lou’s quick and easy smile, her ability to laugh at and with life and roll with it and her more than generous and open nature were qualities that made her even more special than the accomplished scientist she already was. She leaves an enormous hole in your life, no doubt, among her professional colleagues and peers, in our community and in the greater world, as well. My deepest and most sincere sympathies on her passing.
Marcel: So very, very sorry for your loss. Your life has been blessed with an admirable archaeologist and person as your partner. Take care of yourself.
Marcel, so sorry for your loss. She was a wonderful person and an amazing archaeologist. She will be greatly missed.
My deepest condolences to Marcel and to Mary Lou's extended family, friends, and past and present students. I always looked forward to talking to Mary Lou at the Plains Anthropological Society Conference over the years.
This is sad news. My sincere condolences to Mary Lou's family, friends and colleagues. We definitely have a better understanding of Wyoming's pre-history as a result of her efforts.
Mary Lou was one of the first people I met when I moved to Laramie in fall 1989. I was so happy to meet such a bright, funny, and supportive woman. She and Marcel have always been the kindest and most hospitable of friends, and I will miss her greatly. Although I hadn't had a chance to visit with her often lately, I cherish the memory of a fall 2021 dinner with her and Marcel. She and I shared a long hug before the evening ended. I wish there had been opportunities for many more. My thoughts are with you, Marcel. Thank you for sharing this beautiful and vivid narrative of Mary Lou's life.
Mary Lou was an incredible teacher and mentor. She kept you in check, she was encouraging and daring, and even made sure you didn't burn out. I cherish the time I had with her and Marcel, who in tandem were the greatest support I could have had during grad school. Mary Lou is greatly missed.
Beautiful tribute to an absolutely incredible woman. I have so much love, respect, and admiration for Mary Lou. She taught me so much, and was just such an awesome person to be around. I will miss her terribly (even though I know she would just tell me to "suck it up!") Marcel, I am thinking of you...
Marcel; My deepest condolences to you on your loss. Mary Lou was my sorority sister in college. May she rest in peace.