The community is mourning the passing of local businessman and community leader John Melvin LaRose, who passed away on Jan. 12, 2025, at the age of 84.
LaRose was a descendant of one of the earlier pioneers from France to the North American continent before the United States of America existed. Francois & Marie Dequire LaRose, who lived near Montreal, Canada, had eight children during the late 1600s.
One of their sons, who was named Luc, was a Voyageur. Luc and his wife Marie had a son named Andre Dequire LaRose, who was born in 1697. Andre also became a Voyageur, and in his early 20s, he came down the Mississippi River from Canada and first visited Kaskaskia in 1719.
At that time, Kaskaskia (Population 200) was a French Territory, and 80 years before the United States of America Constitution was signed. From 1719 to 1818, Kaskaskia was the center of commerce and served as the capital of the territory, and then, from 1818 to 1820, served as the first capital of the state of Illinois.
Andre crossed the Mississippi River in 1721 and farmed in the “common field,” building a homestead and selling additional homes and lots. He owned a billiard hall in 1737 and was the first resident of Ste. Genevieve, the first permanent settlement in Missouri.
LaRose’s family and ancestors have lived in Perry and Ste Genevieve County for more than 300 years.
LaRose was born on December 26, 1940. He grew up on the outskirts of Perryville in a home built by his father and uncle during the Great Depression. There was no indoor plumbing until he was 12, no TV until he was 16 and no phone until he was 17. His parents were both blue-collar workers. He had four siblings: Robert, Merlin, Donald, who preceded him in death, and Mary Ann Wucher of Perryville.
LaRose’s father was Jesse R. LaRose, who grew up on a farm on what is now O road in southern Perry County. His mother was Rose Blechle from the Biehle area. His great-grandfather, Dominic Blechle, left Germany after 1831 and, in 1855, married Helen Trapp in Apple Creek.
LaRose attended Ste. Boniface until the third grade and then attended Ste. Vincent through the eighth grade. He then spent the next four years attending Perryville High School, graduating in 1959.
LaRose entered college to study political science but elected to leave the university system to begin his career in entrepreneurial endeavors. After dropping out of Southern Illinois University-Carbondale in 1962, LaRose attended the Falk School of Professional Photography. In August 1962, he began his business career in photography and stayed active until 1992.
During that 30-year period, LaRose and his former wife operated professional photography businesses in four Missouri communities at the same time. The businesses photographed over 3,000 high school seniors each year across rural Missouri for years.
LaRose spent the greater part of 1974 designing and developing the information needed to produce a four-color brochure that highlighted four-color photography and editorial of what a community had to offer someone looking to locate a new business, a new Industry, or professionals to their community.
In 1975, LaRose and his former wife turned management of the photography business over to their employees and other family members to begin a successful publishing business. The publishing company contracted with chambers of commerce and banks throughout a three-state area to produce four-color brochures. The business was very prosperous from 1975 through 1980.
In 1980, LaRose and his former wife became involved as partners in a weekly newspaper in Perryville and discontinued the traveling publishing business. In 1982, they purchased 100 percent of the local weekly newspaper, with John assuming the positions of publisher and editor.
By 1984, a page on agriculture grew into a section in the weekly newspaper. In 1985, the agriculture section was removed from the weekly newspaper and the Regional Farmer publication was incorporated as an independent publication in Missouri. From 1985 to 1986, the Regional Farmer expanded its coverage to agricultural news in Missouri and the southern third of Illinois.
LaRose continued to publish both the local newspaper and the Regional Farmer until 1988, when he and his former wife sold the local weekly newspaper to another news media company.
In 1990, the name of the Regional Farmer was changed to the MidAmerica Farmer Grower. The publications continued to grow and expand their circulation. By 1998, the MidAmerica Farmer Grower covered agricultural news on a weekly basis in the southern third of Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana and the world.
In 1987, LaRose created a business model for a Southern agriculture production and educational conference. After convincing two National Commodity Organizations — Cotton Incorporated (NC) and US Rice Producers Association (TX) — to sponsor the conferences, he then convinced the deans of a number of universities to be academic sponsors of the conferences. This year will make the 28th year that Auburn University–Alabama, University of Arkansas, LSU AgCenter, Mississippi State University, University of Missouri, University of Tennessee, Texas A & M University, Cotton Inc. and the US Rice Producers Associations have partnered with LaRose to produce these conferences. (Go to www.nctd.net for additional information.)
In January 2025, the 28th annual conference will be held in Memphis, Tennessee, with more than 137 speakers — 64 with a Ph.D.— representing all disciplines from as many as six different US universities. During the three-day conference, the presentations will discuss and represent a number of crops. The agriculture crops produced in 2023 by the farmers who attended the 27th annual conference averaged 6,644 acres each. Considering both the farmers and certified crop advisors who attended the 2024 conference, they accounted for over five million acres of US agriculture production in 2024.
This year marks the 28th year that LaRose produced the Annual National Conservation Systems Cotton and Rice Conference, the Southern Corn and Soybean Conference, the Delta States Irrigation Conference and the Southern Precision Ag Conference
Since 1988, these conferences have been held at the same time and location throughout Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas. It’s considered to be the nation’s largest annual agriculture production and educational conference of its kind.
MidAmerica Farm Publications, Inc., which LaRose published for 37 years, was sold to his son John Jr. in 2019, who continues to publish it today.
In 2012, LaRose partnered with John Jr. to develop a new internet concept for the agriculture world. In 2015, the father and son chartered a new corporation in the state of Delaware for the purpose of developing the new concept of a Global Agriculture website — www.AGWIKI.com. At the time of LaRose’s death, the website had users from most parts of the world and communicated in 70 different languages. He was the chairman of the board and the chief financial officer. Its home office is located in Perryville, with operations in New York State, Florida, St. Louis, Cape Girardeau and Tanzania, Africa.
LaRose was the only reporter invited to accompany Michael Scuse, the undersecretary for farm and foreign agriculture services, USDA and acting secretary of agriculture USDA on USDA foreign trade missions to the countries of Ukraine, Romania, Austria, and China. His agricultural business and international agriculture news reporting took him to Georgia, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Puerto Rico, all Central American countries and Brazil. He took numerous trips to Mexico and traveled twice to Russia, four times to Ukraine, and twice to Cuba in recent years. He also made numerous visits to every state in the US. His agriculture news reporting travels took him to more than 38 countries.
When a reporter asked Acting Secretary of Agriculture USDA Scuse why MidAmerica Farmer was the only media invited on his trade missions, Scuse replied, “John is the only American reporter I can trust to print the truth.”
LaRose had held a private pilot certificate since March 1973 and was still actively flying. He jumped out of an airplane one time with a parachute and a buddy. He had numerous first-place trophies from competing in archery and 8-ball pool tournaments. For about 10 years, he owned a 28-foot sailboat on Kentucky Lake. In recent years, he swam over 214 miles at the Perry Park Center prior to catching COVID-19. LaRose was still active in competitive bass fishing and traveled coast to coast playing No Limit Poker. Prior to COVID-19 shutting down the WSOP Circuit events in 2020, LaRose was rated 51st in total points in the nation.
He was a member of Knights Columbus since he was a junior in high school, 10 years as a 4th Degree Knights of Columbus and a member of the Elks and Eagles.
John married Sharolyn K. (Ochs) LaRose of Perryville on March 3, 1962. They had three children — Lisa, who passed away on Feb. 26, 2006, John M. (Terrie) LaRose Jr., and Kurt D. (Claudio Donoso). Lisa had a son named Brett, who passed away in an accident on Mount Rainier on June 7, 2010; John Jr. has two boys named Isaac and Andrew, and Kurt has three children named Adam, Sarah and Kayla.
On April 26, 1996, LaRose married Regina K. Moore of Sereno and remained married to her until his death.
Visitation was held from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday, January 17, 2025, at Ford & Young Funeral Home in Perryville and continued from 8 to 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, January 18, 2025, at the funeral home.
Funeral Mass took place at 10 a.m. Saturday, January 18, 2025, at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Perryville, with the Rev. Fred Wandera C.M. officiating.
Burial was at Mount Hope Cemetery in Perryville.
Memorial contributions may be given to the American Lung Association or St. Vincent de Paul Schools.
Online condolences may be made at www.fordandyoungfuneralhome.com.
Ford & Young Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.