Larry Ray Kersten was born on June 19, 1939 in Berville, Michigan to Ralph and Bernice (Stephens) Kersten. He graduated from Almont High School in 1957. He passed away on October 9, 2015 in Grayling, Michigan.
Larry Kersten played four sports for four years. He earned eleven Varsity letters – three in football, four in basketball, and four in baseball. He also ran track but did not letter.
For the football season, Larry was picked as an All-Star for the Southern Thumb League. The Lapeer County Press had Larry on their All-County Second Team. He was named on the Honorable Mention list for the Detroit Times All-State Team. The Associated Press named him to their All-State First Team. He was named by the Pontiac Press as one of the best ends in the area.
For basketball, Larry was selected to the Southern Thumb league All-Star First Team as a sophomore, junior, and senior. He was the top vote-getter his junior year. The Lapeer County Press had Larry on their All-County Second Team as a junior and on their First Team as a senior. His sophomore year he was given Honorable Mention on an All-State team but the awarding newspaper is unknown. As a senior he was given Honorable Mention on the Detroit Free Press Class C All-State team. He was also given the same honor by the Detroit Times.
He set the school records for points in a game at 37, points in a season at 414, and career points at 1290. He average more than 20 points per game for three years. His career scoring average for the 70 varsity games in which he played was 18.4 points per game.
At swing-out, Larry was awarded the Keith Frost Award as the Outstanding Athlete.
Larry is what every young man wants to be when he grow-up. Tall, Larry was six feet four. Athletic, he played four sports for four years, was All-League and All State in two sports and won seven championships. Handsome, he married the Homecoming Queen, Geraldine Spies.
He was a member of seven league championship teams – one in football (undefeated and once tied), one in basketball (undefeated in league), three in baseball, and two in track (two undefeated seasons). He also was a member of a league basketball tournament championship team and a District tournament basketball championship.
