Lawrence “Larry” McGinn of Bass Lumber in Wetumpka, Ala. passed away on June 30, 2012.
McGinn was involved in the wood products industry for almost six decades. After serving as an officer in the Korean War, he came home in 1954 and was thrust into the family business, Bass Lumber, when the manager left the company. He would jokingly say that he did not know the difference between a pine tree and a rose bush, said his son Pat McGinn. But obviously his knowledge grew tremendously from those meager beginnings. Though it was a small family pine sawmill then, the company grew and expanded into several new markets in the following decades under his leadership. In 1975, he added wooden pallets to their product offerings and in 1977 also started selling building materials.
Though his son took over as president of the company two years ago, Larry McGinn always stayed involved as company chairman. In recent years, he returned to his first love, starting up three more hardwood sawmills between 2002 and 2008.
He is survived by his loving wife of 53 years, Yvonne “Bunny,” who worked alongside him at Bass Lumber for the past 32 years, two daughters, two sons and seven grandchildren.
