Louise Larsen of Lexington, Virginia, formerly of Kokomo, Indiana, died peacefully on January 18, 2019 at the Borden Center at Kendal of Lexington. She was 89 years old.

She was born in Kokomo, Ind., to Horace G. Brown and Lena (Adams) Brown, who preceded her in death as well as her siblings, David Brown, Dallas Brown, Gentry Brown, Lavena Kelly, Virginia Stereman, Helen Davis, Goalder Brown, Louis Brown, and Norris G. "Brownie" Brown.

She is survived by her brother, Dr. James Brown.

She was married to Dr. E.C. "Doc" Larsen and they had four children, three of whom survive her: Gloria Larsen of Roanoke, Dr. Linda Larsen (Eric Smeltzer) of Lexington and Dr. Mark Larsen of Pittsburg, Pa. Her grandsons are Ian Smeltzer of Denver, Colo., and Andrew Smeltzer, 2nd Lt. JAG (U.S. Army Reserve) of Washington, D.C. She is also survived by a lifelong friend, Jean Miller. She was preceded in death by Doc and her daughter, Marianne Larsen, as well as two lifelong friends, Jean Resnick and Donna Pickett.

She was graduated from Kokomo High School in 1947.

Louise worked with Doc in his chiropractic office, which was in their house, early in their marriage. He was targeted by the Medical Board of Indiana for practicing chiropractic without a medical license. She would screen potential patients to determine if they truly wanted chiropractic care or if they were "plants" by the medical investigators.

After it became safe for Doc to practice without harassment, she became active as a Girl Scout leader for eight years. she was a room mother for all of her children. She was a community activist, who had hundreds of petitions signed to encourage the building of the new Lincoln and Columbia schools and the present downtown library in Kokomo. She made sure that each of her children had a library card by the time they were 5 years old.

She returned to school to become a real estate agent and later a massage therapist.

She opened her house to her children's friends. In the '60s she encouraged children of single working mothers to spend the afternoons after school at her house, so they would be safe and the mothers did not have to worry. From the time her children were in their teens, she would invite their friends, who did not have any family with whom to share a holiday, to her house for every holiday dinner and send them home with plates of food.

She loved being outdoors. She loved to garden, planting flowers and getting her hands dirty brought her joy. She loved to travel and to fish. She was proud that she once caught a 4-pound bass from the Maury River, when visiting Virginia.

She was a member of the Kokomo Indiana Board of Realtors and the American Massage Association.

She was a member of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church.

If you wish to honor the memory of Louise, please consider making donations to the Kokomo-Howard County Public Library, 220 N. Union St., Kokomo IN 46901 or the Girl Scouts of Central Indiana, 7201 Girl Scout Lane, Suite 100 Indianapolis IN 46214.

There will be a memorial service for her in Kokomo in the spring.

Arrangements are by Harrison Funeral Home & Crematory.