Charles Lawrence Mayo, 84, died peacefully in Corpus Christi, Texas, on June 10, 2026.

Born on October 3, 1941, to Charles Henry Mayo (1916–2006) and Mabel Jo (Laxson) Mayo (1921–2007) in Corpus Christi, “Larry” Mayo was the oldest of four siblings. Larry grew up in Taft and made it his home for most of his adult life, graduating from Taft High School in 1959. Desiring to pursue a career in both the military and farming, Larry enrolled at Texas A&M, where he majored in agronomy. Larry was a proud member of the Fighting Texas Aggie Corps of Cadets, Spider D, Class of ’63. The friendships he forged with his fellow Spider D cadets lasted a lifetime, and he cherished his years in the Corps. An Aggie through and through, he remained forever devoted to Texas A&M and especially to Aggie football. Gig ‘em!

On June 15, 1963, Larry married his high-school sweetheart, Paula Huestis, whom he remained devoted to for the rest of his life — passing away just shy of their 63rd anniversary. After enlisting in the Army, Larry served as an artillery officer, achieving the rank of 2nd Lieutenant. On February 9, 1965, Larry and Paula welcomed their first daughter, Sunny Ann Mayo, while deployed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

In February 1966, they moved home to Taft, where Larry began a farming career that spanned over four decades. Their second daughter — Melany Jo Mayo — arrived on September 12, 1968. As a community leader, Larry served on the Taft school board and many other local and farming boards and societies. He also led many Boy Scout trips to Camp Karankawa — volunteering for the organization that had meant so much to his own Boy Scout experiences. Throughout his career, he was actively involved in the Taft Cotton Gin and Taft Grain Elevator.

Larry loved to farm — the soil, its smells, and its seasons. This passion came from a childhood spent in close proximity to the land and its laborers — his father and (predominantly) Hispanic hands. Cotton harvesting in Larry’s childhood in the 1940s and 1950s was very different — involving large numbers of migrant, usually African American, harvesters. During the weeks-long harvest, these groups would stay on the Home Place and always take off Sundays for epic all-day baseball games that left a lasting impression on young Larry.

Nicknaming himself “the Old Pro” in later life, Larry loved sports, especially baseball, football, fishing, hunting, and golf, which he unswervingly pronounced “goff.” When asked “which was his favorite sport,” Larry was fond of replying “whichever one is in season.” In his youth, Larry had several close shaves while on adventures. On one occasion, he accidentally shot himself in the leg with a .22 pistol (he kept the bullet!), which cost him a high school football game. On another occasion, fresh out of the military, Larry’s piloting career ended before it really started with a scary collision that nearly cost him his life — perhaps the biggest “what-if” of his young life.

A natural narrator — the settings of his stories covered the full spectrum of his extra-curricular passions, from childhood mischief with Jimmy on the Home Place to athletic mishaps with Butch at Taft High to a legendary canoe trip with his Aggie buddies in Canada to fishing escapades with “Mummy” in the Bay (“his hat floated”) to coffee conferences with Pop and the farming crew at Mi Ranchito. Family and friendship were foundational to Larry’s life. Many family holidays were spent together in hunting camps or fishing cabins. Larry enjoyed life as it happened and, perhaps, loved it even more when recounting his crafted version of its highlights — usually punctuated with an open-mouthed laugh and shaking shoulders (“you still don’t have a slider”).

Larry was a voracious reader and film enthusiast, especially of history and historical fiction. He was particularly fond of westerns and war dramas (what he called “one of them shoot ‘em ups”), as well as mysteries (what he called “one of them whodunits”). This, along with his daily diet of talk radio and sermons, was not just consumed entertainment. In Larry’s care, these became the raw material for his own sweeping narratives. This was not a man who knew the term “spoiler alert” (“he was dead the whole time!” IYKYK). If you ever visited Larry in his office, his dining room over coffee, his living room, his taquito/coffee haunts, his combine or cotton picker, or his pickup, you were going to experience (or re-experience) a tale told well. As many have experienced, Mayo-oratory skill was not always coupled with listening aptitude.

In the early 1970s, at the age of 30, Larry gave his life and loyalty to his Lord — Jesus Christ. This event had massive ramifications for the rest of Larry’s life, the lives of his family, and the surrounding community. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Larry served in various leadership and ministerial capacities at the United Methodist Church in Taft. During this time, he also served as the leader of the local Young Life chapter, which ministered weekly to local youth and included annual, legendary bus trips across the country to hike and camp at Windy Gap, North Carolina, to fish and camp on the beach at Big Shell, Texas, and snow ski at Waunita Hot Springs, Colorado. As a means of leading worship, Larry taught himself to play the guitar and even wrote a few songs. He loved music, especially the music of his childhood, country music, and hymns.

Larry continually looked for opportunities to minister to people who were suffering. This took many different forms. Larry and Paula consistently opened their home, offering shelter, food, and farm work to so many. Larry always assumed the best of people — often to his hurt. He never shied from sharing the Gospel and providing for people’s physical needs. This included extensive prison ministry at the McConnell Maximum Security Unit (Beeville), regularly leading services with the Search for Truth Mission (Corpus Christi), and financially supporting many ministries worldwide (e.g., SEEDS of Haiti).

In 1985, at Paula's urging, Larry led a gathering of six other families at their newly built home on the banks of the Chiltipin Creek. They met for singing, prayer, and Bible study. During this time, Howard Atkinson — former pastor of Community Bible Church (College Station) — discipled and mentored Larry, encouraging him to consider the pastorate.

On October 21, 1990, Larry was ordained to the pastorate. This began a new phase in his life — a preaching-farmer. For the next 36 years, until months before his death, Larry served as the pastor of Country Bible Church. Besides his teaching from the pulpit, Larry led countless bible studies, including a long-running men’s bible study that met at the Taft fire station and a women’s bible study that met at “Mom’s” (Jo Mayo) house. During these years, Larry not only shepherded his flock but also ministered to the wider community, performing countless weddings and funerals, never missing a chance to present the Gospel, hoping to be “instrumental in leading some lost soul in coming to faith in Jesus Christ.”

His commitment to his Lord was not only exemplified in his words and works towards others. It was perhaps best represented in the last two decades of his life when Paula’s health dramatically deteriorated. During this season, Larry demonstrated faithfulness, courage, and undying love to his wife. Despite being mostly homebound, the Lord kept sending searching souls his way, and Larry kept presenting them with the good news of the returning king, usually over a Whataburger that he bought for them or a pot roast that he made (he also loved to cook). As a pastor, Larry embodied what it means to be “above reproach, the husband of one wife, with believing children.”

In sum, Larry was a caring son, a beloved brother, a genuine friend, a loyal soldier, a faithful husband, a loving father, an amazing Grandaddy, a heroic mentor, a modest provider and caregiver, and a humble (“power under control”) servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Characterized by consistent, constant prayer, Larry’s faith in Jesus was no “whimsical wish.” One of Larry’s favorite verses was Philippians 1:6, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” Larry’s confidence has been perfected. If he were still here, he might ask you (after a story or three), “Do you have such confidence?”

Larry was preceded in death by his parents, Charles Henry Mayo and Mabel Jo [Laxson] Mayo; and his grandson, Caleb Jordan McKinny. He is survived by his siblings — Martha Jo Mayo (Marion), Laura Ann (Richard) Elwood, and John Bay (Sheree) Mayo; his wife — Paula Ann [Huestis] Mayo; his daughters — Sunny Ann [Mayo] (Gary) McKinny and Melany Jo Mayo; his grandsons — Charles Christopher (Mindy) McKinny and Joshua Michael (Jennifer) McKinny; and his five great-grandchildren — Charles Samuel McKinny, Simon Ellis McKinny, Parker Hayden McKinny, Mary Evangeline McKinny, and Peyton Caleb McKinny.

Pallbearers are Gary Gene McKinny, Christopher MvKinny, Joshua McKinny, Tom Mayo, Matt Mayo, Don Mayo, Holden Mayo and Will Beauchamp

Honorary pallbearers are Johnny Mayo, Jimmy Mayo, Dick Elwood, Steve Gittinger, and Joe Easterwood.  

Visitation will be held from 3:00–7:00 PM on Thursday, June 25, 2026 at Country Bible Church, 9849 County Road 3755, Taft, Texas 78390.

Funeral service will be held at 10:00 AM on Friday, June 26, 2026 at Gracepoint Church, 4755 Wildcat Dr, Portland, Texas 78374, followed by a brief graveside service at Taft Memorial Park Cemetery/Lamas Memorial Park 800 Avenue C, Taft, Texas 78390.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Larry Mayo Memorial Fund of Country Bible Church. If writing a check, please make the check out to “Country Bible Church.”