Larry Lee Mcmichael

Larry Lee McMichael, an Atlanta native and son of Lee and Benjamin McMichael, died unexpectedly Tuesday morning November 19, 2008 at Emory University Hospital, where he was born 59 years earlier, May 26, 1949.  A Vanderbilt University graduate, Larry viewed life as an on-going opportunity to explore and master far-ranging interests. As a fledgling oenophile, he began working at a local wine specialty store, supplementing on-the-job knowledge with extensive reading and study.  Larry’s resulting expertise led to his position as fine wine buyer for Atlanta Wholesale Wine, a division of National Distributing, where he was employed at the time of his death. A similar fascination with fine woodworking filled the home he shared with his beloved wife Kitty Moran with beautifully hand-turned bowls and furniture made from a variety of woods, some as common as maple and pine and others as rare as granandillo and cocobolo. Larry also held a degree in music and, earlier in his life, played classical guitar.  He passed on his love of music as well as his guitar to his son David Benjamin McMichael, son of Alex McMichael.  Larry took great pride in and cared deeply for David, 19, now a freshman at Covenant College. Food chef was yet another of Larry’s accomplishments; the evening meal he regularly prepared is one of many small pleasures of their life together that Kitty will miss.

In addition to Kitty, David and Alex, Larry is survived by his mother Lee of Gainesville; nephew Scott McMichael of Atlanta, brother Jim McMichael of Cornelia, Georgia, and Jim’s daughter Jennifer McMichael of the Washington, D.C. area.  Other survivors, all of Atlanta, include mother-in-law Barbara Moran; brother-in-law Mike Moran and his son, Will Moran, son of Kelin Perry; and Mike’s wife Ellen Hartman and her daughters Sarah and Anna. Visitation for family and friends is scheduled for 1 pm followed by a service in celebration of Larry’s life at 2 pm on Saturday, November 22, at A.S. Turner & Sons Funeral Home, 2773 North Decatur Rd., Decatur GA.  In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.