Lawyer and community man remembered

Longtime Osceola lawyer Larry Van Werden died Jan. 29 at Clarke County Hospital at the age of 89. With a life marked by a deep devotion to his profession and community, former colleagues shared memories of the man and his commitment to service above self.

A native of Winterset, Van Werden originally intended to pursue a career in farming, earning a degree in agronomy from Iowa State University. In 1966, Van Werden graduated from Drake Law School and joined the Reynoldson Law Firm team of lawyers Ward and Jan Reynoldson and Jim Brown; Van Werden worked there for over five decades, retiring in 2017. Today, the firm is known as Reynoldson, Van Werden & McCoy LLP.

Bob Reynoldson met Van Werden when the latter came to practice with his parents, later having the chance to practice alongside him when Bob joined the firm fresh out of law school in 1974. He recalled Van Werden as a great lawyer and law partner.

“He was an outstanding lawyer, he was an outstanding drafter of documents and he was excellent in the courtroom,” Reynoldson said. “He was a good teacher. I certainly learned a lot by having been able to practice with him.”

Gary Kimes worked with Van Werden for more than two decades and considered Van Werden to be a great mentor to him.

“He was fantastic... always willing to give you advice or talk to you about a case,” Kimes said. “I learned a great deal from him. I tried a few cases with him - that was an education in and of itself.”

Former Clarke County magistrate judge Kathy Kooiker was 21 years old when she came to work at Reynoldson Law Firm in 1979. She said at the time, most all of the staff had young children at home necessitating the need for a work-life balance and creating a family-friendly atmosphere at the firm.

“Larry was intelligent, professional, attentive and respectful to his clients, compassionate, caring, kind and funny, and we all enjoyed working with him,” she said.

Long-time legal assistants Janet Robins and Kay Chaney both spoke of Van Werden’s kindness and passion for his clients.

Robins worked for Reynoldson & Van Werden from 1982 until she retired in 2025, minus a brief hiatus when her kids were born.

“He was dedicated to his clients and took very good care of his gals who worked for him,” Robins said. “He cared about us and took care of us, making sure everything was good and we were happy.”

Chaney stared working at Reynoldson’s not long before Van Werden joined, also working there until her retirement minus a few years when her kids were little. She echoed Robins’ sentiments that Van Werden was always willing to help in any way he could.

“If he could have practiced law and not charged anybody, he would have been very happy,” Chaney said. “He was a very generous, kind person. He was just that way and always willing to help out somebody in need.”

Community minded

Outside of the office, Van Werden had a hand in many different organizations around the community. He was a member of the Osceola Rotary Club, Fellow of the Iowa Academy of Trial Lawyers, was one of the founding members of the Clarke County Development Corporation and was instrumental in establishing Toys for Christmas in 1969, an annual program that has continued and grown since.

Having seen similar programs in Nebraska, where he lived for a short while, Van Werden wanted to do what he could to make sure every child had gifts under the tree Christmas morning.

“He was a very generous person. He was always thinking about the community and what would be better for this community where he lived and raised this family,” Dianne Riley, current Toys for Christmas organizational director, said.

Riley has been involved in the program since 2002 and worked closely with Van Werden throughout the years.

“He stayed interested and involved with the idea. Such a generous, generous person with [his] time and everything,” Riley said.

Even in retirement Van Werden remained active in the community, wanting to do what he could to help make a positive impact in the lives of others.

“He was very much involved in the community,” Reynoldson said.

“Outside of the office, he… volunteered his time in several different organizations to make Osceola a great place to work and live,” Kooiker said.

“Always thinking of others, always putting others first. Above all, he served,” Robins said. “Overall, a good and caring guy.”

And Van Werden was always up for a laugh.

“He loved a good joke, when you kidded with him and pulled pranks on him… he liked people with a little bit of mischief to them,” Robins said, noting Van Werden loved to tell stories of his cowboy and rodeo days.

Reynoldson shared that when the lawyers would have breakfast on Friday mornings, Van Werden would sometimes start with an unusual choice.

“[Larry] was known to order dessert before he had breakfast,” Reynoldson said.

Some of Van Werden’s orneriness spilled over to his four children, as Kooiker shared a story about a day that his wife was at work and the oldest was at home minding the other three. Van Werden received a call from the oldest to inform him that one sibling was on the roof of their two-story house hitting tennis balls while another stood on the ground throwing the balls up, while the third child ate all of the cookies in the cookie jar.

“Larry could usually straighten out the kids over the phone, and it was quite comical to hear his end of the conversation,” Kooiker said.

All agreed they are better for having had the chance to work with and become friends with Van Werden.

Van Werden is survived by his wife Dotti and three of their four children. An obituary for Van Werden appears on page 3.