Hoyt Humphreys “Larry” Larison, former chairman of the board for ACA (formerly the National Paint & Coatings Association), passed away December 11, 2020. He was 80.

Larison—or “Larry” as he was known to his family and friends—was born in Chicago, Illinois, on October 17, 1940, to Lee Hoyt Larison and Mary Miller Humphreys Larison. The family moved to Helena, Montana, in 1946, where his father was one of the four founders of American Chemet Corporation and Columbia Paint & Coatings.

Larison graduated from Helena High School in 1959, and then attended the University of Montana for three years before transferring to Carroll College in Helena, from where he would graduate in 1965.

In 1960, after his freshman year at the University of Montana, he married and started a family. He began his long career at Columbia Paint & Coatings first as a quality control technician and then as a lab assistant. He transitioned to a variety of sales and marketing positions, and he was elected president and CEO by the board of directors in 1976, at the age of 35.

After 31 years with Larison at the helm of Columbia, the company was sold in 2007 to The Sherwin Williams Company for the highest price ever paid for a business of its kind. At the time of sale, Columbia had grown to 41 distribution centers in eight states, with more than 350 employees. Larison credited its success to his development of the Columbia Management System™, which created Larison & Associates, Management Consultants for Continuous Performance Improvement.

Throughout his career, Larison was a strong advocate for education, entrepreneurialism, and business history. He shared his business experience and expertise through his service on many professional and nonprofit boards, including serving as chairman of ACA.

In addition to serving as chairman from 1998 to 1999, Larison served on several ACA committees and chaired ACA’s Pacific Northwest Paint Council from 1994 to 1996. In 2002, Larison received the George Baugh Heckel Award, the association’s highest honor.

Larison was preceded in death by his parents, Lee Hoyt Larison and Mary Miller Humphreys Larison, and his former wife, Sandra Sue Hanson Larison. He is survived by his spouse, Dayna L. Barton of Spokane, Washington; two daughters Pamela S. Larison (Kevin Douglass) of Seattle, Washington; and Mary Lee Larison (Doug Turman) of Helena, Montana; and his stepchildren, Christopher J. Barton and Samantha N. Barton of Spokane, Washington.