Larry Hallum lifted people up through education, inspiration and love

Apr. 24—His parents were Depression-era sharecroppers who came west from Oklahoma to Arvin to give their children a better life — to become CIOs, or as the family joke went, California Improved Okies.

Years later, when it was time for one of those children, Larry Hallum, to go off to school, Hallum rejected a full-ride to Stanford University in favor of attending the University of Oklahoma. It was a decision that would help shape his life as an educator, a combat veteran, a sports and academic coach, and a husband and father.

Hallum, who had the rare ability to become a friend to nearly everyone he met — and he was a friend to thousands — died Saturday, nearly 10 weeks after being injured in a traffic accident. He was 79.

"I just wanted more time with him," one of Hallum's twin sons, Ryan Hallum, said Monday. But the family patriarch was surrounded by loved ones when he died.

Since word of Hallum's passing was announced on social media over the weekend, Facebook has been flooded with messages of love, condolences, support for the family and personal stories of the teacher who dedicated decades to the advancement and education of students at Arvin High.

"I'm amazed at all the people leaving wonderful Facebook posts," said Hallum's wife of more than 45 years, Brenda Hallum.

The outpouring continued on Monday for "Lar," a shortened version of "Larry" he often preferred.

Some referred to him as the ultimate Arvin Bear for his years of support for that city's high school sports teams.

Many said they love him for what he did and for who he was.

Hallum coached freshman football at Arvin, and loved to support the Cubs, or Cubbies as he called them.

Working with those young kids, his son said, brought him joy, even as he taught them not just football skills, but life skills such as character, good sportsmanship and self-discipline.

"He was real big on students knowing the Arvin High fight song," Ryan Hallum said.

The list of activities and accomplishments goes on.

Hallum coached tennis. He taught freshman studies, civics, U.S. history, geography, government and economics.

He worked for decades as a coach or assistant coach for the "We the People" team at Arvin, a team that enjoyed many championship runs, and provided the small-town high school with the kind of pride the whole town could bask in.

Hallum later served as the team's assistant coach, backing up one of his former students, Robert Ruckman, when the younger man took on the coaching position. As a student, Ruckman had been on Hallum's team in 1998.

"I can honestly say that Mr. Hallum is one of the reasons why I went into teaching," Ruckman told The Californian in 2003.

Hallum loved to write poems for people, for all occasions. Birthdays, memorials, anniversaries, even guest books.

And he was a natural storyteller, often joking that he had "the gift of blab."

But Hallum hadn't counted on coming back to Arvin High after university. He wanted to see the great capitals of the world.

Then he got a phone call from an administrator at Bakersfield College.

He asked Hallum, then still at school in Oklahoma, to come back to his hometown to teach.

"I said, 'No way, I'm going out there,'" Hallum told The Californian years ago.

The administrator got off the phone with Hallum, just 22 at the time, and called in the big guns.

"Five minutes later, the head man called — my dad," Hallum said.

That settled it.

Larry Hallum accepted the teaching position at Arvin High for $6,200 a year.

It was a decision he never regretted.

But less than three years after coming home, Hallum was drafted in 1969, near the height of combat operations during the Vietnam War.

The Arvin native was supposed to go into language studies, but instead volunteered to serve in forward reconnaissance in the central highlands of Quang Ngai Valley near Duc Pho, South Vietnam, where he saw combat and lost friends to the war.

He achieved the rank of sergeant, although he called himself a "grunt."

"He was most proud of his Combat Infantryman's badge, and his marksmanship badge out of basic training," his son said.

Hallum resumed his career in education upon his return to Arvin High, where he built a reputation that became legend in the Kern County farming community, and far beyond.

"He attended all of my and my brother's performances, games and events," Ryan said, referring to his twin brother, Drew. "He would go to an Arvin football game, watch through the first quarter, drive to Stockdale High to see me in the marching band at halftime, and drive back to catch the end of the Arvin game."

Character, empathy, doing the right thing. These were things he taught by example, to his sons and to his students.

Once a Bear, always a Bear.

Reporter Steven Mayer can be reached at 661-395-7353. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter: @semayerTBC