05/17/2026
Yesterday we had to say good-bye to someone that was very special to the Corner Market.
Larry Bratcher has gone way too soon from this world. He was one of the very first and oldest customers of the store.
Larry was, to say the least, a character. He was always cutting up and laughing about something.
He called me, while in the hospital, about a week before he passed. He wanted us to know how much we meant to him. He told me that mom and dad let him charge his gas when he had just started out and didn’t have much. He said Dad told him to get what he needed to get to work, and he could pay him off when he was able. After Larry had worked enough to be able to pay off the bill, he came to pay it. Dad would only let him pay half.
In tears he told me how much that meant to him and he had never forgotten it.
I told him we loved him very much, and he said he loved us too.
That special relationship was not just forged by mom and dad so long ago, or the interactions I had with him, it was forged by Corner Market employees who treated him like a good friend for 38 years. I don’t take them for granted. I emphasize the importance of being friendly and kind to our customers, but they have always exceeded those expectations.
Larry is not the only customer that has come and gone and left a lasting imprint on us.
It seems like we are losing more and more of that older crowd that we treasure so very much.
There are no more Larry Bratchers. Larry for sure would say, “That’s a good thing!”
But we will miss him and remember him. We will remember the hat he wore with the tags still on so he wouldn’t forget how much he owed us, (the hat was almost completely worn out with those tags still on). We will remember the special pose he always gave us for every picture, lol.
I will remember his laugh and his smile and absolutely how full of it he was.