Arthur Lee Larsen, 82, of Longmont, Colorado, died Sunday, May 20th, 2012, at his home in Longmont.

Lee was born April 8th, 1930, at Cozad, Nebraska, to Arthur E. and Florence Jesse (Marshall) Larsen.

After growing up in Nebraska he came to Boulder, Colorado and attended and graduated from the University of Colorado with a BS in chemistry and a minor in business.

Lee had a long and distinguished career in the petroleum industry, both as a chemist and a business owner/consultant. He worked many years for Marathon Oil and from 1974 through 1984 was self-employed with Malaco Chemical Company. His specialty was research and development of methods to purify crude oil, for which he holds many patents. He has worked in Denver, Singapore, Sweden and Norway. In his semi-retirement, he also owned an art gallery in Aspen, Colorado, representing local artists. He has made his retirement home in Longmont.

He was a member of Sigma Nu Fraternity and Longmont Rotary.  Lee served on the Board of Directors for the Longmont Housing Development Corp (Longmont Housing Authority) from 1997 to 2006.

Lee is remembered by his family as being active mentally and physically until his death. He swam at Centennial Pool three days a week, and was constantly doing research into one thing or another. His current area of study was Alzheimer's disease. He enjoyed gardening, fishing and cooking good food.

He was preceded in death by his parents.

Lee is survived by his son, Mark S. Larsen; wife Julie, of Longmont and daughter, Kerstine M. Larsen of Vancouver, Washington and four grandchildren, Aaren, Dylan, Connor and Katie.

A memorial service will be held 2 p.m., Saturday, May 26th, 2012, at the Ahlberg Funeral Chapel. Cremation at Ahlberg Funeral Chapel and Crematory.

Memorial contributions may be made to Longmont Housing Development Authority. Visit www.ahlbergfuneralchapel.com to share condolences.

Ahlberg Funeral Chapel is in charge of arrangements.