LARRY L. FOERSTER

January 2018

Chamber Involvement:

Larry L. Foerster has been a member of the Conroe Lake Conroe Chamber since 1981. He served on the Chamber Board of Directors from 1984-1986, 1988-1992, 1999, and 2008-2010. He served as Chairman of the Board in 1990-1991. In 1998, he served on the Building Committee for the planning and construction of the current chamber building at 505 West Davis. Periodically he has served on the Airport and Government Affairs subcommittees. He has also assisted in the periodic updating of the Chamber Bylaws. Larry was also selected by the Chamber as a participant in the Texas Annual John Ben Shepherd Leadership Forum (1987-1988).

Business:

Larry Foerster moved to Conroe in February 1978, after having served as a captain in the U.S. Air Force, where he was an Assistant Judge Advocate from 1974-1978. From 1978 to 1980 he was employed as an Assistant District Attorney for the 9th Judicial District. He worked directly for the then district attorney, Jim Keeshan. Larry’s felony prosecutor duties included Montgomery, Polk, San Jacinto and Waller counties. In 1980, he ran for and was elected to the office of Montgomery County Attorney where served from January 1981 through December 1985. During his term, he created a civil trial division to complement the office’s criminal prosecution division; opened a Hot Check Office; and provided daily legal advice to the County Commissioners Court. After his four-year term of office, he chose to enter private law practice in Conroe.
Larry Foerster is a partner in the Conroe law firm of Darden, Fowler & Creighton, where he has a general civil practice. Besides his numerous business clients, Larry is the city attorney for the cities of Willis, Montgomery, Panorama Village, Cut and Shoot, Roman Forest, New Waverly and Shepherd. He also represents six emergency services districts, the Montgomery County Emergency Communications District (9-1-1), and several water supply corporations and municipal utility districts. In 1991, he served as the interim city attorney for the City of Conroe.
Larry has received numerous professional honors over the course of his 43 years as a practicing attorney. For over 20 years he has been honored with the annual Martindale-Hubbell Peer Rated “AV”—the highest legal rating an attorney can receive for competence and integrity, given by judges and fellow attorneys. In 1986, he was named the “Lawyer of the Year” by the Montgomery County Bar Association. He subsequently served for several years as a director for that organization.

Larry is a “Life Fellow” in the honorary Texas State Bar Foundation. He also has been recognized by the Texas City Attorneys Association with the “Merit Certification in Municipal Law.” In addition, Larry was a founding trustee for the Montgomery County Alternate Dispute Resolution Center, and for several years a member of the Montgomery County Law Library Committee.

Current Civic and Community Service:

Asa proud sixth-generation Texan, Larry Foerster is an avid researcher of county and state history.In May 2012, he was appointed Chairman of the Montgomery County Historical Commission by the Montgomery County Commissioners Court. Under his leadership, the County Historical Commission has been honored every year by the Texas Historical Commission with the coveted “Distinguished Service Award.” As chairman, Larry has initiated three programs that have received state-wide attention and acclaim: the annual Montgomery County History Road Rally, the Historical Commission’s Youth Advisory Board, and the Montgomery County Historical Marker Program. (Most of the supporting research for the historic markers has been compiled by Larry.) In addition, Larryhas volunteered as the legal advisor to the Montgomery Historical Society and numerous other church and nonprofit organizations in Montgomery County.

In January 2014, Larry Foerster published his first historical book—the Montgomery County, Texas Historical Timeline, a 239-page chronological and pictorial history of Montgomery County from the time of the Native Americans through 2013. He is currently working on an extended second edition of that book and is collaborating on a pictorial history book of Conroe. Larry has also written a chapter for a history book on Montgomery County veterans who served during World War I. His chapter is on Thomas Earle Gentry, a former Conroe business man, mayor and chairman of the Conroe Chamber. The book is being published by the Montgomery County Historical Commission for the 100th anniversary of the November 1918 armistice of that war.

Larry is also working with the Conroe Convention and Visitors Bureau on a printed historical walking tour guide of downtown Conroe, using his research and historic photographs of old downtown buildings to promote the history of downtown Conroe. He frequently gives personal walking tours of downtown Conroe to both local residents and visitors.

Larry is a member of the City of Conroe Tourism Council; board member of the non-profit Conroe Live, Inc. which promotes the arts and history in Conroe; and board member of the Friends of the Flag Foundation which supports the Lone Star Monument and Texas Flag Park, a historical park on Interstate Highway 45 in Conroe.

As a board member of the nonprofit Conroe Live, Inc., Larry has served as the organizer and promoter of the annual History Village on historic Main Street in downtown Conroe. This is one portion of the larger “Conroe Kidzfest” which provides free entertainment to approximately 15,000 children, parents and grandparents each April. This family event provides a unique heritage venue which permits visitors of all ages to step back in time to experience what Conroe and the surrounding area was like 100 years ago. Children participate in old fashion craft and blacksmithing demonstrations, pie eating contests, listen to period American music, eat chuck wagon grub, watch Old West reenactments, and enjoy close-up examinations of classic antique vehicles and fire trucks.

Larry continues to be a vocal advocate for the restoration and renovation of old downtown Conroe buildings for new commercial uses. He also is actively working on the development of historic preservation districts in the residential areas north and east of downtown Conroe. He has been helping the Historic Uptown District organization, composed of residential and commercial property owners north of West Phillips Street, in their collective efforts to develop the area into a recognized historic preservation district.

Larry Foerster is a frequent speaker at meetings of local chapters of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas and Sons of the Republic of Texas, civic organizations, churches and schools. With his extensive personal collection of old photographs, maps and newspaper articles, Larry uses his PowerPoint presentations to relate the history of Montgomery County, Conroe, and a variety of other communitiesin the county. Over the past four years, he has also provided his personal research and photos for collaboration on monthly newspaper and magazine articles on local historic buildings, sites and persons for the Conroe Courier, Montgomery News, and Ten Ninety-Seven newspapers, The Woodlands Lifestyles and Homes magazine, and the Community Impactmagazine. These articles are designed to generate interest and renew community pride in the history of Conroe and Montgomery County.

Larry also serves as the personal clearinghouse for the distribution of information and email announcements among historical organizations and interested citizens in Montgomery County concerning upcoming events and projects of significant historical interest throughout Montgomery County and the State.He also works closely with the Heritage Museum of Montgomery County in its efforts to collect and archive items of historical significance for that museum.
In addition, Larry serves as an advisory member of the downtown Conroe Development Committee for the City of Conroe, assisting the City’s staff and consultants in developing a vision for the future revitalization of the greater downtown area. Larry was also recently appointed to the Montgomery County Ethics Committee by the County Commissioners Court.

On February 9, 2017, Larry was honored by the Coushatta Trace chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution with its award for “Excellence in Community Service.” This was followed on March 17, 2017 when he received the “Award for Historic Preservation” from the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution at their state convention in Dallas.
Previous Civic and Community Service:

Larry Foerster’s previous community activities have been numerous. In 1978, he was the founding president of the “Conroe Spellbinders” Toastmasters Club. In 1984, he was named as the distinguished club president of the Kiwanis Club of Conroe by the Kiwanis Texas-Oklahoma District.Larry has previously served as a directorfor the Montgomery County United Way (1985) and the Montgomery County Youth Services (1985-1988). He also served on the Covenant Christian School board of trustees and chaired its school building committee in 1998 to 2001.
In 1986, Larry was a member of Montgomery County’sTexas Sesquicentennial Committee. He has been a member of the Montgomery County Performing Arts Society and Programs Committee; the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Association where he served as an Sheriff’s Academy instructor; and the advisory council to the Montgomery County Humane Society. He has also been a lecturer for Leadership Montgomery County.
For several years Larry served as a member of the Conroe Main Street Committee and chaired its Downtown Revitalization Committee. That committee was instrumental in the Conroe city council branding the downtown area as “Conroe Central” to recognize and preserve the historic old commercial and residential areas in the city. Larry also organized two100-year birthday parties for brick commercial buildings that were rebuilt in 191l after the “Great Conroe Fire” destroyed three blocks of downtown Conroe.

In 1985, Larry served on the building committee for the construction of the County Law Enforcement Center. He has served as a member of the Citizens Advisory Committee to Montgomery College (now Lone Star College-Montgomery). He was a former member of the South County Chamber of Commerce where he served on the Bylaws Committee and the Industrial Relations Committee.

Personal Life:

Larry Foerster and his wife Martha have been married for 36 years. They have a grown son, a married daughter and son-in-law, and a two-year old granddaughter. They are active at their Conroe Bible Church where he serves as an adult Bible study teacher. Larry and Martha regularly host a small group Bible study in their home.In September 2007, he served on a missionary team to Nairobi, Kenya. Larry and Martha are also active members of the Montgomery County Right to Life, a nonprofit organization committed to preserving life from conception to natural death.