By Lori EhdeBob Latham will be remembered in Luverne as a quiet, effective leader.He died Thursday night at age 62 of an aortic abdominal aneurysm. Steve Perkins, Luverne, gave the eulogy at Latham’s funeral Tuesday. He described Latham as an "uncommonly common" man."It was this ‘uncommonness’ about him that was so great," said Perkins, who was Luverne’s City Administrator in the late 1980s when Latham was a City Council member."He was a listening leader, not a noisy one. As a city administrator, I saw Bob’s quiet leadership carry the day many times. When Bob spoke, like E.F. Hutton, everybody listened. Never haughty or boastful, just uncommonly common."Tom Serie, Luverne, shared business and government ventures with Latham, in addition to a love of flying."I truly liked the guy. Everyone who knew him really liked him," Serie said.The two served City Council and Airport Board together, and even owned an airplane together."He loved flying," said Serie, who agreed with the words in Perkins’ eulogy Tuesday."Uncommonly common pretty much sums it up," Serie said. "Bob was such a quiet leader … He would listen and analyze. He wasn’t a ‘rah-rah’ leader, but his leadership was a matter of making the right choices."Serie said that even though Latham was involved in countless organizations, from public bodies to civic groups, his dedication wasn’t spread thin."Not only did he join all these things, but he was active in them," Serie said."Luverne’s truly going to miss him. His agency is going to miss him."Latham’s son, Mike Latham, has been working with his father at Beaver Creek Mutual Insurance Agency for the past few years."I’ll cherish that," Mike said Monday. "The best thing I ever did was come to work with him."Mike agreed that his father would likely be remembered for wanting to make a difference in Luverne."It’s overwhelming to think about all the things he’s had his hand in the community," he said. "He was dedicated to the community, and he just thought the world of Luverne."He said despite his father’s active role in the community, Mike remembers his father also making time for his family.Bob Latham died around 11:30 p.m. Thursday night in Sioux Valley Hospital, Sioux Falls. Latham had been diagnosed a year ago with a brain aneurysm, but when he complained Wednesday of abdominal pain, doctors focused attention on his recent colon infection.By the time he was rushed to Sioux Falls Thursday night, it was too late for a CAT scan to locate the aneurysm for doctors to operate.
