John David Larson was the son of Lars John Larson and Kristina Olson, two immigrants who joined the Mormon Church in Sweden. He was born on May 11, 1884. He served a mission to Scandinavia from 1903-1905 and married Thora Lesetta Hafen on September 28, 1905. He also served as Executive Vice President of the Long Beach, California Chamber of Commerce. He died on September 15, 1952.

John David Larson was born on May 11, 1884 to Lars John Larson and Kristina Olson, two immigrants from Sweden who met and found love in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was the eldest child of his family, having eleven brothers and sisters. Some years after he was born, his parents purchased a home in the south east corner of Salt Lake City and moved into the Sugar House Ward .

Growing up in Salt Lake, he had many opportunities to mingle in the LDS (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) community. He worked at Deseret News several years before his mission and he also had many female friends. One of the girls that John David met would eventually become his wife. Her name was Thora Lesetta Hafen, the daughter of the famous Springville artist, John Hafen. They met in May 1901 and eventually married on September 28, 1905 in the Salt Lake Temple.

On January 20, 1903, John David received a call to serve in the Scandinavian Mission due to a shortage of missionaries at the time. He left on February 27, that same year and had prepared himself accordingly. Like most missionaries, his mission was a growing experience and he grew to love the people he was serving. He served his mission well and returned on May 12, 1905.

He married that same year to his sweetheart “Zetta” as he called her. They then moved to Sugar City, Idaho so that he could take a managerial position for the Sugar City Times. He and his family eventually settled in Long Beach, California while he served as Executive Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce. Not much is known about his life, only that he died on September 15, 1952.