Lance Michael Lahti was born on July 3, 1948 in Butte America. He was the son of the late Larry and Phyllis Reynolds Lahti. Over the last few years his health had been declining. Despite this, he met every health problem head on with that fighter\u2019s spirit and valiantly overcame many.\u00a0 However, on January 7th, he passed away suddenly and unexpectedly.<\/p>\n
Lance attended Butte High School, lettering in football and graduating in 1966.\u00a0 After high school, he attended college but ultimately left because (to quote Lance), \u201cthey didn\u2019t like my management style.\u201d\u00a0 In 1968, Lance joined the Army National Guard.\u00a0 He served his country Honorably for the next 32 years, achieving the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He retired in 2002 as Director of Maintenance for the Montana Army National Guard.<\/p>\n
Those who knew him will remember Lance for his great sense of humor and such a great distinct laugh.<\/p>\n
Lance dearly loved the annual family camping\/glamping trip to Seeley Lake each summer.\u00a0 Beyond the float trips and cooking, he especially cherished the camaraderie and conversations shared around the campfire.<\/p>\n
Lance\u2019s other hobbies included waxing and detailing vehicles – his own as well as those of friends\/family – trying his luck on the machines, and cooking and baking, where he was especially known for creating extraordinary cheesecakes for his favorite people.<\/p>\n
His memory lives on with his wife Dana (Okerlund), his daughters Jodi (Jim), Heidi (Dawson), grandchildren Kadin, Charlie, Kage, his sister Michone (Rich) and many more family members, friends, in-laws and outlaws.<\/p>\n
Lance was preceded in death by his parents Larry and Phyllis Lahti and grandson Kason.<\/p>\n
Memorial services will be held on Monday, January 12 at 12:00 PM at the Fort Harrison VA cemetery.\u00a0 In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Lewis and Clark Humane Society.<\/p>\n
A reception will follow the memorial service at Fox Ridge Golf Course.<\/p>\n","photo":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Lahti-Lance.jpg","youtube_video_url":"","service_status":"public","event_title1":"Burial with Military Honors","event_date1":"2026-01-12","start_time1":"12:00 p.m.","end_time1":"","location1":"Montana State Veterans Cemetery","address1":"3550 Heroes Road ","city1":"Ft. Harrison","state1":"MT","zipcode1":"59636","event_title2":"","event_date2":"","start_time2":"","end_time2":"","location2":"","address2":"","city2":"","state2":"","zipcode2":"","event_title3":"","event_date3":"","start_time3":"","end_time3":"","location3":"","address3":"","city3":"","state3":"","zipcode3":"","event_title4":"","event_date4":"","start_time4":"","end_time4":"","location4":"","address4":"","city4":"","state4":"","zipcode4":"","event_title5":"","event_date5":"","start_time5":"","end_time5":"","location5":"","address5":"","city5":"","state5":"","zipcode5":"","event_title6":"","event_date":"","start_time6":"","end_time6":"","location6":"","address6":"","city6":"","state6":"","zipcode6":"","event_title7":"","event_date7":"","start_time7":"","end_time7":"","location7":"","address7":"","city7":"","state7":"","zipcode7":"","event_title8":"","event_date8":"","start_time8":"","end_time8":"","location8":"","address8":"","city8":"","state8":"","zipcode8":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case\/32403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/case"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}