Patrick Lane

Pat Lane, age 77, of Graceville passed away peacefully surrounded by his family after a 1 ½ year battle with neuroendocrine cancer on Saturday, March 23, 2024, at Grace Home in Graceville.

Funeral Mass will be Monday, April 1, at 11:00 a.m. at Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Graceville with Father David Breu as the celebrant.  Music will be provided by Deb Needham and the Arens Sisters.

Visitation will be from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. at the church.

Burial will be in the Graceville Consolidated Cemetery, Graceville.  Military honors will be provided by the Jesse S. Poole American Legion Post 297 of Graceville. Honorary urn bearers will be Joe Beaulieu, Lane Wilson, Mike Andrews, Kenny Skoog, and Tom Gilsdorf.  Active urn bearer will be Gary Hoffman.

Patrick Daniel Lane was born May 18, 1946, to Daniel and Martha (Frey) Lane in Graceville.  Pat attended Graceville High School where he graduated in 1964.  Following high school, Pat completed a General Mechanics program at North Dakota State School of Science in Wahpeton.  He then entered the U.S. Air Force on October 12, 1965, where he was stationed in Okinawa, Japan.

On January 28, 1967, Pat married his high school sweetheart, Betty Chalupnik.  To this union two children, Laurie and Willie, were born.

After being honorably discharged from the Air Force on February 5, 1969, Pat returned to Graceville where he spent the remainder of his days.  Pat and his wife Betty built a bowling alley in 1975 (Lanes' Lanes) in Graceville.  While running the bowling alley, Pat was also a substitute rural mail carrier and eventually became a full-time rural mail carrier for 35 years.  Pat retired in 2008 from the USPS.

Pat's true love (aside from his wife) was fishing, both in the summer and winter.  He always told the fishermen to turn their hats on backwards if the fish were biting.  He also enjoyed hunting, gardening, playing cards, golfing, walking, and driving around checking the local farming area.  Pat enjoyed spending time with his five grandchildren and attending their school functions when possible.

Pat was preceded in death by his parents, Dan and Martha (Frey) Lane; his brothers, Dick and Steve; and his sisters, Gerrie Lane and Sharon Uhrich.

Pat is survived by his wife, Betty; his daughter, Laurie Spiess of Mounds View, MN; and his son, Willie (Jill) Lane of Fargo, ND; as well as his five grandchildren, Isabella and Miranda Spiess, and Payton, Jordyn, and Connor Lane.  Pat is also survived by his sisters, Nancy (Roger) Cauley of Rosemount, MN, and Marie (Jim) Altrich of Graceville, MN; sister-in-law, Mary (Dick) Lane of Graceville, MN; and several nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, Pat asks that you spend an extra hour fishing this spring on opening day in his honor.