Lance Owen Presnall

View the youtube video of Lance's Military Honors Ceremony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeoE1VJBh9s&feature=youtu.be

View the youtube video of Lance's Funeral Mass held at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Lincoln, California, on January 4, 2021: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PVn7YLRi8k&feature=youtu.be

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LANCE'S LIFE STORY
As told by his wife, Judy

How do you tell an eighty-two-year-old life story? Lance's childhood is mostly unknown to me. I knew that he was an only child. His parents, Lewis and Alice Presnall, raised him to be a loving, caring and honest person.

Lance told me he obtained his driver's license at the age of fourteen. He rode his motorcycle to the Police Station in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1952. The police asked him how he got there. Lance said "I rode my motorcycle." The policeman was really impressed. Lance was given a license immediately.

So that began his love of motorcycles and all things mechanical. He was drafted soon after college. After twenty-one months he was honorably discharged from the Army to begin his Master's Degree at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He obtained a job at Milwaukee's Harley-Davidson Motor Company that summer and that's when he met me. I was employed by Kelly Girls for the summers of my college years. That summer I worked in the Steno Pool at Harley. One day a lady from the Engineering Department appeared in the Steno Pool room and informed me that I had an appointment to meet Lance at the "bubbler" (drinking fountain) at 3:00 p.m. during my break. I didn't even know what this Lance fellow looked like. That was the beginning of a half-century romance. We married In January 1967.

Our married life had very few bumps — probably because of Lance's calm demeanor and flexibility to adjust to solving problems. God blessed me with the perfect partner.

Lance enjoyed working at Harley-Davidson. He belonged to a motorcycle club of men. We bought our first home in Franklin, Wisconsin, and had our daughter Kaye there.

We moved to Mansfield, Ohio, for a new job at Rupp Industries that made snowmobiles at the time. That job lasted only a short time due to the company going bankrupt. Then we moved to Grafton, Wisconsin, where he worked at Bolens Corporation in nearby Port Washington. They made garden tractors. Our son Kory was born there.

A job opportunity in Los Angeles, California, was the next move. That move kept us in a Reseda home for thirty-seven years. His final job was at Bruel & Kjaer, a Danish Company that made sound and vibration instruments. During that time, we raised the kids through their college years. Some activities that Lance cherished include Father-Daughter Dances, Indian Guides and Radio-Controlled Car Racing.

We were fortunate to travel to many places like Australia, Hawaii, China, England, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Canada, and Mexico. We also had fun on cruises.

Lance supported my writing career. He was my photographer. Research for my children's books took us to circuses, horse therapy ranches, San Diego's Navy Dolphin Training, the Alaskan Iditarod, rodeos, Alcatraz and even climbing the back side of Mount Rushmore.

After the kids were born, I feared that Lance would not be safe riding motorcycles. So he changed to bicycling. He loved it. Our final move was in 2015 from the San Fernando Valley to Sun City Lincoln Hills in Northern California to be closer to our daughter's family in Roseville. Here he cycled with a group three times a week, riding one hundred miles each week. He was so happy. Later, the group got electric battery-powered bikes. That was heaven! During the COVID-19 pandemic, Lance built a second E-Bike from parts.

During his five-year battle with intestinal cancer, we enjoyed Sun City activities like Ballroom and Country Couples dancing, bridge with friends, the St. Vincent de Paul group, plays and trips with community members. His favorite lunches were at Taco Bell and In-N-Out Burger.

I feel blessed to have shared fifty-four years with a terrific man.