Milo Lanson Decker “Lance” was born on March 23, 1942, to Milo and Doris Decker of Visalia, California. He was raised in Visalia in the same home he shared throughout his childhood with his younger sisters, Carolyn and Katie.
Upon graduating from Mount Whitney High School, Lance enlisted in the Navy in 1960. He met his future wife, Dalene Beck, at a dance and they later married on January 17, 1962, in Chitose, Japan.
Lance served our country proudly in a wide variety of roles in the communications field that took him and his family to military stations around the world including Japan, Midway Island, Skaggs Island, Iceland, The Philippines, Hawaii, and their beloved family home base of San Diego, California.
Along their journey, Lance and Dalene had three children, Deanna (Rick Bahena), Denise (Kenny Hujing), and Randy (Lei Decker). They have five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Lance loved all types of sports including basketball, golf, and was a proficient bowler once scoring 290 in a league game. He was also a collector of rare stamps and coins and shared his passion with his children and grandchildren often taking them to stamp shows and golf tournaments.
Although Lance was not much of a risk taker, he played the Lotto faithfully with a dream of hitting it big one day, enjoying the anticipation and watching the weekly televised drawing just as much.
Of all of his interests and treasures, the one that meant the most to Lance was his family. He loved family get-togethers and made sure everyone's tires had air in them and gas tanks were filled sufficiently before they hit the road to go home. He showed kindness and compassion to others and naturally looked at the bright side of things. Until his last days of communication, when you asked Lance how he was doing, he responded with a smile, “Doing good, I can’t complain”.
Lance penned the poem “The Beauty of True Love” as a tribute to Dalene, his wife of 62 years.