POLSON, MT
The second-eldest of eight children, Lanny Van Meter, 69, was born in Franklin, IN, on April 7, 1951, to Albert and Odell (Logsdon) Van Meter. Lanny passed away in the early morning hours of May 23, 2020, at the Kalispell Regional Medical Center in Kalispell, MT, where he had battled Systemic Lupus that had attacked his lungs and his blood.
Lanny grew up in Needham, IN, and was a standout athlete at Franklin Community High School where he participated in and won many awards in football, wrestling and track. In his junior year he received the Good Citizenship Award. He also represented the school as a delegate to Boys State held on the IU campus at that time.
Continuing on with his own love of sports, he coached and mentored basketball and football teams at the Franklin Boys Club throughout most of the 70’s. He later coached his son, Andy, and grandsons in football and boxing. He was proud to watch Andy’s Jr. Golden Glove boxing matches and to witness his grandson, Jonah, sign to play football at Montana Tech.
After working at Public Service Indiana as a lineman and then foreman for over 10 years, he moved his family to Butte, MT. There he found that the Big Sky state was everything he dreamed of . Eventually, Lanny made his way to Kodiak, Alaska. He loved his time as Operations Mgr. for Kodiak Electric and living in Alaska where his dad, Albert, had been stationed during WWII.
Of course it didn’t hurt that there was an abundance of fishing and hunting opportunities. In 2004 he was honored by the Alaskan Field and Wildlife Service with a public service award for his work on the implementation of the Firefly bird flapper attached over the top of power poles. This simple, flimsy perch made out of a piece of irrigation tubing uses color and motion to divert eagles that arrive in Kodiak for the winter from landing on power lines causing power outages and even death to the eagles.
Upon his retirement Lanny and his wife, Helen, moved back to Montana to be closer to family. Not one to sit idle, he soon joined the Lake County Sheriff’s department in Polson as a Corporal at the detention center and as a bailiff.
Lanny is survived by his wife, Helen; his son Andy (Mandy); two daughters, Sunday Morning Plant
(Pete) and Bernina Sunrise Van Meter; two brothers, Dr. Dan Van Meter and Darrell Van Meter
(Debbie); five sisters, Abby Kirby (Terry); Brenda Smith (Jeff); Barb Van Meter; Mary E Burton (Don); Janet Moran
(Steve); thirteen grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, and several nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his niece Juliena Van Meter and his nephew Jason Moran.
Lanny truly loved and respected the outdoors and wanted others to enjoy and take care of the natural resources and beauty that surrounded him. In his memory, take a walk, dig out a fishing pole, or just go outside and breathe in the beauty of the woods, lakes and blue skies he loved so much. No one in his family will ever look up at a big glorious tree or beautiful blue sky without thinking of him out there in his Big Sky Montana where he lived out his dream.
A funeral service is scheduled for Wednesday, June 3 at 2:00 p.m. at the Ronan Community Center in
Ronan, MT. Arrangements are in the care of The Lake Funeral Home and Crematory , Polson, MT.
As circumstances allow, a Celebration of Life service will be held in Indiana for family and friends at a later time.
