Obituary
Lance Owen Paxton
August 24th, 1947 - June 18th, 2024
Lance Owen Paxton
August 24, 1947 – June 18, 2024
Lance Owen Paxton, 76, of Idaho Falls, passed away Tuesday, June 18, 2024, at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center.
Lance (son of Owen B. Paxton and Elizabeth C. Burke) was born on August 24, 1947, in Wyandotte, Michigan.
He married Margie Kay Franta on August 24, 1968, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
They are the proud loving parents of three daughters: Julianna Selene Paxton Banks, Chandra Elise Paxton Wachholz, and Alana Nicole Paxton Shatto.
Lance was a life-long free thinker, learner, and author. He attended the University of Miami, studying finance and philosophy, when quite by a chance recommendation of a friend, took an engineering course in computers and programming. That began a long professional career as a consultant to business and government until he retired in 2010 after serving for 30 years at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in Idaho Falls, Idaho.
He and his family moved from Florida to Idaho in 1980. Preferring to live in a natural setting, he lived in the northern Rockies within sight of the Grand Teton Mountains. He was an avid eBike rider and valued spending time with his family.
Lance is survived by his spouse, Margie Kay Franta Paxton; his children: Julianna Selene Paxton Banks (Kenneth L. Banks), Chandra Elise Paxton Wachholz (former spouse, Joerg Wachholz), and Alana Nicole Paxton Shatto (former spouse, Benjamin N. Shatto); and his grandchildren: Kendra Mariah Banks, Colin Paxton Wachholz, Lily Clara Wachholz, and Alexis Nicole Shatto.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Owen B. Paxton and Elizabeth C. Burke.
Services will be held at a later date. Cremation is under the care of Coltrin Mortuary, 2100 First Street, Idaho Falls. Online condolences may be sent to https://www.coltrinmortuary.com/obituary/lance-paxton.
Our hearts fill with love when we hear his voice remind us to “Be Here Now.”
