Elmer Karl Lakata

Elmer Karl Lakata passed away peacefully at Mountain Valley Hospice in Gloversville, New York, on March 21, 2026, at 7:00 PM.

Elmer was born in New York City on October 22, 1936, the son of Elemir Lakata and Berta Zanoni Lakata, who immigrated to the United States from Eastern Europe in the late 1920s. In the late 1930s, Elmer moved with his mother, brother Neil, and sister Gloria to Johnstown, New York, where the family settled amid a thriving local economy.

From an early age, Elmer demonstrated extraordinary intelligence and creativity. He excelled in mathematics, science, electronics, music, and art, quickly earning recognition from his teachers as exceptionally gifted. While attending Knox Junior High School, he split his days between school and work to help support his family. Through a teacher's guidance, he began working at Silk Screen Art in Johnstown, where his remarkable technical and artistic abilities soon became evident. Even as a teenager, Elmer identified inefficiencies in the company's manufacturing process and, without formal plans, designed and built entirely new production systems from his own imagination.

In 1952, Elmer enlisted in the United States Air Force, serving four years as a radio and electronics repairman. During his service, he was stationed at a remote radar facility in Goose Bay, Labrador, Canada, near the town of North West River. It was there that he met the love of his life, Carol Montague. They married and shared 69 years together until Carol's passing on June 15, 2025.

Together, Elmer and Carol raised seven children: Edward Lakata (deceased), Paul Lakata, Diane Lakata, Chris Lakata, Eric Lakata, Tim Lakata, and John Lakata. They were also proud grandparents to nine grandchildren: Austin and Karl Lakata, Andrew and Kent Lakata, Ariel and Erica Lakata, and Nicholas, Jeremy, and Amy Lakata.

Following his military service, Elmer returned to Silk Screen Art before beginning a long career with the Johnstown Telephone Company, then part of Bell Telephone, where he worked for 20 years. Despite not having a formal college degree, Elmer independently acquired and mastered engineering textbooks, ultimately earning certification in engineering. His exceptional skill led him to become a lead engineer, and his expertise was so respected that Fulton-Montgomery Community College invited him to teach electrical engineering courses part-time.

Elmer's talents extended far beyond his professional career. In the early 1980s, he began building model ships-not from kits, but entirely from raw wood, guided only by photographs and his own ingenuity. After crafting approximately 30 ships, one of his largest creations was purchased by Malcolm Forbes for $10,000. With those proceeds, Elmer purchased land in the Adirondacks, where he and Carol built a remote, boat-access-only camp entirely by hand. They spent the next 40 years there, enjoying weekends and summers surrounded by nature.

At the camp, Elmer embraced another passion-painting. He created hundreds of works of art, many of which were sold to residents of the Raquette Lake area and remain displayed throughout the Adirondacks today.

His love of electronics was equally extraordinary. His home laboratory-filled with self-built equipment, oscilloscopes, microscopes, and countless inventions-was a testament to his brilliance and curiosity. In 2008, his grandson Andrew submitted an image of this laboratory to Burton Snowboards, which featured it on one of their snowboards, later becoming one of their best-selling designs.

Elmer also held a deep and enduring connection to North West River, Labrador, and his Canadian family. His generosity and artistic contributions to the North West River Museum resulted in approximately 1,000 of his creations being displayed there.

Elmer Lakata lived a life defined by ingenuity, determination, and boundless creativity. His accomplishments are too many to fully capture, and his legacy will live on through his family, his work, and the countless lives he touched.

In keeping with his wishes there will be no calling hours or funeral services.

Arrangements have been entrusted to the A.G. Cole Funeral Home Inc., 215 E. Main Street, Johnstown, NY.

Condolences to the family may be made online by visiting our website at www.agcolefuneralhome.com