Lance Eckersell

1953 - 2016

Lance Keith Eckersell, "our Superman," 62, of Boise, passed away July 16, 2016, at his home surrounded by family.

After being rocketed to earth as an infant, he was cared for by his earthly parents, Joyce and Keith Eckersell, of Idaho Falls, where they chose to raise him and imbue him with a strong moral compass. Very early, he displayed superhuman abilities. His mother often told the story of his ability to evade the teachers at his elementary school. She would drop him off at the entrance, he would sneak out the back door, play on the play structures and return out the front at the end of the day.

He started school at Emerson Elementary in Idaho Falls. His family moved to Utah then California before returning to Idaho Falls, where he graduated from Idaho Falls High School. Sometimes bridled with the pressure to use his powers responsibly, he felt lonely, but while attending Boise State College, he made some of his longest and most enduring friendships.

After his graduation from BSC, he returned to Idaho Falls, unaware that the mundane job he was hired to do (driving a spud truck) would instill the love he had for the smell of dirt and the robust sound of farm equipment hard at work. Shortly after, he started working alongside his father at JK Insurance, where his knowledge of farming turned him into an award winning crop insurance agent.

To most he was known as a "mild mannered crop insurance agent," but to us he was "faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!"

As a young man building a business, he had no time for girls, using his best "Boy Scout" charm to meet women, he often got drinks thrown in his face or worse.

It wasn't until he turned 43 that he met Theresa, the love of his life, while working on a house he was building. She was able to see an invulnerability that others had not, and on Sept. 9, 1999, they were married and became an instant family along with her daughter, Sarah (Beasley) Atwood.

In 2002, they moved to Boise, shortly after the birth of their daughter, Samantha, and later had a son, Ethan.

Lance's hobbies included… well, he wasn't really a hobby kind of guy. But he was very passionate about very many things, the top of the list being crop insurance; secondly cars, he would spend hours researching statistical information, watching car racing on television or simply driving around to see what was on the local lots; and then of course the list wouldn't be complete without Bond, James Bond.

He was able to remember any number, had superhuman math skills and an unearthly golf swing, but above all, his most significant super power was his ability to unconditionally love his family.

Cancer was his kryptonite.

The family would like to express their sincere appreciation and thanks to the team of Dr. Dan Zuckerman and Dr. Stephen Smith, all the staff at MSTI and St. Luke's Hospice.

He is survived by his wife, Theresa Eckersell, and her daughter, Sarah (Jared) Atwood, and grandchildren, Remie Saige and Jaxton James; his children, Samantha and Ethan; and his mother, Joyce Eckersell.

He was preceded in death by his brother, Brian Eckersell, and his father Keith Eckersell.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Lance Eckersell Memorial Fund at Riverstone International School, riverstoneschool.org.