Lance Boyle

Lance Patrick Boyle, age 52, son of Mary (Comar) Boyle and Patrick L. Boyle passed away January 4th, 2018 during a stem cell transplant at University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison. Although his life was too short, it touched many people in several walks of life. He was an avid outdoorsman, a father, brother, husband, friend to many, a treasured fishing buddy, nephew, law enforcement officer, a respectable carpenter, a Harley rider, a hunter and an athlete who had a big heart and a witty sense of humor.

As a child, Lance was known for being a real handful for his parents. He was every bit a rough and tumble little boy that kept his mother very busy. As a toddler living in Waterloo, he gave his parents the scare of a lifetime after drinking a bottle of insecticide. This earned him a rapid ride with police escort into St. Mary's hospital. Throughout the years there were always dog bites, falls, cuts, burns and bruises which resulted in a long list of emergency room visits. When his sister Lori found him running with a butcher knife, she attempted to save him from disaster by yanking it away from him. Sadly, she sliced open several fingers and there was yet another trip to the ER. Despite the fact that she loved him dearly, his exhausted mother was often known to say "If Lance would have been my first child there would have been no Lori!"

After his parents relocated the family to Oklahoma, they were finally able to channel his boundless energy into sports. Lance had the blessing and the curse to usually be the biggest kid in his class. This made him a welcome addition to Bartlesville school peewee football teams. But his real talent was baseball. Lance was happiest and most comfortable with a baseball or tennis ball in his hands.

By the time he was in Junior High, the family lived in Corpus Christi. He was chosen from all the city teams to be the pitcher on the Corpus Christi City Little League All Stars. His strategy was to hit home runs so he didn't have to run too fast around the bases, so he had one of the highest home run averages in Corpus Christi Little League. As a pitcher, he was known for being cool under pressure, except when he found out he had to pitch to the first girl in their little league. He agonized about this for the entire week before the game. Should he hold back since she was a girl? Or should he strike her out and be the bad guy? He struck her out. Lance also had an odd talent which few knew. He was excellent at riding a unicycle.... a 5 foot tall one! Soon, he graduated from one wheel to two, learning to ride his father's motorcycle. The first time he ever gave his sister a ride to work, he ended up throwing the bike and the sister into the ditch to avoid hitting the back of a pickup truck. Fortunately there were no serious injuries, just one angry sister. Although his riding skills improved into a lifelong love of motorcycle riding, this would only be the first of multiple accidents that he somehow managed to survive.

It was during his time in Texas on the Gulf Coast that Lance also fell in love with fishing and water skiing. He and his Dad spent many hours together in the family boat fishing the intercoastal canal off Padre Island. During one eventful trip, their boat got stuck on a sandbar at night and they had to be rescued. On another excursion, Lance couldn't resist popping a jellyfish he found on the beach. Once again he ended up in the ER.

After moving back to Wisconsin, Lance attended Madison East High School where he graduated in 1984 after playing both football and baseball there. He went on to attend UW Platteville and earned his degree in criminal justice. While in college, he dated and later married his first wife, Tammy Stone. His law enforcement began with a job as a dispatcher for Sun Prairie and Middleton. In 1989 he got a job working for the state of Wisconsin on the UW police in Madison. He and Tammy bought a home and moved to Mazomanie, Wisconsin. Later they moved to Sun Prairie and had their daughter, Logan. After his first marriage ended in 1994, he transferred from UW police where he became a sergeant at Oak Hill Correctional Institute in Oregon, Wisconsin. He continued to work there until his 2016 retirement ending his 27+ year career with Wisconsin Law enforcement.

During his time working on the UW campus, he met and latter married second wife Jodi Hollis. They bought a rural home in Bellville, Wisconsin. Together the couple shared a love of animals and the outdoors. They particularly loved their horses and dogs, especially boxers. In addition, they enjoyed riding ATV's and snow mobiles and Lance continued to ride motorcycles.

After his second marriage ended in 2006, Lance was still working at Oak Hill. He dated long time girlfriend Jennifer Peng until her death in 2015. Together they enjoyed travel and fishing trips to Fischer Lake near Mercer, Wisconsin. Lance got into running and proudly completed a half marathon in Madison. Returning from a trip to Sturgis on his Harley, Lance and Jen got into a severe motorcycle accident causing Lance a leg injury that ended his marathon hobby.

Most of all, Lance remained a dedicated outdoorsman. Deer hunting on his Richland Center property, fishing each summer in Mercer and riding ATV' often with buddies Steve, John and brother in law Brian remained his greatest enjoyment. He was a skilled fisherman who knew every sweet spot on Fisher Lake. And of course, anyone he met this year got to see a proud picture of his new English bulldog and best furry friend, TBone.

In 2014, Lance was diagnosed with a rare form of non -Hodgkin lymphoma called Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia. He bravely battled this disease until it claimed his life during a stem cell transplant at UW Hospital in Madison on January 4th. Although his life was short, he lived it to its fullest and will be greatly missed by family, friends and especially his furry four legged pal TBone.

He was preceded in death by his father Pat Boyle, mother Mary Boyle, cousin Daneen Longhurst and girlfriend Jennifer Peng. Survivors include his daughter Logan Boyle, sister Lori Johnson (Brian), stepmother Muriel (Knowles) Boyle, niece Chelsea Boyle, aunt Verda Longhurst, aunt Joey (Vernon) Neal, and cousin Coleen Hanshaw (Robbie).

A combined memorial ceremony for both Patrick and Lance Boyle will be held at Cress Funeral Home, 1310 Emerald Terrace, Sun Prairie, WI on Saturday, February 3, 2018 at 1:00 PM with Rev. Jenny Arneson presiding. A casual reception will follow until 4:00PM. Memorial donations may be made to any cancer charity in lieu of flowers.

Cress Funeral & Cremation Services
1310 Emerald Terrace
Sun Prairie, WI 53590
608-837-9054