MOORHEAD — The tributes and stories are coming in, honoring and remembering 60-year-old Lane Larson, who died Wednesday, Jan. 19, in his home.
Lane and three others were featured on WDAY News when they got their own, brand new house together through Creative Care for Reaching Independence.
On Tuesday, CCRI Executive Director Shannon Bock remembered his spirit.
"He always says, no one's the boss of him and he's the boss of me," Bock said.
Sorting through dozens of pictures of Lane Larson, Bock and others remembered a man too great to forget.
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"Oh my God, this is the whole wide world, I love it," Lane said when first shown their new home.
It was Lane's world. The south Moorhead home where Lane and his three roommates lived lives that touched everyone.
Lane spent a lot of time in his room, where he listened to The Beach Boys.
"He would go up to his bedroom and he'd turn on the music and he'd have his own little dance party up there and pretend he was the DJ," Brock recalled.
"Lane loved without conditions, and that's what it was. It didn't matter who you were. It didn't matter what you looked like. It didn't matter what you weighed. It didn't matter," said CCRI Service Professional Amber Lobdell. "He just saw so much beauty in every person."
Lobdell worked for years with Lane, who was more stand-up comedian than anything.
"He was hilarious, so funny. One time I asked him to do something and he said, 'Jody Hudson, I am retired and I don't work for you anymore,'" recalled CCRI Director of Development and Communications Jody Hudson.
So moved by his passing, Lobdell wrote a heartfelt goodbye on Facebook, thanking Lane.
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The side of Lane most everyone talked about was his soft side.
He was a hugger, and would show emotion anytime, anyplace. Lobdell recalled a time she was with Lane like at Target when he spotted someone crying on the phone.
"He didn't know what had just been said to spark (her) reaction, but he saw somebody hurting and he just was overcome with emotion," Lobdell said. "He had so much empathy, so he saw her tears, and it moved him to tears, and he just needed to hold her for awhile. So he just held her and they had a cry together, and I stood there crying, because it's pure love."
That was Lane. A farm boy from Ulen, North Dakota, who had a family that loved him so much, they gave him the freedom to be himself and become one of the four guys to call Moorhead home.
Lane would also comfort his roommates during emotional moments.
"Once the four guys came together, it was like a brotherhood," Bock said.
When Lane passed a few days ago, he died at home. His home, with his three friends by his side. Together to the end.
If only there was some way we could have a million Lane's walking this earth.
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"Wouldn't the world be a great place, if we could do that," Bock said.
