American Atheists has just learned of the sudden demise of our own National Outreach Director and my friend, Lance Wilhelm. Lance was a fixture in our activities and conventions, and I had dinner with him twice last week at the convention in Minneapolis, which was one of his favorite things (along with Dr. Who and really heavy metal music). Lance will be missed.If anyone has any pictures of Lance at the last convention, please send them to me. I will post funeral upodates on this thread as they become available.Mortality sucks.
Dave, Lance’s sudden death is a loss to not only American Atheists but the many friends he had. Thank you for putting this notice up in such a timely manner.
Lance was so proud to be a member of AA, and for his great attendance record at the Conventions. As it is for so many of us, it was the high point of his year. He will be missed!
Conrad Goeringer
My condolences to Lance’s family and friends.
Dave and Conrad. Thank you for taking the time to honor Lance.
Well, he looks pretty young in that picture.
Well, he looks pretty young in that picture.
Rest in Peace, comrade.
Lance will be missed. He never ceased to amaze me with his talk of heavy metal (the heavier the better) while looking at his gray hair… just seemed like such a weird combination of heavy metal and old age. I thought the older you got the softer the music needed to be?
I can go forward knowing I got to see him and talk to him and enjoy his stories one last time at the Convention in Minneapolis.
P.S. Dude, if there’s an afterlife, come back and tell us about it, would you? We’ll miss ‘ya!
In existentialism, we argue that an individual’s existence precedes their essence; we argue that only after one’s life has come to a close does the essence of that life have a meaningful perimeter.
We can now look back on this life and see just what purpose and meaning Mr. Wilhelm created. Mortality may suck, but it is the grounding horizon against which we understand the beauty of a finite life.
And maybe…just maybe, he is slinging back mead in Valhalla with the other gods of metal.
Zac,
Then I feel for the other gods of metal. They won’t be able to keep up with the Lance-o-matic! Rock on!
Blair,
Not necessarily so, young Padawan. I’ve got plenty of gray hair, but give me Alice in Chains and Godsmack any day
Memorial service scheduled for 4/27 in New Brunswick NJ. Stay tuned for more.
Sorry to hear about Lance. I met him several times in NJ, where he did a lot of volunteer work at AA’s office. A very gentle man; I loved how he was also a metalhead.