Tom Schraufnagel|Jun 18, 2020
Although we only saw each other a handful of times as adults I always had that good friendship bond with Lance. As kids we lived down the street from each other and were good friends. We had sleep overs, goofed around a lot and learned how to play football together from 4th to 6th grade and winning the championship one year. Lance was a bigger kid and played fullback. There were many times when there would be two or three players on top of him and Lance was still going forward with the football. We played a game in a rainstorm on a brand new field that had no grass. The rain turned the field into a mud bowl. Lance got the ball and broke a few tackles and made 60 yard run to the goal line. During the run he had lost his shoe along the way. They stopped the game to look for his shoe, but it was never found. I’m sure it’s still buried 1 foot under League City clay. The summer of 5th grade he moved 20 miles away from Clear Lake City to Pearland Texas. We still saw each other 4 or 5 times a year for a weekend sleep over through junior high school. We would play a lot of golf at his house. In high school I only think we saw each other a couple of times. We lost contact and in 1999 I found his email and we exchanged a few emails. I had some work in Atlanta a few times so we would meet for lunch or he would come to Phoenix for work and we would have dinner. He was still the same guy as an adult that I remembered, smart, fun and bigger than life without the arrogance. I had not seen him in at least 12 years but I’m going to miss him. We could always pick up where we left off. Rest peacefully my friend.