Lonny R. Tachenko, 100, Bismarck, died Sunday, June 19, 2016 at his home with family by his side. Funeral services for Lonny will be at 2 p.m., Thursday, June 30, 2016 at the Grassy Butte Seventh Day Adventist Church, south of Grassy Butte with Pastor Odea Sigh officiating. Interment will follow at the church cemetery. Military honors will be provided by the Belfield American Legion William C. Blair Post 144. Visitation will be on Wednesday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., at Ladbury Funeral Service, Dickinson, and will continue at the church on Thursday from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
Lonny Roland Tachenko was born November 1, 1915 on the family ranch near Grassy Butte, the son of Mihilo “Mike” and Yarina “Rose” (Sokirka) Tkachenko. He was raised and educated in the Grassy Butte area, where he also developed his faith and love of his Lord. Over the next 100 1/2 years he witnessed countless and dramatic changes in the world.
He received a teaching certificate and moved to Montana. While teaching in Montana he joined the United States Army and had served honorably as a Surgical Technician from July 11, 1941 to his honorable discharge on December 20, 1945. Following his time in the military he returned to Dickinson and attended Dickinson State Teachers College, working toward a pre-dental degree. Changing fields, he decided to attend college in Cincinnati, Ohio where he earned a degree in Mortuary Science in 1948.
Lonny was united in marriage to Estella Frances Lang on June 30, 1947 at Hollywood, Calif. They moved to Loveland, Colo., where he worked as a licensed funeral director for a couple of years. In 1949 they decided to return to North Dakota and to ranch in the Fairfield area of Billings County, where he remained from 1949 to 2006. Estelle and Lonny moved to Dickinson and eventually to Bismarck in 2014.
Lonny is survived by his wife, Estelle, Bismarck; daughters, Lonna Rae (Mike) Milburn, Brookville, MD, and Brenda Estelle (Ervin Lantz) Tachenko, Mandan; four grandchildren, Tess (Nathan) Custard, Chantel (Colten) Williams, Estee Milburn, and Laine Milburn; two great-grandchildren, Hazel Custard and Sophia Williams; two step-grandchildren, Benjamin Lantz and Kyle Lantz; brother, Mike (Marvella) Tachenko, Avon Park, Fla.; sister-in-law, Virginia Tachenko, Killdeer; brother-in-law, Stanley Lang; son-in-law, Roger Olofson; and numerous nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Joe (Alma), Steve, Matt (Olga), and Gus (Stayce); sisters, Leone (Emil) Quast, Ann (Delmer) Holbrook; and half-brothers, Nick Tkachenko, George Sterling, Andrew Sterling, and Bill Sterling.
