Robert Lacy

Robert Raymond Lacy, 73, of Great Falls, died of cancer Feb. 28, 2008, at Peace Hospice, in Great Falls.

Mike was born in Terrero, N.M., in 1934. Soon after, his family moved back to western Montana, settling down in Whitefish. There he spent his summers working in Glacier National Park on trail crews, fire lookouts and firefighting.

He attended college at Montana State College in Bozeman, earning his bachelor's in civil engineering in 1957. A fraternity brother there introduced him to Grace Barber, from Livingston.

They were married May 25, 1957, just before he reported to Fairchild Air Force Base outside of Spokane, Wash., where he was stationed as an officer in the Army Corps of Engineers. Three years later they were enjoying life in Helena when their daughter Naomi was born.

Mike and his family soon left Helena so he could take a structural engineering job in Spokane. After a couple of years, Mike returned to MSU to earn his master's in civil engineering. While there, their son Jeff was born.

After returning to Spokane for three more years, they moved to Great Falls where Mike worked for Thomas, Dean and Hoskins before starting his own business, Lacy's Structural Engineering.

In 1990, he and Grace sold the business to pursue their other interests. For Mike, this was art photography, with a focus on landscapes. This passion became "The Different Eye," a professional landscape photography business that blended his love of the outdoors with his photography.

Both Mike and Grace enjoyed being outdoors: They often spent months exploring new vistas, hiking and photographing the desert Southwest, the Pacific rain forest, rural Alaska, and their favorite mountains and eastern plains of Montana. Mike found beauty wherever he was.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Marion and Etta Lacy, of Whitefish.

He is survived by his wife Grace; sister Sheila Morrison and husband Gary, of Missoula; daughter Naomi Lacy, of Omaha, Neb.; son, Jeff Lacy and wife Laura, of Idaho Falls, Idaho; grandchildren Jay and Carmen; and mother-in-law Dorothy Barber.

A memorial service took place at Hillcrest Lawn Chapel, in Great Falls, on March 4 with Jo Hall-Salina officiating.

Memorials are suggested to Intermountain Children's Home, 500 South Lamborn Street, Helena MT 59601; Peace Hospice of Montana, 600 15th Avenue South, Great Falls MT 59405; or the Montana Wilderness Association, P.O. Box 635, Helena MT 59624.