Lyder Christian Tande

SCOBEY - Lyder Christian Tande, 75, of Scobey, died of natural causes, in his home, Wednesday morning, Jan. 1, 2003. Services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 4, at Scobey Lutheran Church. Interment will be at a later date.

He was born April 30, 1927, in Scobey, to Christian O. and Julia Theresa (Lien) Tande. He attended Scobey schools and upon graduation from SHS in 1945, he joined the U.S. Army. After his discharge in 1947, he utilized the opportunity of the GI Bill to attend Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn. Lyder graduated in the summer of 1951 with a double major in history and math education.

While at Concordia, he met, and on Aug. 5, 1950, married, Isabelle Louise Eklund of Ada, Minn. He brought his bride to Scobey, where they have lived ever since.

That same year, 1950, Lyder joined his Dad in running Tande's Grocery. In 1960, Lyder and his brother Ludwig built DC Lanes. Lyder sold his shares in 1963 and bought Howard's Jack & Jill in Poplar. In December 1972, his son Brad joined him in running the Poplar store.

When Lyder "retired" in 1992, son Craig joined Tande's Grocery in Scobey. Despite "retirement" and a leg amputation, Lyder remained a vital presence in the stores.

Lyder was a member of the C-400, the American Legion and Elks. He served as chair of the Daniels County Democratic Central Committee for several terms.

A passion of his has long been rural health. He was a member of the Montana State Rural Health Committee, the Daniels County Foundation Board and the DC Hospital Board. His longest continuous membership, from baptism to burial, has been with the Scobey Lutheran Church.

Lyder is survived by "Bootsie," his wife of 52 years; sons, Craig (Mida) of Scobey, Brad (Lee Ann) of Poplar; daughters Teresa (Doug Darling) Tande of Devils Lake, N.D., and Victoria (Tracy) Howard of Baker City, Ore.; sisters Jeannette Oklund of Minneapolis, Olga Belgum of Thousand Oaks, Calif., and Donna Lyng of Bowie, Md.; his mother-in-law, I. Viola Eklund of Buena Park, Calif.; grandchildren, Chris (Dana), Mike and Jessice Tande, Maria (Brad) Lamb, Kendra and Lindsey Tande, Trevor and Trenton Howard; four step-grandchildren, Shannon (Adrian) Spotted Bird, Keri and Jeremy Fox, and DJ Darling; a great-grandchild, Katelyn Christine Lamb, to whom he was "the grandpa who was great"; and four step-great-grandchildren, Ryan and Austin Spotted Bird, and Alexis and Hunter Lambert.