- Date Of Birth: June 13, 1927
- Date Of Death: June 10, 2012
- State: Colorado
Elmer Lane was born on June 13, 1927 in Hilltop, Colorado, along with a twin brother, Delmer. Elmer and Delmer were the youngest of the family, having three brothers and one sister. Their mother passed away two weeks after they were born and were ultimately raised by their Uncle Clarence and Aunt Nettie Sheard, who had two children of their own, Leland and Ada.
The family lived in Joes, CO until 1934 when the family farm was lost; results of the Great Depression and the dust bowls. The family packed up and moved to Breckenridge, CO where work was available mining lead and zinc. Elmer worked the mines as a young man in the mid to late 1940’s.
Elmer was an outstanding athlete, playing basketball and baseball on town teams. At one time, he worked for a dairy in Granby, CO that was owned by a lady whose passion was baseball and sponsored a team to which Elmer was a part of. During this time, he was recruited by the New York Yankees. He moved to California to play on a “farm” team as a catcher. It is told that after about 6 weeks in California, he became extremely homesick and came back to Breckenridge.
Elmer joined the Colorado State Patrol and was stationed in Brighton, CO. He met and married Dorothy Alice Danford on April 5, 1953. Elmer and Dottie had one child, Cliff Lane. Elmer continued his work in law enforcement until 1978, retiring to pursue his passion with harness horse racing. He bred, raised, trained and raced many successful horses during this time. He and his partner, Duane Bacon accomplished multiple victories, the best of them was a horse named Pack Leader. Pack Leader raced in California were he achieved pacer of the year for two consecutive years.
