A New Beginning


Pat and Lance

In 1955, Lance's natural parents, Steve and Ida divorced. Both would remarry during the next few years that followed. Patrick Sargese, shown in the photo above, married Lance's mother. The picture was taken in 1956 in Clifton, New Jersey.


Barbara LeMay

Lance lived with his father, Steve, after the divorce. In 1956, Steve landed a job at IBM in Poughkeepsie, New York. His dad's first assignment was to find a location for a new IBM plant and set it up. Of the three sites under consideration, Essex Junction, Vermont was selected because it was the only candidate that had an existing warehouse already built on the property. In the Fall of 1957, Lance and his father moved to Burlington, Vermont.

Mrs. Barbara LaFrance LeMay, shown above, had a new born daughter named Debra, and was going through a divorce herself. Lance's father hired her to be a live-in sitter during those times when he would be away for a few days on business trips. When her divorce became final, Lance's father and Barbara began dating and eventually married. Thus, Lance's sitter, became his step mother, and he gained a step sister. Debra Lynn LeMay's last name was changed to Micklus and she was adopted by Lance's father.


Lance, Lisa, and Cathy

Several years later Pat and Ida Sargese, Lance's step father and natural mother, had a daughter named Lisa. The picture above was taken around 1965 when Lisa was almost two years old. It was taken at the Sargese apartment in Clifton, New Jersey. With Lance in the picture is his fiancée, Cathy Sheehy from Troy, New York. Although they remain good friends to this day, the engagement broke off and Cathy married Thomas Scanlon - a high school sweet heart. The Scanlons have four grown children and still live in Poughkeepsie, New York.


Sargese Family

This picture was taken in the early 1970's but the exact year is not known. It shows the Sargese half of Lance's family - Pat (Lance's step father), Ida (Lance's natural mother), Lisa (Lance's half sister), and Lance's son Tony (by his first marriage to Dolores), and, of course Lance.


Micklus

This picture was taken on Christmas Eve in 1971. This is Lance's first Christmas in Vermont since moving back to the state a few months earlier to start working at Vermont Educational Television. It shows the Micklus half of Lance's family - Steve (Lance's biological father), Barbara (Lance's step-mother), Debra (Lance's step-sister), Lance, and his son Tony (who appears to be in some kind of distress).

Sadly, Steve and Barbara Micklus divorced in the mid 1970's but remained good friends. Debra Lynn Micklus died on April 21, 1979 at the age of 22 from Cystic Fibrosis. Barbara LaFrance Micklus died a year later from Lupus compounded by the depression caused by the loss of her only daughter. She was 45. Lance's father retired from IBM in the early 1980's during one of the first buy outs. He died on June 3, 1991 of natural causes at the age of 68.

Lance's natural mother, who now prefers to be called Aida rather than Ida, is still married to her second husband Pat. They own a home in Clifton, New Jersey. Lisa, Lance's half sister, holds two Master’s degrees: an M.T.S. in Theological Studies (Drew University, '02), an M.A. in Counseling and Human Services (Montclair State, '06) and has her B.A. in Philosophy.


Sound Icon SOUND COLLECTION

This 1972 recording of Lance's son, Tony, was made when he was three years old. It includes a song, animal sounds, and his bed time prayer.

Click the play button
to listen.


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