“We were together since we were 14 years old.”
Kari VanGeffen fell in love with Lance Beaulieu when she laid eyes on him in Grade 8 at Yellowknife’s St Patrick’s High School.
The two had been born just three days apart in 1983. It was on Kari’s 14th birthday, in 1997, that they met for the first time.
“I just remember looking at him and seeing this beauty and this light that drew me in,” Kari recalled.
“I pursued him. I kept calling him and saying, ‘Oh, hey, do you want to hang out?'”
Lance passed away on January 6. He was 41 years old.
To Kari, Lance had been a constant presence by her side for her entire adult life and beyond.
“We lived together. We went through high school together. Everything we did was together,” Kari said.
“We never really did get married. He didn’t believe in the church marriage per se, it was more that we were committing to each other. We didn’t need a piece of paper to prove that,” she added. In practice, the two considered each other husband and wife.
In an obituary, the family described Lance as the proud father of Kaitlyn, 20, and Tanner, 18.
Lance and Tanner spent their spare time snowmobiling together, Kari said.
“He was a big outdoorsman and he liked all his toys, that’s for sure,” she said.
“We would be boating in the summer, we spent a lot of time out at the cabin at Cassidy Point. He was really into woodcutting with our boy. He just bought, this past summer, a wood processor because they were going to get into wood processing and woodcutting more.”
Lance, a gas inspector at the Department of Infrastructure, struggled with his mental health after the passing of his father, Alex, in October 2024.
Lance was a member of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation. The First Nation, which sent a group to assist with the search for Lance in early January, expressed sorrow at his passing after he was found deceased outside Yellowknife, near the Ingraham Trail, on the evening of January 6.
“It is heartbreaking to hear that a member who was only 41 passed away. I am grateful that he was found, and our hearts go out to his family,” said Chief Fred Sangris.
Though the months after Alex’s death were hard, Kari said her heart remained full of Lance’s presence as a devoted and committed husband and father for their 27 years together.
“He had all these great dreams and ideas, and he just wanted to set things up for our kids to have an easier life than we had,” she said. “I wanted to grow old with him.”
An online fundraiser has been established to help with funeral expenses and education funds for his children.
“Though Lance was a quiet individual, his words always carried weight, and his commitment to his work was unwavering,” read an obituary published earlier this month on the website of the McKenna Funeral Home.
“He leaves behind a legacy of excellence and a memory that will continue to inspire those who had the privilege of working with him.”
A service for Lance begins at St Patrick’s Co-Cathedral at 12pm noon on Saturday, January 25, with burial to follow at Lakeview Cemetery and a reception from 2-4pm at the Great Hall of the Legislative Assembly.
