Lyle Lawson Archer, age 86, passed away peacefully at home in Mount Vernon, WA on the morning of October 31, 2025.

Born on July 4, 1939 to Roy Thomas Archer and Dolly Eva (Ballard) Archer,  his mother quickly nicknamed him "her little fire cracker" and Lyle spent the rest of his life living up to his nickname.

Lyle was the youngest of 4 boys…Rodney Eugene (Gene), Edwin David (David), Richard Gale (Dick).

Lyle went to the new WestView Elementary School and was part of the first 8th grade graduating class. He graduated from Burlington High School in 1957. While he was in high school he was a yell leader in his junior and senior year and was very well liked by his fellow students.

After high school he started his career in the parts department at Gearhart Ford and then he went to Lietner Electric.  While at Lietner Electric Lyle got tired of his bosses ordering him around, so he went to the draft board and asked how far down on the list he was. The lady looked him up and said, "Oh you are to report to Seattle next week for your physical". He didn't want to be drafted so he enlisted in the US  Navy in Oct. 1961. He was stationed in San Diego, California from Oct. 1961 – Feb. 1966. While he was in the Navy he did 2 West Pac (Western Pacific) cruises on the USS Morton (the saltiest ship of the fleet). Because of the name "Morton" they actually got permission from the Morton Salt company to have a flag designed that would have their logo (the little girl) on it. He was still in contact with some of his Navy friends clear up until his death. He treasured the many friends he had made.

When he came home his brother had a job for him at NC Machinery in Mt. Vernon where he worked as the parts manager. He married Vicki Carlson in August 1969 and had three daughters (Jamie, Marty, and Linde).

After leaving NC Machinery Lyle worked for Projects Unlimited building greenhouses. Their slogan was "Another Quality Erection by Projects Unlimited". He worked with several men including Paul Ecke, who's family had the biggest poinsettia farm in California.

In April 1981 he went to work at Barnett Implement, a John Deere Dealership in Mt. Vernon as the lawn and garden parts manager. Lyle formed life-long relationships with not only those he worked with, but his extensive customer base.  He worked there until his retirement in Nov. 2013. It always amazed people that he could look at a part and just know the part number without looking it up.

His hobbies included reading Louis L'Amour books and other westerns. He loved Karen Kingsbury and Debbie Macomber but he didn't want anyone to know that because they were considered "girly" books.

He crocheted beautiful afghans, baby blankets and doilies. A lot of people were blessed with a crocheted gift from him.

In his early 20's he pursued his talent in art. He drew portraits of his Navy buddies' girlfriends. Lyle took an art class from Bob Walton. During the class, Bob walked behind him and saw Lyle's work and said, "Did I do that or did you"?

He married Deanna DeAtley on April 6, 1991. They had such fun "dating" their entire marriage whether it was a big trip, enjoying a picnic lunch and sitting on a mountain reading or simple coffee dates. They enjoyed each other's company and their time together. He and Deanna had a beautiful garden, which they loved working in. He called it his "dirt therapy" especially with "Dee" by his side. It was his happy place.

His favorite companion was their cat, Punky, who was such a love and is now 17 years old. He was very comforting to Lyle and misses him dearly.

In nice weather he would sit on his front porch to greet the dog walkers and neighbors with a friendly greeting and wave…even the people driving by in cars got a wave from Lyle. He had such a good soul.

He also loved to hike, especially his hikes to Holden Village on the north end of Lake Chelan. On his first big hike to Holden Village with Ron Torrence, Lyle was not prepared. Ron had gone ahead of Lyle but came back around a corner and told Lyle to just keep walking and talking as there was a bear along the trail in the bushes. Ron then turned around and left Lyle. When Lyle passed by the bear he said he felt like he could have reached through the bushes and touched the bear. This is one of many funny and scary stories.

He loved food of any kind. Two of his favorites were Dee's homemade Tuna Noodle Casserole and Mac and Cheese. He could eat and eat and not gain one pound. He always said he would walk over a mile of cookies to get to a piece of pie even though he still liked cookies. He also loved ice cream. His favorite was Mocha Almond Fudge and going to Big Scoop. He also loved Lay's potato chips.

He loved the Lord, knew where he was going and was at peace with that. He was a member of the Salem Lutheran since 1969 and extremely active as Sunday School teacher, choir, Sewing for Others, Fellowship and Outreach.

He is survived by his wife of 34 years, Deanna, three daughters Jamie (Todd) Cullop, Marty (Harv) Zegatroo, Linde (Chad) Husk, 8 grandchildren: Ashley, Brady, Cash, Wyatt. Adelin (Noah), Aubrey. Flint, Ira and 1 great grandson, Judge.

He is proceeded in death by his parents, brothers , numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.

He will be surely missed, especially his laugh and kind smile. This was one of the first things that made Deanna fall in love with him.

We want to thank the caregivers, especially Hospice of the Northwest, NW Council on Aging, and Right at Home. We are also very thankful for our friends, neighbors and church family who were there for us in so many ways. Everything they did for us was very much appreciated.

Memorial will be held Saturday,  March 21, 2026 at 4:00 at Salem Lutheran Church in Mt. Vernon, Wa. (2529 N. Laventure Rd. Mt. Vernon, WA. 98273) a reception will follow with some of his favorite foods.

In lieu of flowers feel free to donate to the memorial fund at Salem Lutheran Church or one of the following agencies, Hospice of the Northwest (227 Freeway Dr. Suite Mt. Vernon, WA. 98273), Northwest Council on Aging ( 600 Lakeway Dr. Bellingham, WA. 98225) or Right at Home (317 S. 2nd St. Mt. Vernon, WA. 98273) in memory of Lyle Archer.