Lones W. Wigger, Jr. 80 passed away Thursday, December 14, 2017 at his home in Colorado

Springs, CO. His burial service will be at 1:00 p.m., Saturday, January 6, 2018 at the Carter Cemetery with full military honors. His funeral service will follow at 2:30 p.m. at the Fort Benton United Methodist Church with Pastor Evelyn Kunkle officiating. Benton Funeral Home has been entrusted with services. Please visit Lones' online memorial page and leave a message of condolence for his family at www.bentonfh.com.

Lones was born August 25, 1937 in Great Falls, Montana to Lones Sr. and Violet (Brown) Wigger. He was the oldest of their 3 children. Lones worked on his parents' farm in Carter, Montana and attended Fort Benton High School from 1951-1955. He enrolled at Montana State College in the Fall of 1955 where he met Mary Kathryn Spencer. Lones and Mary Kay were married in Great Falls on December 28, 1958. After Lones graduated from college with a degree in Agronomy in 1959, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army. Lones served an illustrious career in the Army, stationed the majority of his time at the United States Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) in Fort Benning, GA, but also served two combat tours in Vietnam in 1967 and 1971. After 26 years, Lones retired in1986 at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and moved to Colorado Springs to start his second career as Director of USA Shooting.

Lones served as Director from 1987-1994. He then spent the remainder of his life volunteering for USA Shooting and mentoring young athletes. He was a member of Halls of Fame for MSU, USAMU, USA Shooting and in 2008, Lones became the only shooting athlete in history to be inducted into the US Olympic Hall of Fame. In August 2017, on his 80th birthday, Lones was honored with the dedication of the US Olympic Shooting Center Range. He took this opportunity and raised over $400K for the Junior Olympic Sports Program to complete his legacy.

Lones is survived by his wife Mary Kay of 59 years, sons Ron and Dan, daughter Deena, and three grandchildren.