Michael Lambert

Michael "Mike" Joseph Lambert, of Swanton, Vermont, died unexpectedly on March 18, 2026 at the Northwestern Medical Center in St. Albans. Born in St. Albans, Vermont on March 10, 1960 to Lucienne M. (Laroche) Lambert and Homer R. Lambert, just about everyone in Swanton, Highgate, and the surrounding area knew Mike. His grieving family takes comfort in knowing our community is with us as we mourn his sudden loss.

Humble, sincere, loving, and generous, Mike was one in a million, and he was also one of thirteen children born to Homer and Lucy. The baby of the four youngest "little ones" in the brood, Mike never did anything small. All his life, he worked hard, played hard, and loved hard, and he was known for his big bear hugs, big sunny smiles, and bighearted ways. As a youngster, he was the apple of his daddy's eye, and he would tag along with Homer on auctioneering days in the sales barn, where he learned how to interact with people, befriending folks with ease and utterly without guile.

Mike attended Highgate public schools and graduated from Missisquoi Valley Union High School in 1978, where he had scads of friends and was on the wrestling, hockey, baseball, and soccer teams (including, with soccer, MVU's first-ever state-championship team). He was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed hunting and fishing. From an early age he displayed remarkable skill with his hands. He could build or fix just about anything-and he did. Just ask his family, friends, and neighbors, or anyone who crossed his path and needed a helping hand. With seemingly boundless energy, Mike generously gave of his time and talents. He took great satisfaction in getting a job done right, whether he was doing someone a favor, or working in one of the many jobs he held over the years. His hard work and unmatched work ethic led him to become a craftsman in carpentry.

He married Sara King and adopted her son, Nicholas, and daughter, Kristina. Becoming their father was one of the greatest joys of his life because Mike loved children. His next happiness was welcoming their son Isaac, whom Mike proudly made his namesake with the middle name, Michael. "My dad taught me to work hard and help other people," Isaac has said over the years, and those were lessons Mike instilled by example. A man of faith, Mike led with kindness and embodied the words "love thy neighbor."

Perhaps Mike's greatest strength was that no matter how life broke his heart, his gentleness and openness remained. He didn't harden or put up walls. There was no pretense about Mike, or bitterness, but an enduring capacity for hope. After Mike's first marriage ended, he remained a hands-on dad to his three children, and then in 2006 he married Wendy Casavant. The two were truly happy, and with Wendy's sons Shane and Kyle Conger, and Mike's three children, the blended family was one in which everyone felt a sense of belonging and gratitude for being among its members. As his grown children found partners and began to have children of their own, Mike rejoiced in the best role of his life. "My favorite people call me Papa," read the words on a t-shirt he often wore, and truer words were never said. Mike was Papa to all his grandchildren, and they were his pride and joy. He got down on their level to play, put them to work with endless kid-friendly gardening and building projects, made them laugh with his famous Donald Duck impression, and held them in his strong arms, love beaming from his twinkling eyes.

Wendy's tragic death in a hit-and-run accident in 2020 devastated Mike and his whole family. How could he go on after such loss? His family shored him up. His work gave him purpose. His grandchildren brought him joy. His faith sustained him. His resilience offered all who knew him lessons in bearing grief with tenderness. Then, in 2023 redemption came when a woman named Marcia who had been an acquaintance for many years started to become something more. Mike and Marcia weren't looking for love, but it found them anyway. "I'm happy again," he'd tell people in the early days of their romance, and he kept saying that right up to the end of his life. Some of Mike's newfound happiness came with the chance to welcome Marcia's family as his own. Marcia's daughter, Erin, and son, Matthew, and their families all quickly learned that once Mike counted them his, he would remind them they belonged every chance he had.

Mike and Marcia's all-too-brief years together were filled with fun, whether they were renovating their sprawling farmhouse, going on an Alaskan cruise, travelling to Puerto Rico to visit daughter-in-law Hilarie's family, or attending church. He officially became a member of the Richford First Baptist Church just three days before his death, after a period of study and preparation, during which he identified Hebrews 10:24-25 as bible verses that expressed his core, spiritual values. (Go ahead and look them up; you'll see why.)

"God is good, and we are truly blessed," Mike would say to countless people after he and Marcia married on October 25, 2025. In February 2026 they went on a Caribbean cruise to celebrate their marriage, with a few family members along for the trip, providing Marcia with memories she will cherish forever.

In addition to his late wife, Wendy, Mike was predeceased by his sisters Catherine Lambert Columb and Barbara Lambert Chevalier, his mother-in-law Phyllis Lasnier, and his parents Lucienne M. (Laroche) Lambert and Homer R. Lambert. He was only fourteen years old when his father died, and that devastating loss inspired him to write a poem for Homer called "My Friend," which closed with the words, "He was a good friend / No better have I had / None will ever replace this friend / For this friend was my dad."

None will ever replace Mike, either, in the hearts of those he leaves behind: his beloved, newlywed wife and sweetheart, Marcia Lambert, of Swanton; the adult sons and daughters in his blended family, Nicholas Lambert of St. Albans and his partner, Megan Hilliker, of Sheldon, Kristina (Lambert) Bosworth and her husband, Adam Bosworth, of Highgate, Isaac Lambert and his wife, Hilarie Santiago-Rodriguez, of Highgate, Shane Conger and his wife, Heidi (Mayhew) Conger, of Underhill, Kyle Conger and his fiancée, Lori Papineau, of Fairfield, Matthew Thomas and his fiancée, Amalia Langlinais, of Fairfax, Erin (Thomas) St. Francis and her husband, Jamie St. Francis, of Highgate; his treasured grandchildren, Joanna Lucia Lambert-Santiago, Knox Griffin Lambert-Santiago, Kilian Lael Bosworth, Ivar Loughlin Bosworth, Stellan Anderson Bosworth, Ronan Cian Bosworth, Willa Ray Conger, Chasity Bricker, Alyssa Bricker, and Ryan Longway, and precious great-grandchildren through Marcia, Austin Callan, Bentley Callan, and Gracie Ann Thomas; his siblings, Raymond Lambert (Ellen) of Brattleboro, VT and Clearwater, FL, Dorothy Lambert McGrath of Clearwater, FL, Henry Lambert (Molly) of Swanton, Anna Lambert of Milton, Mary Lambert Chapman (Ed) of Westerville, OH, Ruth Lambert of Colchester, Edward Lambert (Susan) of St. Albans, Louis Lambert (Susan) of Houston, TX, Rita Lambert Lavallee (Peter) of Milton, and Steven Lambert (Alana) of Rouses Point, NY; his brothers-in-law who survived his late sisters, Claude Chevalier (Donna) of Highgate, and Alfred Columb of Laconia, NH; and his sisters-in-law Kathryn Hakey (David) of Swanton and Nena Melvin (Rick) of Ware, NH, brothers-in-law Allen Lasnier (Janie) of Eaton, CO and Brian Casavant (Kathleen) of Highgate, and mother-in-law, Cecile Casavant, of Highgate; as well as dozens of Laroche cousins and extended family members, scores of nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews, and a wide circle of bereaved friends and neighbors, including his close friends Randy Fregeau and John Assid, and his canine companion, Lucy.

Some say grief is love with nowhere to go, but we will all take inspiration from Mike's life of love and resilience to find places where our great love for him can go. To join us in honoring his legacy and preserving his memory, give someone a big bear hug, make a child laugh, or lend a neighbor a hand-and tell them Mike sent you. Those who so desire may make memorial donations in memory of Mike to the charity of their choice.

A wake will be held on Friday March 27, 2026 from 4-8:00PM, at the Goss Life Celebration Home, 89 Grand Avenue, Swanton, VT. Funeral services will be held on Saturday March 28, 2026 at 11:00AM at the Richford First Baptist Church, 30 School Street, Richford, VT. A potluck reception will be held at the Highgate Methodist Community Center, 3227 Vermont Rte. 78, Highgate Center, immediately following the service. To honor Mike, who rocked a Hawaiian shirt like no one else, please wear colorful attire.

A private burial will occur at a later date, at the convenience of the family.

Condolences, photos and favorite memories may be shared through www.gossfs.com