Jace Tyler Layman

Jace Tyler Layman, age 20, passed away Thursday, June 22, 2023, due to an undetermined medical emergency while working for the Padlock Ranch in Sheridan County, Wyoming.

Jace was born Jan. 2, 2003, in Missoula, Montana to his parents Heather and Justin, joining his older sister, Kiley.

Jace was raised in Seeley Lake, Montana, until age 11, when the family moved to Havre, Montana. In 2017, the family moved back to Seeley Lake where Jace graduated from Seeley-Swan High School in June of 2020.

At a young age, Jace enjoyed the outdoors. He developed a love for fly fishing the waters of western Montana, hunting with his dad and snowmobiling. Jace spent any waking minute he had to tag along on whatever outdoor adventure he could. He also grew up helping his mom and extended family on the guest ranch, working the Bob Marshall backcountry trips and packing mules. He was well noted for his biscuits and Mountain Dew apple pie in the Dutch oven.

Jace worked for a landscaping business, machine shop, and then for the family ranch guiding folks and packing mules. But as he grew, so did his dreams of being a cowboy working for a cow/calf operation anywhere in the West. Jace was rarely seen without a rope in his hand, roping anything that stood still.

He took to riding colts, developing horse and livestock skills and forged a life he loved. He found himself on a feedlot in Terry, Montana, briefly, before moving to Rosebud, Montana, to work for the Whacker family on the Cross 4. From there, he moved to Nevada staying near Reno for a while, and then on to the King’s River Ranch north of Winnemucca, Nevada.

He loved the buckaroo life, and as a cowboy usually does, he moved again, back to Montana, making more friends along the way. After searching for the right fit, with his dog, borrowed horses, and cowboy gear loaded on the truck, Jace found himself at the Padlock Ranch. Here, he had finally found a place he would enjoy sticking around for a while. Jace worked the last few weeks of his too-short life riding colts, roping, and living his best life right up until the end in the branding pen surrounded by strangers who had become close friends.

Jace was preceded in death by his maternal great grandparents C.B. and Helen Rich, grandfather Owen Talkington, and paternal great-grandparents, Elsie & Gene Bartel and John Layman. He is survived by his mother Heather (Shane) Countryman, his father Justin (Mindy) Layman, his sister Kiley Layman and her fiancé Ken Weaver, stepsister Kerstyn, grandparents Peggy and Ralph Cahoon, grandparents Don and Lois Layman, many uncles, aunts, cousins, and his loyal border collie Tish.

May Jace’s albeit short but full and well-lived life carry on with us all.