Sean Michael Dahlman

Sean Michael Dahlman, 37, of Missoula, Montana, passed away on Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2021, at St. Patrick Hospital due to organ failure caused by Covid pneumonia.

Sean was born on April 18, 1984, in Casper, Wyoming, to Dawn Shearrer and Robert Dahlman. His family moved to Missouri when Sean was young which is where he was raised. He sowed many wild oats in his early years, and this defined his life into his early 20s. This, among other things, led him to join and become a proud graduate of the Missouri Show Me Challenge program. When he was 19, he lost most of his left hand in a saw accident at work, though it never slowed him down. He later went on to get his associate degree and was two semesters away from completing his bachelor’s degree in Health and Human Services.

His life experiences gave him an extreme empathy for all humankind. He would give the shirt off his back to give a stranger a hand up. For a friend, he’d throw in his shoes. When Sean was 26, he gave his life to Jesus which allowed him to completely turn his life around. As a recovered poly-substance abuser, he was able to speak to the Fifth Engineer Battalion at Fort Leonard Wood for their Army Substance Abuse Program. Sean loved to be outdoors: prospecting, fishing, bowhunting and survivalist camping, which he sacrificed for glamping when he moved to Montana and married Holly Jo Alteneder on Nov. 19, 2016.

Sean was so loved. He had a huge heart, gave the best hugs, and didn’t like to see anything in pain. He was an attentive, loving husband and father. His family was his everything. He was a formidable chess opponent and had a passion for tea, coffee, music, and the Lord most of all. He was the adult Sunday School teacher at the Church of God Missoula. Everything he did, he did with a passion, or it wasn’t worth doing. He was never afraid to be honest. He would say he didn’t like people but was the life of the party. He was quick-witted, competitive, and could make almost anything into a “That’s how I lost my hand” joke.

Sean is survived by his adoring wife, Holly Jo, and son, Ethan Wayne "Buckshot"; grandfather, Ralph (Marsha) Shearrer of Willow Springs, Missouri; mother, Dawn (Chris) Gray of St. James, Missouri; sisters, Kristin (Kyle) Pennock of Bourbon, Missouri, and Heather (Adam) Tapp of Fayetteville, Arkansas; and nieces and nephew, Lexi, Liam, Natalie, Reese, and his beloved Montana family (the in-laws).
Sean is preceded in death by his biological father, Robert A. Dahlman; nephew, Landon Pennock; grandmother, Sandy Robbers; and his aunt, Terry Shearrer.

Celebration of Life will be Saturday, September 18, 2021, at 11:00 a.m. at the Church of God Missoula, 430 West Alder Street, Missoula, MT, 59802, Brother Clarence Campbell officiating. Arrangements were under the care of Garden City Funeral Home.