Richard "Ric" Mathew Lahti, was born November 26, 1904 in Rock Springs, Wyoming. His parents, Frans Matti and Sofia Uitto Lahti, immigrated from Finland. The family moved to DeKalb, Illinois, where Matti Lahti worked as a wire-drawer at American Wire and Steel. Ric Lahti dropped out of school after eighth grade. His sister, Jennie Lahti, received her diploma from DeKalb Township High School. Jennie Lahti, also spelled Jennye, and called "Jenks," was born April 14, 1904. She married Theodore Fry on May 3, 1941.
Ric Lahti began his golfing career as a caddy at the Kishwaukee Country Club. He learned to play golf with a makeshift club made from a broom handle at a nine-(soup can)-hole course designed in a cow pasture at the end of Eleventh Street. Lahti joined Kishwaukee Country Club in 1927 at the age of 22. He became president in 1942 and again in 1955. He also filled in as golf professional from 1950 through 1952. Lahti won the club championship three times and the Kishwaukee Invitational four times. Among numerous other awards he won the Lincoln Highway medalist title, and both the David Smart trophy and the McAllister trophy (Sycamore) three consecutive years.
Ric Lahti was a successful businessman. He owned Lahti Clothing Store in Sycamore and helped others set up businesses in Hampshire and Genoa. Formerly Miles Clothing Store, Lahti purchased and renamed the store, opening on March 29, 1941, with the motto "First with the Latest." Lahti sold the store in 1966, and, after changing hands again in 1972, it officially closed in 1975. Lahti later opened a gourmet restaurant in Belvidere, worked as a real estate agent, and in the late 1970s, worked as a bank security guard. He was a member of Sycamore Elks, was active in all branches of Masonry, and, as a Shriner, became Potentate of Tebala Temple in 1971.
Ric Lahti married Alice Margaret Hitchcock on July 28, 1935, in DeKalb. Alice, born on January 20, 1913, was the daughter of Edward Robert and Margaret Blair Hitchcock. Edward Robert Hitchcock owned Hitchcock Plumbing. Alice Lahti became a Licensed Practical Nurse and also had a successful golf career, playing at Kishwaukee Country Club, as well as others.
Ric and Alice Lahti had two children, Rachael Alyce Lahti, born on March 27, 1937, and Richard Edward Lahti, born August 31, 1939, both in DeKalb. Ric Lahti died on May 3, 1990, at home in Sycamore, Illinois. Alice Lahti died at Oak Crest Retirement Center in DeKalb on February 6, 2007.