Howard Hunt

Howard G. Hunt, age 79, passed away at a local care facility with family by his side, after a courageous battle with pneumonia and dementia on January 12, 2017.

Howard was born in Buhl, Idaho on February 13, 1937 to Fay Hunt and Nellie Roberts. He was the fifth of seven children, three brothers: Richard, Duane, and Jeff; and three sisters: Dixie, Pauline and Helen. He was raised on a dairy farm in Buhl.

After high school, Howard enlisted in the Army Airborne Division where he was stationed in Germany for two years. He was touring Amsterdam, Netherlands in April of 1957, and saw the woman that would become his wife, Edith M. Orth. He told those soldiers he was with, "I'm going to zero in on that beautiful brunette gal right there." And of course, the rest is history. Before returning back home to the U.S., he proposed to his future wife and they were married on November 15, 1957. Following his military service he returned to Idaho, where he resided the remainder of his life with his wife and where they raised their three children: Terry, Bob, and Bonnie.

Howard tapped into his upbringing of being raised on a farm and promptly purchased 10 acres of farm ground in the Tyhee area of Pocatello where he spent hundreds of hours raising his prize beef cattle along with growing the "best sweet corn known to mankind" as some of his buyers would say. Besides his usual customers of which the bulk of his annual harvest was sold to, he would often times donate a fair share of his corn as well as other produce items from his prize winning garden to the Salvation Army as well as the Bishop's Storehouse. He was also involved serving in community programs, such as Junior Achievement and he donated countless hours in the Simplot Games. Some of his most cherished years of service came while he was serving in the bishopric in the Holman LDS Ward. He enrolled at ISU where he pursued his education in Accounting. Upon graduation from the university, he was employed by J.R. Simplot Company and finished his career with them after 31 years as the supervisor over the Payroll Department.

Howard was very talented with figuring out how to build and fix things on his own. No task was too big or too small that he couldn't tackle. He always had such a gentleness and calmness about him and hardly a thing ever really riled him. Everyone found him to be very approachable, to say the least.

Howard was an avid outdoorsman where he, along with his son Bob, shared many years of hiking the hills and mountains of Idaho in pursuit of deer and elk along with many pheasant and grouse hunting trips. The outdoor activity he did the most and loved to do year around was fishing. Any of his grandchildren had the opportunity to follow him along the various trips he made to Chesterfield, one of his favorite year round fisheries. Any chance he could get, he loved to spend doing things with his children and grandchildren. Howard had a heart of gold and would do practically anything for anyone. His daily examples of integrity and honor were evidence in how he lived his life on a daily basis. He had a very strong testimony of our Savior and lived a Christ-like life. He was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints where he served in many positions and treated each of them with equal amount of respect and importance. Whether serving in the Scouting program or providing guidance and counsel in the Bishopric, he committed his service with the same amount of dedication and love for each assignment or calling. Howard was loved by all that knew him and will be dearly missed.

Howard is survived by his wife of 59 years Edith M. Hunt; brothers Duane (Margaret) Hunt of Paul, ID and Jeff (Kathy) Hunt of Young, AZ; children Terry (Rick) Larsen of Pocatello, ID, Robert "Bob" (Stephanie) Hunt of Pocatello, ID and Bonnie (Shaun) Froelich of Layton, UT; grandchildren Amanda, Aubrey, Jacob, Jonathan, Byron, Tony, Ethan, Brooke, Alex, and Ryan; 13 great grandchildren with 2 on the way. He is preceded in death by his parents Fay Hunt and Nellie Mills; stepmom Laura Hunt; and siblings Richard Hunt, Dixie Smith, Pauline Bigler, and Helen Anderson.

We would like to send a special thanks out to the employees of Copper Summit Assisted Living and Encompass Home Health and Hospice for all the loving care and treatment you gave Howard during the past duration of his life.

Funeral services will be held at 12:00 noon on Saturday January 21, 2017 at the Whitaker LDS Stake Center, 4890 Whitaker Road, with a viewing from 11:00-11:45an prior to the service. Burial will follow at Mountain View Cemetery with Military Rites provided by the Pocatello Veterans Honor Guard. There will also be a viewing from 6:00pm-8:00pm on Friday January 20, 2017 at Wilks Funeral Home, 211 W. Chubbuck Road. Condolences and memories may be shared with the family by visiting www.wilksfuneralhome.com. (Please note the location of the service has changed and will NOT occur at the Holman Ward Building, 300 E. Chapel)