Arthur Homer, 86

Arthur Joseph Homer, 86, died Friday, Feb. 13, 2004, at the Boise Samaritan Village.

Memorial services will be held at Liberty Chapel, Mountain Home AFB, on Thursday, Feb. 19, at 11 a.m. Burial will be at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. Arrangements are under the direction of Summers Funeral Homes, McMurtrey Chapel in Mountain Home.

Homer was born in New York City, N.Y., on April 18, 1917. During the Second World War he served in the United States Army as a tank driver. During the Battle of the Bulge, he was taken prisoner and held in Germany until the end of the war.

Returning to Long Island, he owned a carpet and floor covering business. He and his wife Bertha retired to Holiday, Fla., in 1985. At his assisted living facility he served as the president of the Residents Association.

Some of his interests included flea marketing and calling for the local bingo games. His family noted that he will be "remembered as a true gentleman whose warm smile under his handle bar mustache filled each person he met with happiness." In 2002 he moved to California and relocated to Boise in January 2004. His hobbies included coin and stamp collecting. He was a member of the American Ex-Prisoners of War Association and the American Legion.

His wife, Bertha, passed away in 2001 after 57 years of marriage together.

Homer is survived by: his sons, Chaplain Col. Arthur R. Homer of Mountain Home; Richard A. Homer of Long Island, N.Y., and three grandchildren.