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Eldredge Royer, 97
Eldredge Royston Royer, 97, formerly of Elmore County, died at the Idaho State Veterans Home on May 10, 2007.
Memorial services will be held at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, May 16, at the Whitney Baptist Church, 2309 Dorian, Boise. Services are under the direction of Accent Funeral Home, Meridian.
Eldredge was born Sept. 29, 1909, in North Platte, Neb., to Robert R. Royer and Adla S. Anderson Royer. In 1913, they settled on a ranch near Smith Prairie, Idaho. He attended school at Mayfield. His mother died in 1918 when he was 8 years old and his two younger sisters were sent to live with relatives in Nebraska and later in Chicago, Ill. Eldredge lived with his father on the homestead and was home schooled by his father.
He worked for the Forest Service a while before joining the Navy in 1933 and was assigned to the heavy cruiser USS Salt Lake City, serving in the engineer force. He was honorably discharged, Fireman First Class, in 1937, and was a champion oarsman during his stay in the Navy.
Eldredge then attended a welding school in Los Angeles and went to work for Idaho Power. In 1940, during WW II, he worked on defense in Seattle building destroyers for the Navy as a welder and was promoted to Welding Instructor and Welding Inspector.
It was there, in Seattle, that he met and married his wife, Ella Hillstad Kirkpatrick in 1942. In 1948 they moved to Idaho on the ranch. There, after much building and improving, he raised alfalfa seed for 39 years. They would spend their winters in the Seattle area. Eldredge and Ella both said those were the happiest days of their lives. In 1987 they retired to a home in Boise. Ella died in 1995 after 53 years together, which left a lonely life for him.
He was a long-time member of the Baptist Church, the National Rifle Association, and Liberty Lobby. He was a faithful contributor to the Salvation Army and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
Eldredge is survived by: a sister, Louise Boe, of Joliet, Ill; two nieces and a nephew.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the Smith Prairie Historical Society and Museum, 524 Smith Creek Road, Prairie, Idaho 83647.