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Walter Yarbrough
Walter Herrmann Yarbrough, 96, of Grand View, died Monday, Dec. 8, 2008, at St. Luke's Regional Medical Center in Boise.
Funeral services were held Saturday, Dec. 13, at the Knight Community Church in Grand View. Burial followed at Riverside Cemetery, Grand View, with a reception afterwards at the Rimrock Senior Center in Grand View. Arrangements were by Summers Funeral Home, Boise Chapel.
Walt was born Aug. 15, 1912, in Maywood, Mo., the son of Edward and Amelia (Herrmann) Yarbrough. He was raised and educated in Missouri and attended Kirksville Teachers' College for two years, before heading west.
He and his best boyhood friend, Bud Lake, ended up in western Montana and stayed there awhile before Walt went on to LaGrande, Ore., to live with his uncle, Carl Herrmann.
He was inducted into the United States Army in February 1941 and attended Officers School at Fort Belvoir, Va. He received the rank of Captain in 1945 and served in Okinawa with the combat engineers. Walt was in the active reserves for 32 years, retiring as a lieutenant colonel.
On July 17, 1941, he eloped with Lucy May Rocks to Wallace, Idaho. The couple moved to Grand View, Idaho in 1951 where Lucy had been raised.
Walter was elected to serve in the Idaho State Senate from 1965 until 1986, and during that time he served on the Agricultural Affairs, Transportation and Finance committees, was Chairman of the State Affairs Committee and was elected Majority Caucus Chairman.
Walt is survived by: his three sons, Richard "Dick" (Tracy) Yarbrough of Kamiah, Idaho, Stephen Yarbrough of Grand View, and Walt (Bobbie) Yarbrough of Boise; daughter-in-law, Carol Yarbrough; three grandchildren; two step-grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Lucy, in 1992; a son, Ed Yarbrough; two sisters; and one brother.
Memorials in Walt's memory can be made to the El Korah Shrine, 1118 Idaho St., Boise, Idaho 83702 for the benefit of the Shriners' Hospitals Patient Travel Fund; or to the Rimrock Senior Center, Grand View.