Don Reynolds

Donald Howard Reynolds died on March 12, 2011, due to complications sustained from a fall in McCall on March 2.

A service will be held at Potter Funeral Chapel in Emmett on Thursday, March 17, at 2 p.m. Viewing will be from 10 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. before the service.

This season and for the last 19 years, Don loved being a ski and snowboard instructor at Brundage Mountain. He was the oldest ski instructor in Idaho and the only person who could teach someone how to snowboard and speak of his experiences growing up on a farm during the Great Depression. He started snowboarding at age 68 and loved to inspire and encourage people of all ages to enjoy the sport.

For over 30 years, Don was a dentist in Mountain Home. He valued his relationships with the community members and the trust his patients placed in him and his staff.

Don was born on Jan. 14, 1929, in Emmett, the youngest of six children, to Guy and Gladys Reynolds. In his teenage years, he spent summers working in the Emmett orchard fruit packing and in the Stibnite mining camp to supply the heightened demand for tungsten during WWII.

Following high school graduation, he joined the Naval ROTC and studied at the University of Idaho before training as an aviator in Corpus Christi, Texas. He trained on a ship that had been converted into a carrier with overlaying wooden planks.

He married the love of his life, Patsy Adams, on Sept. 29, 1949.

He served through the Korean War and he and Patsy made many life-long friends while stationed in Hutchinson, Kan., and Whidbey Island, Wash. Don served in the Navy from 1946 to 1954.

Don returned to the University of Idaho in 1954, earning his credentials to enter dental school at the University of Minnesota. Following his 1960 graduation, he practiced in Nampa for 18 months before he established a dental practice in Mountain Home and was known in Elmore County as "Doc" Reynolds.

He believed in giving back to the community and served the city of Mountain Home and Elmore County in several ways including: the Airport Board, City Recreation Board, Mountain Home City Council and Elmore County Commissioner.

Don remained an avid pilot into his 70s. His children grew up as "co-pilots" and have many memories of trips that started with exciting private-plane landings on back-country strips, highways and alfalfa fields.

He loved being in the Idaho mountains and Owyhee desert with his beloved children and friends hiking, fishing, skiing and backpacking.

He was an avid tennis player and competed in National Senior Games tennis tournaments in many states.

Don loved to host family gatherings at Pilgrim Cove Camp and wherever he could get people together.

He loved to travel with Patsy. He was a "reverse snowbirder," spending winters in McCall and summers in Boise. He was active in two churches -- Mountain Home Congregational Church and McCall Community Congregational Church.

He is survived by his wife, Patsy, of Boise, and four children, Anne Reynolds of Boise. Merry Kim (Lloyd) Mues of Moscow, Eric Guy Reynolds and Keith (Laura) Reynolds of Boise. Grandchildren include Josephine (Matt) Kunzman, Bradley (Chris) Mues, Emily (Adam) Wall, Maggie and Kathryn Reynolds, along with great-grandchildren Jessica and Dominic Kunzman and Kai Mues. He is also survived by Pat's brother, Harold (Grace) Adams of Austin, N.C.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Guy and Gladys Howard Reynolds, and his brothers, Guy Reynolds and Keith Reynolds, and sisters Stella Reynolds LaFordge Bott, Marion Reynolds Campbell and Ruth Reynolds Estep.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Don's memory to McCall Community Congregational Church, P.O. Box 762, McCall, ID 83638.