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Former mayor Don Etter dies at age 69
Don Etter, who retired in 2000 after serving 16 years as Mountain Home's mayor, died after a long struggle with cancer last Thursday.
Etter, who in his final days had been confined to his bed under hospice care at home, died with his wife of 47 years, Jean, at his side.
The 69-year-old former mayor was one of the most beloved figures in modern Mountain Home politics and widely respected throughout the community.
Current Mayor Joe B. McNeal, who had served as a member of the city council under Etter, praised him as a mentor and ordered the city's flags to fly at half staff until his funeral today at 11 a.m. at Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel, across from the Mountain View Cemetery.
"I think the community has lost one of its pillars," McNeal said. "He was a true gentleman."
The funeral home is expected to be packed to capacity with those wishing to pay their last respects to the man whose leadership laid the foundations for the current growth and development of Mountain Home. The fire department will be on hand to display its huge American flag at the funeral home during the services.
Etter came to Mountain Home with his wife and two daughters in 1970 to assume the duties as manager of the First Security Bank branch here. After his retirement in 1983 he ran for office and won election as the city's mayor. He handily won re-election to three more terms until deciding in 2000 that he wanted to devote more time to his family.
"He was a family person," said one of his close friends, Ken Everett. "His family meant a lot to him. He was devoted to them."
On a personal level, Everett said, "he was a guy if you needed anything, you didn't have to ask. He would just be there for you."
Etter also "loved to have a good time," Everett added. "He wasn't shy about pulling a trick or two on someone, and didn't mind having one pulled on him."
In fact, Etter's good humor and pranks were legendary among his friends and the members of the Lions Club, where he served as one of its leaders. His close friends, Chris and Tamzy Christensen, recalled Etter and some other Lions folding them up into the wall in a murphy bed during a Lion's convention in Sun Valley, as just one example.
"He was very personable, very honest. The salt of the earth," his friend Chuck DeLoach said.
Deanna Wilson, another close friend, said that she would remember him "with a smile and laughter, as a very intelligent, loving person.
"He was a very caring person, one of the kindest men I know. He always had a smile, was always willing to help, and he did a lot for a lot of folks."
He enjoyed putting on skits at the Lions Club, or in the company of friends, and looked forward each year to dressing up as Santa Claus in the annual Holiday Parade, with his wife, Jean, as Mrs. Claus at his side, another friend, Bud Light remembered.
Judi Devol, the first woman to join the Mountain Home Lion's Club and a former president of the organization, noted that "he was probably one of the mainstays of the club. He made me feel welcome from the very start, and from the time I joined, past my presidency, until he became ill, he always took an active leadership role in our projects."
But more importantly, Devol said, "he was a wonderful ambassador for our community," whether serving as a representative of the Lion's Club, the Shrine or as mayor of the city.
"He was a public servant beyond reproach," said Mike Miller, who worked for him at the bank and later succeeded him as manager at First Security. "He was a great boss, a great family man, and he will be dearly missed."
In his public life, Etter was widely respected for his ability to seek consensus and compromise, resulting in a limit on the number of contentious issues arising out of city hall.
"Don was an absolute peacemaker," said former city councilwoman and legislator Sher Sellman, who served under him on the council for 12 years. "He never created chaos. He was a very good communicator and a pure joy to work with.
"He trusted people and he respected anybody's ideas. Even if he didn't agree, he would give it a try. He gave his support and enthusiasm for any project we had.
"He had a wonderful philosophy -- enjoy life and don't get too high fallutin because we're all replaceable. He was a humble man that loved people."
She noted that he was always supported by "his beautiful wife, Jean, who was always there in the background, always supporting him. He was not only a fabulous public servant, but a great family man. Truely, an angel here on earth."
City Councilman Tom Rist, who had been encouraged to enter politics by Etter and served under him for eight years, said he "was the type of person you wanted to represent you. He brought people together. He had the ability to work with people and understand different points of view. This community will miss him."
"You could trust him," said longtime former city councilman Fred Prouty. "He was an honest man."
Former city clerk Betty Manning, whom Etter had hired originally at the bank and then later brought with him to city hall, noted that "he never held grudges, even with people who opposed him. He just liked people.
"Don was a doer. If something needed to be done, he did it. He gave a lot to the community."
He never expected praise or adulation, she said, and was more than willing to let others take credit for a project in which he'd been a key player, or which had even been his idea originally. He was particularly touched when, earlier this year, the city named its newest park after him. "He never sought recognition. But you could tell that meant a lot to him. He was very grateful," she said.
But most of all, Manning said, "he was a good family man, a good husband and father who loved his girls."
In his retirement, even as he battled the cancer that had shown up shortly after he left office, he spent much of his time traveling with his wife to visit his children and four grandchildren. His daughters, Cheri and Danese, had been able to visit with him in the last week of his life.
Etter was born in Pocatello, graduated from Pocatello High School and entered the Navy in 1954. He married his life-companion, Jean, in 1958, and after briefly living in Alameda, Calif., came home to his native Idaho to begin work in his banking career, originally with Bank of America, and then with First Security Bank. He was transferred to Mountain Home to become branch manager in 1970 and fell in love with the community he would call home the rest of his life.
He was an ardent supporter of the airbase and one of the leaders in the fight during the early 1990s to save the base when it briefly showed up on a closure list. His efforts led to him being named an honorary Gunfighter.
He was active in a large number of community and state organizations, and at one time had served as one of the city's volunteer firemen.
He is survived by his wife, Jean, of Mountain Home, daughters Cheri Cornforth and her husband, Denis, and Danese Etter and her boyfriend, Chip Hosler, all of Oregon City, Ore., four grandchildren, one sister, Barbara Savage of Anchorage, Alaska, and one brother, John Etter of Death Valley, Calif.