Lon Jarvis Passes Away February 16 2012

Lon Smith Jarvis, 91, of Challis, Idaho, passed away Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012, at the Discovery Care Centre of Salmon, Idaho. He was born March 3, 1920. Jones and Casey Funeral Home of Challis.

Published in Post Register on February 17, 2012

No services are planned until summer.

Lon Smith Jarvis, 91, of Garden Valley, Idaho, passed away Thursday, February 16, 2012 in Salmon, Idaho. Lon was born March 3, 1920 in Hyrum, Utah, the youngest of five children born to Lorenzo and Clara (Smith) Jarvis.

He grew up in Hyrum and moved to Mackay, Idaho when he was 11. He attended Mackay High School, where he was the captain of the basketball team that brought home the first trophy for the Mackay High School basketball team. Following graduation in 1938 he went to work for Green’s Market.

He was united in marriage to his high school sweetheart Vivian Gentry in 1941. Lon enlisted in the Army Air Corps in August 1943 during World War II, where he was trained as a bombardier but World War II ended before he was shipped out. He returned to Mackay working at Green’s Market until 1954 at which time he purchased the market and operated the store until 1967 when he sold the store to Tom Hensley.

In 1965, he built the Devils Bedstead Guest Ranch at Wild Horse, where he worked as an outfitter guiding fisherman and hunters on his dude ranch. Vivian passed away in 1975 and in 1979 he sold the ranch and retired.

Lon moved to Garden Valley in 1977 where he was a home builder. He became quite the golfer after his retirement and enjoyed tournaments all over Idaho and Nevada clear into his late 80s.

Lon is survived by children Gerald (Phyllis) Jarvis of Mackay and Thomas (Bonnie) Jarvis of Challis, Idaho; grandchildren Theresa (Eric) Basa of Carson City, Nevada, Nancy (Allen) Casebolt of McKeesport, Pennsylvania, Thomas M. Jarvis of Arco, Idaho, and Lon Shane Jarvis of Nevada; 18 great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandson and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; wives Vivian Pauline Jarvis in 1975 and Renee Jarvis in 2009; great-great-grandson Robert Cougar Jarvis; brothers Alton and Ford Jarvis; and sisters Verrell Green and June Weber.

Private family services will be held at a later date. Arrangements under the direction of Jones & Casey Funeral Home of Challis, Idaho. From Challis Messenger February 23 2012.