Grandpa Metcalf

This last Thursday we went to Kade's Grandpa's Funeral.  Although, I didn't know him well, he was always so funny and entertaining.  He always made it a point, when we would hug goodbye, to whistle through his teeth.  He then would say, I only whistle at the pretty girls!  Which always made me feel good/special.  I am sure many of his grandkids heard him say that once or twice.  :)

There was one story they told at his funeral which made me laugh.  There were so many neat things they talked about.  A neighbor saw him walking his dog, which I guess he often did.  The way he would walk his dog was by driving his truck slow enough for the dog to follow.  When the neighbor asked why he didn't get out and walk?  He replied, "I haven't yet taught my dog how to drive!"  They also talked about how positive he was even after his wife passed away, he believed life was more enjoyable with a smile on.


I brought my camera in hopes that I would use it, I just felt so awkward taking pictures at the burial site that we just did it away from everyone else.  Here are the kids with the flowers they got.  They soon destroyed them in the car.

Those were the only pictures that I dared to take, me and my weirdness.  

This one was taken at his 90th birthday party.

Below is a copy of the obituary of Grandpa Lynn.

Lynn Jay Metcalf

1922 - 2014 

Lynn Jay Metcalf, 91, of Leslie, Idaho, passed away Wednesday, February 19, 2014, in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

He was the fourth of seven children born to Jesse Earl Metcalf and Alice Lucinda Freeman Metcalf. He was born July 17, 1922, in the family farmhouse south of Ucon, Bonneville County, Idaho. Their family moved to the Lost River Valley in 1939.

Lynn married Shirley Dean Hobley in the Idaho Falls LDS Temple on April 24, 1946, and they had five daughters.

He was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and filled various callings in the Leslie Ward. He was set apart as Second Counselor in the Leslie Ward Bishopric on May 20, 1956, and was ordained a High Priest by Sterling W. Sill. Through the years, he faithfully served in various callings in the Leslie Ward (Sunday School Superintendency, Moore Stake Single Adult Leader and Moore Stake Mission Leader, etc.).

Lynn was a successful farmer and rancher in the Lost River Valley and has been an asset to both the community and valley for many years. He enjoyed farming and raised hay, grain, potatoes, pigs, chickens and cattle. The farm was transformed through the years from dikes and dirt ditches, cement ditches and siphon tubes to hand lines, wheel lines and pivot sprinkler systems.He was a knowledgeable mechanic and made his farm machinery and tractors last as long as he could. He was a member of the Mackay School Board, representing his district for six years and served as Chairman for the Agriculture Stabilization Committee (ASC) for several years. He also served on the Farmers Home Administration (FHA) committee. When televisions first came out, he became a distributor and sold approximately 200 black and white televisions. If people in the community had problems with them, he re-paired them in the evenings after he had worked on the farm all day. When the television industry changed from tubes to transistors and color televisions, he decided he either needed to go to school to learn about the new advances in technology or quit. He took great pleasure in farming so he gave up this sideline business, but added others as he sold Frantz Oil Filters, Amsoil, Mainline Garden Tillers, magnets, commercial fertilizers, and even installed a large scale for weighing hay and grain in Leslie that he believed would benefit the community. At one time he did custom baling for eight farms using a Freeman Bailer. He welcomed new technology and enjoyed learning new things. He actively served his neighbors and would plow snow from their driveways and began a tradition of giving them a jar of honey every year for Christmas. He enjoyed picnics, hunting and fishing. He had a great sense of humor and love of life.

His first wife, Shirley, died in a semi-truck and pickup collision on July 25, 1980. He later met and married Velma Rasmussen Christensen, mother of one daughter and seven sons, on July 11, 1981, in Idaho Falls. Together Lynn and Velma served as missionaries in the Arkansas Little Rock Mission for 13 months in 1984-1985. He retired from farming in 2011 and leased the farm to Gary Wight, a grandson of his brother, Dale Metcalf. He and Velma restored and improved the old family farmhouse and barn in Leslie and moved into it in 2012 and enjoyed the memories associated with it.

He is survived by his wife, Velma Lilly Rasmussen; and three daughters, Anita Lyn (Richard) Freeman of Arco, Idaho, Lona Joy (Paul) Engberson of Terreton, Idaho, and Patti Renae (Craig) Bingham of Terreton, Idaho; and Velma's children, Theodore Jay (Carol) Christensen of Blackfoot, Idaho, Joseph Ervin (Rhonda) Christensen of Mackay, Idaho, Velma Lenora (Steve) Newton of Rigby, Idaho, Paul Arnold (Dot) Christensen of Grangeville, Idaho, Scott Rolf Christensen of Idaho Falls, Idaho, Wayne Lorin (Isabel) Christensen of Pocatello, Idaho, and Daniel Carl (Stephanie) Christensen of Salt Lake City, Utah. They have 57 grandchildren, 127 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Jesse Earl Metcalf (1895-1954) and Alice Lucinda Freeman Metcalf Wells (1897-1981); his first wife, Shirley Dean Hobley (1928-1980); his daughters, Cheryl Dean Metcalf (1958-1958) and Sally Ann (Cleve) Hymas (1953-2006); Velma's deceased son, Max Alden Christensen (1963-1968); and all of his siblings, Marvin Earl Metcalf (1916-1984), Verna Mary Moyer Knowlton (1917-1992), William Harold Metcalf (1920-1920), Dale Robert Metcalf (1924-2014), Alice Charmaine Anderson (1929-2007) and Gay Nelda Metcalf Owens Young Stott (1935-2013).

We will celebrate his life at a viewing in the evening from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Moore LDS Stake Center on Wednesday, February 26, 2014. Another viewing and a family prayer will be held the next morning, Thursday, February 27, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., with the funeral service beginning at 11 a.m., at the Moore LDS Stake Center. Dedication of the grave and burial will be in Leslie Cemetery in Leslie, Idaho, under the direction of Anderson Family Funeral Home, 2555 N. Highway 93, Arco, Idaho.