Argus Observer (Ontario, Malheur County, Oregon)
Saturday, February 08, 2003
Clarence Loyd Bivins, 84, New Plymouth, died Thursday, Feb. 6, 2003, at his home in New Plymouth. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2003, at Shaffer-Jensen Memory Chapel, New Plymouth. The Rev. Phil Pittman Jr. will officiate. Interment will follow at Park View Cemetery, New Plymouth. Funeral services and arrangements under the direction of Shaffer-Jensen Memory Chapel, New Plymouth.
Clarence was born June 13, 1918, in Sapulpa, Okla., to Silas and Martha (Cagle) Bivins. He spent his childhood in the hills of Oklahoma. Clarence traveled to California and Oregon and worked on a ranch in Paisley, Ore., for a few years. He married Helena Mitchell in 1942 and they moved to Idaho.
He worked on a ranch in Indian Valley and then went into construction work.
He graduated from the Western Heavy Equipment School in Weiser in 1957. He worked on the Ontario High School, the Owyhee Dam, the Payette Airport, and many, many roads and bridges in the Northwest. Clarence worked for Matt Scheimer for a number of years and then went to work for the Payette County Road Department. He retired in 1979.
Clarence loved horses and was more comfortable with his horses than with most people. He was a real cowboy in the true sense of the word. There was not a horse he could not ride or a piece of heavy equipment he could not run.
Clarence loved to hunt and fish. His favorite fishing hole was in Hell's Canyon, up on Wildhorse. He would truck his horse to the mouth of the creek, then ride to the top of the mountain on little more than a goat trail. It was a precarious ride to say the least. Anyone he took with him always returned swearing never to go with him again. Clarence was a solitary man and preferred to fish alone, but he would take anyone with him who was brave enough to go.
Clarence loved children, they were his greatest joy. He could sit and watch them play and wrestle for hours. He was never too busy to saddle a horse for any kid that wanted to ride.
Clarence is survived by his son, Loyd and Janice Bivins, Payette; five daughters, June Toll, Ontario, Linda Bivins, New Plymouth, Clarice and Lee Christensen, Valley Springs, Calif., Karen and Tom Frates, Mountain Home, and Barbara and Kim Leatham, Cascade; three sisters, Marie Gates, Springfield, Mo., Bertha Galloway, Kalama, Wash., Mildred Thompson, Kalama, Wash.; three brothers, Jack, Santa Barbra, Calif., Hairl, Caldwell, and Donald, Boise; 22 grandchildren; 45 great-grandchildren; and six great-great grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife of 38 years, Helena, in 1981; two infant children; his grandson, Ryan Farley, in 1982; a sister, Hazel Pierce; and three brothers, Silas, Thairl and Blake.
Memorials may be made to the Friends of Hospice in care of Shaffer-Jensen Memory Chapel P.O. Box 730 Payette, ID 83661.
