Obituary source St. John's United Church of Christ scrapbook
Newspaper and date of publication no t known
Payette - Walker A. Bivens, 98, Payette, died April 19, 1994 in an Ontario retirement center. Services will be 11 a.m. Friday at the First United Methodist Church, Payette. Burial will follow in Riverside Cemetery, Payette, under the direction of Shaffer-Jensen Memory Chapel, Payette.
He was born Nov. 8, 1895, at the ranch southeast of Payette, to William and Elizabeth Bivens. He was the eldest of three boys and had one older sister.
Walker grew up on the ranch and became a successful farmer, as was his father. He attended the local District #6 grade school, graduated from Payette High School and later attended Links Business College in Boise.
Walker was inducted into the U.S. Army in June, 1918 during World War I into the first drafted division to serve in the Argonne-Meuse offensive in France. He spent several months in the trenches on the front line, seldom being dry or warm. He was honorably discharged in May, 1919 from the notorious 77th Division. On March 18, 1994, he was presented the World War I 75th Anniversary Commemorative Medal by the Veteran's Administration in Boise.
When he returned home to Payette following the War, he became a farmer and cattle rancher on the family farm. He married his childhood sweetheart, Marie Smith, March 27, 1920 and began a long and happy marriage of 62 years that ended when Marie died in October, 1982.
Walker soon became a trusted peer in the Payette community serving several terms as a trustee of the local school district, a charter member of the Payette County Farm Bureau, an early member of the Idaho Cattlemen's Association, John Webster Rhoades Post 33, American Legion. His Masonic affiliations included life membership in Washoe Lodge #28, A.F. & A.M.; Lorraine Chapter #20, Order of the Eastern Star, both in Payette, and the Scottish Rite Masons in Boise.
He was very proud to have organized and directed construction of Drainage District #9, which improved the entire farm community from the mouth of Little Willow Creek through Kiwanis Park in Payette. He enjoyed producing crops and working with good beef cattle which ranged in the hills east of Payette spring and fall, being trailed annually to and from summer range on West Mountain north of Ola. In 1960, the operation was incorporated into Bivens Livestock Co., including sons David and Jim.
Note: this is an incomplete obituary.
