Keith A Hartley

Keith Arlo Hartley died November 25, 2019, at the age of 97 of natural causes. At the time of his death, he was living at Arbor Village in Boise.

Keith was born at home in Paris, Idaho, on November 10, 1922, to Edith Lurenna Higley and Richard Hartley. He was one of 8 children born to this couple, who eventually moved to Hagerman, Idaho, where Keith attended school. He graduated from the 8th grade and went to work for a neighbor doing farm chores, as Dad would put it “from before sunrise to long after sunset”. His parents and younger members of the family moved to Nampa, Idaho, in 1937. He moved to Nampa when he was 16, where he worked for various famers.

During World War II, at age 18, Keith served in the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) building roads in the McCall area, including the road out to Little Payette Lakes. He requested a move to Alaska, where he was part of a crew building landing strips and runways for military planes. He returned to the Nampa area in 1942, where he met and married Marguerite Stewart in 1944. Marguerite died in September 1946 shortly after giving birth to their son Tom. In September 1948, Keith married Virginia Mabe, who brought to the marriage her daughter Lynda. To this blended family, three additional children were born, daughter Roseanne and sons Richard and Donald. Virginia moved into his bachelor farm house in Kuna following their wedding. During the first months of the marriage, their farm home did not have indoor plumbing, a telephone or an electric stove for cooking. The city girl persisted and insisted, so by the next winter, the house had indoor plumbing, an electric stove and a telephone.

In the fall of 1952, the family moved to Wendell, Idaho, where Keith helped his brother Harvey on his farm for a couple of years. Keith and his growing family farmed in Wendell and later in Buhl, Idaho, where Keith decided to pursue a new career. He went to auto mechanic school in Big Rapids, Michigan. He worked as a mechanic at car dealerships in Buhl and Twin Falls. It was in Buhl where he singed his eyebrows when the gas furnace he was trying to start exploded. He lost a couple of eyebrows and his favorite wool winter coat but no other injuries. On July 3, 1966, Keith and family moved to Boise. The trip was memorable because it was on Mom’s 40th birthday. They moved into their home on Greenbrier Drive, where Dad lived for 53 years until June 3, 2019, when he moved into assisted living at Arbor Village.

After his move to Boise, Keith worked for a number of years at Miller-Stephan Auto as a mechanic. He retired in 1980 due to an on-the-job injury. In his retirement, Keith enjoyed being in his workshop building and repairing furniture as well as building toys for kids. He also enjoyed going fishing.

Keith was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

He is survived by his five children, Lynda Hartley of Boise, Tom Hartley (Alice) of Nampa, Roseanne Hartley Rasmussen of Boise, Richard Hartley (Cheryl) of Meridian, and Donald Hartley (Sylvia) of Salt Lake City. He was preceded in death by his wife Virginia on November 30, 2002. Mom and Dad died the same week, only 17 years apart. He is also preceded in death by his brothers, Harvey Hartley (Marion), Richard Thariel Hartley, and Kenneth Hartley (Lois), and sisters, Gwen Hartley Jackson (Stan) and Dorothy Hartley Thompson (Vern). He is survived by brother Leonard Hartley (Valois) and sister Olive (Renna) Hartley Hennis (Lenard) as well as numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held on Monday, December 2, 2019, in the chapel at Relyea’s located at 318 N. Latah St., Boise. The viewing will be from 10:00am to 10:55am with the funeral service to start at 11:00am. Interment will be at the Cloverdale Cemetery immediately (approximately 12:45) following the funeral service. The cemetery is located at the corner of Fairview Ave. and Cloverdale Rd in Boise. (In light of the pending rain/snow event on Monday, the family will understand if you decide to skip the graveside service and go straight home to warm fingers and toes).

The family would like to express our gratitude to the staff and caregivers of Arbor Village for the excellent care they provided to Dad. We want to thank the staff and nurses of Horizon Home Health and Hospice for their attention to detail and gentle care of Dad in the last weeks of his life.