My dad passed away recently. I learned how to write an obituary. I wrote it and my mother approved and edited. Out of the 4 people who edited, none of us noticed that I had the wrong number of years they were married. It was 69, not 59. Live and learn.
Here is the life sketch I wrote. I'm adding some pictures for fun.
Alfred Dale Empey was born on June 16, 1932 in Idaho Falls Idaho.
He was so little that they put him in a box and kept him warm in the oven.
He was an only child. He grew up on a farm in Ammon Idaho in a house with no indoor plumbing.
This is the house about 6 years after he moved out.
He walked to school uphill both ways, with snow on the ground and holes in his shoes.
His mother died when he was 8 years old.
He and his dad lived together but he sometimes had to stay with Aunts when grandpa needed to do some extra work.
Al and his cousin Ralph Edwards
He would always say that he was a very lonely child. He went to school in Ammon…the school is still there.
When he was a Senior at Ammon High School he had a new teacher named Parker Richards. Parker was my mom’s uncle and they met when she came for a visit. She wrote in his yearbook. "Don’t forget that we have the store in Providence, you can come see me”
After he graduated he went to Utah State in the Fall of 1950 where he majored in Agriculture. A few years later he dated my mom and they were married in 1954 in Providence Utah.
Their 69th anniversary would be tomorrow (August 5). They have already been together forever.
He was in ROTC so after graduation he went into the Army as an officer. He served in Korea iat the Food Depot. He was there for 18 months. Then he came home and served for 18 months longer. When he had completed his service, he had moved coast to coast and had 2 kids.
He wanted to go back to the farm, but it had been sold.
He found a job on the USU job board for the USDA. When I was kid people would ask me what my dad did, I really had no idea. He was a warehouse examiner. That means he made sure that government subsidized crops were measured and recorded properly. He was gone during the week and came home on weekends. He would work in exotic places like Ogden Utah, Portland Oregon, Sutter California and Malad Idaho. Basically anywhere there was a grain elevator. He would always do the Weekly Report on Sundays while listening to Johnny Cash or Ray Coniff records. This was a long process that required precise handwriting and his beverage of choice.
We lived in Houston Texas for 4 years and then returned to Twin Falls in 1968 and stayed until 1977 when we moved to Yuba City CA. He had two bawling teenage girls with him.
He taught us what every crop was and we were able to identify most anything ever grown in Idaho. It was significantly more difficult in California. He was active in the Elks Lodge in Twin Falls. I believe he had a reserved seat. He was always very active and had many friends. Although he had a lonely childhood, I feel like he made up for it as an adult.
-He played baseball when he was young. He had lots of friends in our neighborhood in Texas. - He had friends at the Elks Club and the golf course. He fished when we were young and
Later he started golfing. He faithfully went to the Municipal golf course in Twin Falls until we moved to Yuba City.
Kay and Al with Verna and Parker
He bought a membership at Plumas Lake one afternoon when someone came into the club house after a frustrating day and sold it for $100. Not only did he enjoy many hours of golfing but It turned out to be a good investment when he sold it later.
He loved to bbq…had the cleanest grill possible and insisted we tell him how good it was.
Bob and Maria, work and golf friends
After he retired and his golfing buddy moved away, he spent many, many hours studying maps that he would pick up at the Triple A. He would plot and graph routes to cities and states in a way that would challenge Google anyday. I trusted his planning more than Google.
He loved all movies and books about World War II. He loved driving from Yuba City to Twin Falls or Utah to see Hannah and Jake. He stopped at every rest stop and often the towns in between. He knew every bend and bump in that road.
After his father died in 1986, he had a desire to go to the temple. When I heard about it, I thought nothing of it. He would have to quit drinking. The week before he was supposed to go, he had an interview with the Stake President and he told him that he was still drinking. I don’t know what happened in the interview, but he stopped drinking the next day. He took my mom to the Oakland Temple in 1987 where they were sealed for time and all eternity. Allison, Ty and I were sealed to our parents at the same time. This was a life changing event and he was helped by some very good people. It is when I learned that everyone can change with the help of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Since his stroke a few years ago he has had multiple health problems. Everyday he got up, got dressed, had breakfast and sat in his chair at the table.
He was always polite and kind to those who helped him.
He passed away peacefully on July 30th 2023.
