August 18, 2016, J. Evan Merrell passed away at his home in Boise, ID at the age of 88. The second son of Ernest Leroy and Verna Mae Moffet Merrell, Evan was born September 7, 1927 in Virden, New Mexico. Evan served in the Navy during the closing months of WWII on a cruiser moored in San Francisco Bay and in the Army as a radio operator in the Korean War. He served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Chicago, IL area. He met and married the love of his life, June Tanner, in the Logan LDS Temple in Logan, UT, where he earned a graduate degree in hydrology from Utah State University. Evan worked during his 25-year career as a hydrologist for the US Soil Conservation Service in Boise, ID. A final assignment for SCS took him to Anchorage, AK. After he retired, Evan and a group of former coworkers in Boise founded a consulting company, Associated Earth Sciences, to continue offering soil and water solutions. He really enjoyed AES. Evan and June served two missions together for the church--first in Florida where he served as the hydrologist for the Deseret Cattle and Citrus Ranch and then to Hanoi, Vietnam where they helped modernize a library in the National School of Public Health. Back in Boise they delighted in children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren filling their home and back yard with laughter and wonder. Oh the zipline and the water slide! Evan loved reading, classical music, gardening, camping, canoeing and throwing pottery. Intellectual curiosity found him tinkering and inventing throughout his life. Evan was preceded in death by his parents, Ernest and Verna Merrell; sisters: Anna Hatch, Lucille Graham and Thelma Rogers; brothers: Leroy, Lloyd, David and Charles Merrell; and grandson, Loren Reed. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, June; their children: Kevin Merrell, Reed Merrell, Ann Reed, Dorothy Klomp and Richard Merrell and a sister-in-law, Pat Merrell. He leaves behind 17 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren. Thank you to everyone who has enriched Evan's life through the years in any way and allowed him to share in yours. Special thanks to Chas, Pam, Patty and Merrill of the St. Luke's Hospice Care program for their kindness and skills in the service of our family during this time of transition. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Thursday, August 25 at the LDS chapel, 7200 Duncan Lane in Boise. A viewing will be held at the church from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, August 24 and again at the church from 10 to 10:45 a.m. Thursday prior to the services. Evan will be interred at Dry Creek Cemetery in Boise. Arrangements are under the direction of Zeyer Funeral Chapel, Nampa. 467-7300. Condolences may be expressed at zeyerfuneralchapel.com
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