Dean Leo Searle

Dean Leo Searle passed away on May 10, 2016, at his home in Shelley at the age of 84, just three and a half months following the passing of his beloved wife, "Marley." After sixty-five years of marriage, his spirit couldn't stand to be separated from his life-long best friend.

Dean was born January 8, 1932, in Salt Lake City, Utah, the son of Leo and Maurine Searle. He and his twin sister Denise were the oldest children and had four younger brothers. The family moved to Shelley, Idaho, to farm when Dean was just a few years old, and he continued to farm in Shelley for most of his life.

He married his high school sweetheart, Marlene Miller, in the Idaho Falls LDS Temple, on June 13, 1950, a month after they graduated Shelley High School together. Dean joined the Navy a year later as an airplane mechanic, and he and Marlene had four years of adventure, traveling the country and living in places such as Florida, Arizona, and Hawaii.

After the Navy, Dean and Marlene returned to Shelley to farm with his father and brothers. During those years, Dean and Marlene were blessed with four children: Ron, Tracie, Tony, and Sue. Dean worked hard and played hard. When he wasn't on the farm fixing equipment and driving tractors, he enjoyed taking his kids on backpacking trips, skiing, and to the cabin he helped build in Island Park. He was an avid golfer, a cunning card player, and a devout Bill O'Reilly and Fox News fan.

Dean loved playing cards with his grandchildren. Anytime one of the kids could beat gramps at cribbage or pinochle it was a proud day -- gramps was tough to beat. In the summers he'd load all the grandkids and neighbor kids in the back of his pickup to go to town to get snow cones, and as he got older he kept his freezer full of popsicles and his pocket full of dollars to give the great-grandkids to "go buy a burger or an ice cream." He was tough but tender, with a soft spot for children. Marlene always said one of her favorite things about Dean was how much he adored children, especially babies, who he always had a calming influence on.

Dean served on the Shelley School Board, where he made many friends and helped serve the community. Following his retirement, he and Marlene spent winters travelling through Arizona and Texas with a group of friends and their trailers. Eventually they purchased a home in St. George, spending winters there and summers in Shelley.

Dean is survived by his four children, Ron (Dayle) Searle, Tracie (Keith) Knowlton, Tony (Jacquelyn) Searle, and Sue (Darren) Forman; his seventeen grandchildren and eighteen great-grandchildren; his sister Denise McGary; and three brothers, Duane, Paul, and Lloyd Searle. He was preceded in death by his wife, parents, brother Gerald, and one granddaughter.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday May 14, at the Shelley 5th Ward LDS Chapel, 513 S. Park Ave. The family will receive friends from 12:30 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. that morning at the church prior to the services.   Burial will be in the Shelley Hillcrest Cemetery with military rites by David B. Bleak Post 93.