Elton Bengt Hasselstrom

1920 - 2022

Elton Bengt Hasselstrom

July 10, 1920 - July 29, 2022

On July 29, 2022, our dad passed away peacefully in his sleep into the arms of Jesus, his Lord and Savior. He was 102 years old, and God blessed him with a long and full life.

Dad was born at home during a violent afternoon thunderstorm on July 10, 1920, in Kennard, Nebraska. He was the fourth of six children born to Bengt and Johanne Marie (Rasmussen) Hasselstrom having two older sisters, an older brother and two younger brothers.

At the age of five, his family moved to Cedar Bluffs, Nebraska where he attended grade school and high school. He has fond memories of walking barefoot to his favorite fishing hole or running miles with a Golden Gloves Boxer who was in training. Dad loved to run because he said, "I got there faster to do what I wanted to do". In high school, he was class president and had a lead part in the school play, but his favorite thing was sports. Basketball, baseball, or track; he loved it all! During summer vacation, from the age of 11 to 17, he worked on his Uncle Andrew's farm. He learned to operate and repair many types of farm machinery and gained so much knowledge from this beloved uncle. But he was a typical boy who was curious and wanted to know how things worked so during these summers, he would experiment making pipe bombs out of water pipe, newspaper and blasting powder. He said they worked pretty good until the day he used too much blasting powder and burned up the telephone pole. That ended the bomb making as his other uncle (who worked for the phone company) was not happy about replacing the pole.

In June of 1937 his dad (a carpenter) went to Burley, Idaho to work on construction. Burley was only 30 years old and starting to come out of the big depression so there was a lot of building going on. In late August, his father sent for them, so they sold everything but the bare essentials and loaded them into a small two-wheeled trailer that was hooked behind dad's 1927 Model T Ford Coupe. On Sept. 1, 1937, he loaded his mother and two younger brothers and started for Idaho at the age of seventeen. It took six days to complete the trip to Burley. They stayed in cabin camps at night, and he did two repairs on the Model T but they made it. On the afternoon of Sept. 7 his dad and brother met them east of Lava Hot Springs. Dad had .50 cents in his pocket and just enough gas to get to Burley – what a relief to see his dad and brother!

Over the next two years he operated a caterpillar tractor and wheatland plow rod-weeding and clearing sagebrush in the Sublett and Black Pine Mountain area. He operated a truck-mounted hammermill grinding tons of grain and hay in Cassia and Minidoka counties and in 1940 was working full-time at Ross Freer's Grocery & Gas. He had fun, too. Dad played basketball with the Burley Elks, and they took the state championship two years in a row.

It was in this summer of 1940 on a blind date that dad met his future wife, Jean Bell. He fell in love at first sight, and he knew she was the one for him. They continued courting and, in the summer of 1941, dad leased the Continental gas station on the corner of 16th and Overland (where NuVu Glass is) and was the youngest businessman in Burley. He was there until the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.

He enlisted in the Navy in January 1942, went to machinist school in San Diego and then was assigned to a naval amphibious training unit. He then spent six months training marine and army units on landing procedures on different types of beaches from San Francisco to Mexico. He got a 9-day pass and on February 17, 1944, he married his sweetheart; they had 4 days together.

His amphibious unit was then attached to the Third Marine Division and for the next two years he spent time in the South and Asiatic Pacific finishing with the invasion of Guam. He was there when the Atomic Bomb was dropped on Hiroshima ending the war. Dad was honorably discharged with the rank of 1st Class Petty Officer in late October 1945.

Returning home, Dad went into sales and farming and got his student pilot license. He also helped to develop the Burley Gem Memorial Gardens. In the early 60's he bought his own farm and raised registered Angus cattle. Dad was very active in the National Farmers Organization. He worked tirelessly trying to improve conditions for the family farmer and rancher. His four daughters - Darla, Carla, Lora and LuAnn grew up on this farm and it was here that Dad taught us to dance. He was a good dancer and he'd twirl us around to the music of Lawrence Welk and Glenn Miller. Thanks Dad!

In 1972, he sold the farm and acquired his real estate license. In 1984, he went to work at Paul Housing as an Assistant Manager. He worked there until he retired in 2003 at the age of 82.

Dad was an active member of the Paul Congregational Church serving in many different capacities. He was a faithful member of the Gideons for over 35 years and continued to be the treasurer until the age of 99. One of his greatest joys was handing out New Testaments to grade school children.

Dad loved to sing and was blessed with a mellow baritone voice. He sang with he Snake River Flats and was in a quartet called the Rural Free Delivery. He loved music especially that of the Big Band era and taught himself to play the clarinet, saxophone and banjo.

Dad loved to go fishing, hunting, camping, and gold mining with this family. We had many happy times together. Thanks for the memories, Dad!

He is survived by his daughters, Darla (Mike) Taylor of Rupert, Carla (Chris) Ketchum of Rupert, and LuAnn Hadden of Burley; 15 grandchildren, 34 great-grandchildren with 3 more on the way, 4 great-great-grandchildren, a sister-in-law, Ella Rae Hasselstrom, a brother-in-law, Dwight Bell, as well as many nieces, nephews, and extended family members.

Dad was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 62 years, Jean; his daughter, Lora Butler; son-in-law Dean Hadden, his parents, Bengt and Johanne Marie Hasselstrom; his sisters, Marquerite Jensen, and Edna Mahrt; his brothers, Martin, Arnold, and Elmo Hasselstrom; In-laws, Wayne, and Lucile Bell; brothers-in-law, Ferrell and Keith Bell; and sister-in-law, Verlee Hall.

A special thanks to the staff at Autumn Haven Assisted Living for the love and care given to our dad over the past three years. Also, thanks to Hospice Visions for the comfort and care given to Dad in his final days and for the kindness shown to our family.

A remembrance and celebration of Dad's life will be on Friday, August 5th at 11:00 a.m. at the Paul Congregational Church, 121 N 2nd West, Paul, Idaho. The viewing will be the evening before at Morrison Funeral Home 188 S Hwy 24, Rupert, Idaho on Thursday from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.

Interment will be at the Gem Memorial Gardens in Burley, with Military Rites by the Mini-Cassia Veterans.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Gideons, the Congregational Church Memorial Fund, or a charity of your choice. Giving envelopes will be available at the church.

Arrangements are under the direction of Morrison Funeral Home.