David “Bruce” Reay passed away peacefully on April 4, 2023, surrounded by his loving family. Bruce was born on December 16, 1938 to David E. and Mary Beulah Reay in Boise, Idaho. Although Bruce was raised in Garden Valley, he spent his youngest years living near Forest Service CCC camps in close proximity to his dad’s work for the Forest Service. Accommodations ranged from a 20-foot camp trailer with an attached wall tent for his mom’s washroom to a 2-story log house in Landmark where Bruce learned to ski off the rooftop during a winter that brought 11 feet of snow and -60 degree weather.
When Bruce was 3 years old, his dad was drafted to the South Pacific Theater in the Marine Corps for two years during WWII. This was a trying time for the family as his mom continued raising 4 young children on the home front. Bruce did chores to help as “man” of the house, being the oldest child yet not even school-aged himself. He would often stand at the fence and yell longingly for his dad to return.
Bruce began his formal education in a one-room schoolhouse north of Crouch, Idaho, and later graduated as valedictorian of his class of 3 at Garden Valley High School, enjoying many shenanigans along the way. He attended Boise Junior College where iconic football coach, Lyle Smith, was his PE teacher, and later transferred to University of Idaho where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Forestry and emphasis in forest and range management.
As a teenager, Bruce started a small cattle operation with his parents to build his college fund. He often traveled long distances in dangerous conditions to care for the cows, crossing the river in a hand-operated cable car and walking miles through timberland to the barn where he would cut and pitch the hay. He had many other jobs during those teenage years, including haying for $30 per summer, working on a Forest Service road survey crew where he was treed by a bear on his first day, and renting ground to farm, but his favorite job during that time was for two weeks every spring when he would cowboy for the Garden Valley Cattle Association, moving 500 cows from Garden Valley to Bear Valley, usually on a wild horse.
When Bruce was 18, his parents bought the Lily Pond Campground above Crouch. Nearly twenty years earlier, a wildfire had burned the area and left behind a heavy Ponderosa Pine seed crop that sprouted 100,000 seedlings per acre. The area looked more like a wheat field than a forest. Bruce saw the need to manage the timber and thus started the process of pre-commercial thinning and slash control, doing all the cutting and piling by hand. This was the beginning of a lifelong labor of love dedicated to responsible forest management that inspired his education and career in forestry.
During the summer after Bruce’s first year of college, he attended Smoke Jumper Training School where he was proud to win a contest that included a training jump and a one-mile competitive race carrying 100 pounds. Over the following summers, he jumped on several fires and later looked back on this as one of the most challenging and exciting work experiences he encountered throughout his entire career.
Because Bruce received a military draft deferment to finish his college studies, he was automatically drafted the fall after he graduated. He went to Army basic training followed by paratrooper school. He served two years active duty and four years of active reserves, receiving his “Discharge/Vietnam Era” in 1968.
Upon returning from active duty, Bruce hooked logs and cruised timber before meeting the love of his life, Linda Valentine. After a short courtship, they were married on October 22, 1966, and began a 56-year run that led to a cherished family with three children, seven grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren, of which Bruce was very proud.
During their early years of marriage, Bruce went to work for Boise Cascade Corporation as a choker setter then crew leader for the high lead logging side of the business, later becoming the head rigger for their experimental helium balloon logging project. Because of Bruce’s fearless nature, he volunteered to jump from a helicopter to the top of the helium balloon to untangle the lines, a stunt surely frowned upon by today’s OSHA standards. This was the start of his 30-year career at Boise Cascade, the bulk of which was spent fueling his passion for silviculture as their fee lands manager for southern Idaho, an area comprising 125,000 acres.
In 1975, Bruce and Linda decided to raise Christmas trees for extra income at their 12-acre place in Horseshoe Bend, thus beginning The Pine Patch Christmas Tree Farm. Starting with Scotch Pine and later adding several Fir species, they ran a “choose and cut” Christmas tree business for 40 years that provided a treasured family tradition for thousands of customers, not to mention employment and much-needed college money for their kids and friends.
Bruce lived a lifetime of service, putting his family first while also trying to be helpful and considerate to others. He was initiated into The Grand Lodge of Idaho in 1970 and was a Master Mason for over 50 years. He also spent 12 years on the Horseshoe Bend School Board and was proud to be part of the successful effort in 1990 to finally build a high school in the community after two previous failed attempts. He viewed this period of service along with his time in the military as his most important contributions of giving back to society.
Bruce was a man of long-term vision and worked diligently on many projects that would only show the fruits of his labor many years down the road. His contributions will live on in their benefits to his family, community, country, and earth – a true legacy.
The Reay family would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Keystone Hospice for their top-notch care and guidance through Bruce’s peaceful and comfortable journey home.
Bruce is survived by his wife of 56 years, Linda Reay; his children Kari (Jess) Cooper, Tye (Tina) Reay, Abby St. Germain; seven grandchildren, Sydney, Lainey, Drake, Brittani, Parker, Nicholas, and Easton; two great-grandchildren, Briella and Nora; sister Kathy (Ron) Kulm, and brother Miles (Stacey) Reay. He is preceded in death by his parents Dave & Beulah Reay, great-grandson Oliver, and sisters Barbara Nunes and Nancy Logan. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be sent to the Horseshoe Bend School District, 398 School Drive, HSB, ID 83629, for the purchase of a retractable American flag for the gymnasium in his honor.
Memorial service will be held Sunday, April 30th at 1:00 PM in the Horseshoe Bend School Gymnasium. Potluck to follow at the Masonic Lodge in Horseshoe Bend.