Joe Icenhower

Joe Allyn Icenhower

Soldier, Scientist, Conservationist, Poet

Joe A. Icenhower, COL, US Army (Retired) 92, of Boise, passed away on May 21,2026. Joe was born in Tulsa, OK on June 5, 1933 to E.A. "Dutch" Icenhower and Velma LoDell  Unbehauen Icenhower. He attended grade school and Jr. High school in Tulsa. Then in 1948, after his father died, Joe, his mother and his brother Jerry moved to Medford, OK, where he attended high school. Joe participated in football, basketball, track, and played in the band. At the age of 14, Joe became the first Eagle Scout in the Oklahoma Great Plains Boy Scout Council. After graduating from Medford High School in 1951, Joe attended Oklahoma A&M College(Now Oklahoma State University), where he was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. Joe graduated in January of 1956 with BS degree in Soil Science and Agronomy, and upon graduation, Joe was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Army. While in the Army, Joe served with the 173d Airborne Brigade in Okinawa, where he was deployed and served in Vietnam. He was awarded the Bronze Star, Air Medal, and three Army Commendation Medals. He also served a tour with the 8th Infantry Division in Bad Kreuznach, Germany. Joe retired from the military a Colonel with 37 years of service. During his time in the US Army Reserves, Joe served in the US Department of Agriculture as a soil scientist in Oklahoma, and a District Conservationist in McCone County and Valley County Montana. Joe then moved to Lewiston, Idaho and established the Clearwater Resource Conservation and Development Area for Central Idaho. In 1988, following this assignment, he moved to Boise as an Area Conservationist for the US Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service. After retiring from the US Army and the US Department of Agriculture, Joe continued to live in Boise with his wife, Lorie, and stepson Jon Tracy. He was a member of the Reserve Officers Association, where he served as president, and the Military Officers Association of America. He was also a member of the Masons, the Shriners, and the Scottish Rite. Joe helped to organize the Idaho Museum of Mining and Geology, and served as its first director, and helped to organize the Idaho State Military Museum where he served as its first president. For recreation, Joe and Lorie loved raising and showing Morgan Horses. Joe also enjoyed cowboy poetry, which he would occasionally write and recite. Joe loved his extended family including his wife Lorie, sons Jeff, Barry, and Jon, and their families, as well as his younger brother Jerry and his family. Joe was a longtime member of Trinity Presbyterian Church and later of Southminster Presbyterian.