Hank Driskell

Monday, September 17, 2012

Henry "Hank" Levi Driskell, son of Clarence Henry and Jannetta Gladdis Driskell, was born near Dover, Oklahoma on Oct. 20, 1929. He died of natural causes at his home in Grand View on Sept. 15, 2012.

A celebration of Hank's life will be held at the Rimrock Senior Center in Grand View at 2 p.m., on Sept. 29, 2012. Arrangements are under the direction of Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel.

Hank was always a hard worker. As a young man, he worked in orchards in California, farm work in California and Oklahoma and the oilfields in Oklahoma.

He enlisted in the U.S. Navy, where he continued to be a hard worker in ordnance on the aircraft carriers during the Korean War. After his honorable discharge, he was a logger in Oregon.

Hank and Harva Lynette Wood were married in Portland, Ore., on Aug. 17, 1955.

He attended barber college there and began his career as a barber in Madras, Ore. He barbered for ten years and saved every penny possible toward his dream of owning his own farm. In 1964, the couple bought their first farm in Hilmar, Calif., raising alfalfa, corn and replacement heifers for dairies. They bought their second farm in the area and established a Holstein dairy. This was a profitable business until the dairy outgrew the property.

On a trip though Idaho, Hank and his brother, Glenn, looked at the area around Grand View. They then sold their California properties and bought land near Grand View and happily moved. Glenn became a barber and owned a shop in Nampa, while Hank stayed on the Grand View farm.

Hank loved farming, hunting, fishing, his family and friends. He especially enjoyed family gatherings and Navy reunions. The men of his Navy group, VF-54, were very dear to him. He was a lifetime member of the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Hank is survived by his wife of 57 years, Harva, daughters Eleanor Driskell and Mitzi and her husband, Ron Appodaca, grandchildren Nels, Dustin, and Taylor, sisters Carolyn Mowatt, Wanda Loop, Ruth Yungen and Judi and her husband, Jim McNellis.

He was preceded in death by his parents and beloved brother Glenn and beloved sister Violet.

Donations in Hank's memory can be made to the Grand View QRU, c/o Donna Bennett, 573 N. Bennett Rd., Grand View, ID 83624.