Marvin Wilder

Marvin L. Wilder, born June 19, 1920, in Norfolk, Neb., to Lloyd S. and Grace Wilder, passed away July 6, 2013, in Chico Calif.

He departed Nebraska in November 1938 on his Harley motorcycle. Due to the highways being iced over, he rode with ice skates on his feet towards California.

He had lost one eye in a welding accident and could not join the military. He drove trucks during the war on California's Coast Highway 1, with night lights (small lights with small openings) so the Japanese submarines could not see them. Marvin lost his brakes once on the Grapevine grade Highway 5 and lived to talk about it.

He married Ida Mae Long on June 10, 1944, in Los Angeles, Calif. They moved to Idaho in 1946, where they raised their family in the Boise, Lowman and Pocatello areas.

The couple moved to Gallup, N.M., where Marvin owned his own shop repairing cars and diesel trucks at which he was a wizard. If he did not have the correct tool or part he would "Marvin it" so the client could go on. That skill still lives on in his grandson's Nevill Wilder and Jimmy Burke and is still known as "Marvined it."

In the early '70s they returned to Idaho where he worked as a mechanic.

He and Ida Mae took care of his beloved stepmother, Alice, until she passed in 1996. They moved to Chico in 2007 to be close to and be supported by their family.

Marvin loved being outdoors and spent many days of his life fishing and hunting.

He and Ida Mae loved to dance and often the crowd would clear the floor to watch them dance to Cotton Eyed Joe.

Ida Mae preceded Marvin, her husband of 64 years, in death on Jan. 10, 2009.

Marvin is survived by: his daughter and husband, Sherry and Marc Wilson of Chico; son and wife J.W. and Irena of Salida Colo.; grandson Jim Burke of Chico; granddaughter and husband Kathy and Eric Leppanen of Paradise, Calif.; granddaughter and husband Heather and Mike Steiler of Coarsegold, Calif.; grandson Nevill Wilder of Snowmass, Colo.; and many great-grandchildren, nephews and nieces.

The family would like to thank Windsor Chico Care's staff who took such good care of Marvin for the last four years.

At his request there will be no service. A scattering of ashes will be held in Idaho at a later date.

To view his obituary and send condolences online, go to NewtonBracewell.com.