Richard Thomas Small

Richard Thomas Small (95) was born in Boise, Idaho to Robert Eli and Minnie Ethel Grisham Small on July 17, 1927, and passed quietly, surrounded by family, at his son’s home in Rigby, Idaho.  He was the youngest, and last surviving child of the family. He had three brothers: Earnest, Earl, and Robert and two sisters, Mildred, and Mary. 

He grew up in Boise, Idaho during the Great Depression and learned the value of hard work and thriftiness. He worked endless hours on the family farm near 5-Mile Road and helped hand milk fifty cows night and morning. If you shook his hand, you could feel his powerful grip, which he claimed came from those years of milking cows. He had many great memories as a young man playing baseball, riding horses and pranking friends, family, and teachers. 

He was raised deeply religious as a Southern Baptist. In his youth, while playing baseball, he saw a girl he thought was really something playing for a Meridian team and mentioned it to his friend who noticed her too. He found out her name was Lenore Loveland, a Mormon girl, who wrote in her memoirs that he was a chatterbox of a first baseman. During high school, Richard played football for Boise High. His team was undefeated his senior year, even beating Boise College’s team. He graduated from Boise High’s Class of 1945 and enlisted in the Navy prior to turning 18, towards the end of World War II. He and Lenore courted during high school, and they eloped to Winnemucca, Nevada, where they were married by a one-armed Justice of the Peace on July 11, 1945. While he was out at sea, their first child, Richard Thomas II, was born in the San Diego Balboa Naval Hospital. Richard, Lenore, and their family were later sealed in the Salt Lake Temple on May 4, 1962.

In 1946, after receiving an honorable discharge, he was hired out as a fireman on the Union Pacific Railroad in Idaho, he shoveled tons of coal in old steam locomotives. While he was building his railroad seniority, he had to work odd jobs from banking, butchering, shoeing horses, Sears, and other jobs before he was able to work year-round on the railroad. He advanced his career by becoming an engineer until he retired in 1988 (42 years), ending his employment as an engineer in the Soda Springs local. He was the engineer of passenger services and engineered the last UP passenger train through Montpelier. This career allowed him to do what he truly loved; to be with his wife and raise their children. They resided in Nampa, ID, Logan, UT, Bern, ID, and eventually bought the farm in Sharon, ID in November 1971.  On their farm, he loved working on various projects and with many types of farm animals from Herefords to horses.  

In 1961, he was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints where he served in many callings including: Bishop of the Logan 16th Ward, Scout Master, Stake Young Men's President, and Stake President of the Paris, Idaho Stake. With his second wife Carma Mattson Jensen Small, they served as Missionaries in the Cherry Hill, New Jersey Mission (Camden, NJ). They served for 10 years as temple workers in the Logan, UT Temple. 

He also loved his community participation in the Cache County Mounted Sheriff Posse, the Bear Lake School Board, and the Bear Lake Rangers. 

He is survived by his daughter-in-law, Nancy Perkes Nilson, Sandy, UT. His children: Sally (Ron Harper) Ninilchik, AK; Rodney (Janna) Preston, ID; Samuel (Marilyn) Hyrum, UT; Sidney (Delene) Cedar City, UT; Brenda (Chris Cook - deceased) Ogden, UT; Rhea (Ralph Nielson) Sharon, ID; JoLene (Andrew Herzog) Hyrum, UT; Stanley (Stephne) Rigby, ID; Theodore (Antioco Carrillo) Las Vegas, NV and stepchildren Alan Jensen (Wendy) Malta, ID; Bruce Jensen (Rosemary - Deceased & Suzan) Salt Lake City, UT; Laurie Jensen Roy, UT; Mark Jensen (Deceased); Matt Jensen (Mary) Ovid, ID; and Scott Jensen (JoAnn) Ovid, ID and numerous grandchildren, great grandchildren and great-great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife Lenore Loveland Small, second wife Carma Mattson Jensen Small, eldest son Richard Thomas II, grandchildren: Jennifer Reese, Lavious Small, Steve Serious, Brittany Andrews, Cameron J. Nez, Shane Gardner, David Harper and great grandchildren Sarah & Charley Evans, and Dakota Baulder.

        Our sincere gratitude to Brio Hospice Care for their services rendered and to Stanley and Stephne Small for their dedicated nursing care and consistent communication to our family. 

Friends and family may call on Thursday, June 1, 6:00-8:00 pm at Schwab-Matthews Mortuary (Montpelier, Idaho) and Friday, June 2, prior to the service 10:00-11:45 am. Funeral Services will be held Friday, June 2, 2023, at the Paris Tabernacle at 12:00pm. He will be laid to rest, next to his sweetheart Lenore, in the Liberty, Idaho Cemetery.

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