Bobby J. “Bullpine” Thompson

Bobby J. “Bullpine” Thompson passed away on ebruary 22 at St. Joseph’s [ospital in Chewelah, his 1ife Lois by his side.

Bobby was born in ‘.oun

cil, Idaho on August 5, 930. Eager to get down to 1e business of life, he began erding cattle at 14, and he laimed to be 18 to secure a , b at the local fire camp. For time he ran the lookout at er hey Point, high above he Payette National Forest near McCall, Idaho, watching ‘ for wildfires. In 1944, his parents relocated the family to the hills above Waitts Lake. While Bobby was helping his dad build a fence, he spotted a neighbor girl leading a trio of horses down to the shore for a drink. Her name was Lois Rail.

Bobby and Lois married in 1951 and started a family. Four children followed. Each was born in the

Chewelah hospital, but the family’s time in the Inland Northwest was punctuated by work stints in the logging camps of northern California, where Bobby felled redwoods.

In 1956, the family relocated permanently to Springdale. They remained for 20 years, before purchasing Bobby’s parents’ property at Waitts Lake and making their home on Thompson Road.

From 1956 until the early 1960s, Bobby worked for himself as an independent logger. He then took a job as woods boss with his hunting partner Bob Gardner. His CB call name was “Bullpine,” after the tallest tree in the forest.

In 1980, he started hunting in Idaho which started a lifelong love affair with the St. Joe and Clearwater Divide area.

Bobby retired in 1995, but he remained active: hunting and fishing. He and Lois had a longstanding competition over who would reel in the most kokanee. (She always won, or at least she claimed to.) Bobby was also always at home on horseback.

Starting in 1999, Bobby volunteered with a local Boy Scouts troop led by his son, Tim. During one backcountry trip in the north Idaho mountains, the Scout troop, which included a mule train laden with supplies, ran afoul of unexpectedly bad conditions.

They passed into a valley deep with snow. Tree wells and ice cornices made for a hazardous descent. Bobby, his composure never failing, led everyone safely home.

In 2002, Lois won the Publisher’s Clearinghouse Sweepstakes, and with a portion of the winnings they purchased a backhoe so Bobby, who had never been comfortable sitting still, could get back to work. He hired out as a backhoe operator around the Waitts Lake area for 20 years, completing his last job in the fall of 2022, at the age of 92.

Bobby is survived by Lois, his wife of 71 years; his sister Betty Rail; his brother Jim Thompson and wife Fae; and his four children,

Yvonne Proctor and husband John, Janice Teasley, Jake Thompson and Tim Thompson

and wife Debbie. Bobby and Lois have 11 grandchildren.

and numerous great- and great- great- grandchildren.

The family would like to extend their deepest gratitude to the staff at Chewelah St. Joseph’s Hospital for their attentive care at the end of Bobby’s life.

A celebration of life and a potluck will be held at the American Legion in Chewelah on May 6, 2023 at 1 p. m.