Donald Luther Hovis
Donald Luther Hovis, 69, died Friday, January 30, 2015 at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls. He was born Feb. 9, 1946, the son of Luther Henry and Iloe Marie (Kessler) Hovis in Ironton.
Donald married Patricia Ann Richards June 16, 1973 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Fredericktown.
Mr. Hovis is preceded in death by his parents.
Survivors include his wife Patricia; brother Terry (Beverly) Hovis of Farmington; nephew Steven (Anne-Lu) Hovis of Knife River, Minn.; niece, Martha (Justin) Keane of Mulino, Ore.; and sister-in-law, Karen (Tom) Ferguson of Grain Valley, Mo.
Mr. Hovis graduated from Fredericktown High School. He attended the College of the Ozarks for two years and then transferred to University of Missouri at Rolla, where he completed a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering, graduating in 1968.
He worked for Monsanto Chemical Co. in Illinois and St. Louis. While at Monsanto, Don worked with the first commercial batch of Round Up weed killer. He moved to Idaho in 1975 to work for Rodgers Brothers Food Co. Two years later, he started his 24 years as a project engineer at the Chem Plant at the INEL. His favorite projects were the Rover Fuel Reprocessing Project and the FAST project.
Mr. Hovis enjoyed hunting and fishing. While they lived in Missouri, Don and Pat took canoe trips to fish and camp in the southeast Missouri area. After they moved to Idaho, Don went fishing and hunting as often as he could. Turkey hunting in Missouri was his favorite. The Hovis family would often have a Thanksgiving turkey shot by Don or his older brother, Terry.
Don planted a food plot on his property near the Snake River to provide winter food and nesting cover for pheasants. He waited to harvest the hay in his field to give the pheasants and ducks enough time to hatch their young. Don retired from the INEL in 2001. He devoted himself full-time to fishing and hunting as long as the weather would cooperate.
A memorial service was held Feb. 14 at Buck-Miller-Hahn Funeral Home in Idaho Falls with Pastor Larry Cudmore officiating.
