Russell Dereld Baxter

Russell Dereld Baxter was born in Salt Lake City on September 22, 1950. He was the fourth child of Dereld and Irene Baxter. He was born 2 months premature and struggled early in his life. As a family they lived in Woods Cross, UT, and Rigby, Weiser, Fruitland, Caldwell, and Mountain Home, Idaho. Early in life, many of Russ’ summers were spent at the Boy Scouts of America camps because his dad worked for the BSA. Russ always enjoyed the outdoors. He loved learning new skills of all kinds. He worked on many projects with his dad over the years and had a very close relationship with both his parents during his life. As a teenager, he worked on local farms moving pipe and for his dad doing janitorial work for the phone company. Russ graduated from Mountain Home High School in 1969 where he lettered in wrestling. He excelled in wood working during High School and made a lifelong hobby of it. During the Vietnam War, he spent a year at Boise State. However he knew his draft number would soon be up, so he volunteered and joined the Army. He served with the Army Corps of Engineers in the Panama Canal Zone. While stationed in Panama, he flew home on a military transport and married Carla Ream on February 25, 1972, in the Logan Temple, and they spent their first 5 months of marriage living in the Panama Canal Zone. After leaving the service, they returned to Mountain Home. He eventually got a job with Mountain Bell/US West/Qwest and worked for over 25 years before retiring in Mountain Home in 2004. In 1983 he transferred to Montpelier Idaho with his young family and built a home in Dingle, the second of 6 homes he either built or remodeled. Russ was always actively serving the communities, especially in Bear Lake County. He was a Reserve Officer for the Bear Lake County Sheriff’s Office, and he built the sound system in the Bear Lake Middle School. He was also a member of the Bear Lake Translator district and the Library Board. He also helped organize the Bear Lake Music Festival. He was always happy to help give away the US West Foundation’s money to local charities. On his third return to Mountain Home, he bought the house on Vista Way because it had been set up for model trains, another hobby and passion of his. He spent many months building and placing the track and building the ride-on model train engine and cars. Everyone was welcome to come and ride the train, including family, friends and neighbors. Russ was an intensely creative person; he was a builder of large things and a creator of smaller works of art, including stained glass, woodworking, and wood turning. His latest passion was hand making christmas gifts for the family every year. Russ was famous for his candy making, his woodworking and his love of trains. He loved gardening with Carla but working in his shop was his favorite. He was an active member of the church, holding both ward and stake callings in his life. Russ was Preceded in death by his parents and is survived by his wife Carla, children Danielle (Brent) Jones, Todd (Saskia) Baxter, Niner (Lynda Sandoval) Baxter, Stephanie (Nick) Benkovich, and 7 grandchildren.