Emery Mead Belnap

Emery Mead Belnap died on November 6, 2022 at the age of 93 while living in Fairwinds Assisted Living in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

He was born October 11, 1929, at home in Sterling, Idaho, to Gladys Williams Belnap and Albert Mead Belnap. He married Dorothy Peterson Belnap on June 29, 1954, in the Idaho Falls Idaho Temple.

Emery was raised in Moreland, Idaho, where he spent time working with his father and older brother on their 40-acre farm, using horses for most of the farming until a tractor could be purchased. He attended school in Moreland from first grade to high school graduation. Emery developed a good work ethic working with his father and older brother as hired hands for other farmers in the area.

Emery met Dorothy for the first time in 1949 at the Eastern Idaho State Fair in Blackfoot, Idaho, with his friend, Jack Fisher. As the song lyric says, “I found her and lost her at the Idaho State Fair.”

He served his country during the Korean War, stationed in Panama and Greenland with the Army Corps of Engineers. Upon honorable discharge from the service, Emery and Jack Fisher went to Mud Lake to find Dorothy again, and as they say, “the rest is history.”

Emery worked for different farmers, on the railroad, and as a mechanic, until being hired at the Atomic Energy Site as a pipefitter. He retired after 38 years as a Supervisor of Maintenance from the INEL.

Emery was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served as a Bishop of the Riverside 2nd Ward, as a Stake Clerk, as the manager of the Bishop's Storehouse, and with Dorothy in the Idaho Falls Temple Baptistry.

Emery and Dorothy started their family of four children in Wendall, Idaho, moved to Moreland, Idaho, next to Blackfoot, Idaho, and then to Riverside, Idaho, where they lived for 40 plus years raising their children on their 4-acres, until moving to Idaho Falls in 2004.

Emery and Dorothy enjoyed square dancing and attending jamborees at the Old Faithful Lodge in Yellowstone Park. In 1989, they began holding their first family reunion and have continued this tradition every other year until 2022.

Emery will be remembered for his love of doing puzzles, which has been passed down to his posterity. He was physically strong and had large hands which he used to serve others - especially the widow and widower. Upon moving to Idaho Falls, Emery would go around every trash day and pull up the 64 trash cans from the street to the garage door of his neighbors. He could also be seen with his dandelion tool going around the neighborhood cleaning out the dandelions.

He was preceded in death by his father, Albert Mead Belnap; mother; Gladys Williams Belnap; an older brother Joseph Oliver Belnap; and two younger sisters, Marilyn Belnap and Adelyn Belnap Brewer.

He is survived by his wife, Dorothy Peterson Belnap of Idaho Falls ID; children, Alan (Brenda) Belnap of Idaho Falls, ID, Danette (David Sr.) Archer of Magna, UT, Merlin (Jami) of Reno, NV, Luann Belnap of Blackfoot, ID, fifteen grandchildren and twenty two great grandchildren.

Services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, November 12, 2022, at the Skyline Ward Building, 2345 W. 17th S., Idaho Falls, Idaho. The family will visit with friends Friday from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at Wood Funeral Home, 273 N. Ridge Avenue, and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. prior to services at the church. Burial will be in the Moreland Cemetery.