Larry Chester Heil, 78, of Gooding, Idaho, formerly of Roseworth, departed from his earthly journey on Thursday, March 23, 2023, in the arms of his loving family as they shared their love and gratitude. Thankfully, Larry lived his final days in his own home with Shadow (“Shabadosie”), his loyal companion dog faithfully by his side.

Larry was born on August 23, 1944 to Lawrence & LaVaun Heil in Buhl, Idaho. Larry’s parents immigrated from Russia via Germany to the US in the 1920’s. He grew up with his older sister, Julia, on a farm & ranch located on the Roseworth tract where he lived for 62 years.

Larry’s mother drove him in a vintage Packard hearse to the one-room school he attended in Roseworth. In his 6th grade, she began driving him & his sister 12 miles to school in Castleford. Eventually, Larry drove himself to school safely navigating the one-lane gravel road across the gorgeous but treacherous Lily Grade over Salmon Falls Creek with sheer drop-off cliffs of several hundred feet along most of the route.

After 1962 graduation from Castleford High, Larry enrolled at Idaho State University (ISU) & pledged Sigma Phi Epsilon. In 1964, Larry met Marcella Hedberg on a blind-date for ISU’s Homecoming. Marcella described their chance meeting as an instant attraction likely fueled by Larry’s dark good looks, daring demeanor, & propensity to brag but softened by his obvious kind and gentle spirit. They were married in December 1965, in the Cathedral of the Rockies in Boise. Larry exuded great pride moving his bride from a small Eagle farm on the Boise River to the vast, desolate high desert region of the Roseworth Tract beginning an adventurous partnership of 58 years.

Larry successfully operated the ranch as he & Marcella raised three daughters: Stacee, Shellee and Heidi on the Heil Land & Livestock Ranch where Larry was dedicated to fulfilling his Dad’s dream of building an “empire”. When his parents retired to the West Coast, Larry’s operation became Desert Rose Ranch, Inc.

In early years of fatherhood, Larry was devoted to his children with Heidi frequently napping on his lap as Stacee & Shellee hopped in his truck for a ride-along as he managed the farm & drove the daily 40 mile round trip to the desert checking water troughs & the well-being of the cow/calf herd.

Larry’s goals were teaching his daughters the enduring values of family, honesty, work ethic, animal husbandry & stewardship of the land. He educated them in crop production & they mastered machinery operation including hay swathers, hay balers & corn cultivators. Soon enough, Stacee & Shellee were driving the big trucks “up-country” to Black Butte with horses to “cowboy” for the day.

Larry sent his 3 daughters to college to assure their independence as adults. Furthermore, he emotionally & financially supported Marcella’s return to ISU to finish her earlier educational endeavor to obtain a Masters Degree in Speech-Language Pathology.

Larry managed a 3000 head band of sheep & 1200 head of cattle while farming 600 home acres & a 300 acre dryland farm parallel to the “17 mile” road near Three Creek. The cattle grazed on 11,000 deeded acres & 40,000 BLM acres on the high desert of Marshall Butte, Coonskin Butte, Signal Butte & Black Butte in south-west Idaho.
Larry always said that he employed some really talented cowboys who were actually cowgirls! After many 3-day family cattle drives, with Stacee & Shellee horseback & Heidi on a motorcycle, the cow/calf pairs summer-pastured at Pole Creek, high up on Elk Mountain overlooking Nevada’s breath-taking Ruby Valley.

As a young man, Larry’s first love of farming was developed & demonstrated by relentless work ethic, natural ability for mechanics & challenging heavy equipment operation all enhancing his multitude of farming achievements.
As a renowned potato farmer, Larry was thrice awarded the Idaho Potato Farmer of the Year. Careful consideration of crop production resulted in outstanding yields of potatoes, grain, winter hay & feeder corn. Grain, hay & silage corn were utilized in the family feedlot operation, sweet corn was contracted to Green Giant & potatoes were frequently stored to be sold on the open market.

Larry was instrumental in the design & construction of numerous building improvements including a large commodity shed, huge silage pit, pole-barn hay shed & grain silos of 4000 bushel storage capacity with an elevator leg visible on a sunny day from 25 miles away. Larry & his Dad drilled a stock water well near Coonskin Butte in southern Twin Falls County which is still noted on BLM maps as “Heil Well”. Finally, Larry accomplished the drilling of a 2000 ft deep domestic well after years of hauling water 12 miles from town to be dumped into a cistern for household water.

In 1970, Larry & his family were honored by Senator Frank Church for their contribution and completion of the Cedar Mesa Watershed Project when 2 Greyhound busloads of influential people were guests for a BBQ at the Heil ranch & a tour of the incredible watershed accomplishment to transport irrigation water via pipeline south, approximately 20 miles, from up-country to the 3000 acres known as the Roseworth Tract. Larry & his Dad received numerous accolades for their practice of & continued efforts related to conservation & efficient use of the limited resource of water on their farm & rangeland.

Larry was a past member and participant of the 71 Livestock Association, the Idaho Cattlemen's Association, Magic Valley Cattlemen, the Twin Falls Canal Company & the Twin Falls Soil Conservation District.
Larry’s community contributions included using his road grader & loader to grade roads & plow snowdrifts. He frequently accompanied his EMT wife while responding to Castleford QRU emergencies including car accidents on Lily Grade, in the bottom of Salmon Falls Creek & to a loader roll-over into a canyon near Three Creek. With his strength, mechanical prowess & common sense he quickly could assess and solve logistics of any situation.

In the winter of 1970, Larry & his buddies gained national notoriety, although controversial, when the trio intervened in the unbelievable destruction that jackrabbits caused to haystacks, estimated to be hundreds of thousands of dollars, in the surrounding area. The jackrabbits were night-trapped, humanely placed in gunny sacks & wooden crates then driven to the airport the next morning. The jackrabbits were flown to Italy where Mr. Battistuzzi subsequently released them on a private, Italian game reserve. An Emmy-winning correspondent for CBS, Richard Threlkeld, visited the ranch to observe the “Jackrabbit Brigade'' with the article receiving national news coverage.

Larry always had a dog or 2 at his side, typically owning red and blue Queensland heelers. He loved his multitude of dogs notably Sunny, Shady, Sophie, Skeeter & lastly, Shadow, a black & white Australian Shepherd/Border Collie cross. Veterinarian services were far away, but Larry instinctively had a quiet, reassuring way with animals; therefore, he doctored the ranch animals including the rodeo horses. During lambing season, he occasionally performed C-Sections on the ewes. In fact, Larry had a little lamb he called Easter & raised on the bottle which accidentally loaded on a semi-truck headed to market. Larry sobbed as he ran around the double-decker semis calling out, listening for his little lamb’s bleating & finally found the escape door. “Easter” was Larry’s last bum lamb & known & loved by his Grandkids. “Easter” was a fishing buddy who sat on his lap, shared the lawn chair & waded into the water with Larry as he threw out a long cast.

Larry’s winter passion was climbing steep hills on snowmobiles & competitions on his modified Arctic Cat Snowmobiles at the oval race tracks of Moon Stone Resort near Fairfield, as well as Butte, Montana and West Yellowstone. When racing on far away tracks, Larry and his buddies hauled 30 machines on a semi. Larry skillfully competed & won money, awards & trophies at numerous 100 mile cross-country races including the “Bellevue B”, at Cascade & McCall.

Larry had extreme attraction to daring speed, big trucks & muscle cars with a propensity to “lay rubber”. A favorite was his ‘58 Chev, well-known throughout the valley, (particularly with LE) & his ‘67 Buckskin Fastback, Special Edition 390 GT Mustang which he occasionally raced at the Pocatello Drag Strip. Unselfishly, he traded his beloved ’67 Mustang for a brand new Chrysler station wagon with forest green leather interior to provide air conditioning, seat belts & more comfort for his wife & toddler girls.

Fishing lured Larry to the banks of Idaho waterways including Roseworth Reservoir, Little Camas, Herrick Lake, Horsethief Reservoir & the Pacific Ocean. The rock & roll of the giant waves was challenging, but he loved to deep sea fish on his Dad’s numerous commercial fishing boats off the Oregon coast at Garibaldi.

Although farming & ranching dominated his time, Larry relished big-game hunting trips with his daughters & buddies throughout Idaho particularly in Island Park. With his family, he vacationed in Playa Del Carmen and once drove 400 miles south of the border to Navajoa Sonora to the small town of Benito Juarez close to the Pacific Coast beach where he visited the families of the Elizalde brothers whom Larry employed over the years.

Larry made sacrifices to support & attend his daughters’ competitive endeavors of karate, volleyball, dance, cheer squad, basketball, rugby, 4-H & rodeo beginning at pre-school through college. He tirelessly drove while hauling the horses to rodeos, roping & barrel racing events for his wife & the girls throughout the Northwest & trips to Fort Worth for the National Junior Rodeo Finals. Larry was again behind the wheel as Stacee, Shellee & Heidi qualified numerous years at The National High School Rodeo Finals in Wyo, S. Dakota, & Okla. Additional jam-packed trips Larry enjoyed were to Portland, Ore & Springfield, Massachusetts to cheer for a Grandson in the National Hoop Shoot Contest, to the NFR in Las Vegas & to watch his kids compete at the Calgary Stampede & Canadian Finals Rodeo in Edmonton, Ab.

Larry farmed in Roseworth until 2006 when he & Marcella retired to a small Gooding farm literally on the Big Wood River bank where they built their dream River House. Larry used his big Cat 966 loader for the dirt excavation on his home.

In retirement, he became a distributor for MLS in Idaho, Utah, & Nevada & opened Desert Rose Feeds in Buhl to market nutritional cattle supplement tubs to range cattle producers. Larry also participated in the Department of Agriculture drought assistance program to provide non-fat dry milk to supplement feed and reduce stockmen’s feed costs. Additionally, he raised horse hay, grew an abundant garden, & enjoyed the sights & honking of the hundreds of visiting Canada geese.

Larry was grateful for the golden opportunity to live his final years near his Daughters and Grandkids as he contributed to their heritage & they to his legacy. He was tremendously proud of the country playground he established to relax on the deck & gaze out over the manifestation of his years of ambitious, diligent efforts. His Grandkids assisted in building an arena where he watched them rope & ride. Family & friends frequently floated the Big Wood River past his home where he watched these kayakers, tubers & kids swinging off the Tarzan rope dropping into the water.

In his final year, Larry was cared for by his wife, family, & outstanding Healthcare providers/workers notably Dr. Reid Lofgran as well as Samra Knopp RN, Natasha Dudley, Nickie Cutler MSW & special others most recently from Auburn Crest Hospice.

These individuals are gratefully acknowledged by Larry’s family for their tender care, support & even for blending all their tears with ours as we gathered for hugs, kisses & final goodbyes.
Larry was our rock, our constant, a gentle, kind, generous Husband, Father & Grandpa who is already & forever will be dearly missed.

Left behind are his wife, Marcella, daughters: Stacee Parke, Shellee Shaw, & Heidi Heil; Grandkids: Justin, Jared, & Jett Parke; Tacee & Jade Shaw; Bradee, Laramee, Zeauxee & Harlee Heil; sister, Julia Sullivan & her daughters: Terri Kaminski, Amie Clark & Francie Lenane, & finally, many others who fondly called him “Grandpa”.
Larry was preceded in death by his parents & 2 infant brothers.

Final Disposition services were lovingly directed by his daughter, Heidi Heil, Owner /Mortician at Serenity Funeral Chapel, and Rock Creek Celebration Center.

A Life Celebration will be held April 22, 2023 at 11:00 am at Rock Creek Celebration Center, 320 Main Ave. North, Twin Falls, Idaho with lunch to follow. The family hopes for your attendance so you can be appreciated as we honor Larry Heil.

The Woods are lovely dark and deep,
but I have promises to keep,
and miles to go before I sleep.
(Robert Frost)
Godspeed, Larry

The family wishes memorial contributions be made to the Castleford Quick Response Unit, PO Box 682, Castleford, Idaho 83321.

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