Howard Ray NevillNovember 20, 1925 - February 12, 2104A "tough old bird" - Howard Ray Nevill, 88, passed away peacefully at St. Al's in Nampa on Tuesday, February 12th after a short illness. Friends and family may attend a viewing from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m., Thursday, February 20, 2014 at Alsip & Persons Funeral Chapel in Nampa. A graveside service will be held at 2:00 p.m., Thursday, February 20, 2014 at Kohlerlawn Cemetery, Nampa; followed by a celebration of his life at 3:30 p.m. at the Upper Deer Flat Fire Station on Missouri Avenue, south of Nampa. Howard was born on November 20, 1925 at a house south of Nampa to William Anderson and Mary Estella (Sutphin) Nevill. He was the youngest of their three children. Howard attended Bennett School and then Nampa High School, where he graduated in 1943. He enlisted in the Army in WWII and served in the Aleutian Island (Alaska) Campaign. After the war he joined his mother and father on the family farm south of Nampa on Dearborne Road. Howard met Verda May Miller in one of his cornfields - she was part of a corn-topping crew. They were married on November 8, 1954. Together they raised three boys on their family farm south of Nampa, later moving to the Parma-New Acres area, where they continued to farm. Howard also owned and operated the old Lakeshore Service Station - known at that time as the "rock store", served as Fire Chief of the Upper Deer Flat Volunteer Fire District, worked on a highway crew and as a mechanic; among the various jobs he held to supplement his farm income. Howard is preceded in death by his parents, older brother Horace Nevill and older sister Mildred (Nevill) Doner, and his wife Verda May (Miller) Nevill. He is survived by his three sons and their spouses: Harold & Cynthia of Nampa, Mark & Marla of Buckley, Washington, and Leland & Sara of Boise; seven grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren. Howard almost died several times in the past, whether due to farm machinery amputations, third degree burns, or complications of his diabetes; so in recent years his family considered every day together with him as "bonus time". He was loved and respected by all, and for the last 10 years of his life Howard enjoyed breakfasts and 4th of July lunches at the Melba Senior Center where he had many friends. The family requests donations to the Melba Senior Center in lieu of flowers.