The following is the obituary of:
Edward R. Middlemist
Published in the Lewiston Tribune 7-3-1997
Edward R. Middlemist, a former Idaho State Senator, died Tuesday at his Lewiston home from congestive heart failure. He was 83. He was born Aug. 4, 1913 at Limon, CO, to Walter and Beulah Middlemist. He graduated from Bonners Ferry, ID High School in 1933 and attended college at Portland, OR, and San Diego, CA. After college, he worked for the US Forest Service as a lookout, dispatcher and as a game warden. At that time, he made a 3 1/2 year study on the feeding habits of white-tailed deer in Boundary County. In 1940, Middlemist became finance officer for the Works Project Administration in northern Idaho. From 1943 to 1944 he worked for the US Bureau of Public roads on the Alaskan Highway. He later joined the US Marine Corps and was assigned to the South Pacific with the Marine Air Group 22 as an administrator. The group earned the Presidential Citation for it's role in the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942 off northeastern Australia. From 1949 to 1958, Middlemist was an Idaho Senator from Boundary County. He served as chairman of the Fish and Game, and State Affairs Committee. In 1958 he was a Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Idaho. He served as Secretary of the Senate from 1959-1960, and appointed position. In May 1960 he was hired by the ID Dept of Lands as a minerals resource specialist. He retired in 1978. After retiring, he traveled in Europe, Greece, the Philippines and lived with the natives in the Arctic.
He was married and divorced four times. He married Betty L Waybright July 18, 1980, at Baguio City, Philippines. They moved to Lewiston in early 1989. He enjoyed woodworking and hunting. He belonged to the VFW when he lived at Bonners Ferry, and was a charter member of the Poachers Club of Boise, a conservation group. He is survived by his wife at their Lewiston home, five sons, Ken Middlemist of Anchorage, AL, Warren Middlemist of Coeur d'Alene, Jon Hargett of Lewiston, Larry Waybright of Seattle and Paul Waybright of Clarkston; 13 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. A private service will be conducted. Cremation has taken place. Part of his remains will be scattered at Bull Trout Lake by members of the Poachers Club, and the remainder will be inurned at Bonners Ferry. Vassar-Rawls Funeral Home at Lewiston is in charge of arrangements.