Obituary of Clarence Estel Middleton

Clarence Estel “Est” Middleton, born 11 March 1940 to Arlis and Vera (McDaris) Middleton, passed to his Savior's arms on 9 September 2014. Clarence, as he was known by while growing up, was born in Gooding, ID in a farm house. He lived in a number of places around Buhl, ID until he moved in with his grandparents, Clarence and Buena Witt, west of Buhl, because he could have animals. He raised dairy heifers on his grandfather's dairy, using the money from their sales to purchase his first car. When his grandfather moved off the farm, Clarence went to work for him hauling lumber. He got stopped once by law enforcement as being too young to drive a semi, so he “bought” his first big truck. After getting out of Buhl High School in 1959, Clarence joined the Army where he served for 3 ½ years at several bases. During his time in Korea, he participated in an uprising on the DMZ, which later led to his being awarded the Purple Heart for being wounded. Upon returning home, he went to working on farms. After a few years he drove semi's for several companies in the western US. Later he worked for Independent Meat for 16 yrs and then returned to long haul driving. In 1991, he decided to get back into ranch work becoming a cowhand. It was while doing this job that he had 2 Traumatic Brain Injuries in August 1996. While those accidents stopped him from working, he did learn to make saddles and other leather goods that people were happy to receive. He was married to Linda Terrell and had 3 daughters: Teresa Johnson, Tammy Middleton and Terri Middleton. That marriage ended in divorce and he raised Rodney & Tammy Bartlome from his marriage to Mary. Thinking he was done raising children, he then married Laura Reny and raised her daughter Barb Palmer (Kaupp) and influenced her son William Palmer. During his adult life, Est, as he preferred to be called, enjoyed hunting, fishing, black powder rendezvous and bingo. He knew no strangers, helping people with whatever they needed, especially with animals. Est is survived by his wife, older brother Sam, his daughters and son, grandchildren, great grandchildren and his step sisters: Janice, Nina and Ruby, as well as many nieces and nephews. A memorial service will be held on Saturday September 13, 2014 at 4:00 pm at Rosenau Funeral Home, 2826 Addison Ave E. Arrangements are under the direction of Rosenau Funeral Home.