Homedale High School

Class of 1965

    Parents of Elaine Eidemiller

Owyhee Chronicle

November 23, 1978

            Albert Jay Eidemiller

            Memorial services for Albert Jay Eidemiller, 55 were conducted Friday at the Homedale Presbyterian Church by the Rev. David Turnmire. Eidemiller, a Homedale area dairyman, died of natural causes last Tuesday.

            A life-long resident of the Homedale community, Eidemiller was born on March 16, 1923, at the Fargo homestead of his parents, Raymond and Linnie Alyce Eidemiller. He attended Homedale schools and graduated in 1940. After attending the College of Idaho, he returned to Fargo to begin farming. He married Odessa Duspiva, May 13, 1945, who was teaching elementary school in Homedale.

            Eidemiller served two terms on the Homedale School Board in the late fifties and was chairman of the board for two years. He was also a member of the Presbyterian Church and the Homedale Community Farm Bureau.

            He is survived by his wife of Wilder; two sons, Clifford J. and Patrick J., both of Wilder; three daughters, Elaine Carpenter of Caldwell, Betty Eidemiller-Carley, of Albion, Mich., Jane Eidemiller of Grangeville; five grandchildren; and a sister, Mrs. Alyce Boje of Brighton, Colo. He was preceded in death by his parents, three brothers and a sister.

            Memorials may be given either to the Homedale Presbyterian Church or Arthritis Research, in care of Dr. John Ward, University of Utah Medical Center, Salt Lake City, Utah 84132.

Owyhee Avalanche

July 30, 1997

            Odessa Eidemiller

            Odessa Eidemiller, 74 of Nampa, passed away Tuesday July 22, 1997 at a Nampa care center. Memorial services were held Saturday July 26, at the First United Presbyterian Church, Nampa.

            Odessa was born May 11, 1923 to Mike and Jennie Wasel Duspiva at the family farm on Franklin Road near Nampa. She attended Nampa schools and graduated in 1941. She pursued her dream of becoming a teacher by enrolling in the College of Idaho. After receiving her teaching certificate, Odessa taught first grade at Homedale for 2 years. On May 13, 1945, she married Albert J. Eidemiller, a farmer she had met while attending the C of I. Together they farmed the Eidemiller homestead and milked a herd of Holstein cows. After Albert's death, she moved to Nampa to care for her mother, Jennie Duspiva, who died in 1992.

            Odessa was a devoted farm wife, help mate and mother. Her garden was always large and her fryer chickens and eggs were the best around. She was a gracious hostess and loved to entertain. Albert and Odessa's old-fashioned 4th of July celebrations were attended by family and friends from near and far. She had a lifelong thirst for knowledge, which she fulfilled by reading, and participating in book clubs and study groups.

            She was a founding member of the Presbyterian church in Homedale and an active member of the First United Presbyterian Church of Nampa. She was a member of the Fargo Ladies Club. She was also the state president of the Idaho Dairy Wives, the first recipient of the Idaho Pioneer Dairy Wife award and was named Dairy Woman of the Year. She volunteered in the Nampa Schools and for Mercy Medical Center.

            Odessa is survived by her family; Elaine and Bob Carpenter, Blaine and Jake of Caldwell; Arlene and Cliff Eidemiller, Elise, Seth and Lara of Homedale; Betty Eidemiller and Wayne Carley, Jennifer and Brian of Oak Hill, Virginia; Jane and Craig Spencer, Jay and Lee of Grangeville; Patrick Eidemiller and Sandy Vielma of Montrose, California, sisters Jean Fisher of Eugene, Oregon and Mildred Yankey of Weiser. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, three sisters and two brothers.

            The family suggests memorials be sent to the Homedale Presbyterian Church, Box 577, Homedale, ID 83628, the Nampa Presbyterian Church, 400 Lake Lowell Av., Nampa, ID 83686 or Mercy Hospice c/o Mercy Medical Center, 1512 12th St. S, Nampa, ID 83651.