Joe Wearden

Joe Wearden died July 2, 2023, after a long, bittersweet run with Alzheimer’s disease. He was born March 15, 1941 to Joe Ed and Josephine Wearden in Victoria, TX, the oldest of 11 children. Though he was at times a very good big brother, he spent most of his life acting like an only child.

Joe loved spending time and hunting on his grandparents’ large ranch near Edna, Texas. He graduated from St Joseph School and took college courses in Victoria and Houston, TX. He enlisted in the Army Reserves, transferred to Air Force Reserves and soon found himself entering the early computer industry, including some time at NASA.

Joe’s father took his kids on several cross-country road trips, and Joe fell in love with the high deserts of the west. He moved to Colorado, married Cynthia Robinson Travis, and they had four children of whom he was very proud. Moving their growing family around the west, he continued his career in computers as the data processing manager for Sun Valley Corporation, Vail & Associates, then to Buhl, ID, with Rangen, Inc. During this time, Joe and Cynthia divorced.

In 1982, Joe met his match in Lynn Moir, and they moved to Nampa, ID, for him to take the IT manager position with Selkirk Metalbestos where he stayed until his early retirement in 1999. He then ran a payroll business from home for six years. Joe and Lynn bought 14 acres outside of Nampa so that Joe could keep horses and mules for packing and big game hunting. He was also an avid upland bird hunter, enjoyed scouting and camping and had a succession of beloved bird dogs. They managed to stay married through building a house, multiple remodels, woodworking projects and farming together. They moved to Boise in 2018. They bought “The Rivershack" in 2004 - five acres in the Hagerman Valley in Southern Idaho - where they spent many happy weekends sitting in the geothermal pool, cooking pizzas in their self-built outdoor oven and making other improvements for it to become their full retirement home in 2022.

Joe has been described by many as a “character” with an easy smile and often wicked wit. His personal motto was “anything worth doing is worth overdoing”. He never knew a stranger, was frequently goofy and inappropriate, and he loved to dance and thought he had rhythm. He loved making sourdough waffles for the kids and bread to share with neighbors. He was a wonderful and fun husband, father and grandfather, a hard worker and DIY guy who instilled that ethic in his children. He had beautiful blue eyes which a stranger during an epic trip to Ireland dubbed as “Irish eyes” of which he was very proud. Those eyes would tear-up when he looked at his loved ones, then he’d laugh at his own sentimentality.

He is survived by his wife, Lynn, of Buhl ID, four children: Marc (Jody, son Conner) Travis of Grand Junction CO, Mimi Ford (children Jordan Walker, Olivia Harr, Haven and Bing Ford) of Twin Falls ID, Robin (Aldo, children Sofia, Camilla and Luca)) Cabrini of Eagle ID, and Raven Marler (son Sullivan) of Garden City ID, six brothers and three sisters. He was “Papa Joe” to nine grandchildren and three great granddaughters. He was preceded in death by his parents and sister, Virginia Averill.

A celebration BBQ will be held at the Wearden home in Buhl July 29th, 12:00 pm. The family wishes to thank Heritage Hospice and the private caregivers who took such loving care of Joe during the past five months. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to your favorite charity and tell those around you, “I love you!”, as Joe would have done. Memories and condolences may be shared with the family at www.farmerfuneralchapel.com.