In memoriam: Dow B. Bond

Passed away peacefully on November 19th. Where he was surrounded by his loving family. Dow was born on August 20th, 1934, to Dow G. and Pearl Burch Bond. He was born in Raton, New Mexico and grew up in Taos, New Mexico. Where he had friends from grade school that they were still calling each other and laughing like school children. In Taos he met his lifelong partner, Nancy Barba. 

They were married September 1, 1956.  They had 61 great adventure filled years together.   They were blessed with three children, seven granddaughters and eighteen great grandkids.  Spent the early years of marriage following where the Navy sent them including a stop in Hawaii. Then spent the following years where the Forest Service sent them.  New Mexico, Arizona and finally stopping in Twin Falls, Idaho for the last 45 years. In high school Dow was an all-state lineman on Taos’s first undefeated team. Dow went to New Mexico State University where he received a Civil Engineering degree. 

After college he went into the Navy. The last few years you could see Dow wearing his USS Douglas A Monroe cap. He was very proud of his service. If you were lucky, you heard the story of how he was the officer in charge when he rode out a Typhon, keeping the ship atop a wave for hundreds of miles, preventing it from capsizing. 

In the summer you could find Dow at the Jerome Country Club.  Most years leading the members in most rounds played.  Before retiring to golf, it was riding mountain trails on his motorcycle.  Was a proud member of the “Magic Valley Trails Association”. In the fall you would find him hiking the fields for pheasants or the side hills looking for chukars.  There were many family wild bird meals at George Ks and Peking. Was a must do for all out-of-town visitors. In the winter you would find him on the slopes.   Skiing was the one thing the Bond family did every weekend in the winter. From all of hard living such as, two weeks in the hospital after a motorcycle race and busting his body up after skiing of a very large cliff in Alta to name just two, Dow started to slow down a little. 

Even after that, in his late 70’s him and his hunting partner drug an elk out of the mountains. He was bent over from the back surgeries and walking pretty slow but would still take scamp on his daily walk. Some out in the desert and later to the last open field in Twin.  Dow’s last hunting outing was two years ago at 85. Him and his trusty hunting companion Scamp would head out and search for chukars.  Dow started skiing around junior high age.  Made his last turns at the young age of 82. Over seventy years of turns.  Served as a National Ski Patrolman and a Certified Ski Instructor.

After moving to Idaho, he gave both of those up and returned to skiing for pleasure. That did not last very long as he started coaching a ski racing team.  Even though there was shuffling when he walked, when he laced up the boots and started down the slopes he had the same exact form he did his whole life, making sure the rest would have to keep up with him. Was rare to see him miss any of his children’s or grandchildren’s sporting events. Made it to almost every softball game where he would sit behind home plate and instruct batters. There were very few of his granddaughter’s volleyball matches that he was not present.

The last 10 years he could be found at the Bruin volleyball matches where he sat front and center. Dow was preceded in death by his wife, Nancy, his mom and dad Pearl and Dow G. Bond and his son-in-law Bill Paden.  He is survived by his sister Gail Vernon of Taos, his brother Benton Bond of Taos, daughter Diane Paden of Greeley Co, son Wade (Sheri) Bond of Twin Falls, daughter Shirley Bond of Greeley Co. Grandchildren Stephanie (Trent) Korby, Patricia (Ryan) Welle, Whitney (Todd) Cook, Jessica Bond, Sydney Hullinger, Jenna (Fernando) Rodriguez, Nikki (Pete) Campbell.  Great Grandchildren Emma, Will, Blake, Keaton, Maci, Nina, Ava, Ady, James, Vaughn, Henry, Kinsey, Carson, Caiden, Stetson, Rixon, Gracie and Thea. Dow had a special bond with his buddy, his Britney Scamp. Scamp was his loyal companion after Nancy’s passing.  They could be seen most days driving down the road or walking to the fields for Scamp’s run. Scamp put his head on Dow’s hand and his is last words were “Hey Buddy”. We would like to thank the great staff at Grace Assisted Living. Grace was Dow’s home the last year of his life.  The entire staff was fantastic. The care on his last few days was beyond the scope. Special thanks to Kristi as he said “The Good Nurse”. You could always find him in “his” chair talking to everybody that walked by.  Would also like to thank Visions Hospice, for make his last two days very comfortable. A celebration of life will be held at a later date in Dow’s hometown. In lieu of flowers please hug your loved ones and take them out to eat at Garibaldi's or the Blue Lakes Dairy Queen.