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In Memory

Merlin Wilde - Class of 1952

Idaho State Journal, 10/18/03

SODA SPRINGS - Merlin Eugene Wilde, 69, of Soda Springs, passed away Thursday, October 16, 2003, at the Caribou Memorial Hospital. He was born November 11, 1934, at Georgetown, Idaho, the son of Eugene Merlin and Rose Evelyn Solum Wilde. Merlin married Peggy Ann Archibald August 6, 1955, and they were later divorced. He married Amy Elaine Rockwell April 22, 1961; they were later divorced.

Merlin was raised and educated in Georgetown and Montpelier, moving to Soda Springs in 1961. He was a rancher and a truck driver. He was the owner of Wilde Land and Livestock, which included a 1,000-acre cattle ranch and a livestock transportation firm. He had received many trophies for cutter racing for approximately 20 years, including second in the world one year. He owned Miss Beggar Joy, the American quarter horse mare of the year, Intermountain quarter horse mare and the third winningest mare in the United States.

He was a member of the Rocky Mountain Cutter Association. Merlin was a member of the Soda Springs LDS Third Ward.

He is survived by three sons and two daughters and their spouses, Dan M. and Lisa Wilde, Soda Springs, Mike and Candy Wilde, Idaho Falls, Robert and Sachiko Wilde, Burbank, Calif., Melanie and Scott Conlin, Luling, La., and MerLin and Jay Steffey, Salt Lake City, Utah. Also surviving are 12 grandchildren; a brother, Russell T. Wilde, Georgetown; and sisters, Joyce and Bryant Robinson, Bennington, and Kathryn and Doyle Alleman, Georgetown. He was preceded in death by his parents and a grandchild.

Funeral services will be conducted on Monday, October 20 at noon at the Soda Springs LDS Stake Center, with Bishop Randy Hubbard officiating. Burial will be in the Georgetown Cemetery.