Life Sketch of Doward Kopp
Given by J. A. Fisher - Old Timers Day 7-27-91
Doward Kopp was born Oct. 8, 1917, at Annis, ID. This was located between Lorenzo and Menan. It was in the home of Mrs. Brown (a mid-wife). She was the mother of Joan and John Fisher of Swan Valley. Doward said he was "blessed with a good healthy birth, warm meals. but no clothes". This was in the fall of the year and harvest time so he and his mother went home to the ranch in Swan Valley. He grew up on the Kopp Ranch on Pine Creek Bench. He said, "Dad gave me a straw hat, new pants, a pair of button shoes, handed me a milk pail and said 'Get busy, boy, we got lots of work to do', and it seems to me that's the way my life started."
He attended school at Pine Creek School. One teacher taught all eight grades. He had scars on his right thumb nail from the hot marble games he had at school playing with Bill Campbell and Joe Fisher. He was a lover of the outdoors. He loved camping, fishing, skiing, and working in the garden.He also liked to cook and he made especially good sourdough pancakes and biscuits.
He married Mary Osmond, who was his sister's seventh grade teacher. This lends some credibility to his claim that he had to marry her to get out of the eight grade.
He was a World War II veteran and Korean War veteran. He was a charter member of the Swan Valley American Legion Post, and also of the Ammon American Legion Post. He served as Commanders-- Seventh District Commander and Department Commander. He helped with the building of the Legion Hall here in Swan Valley and was active in the Boy Scouts of America organization.
Sponsored by the Legion, during the middle 1960's, Doward organized the project of putting and lighting and evergreen tree where the highways divide in the center of Swan Valley. On a planned cold evening before Christmas, carolers traveled by cars, or a school bus, as far as Palisades -- stopping to sing along the way, then back to the Legion Hall for hot chili, drinks, and doughnuts. The youth remembers this activity as an introduction to "caroling" -- something they had only heard about, but had never experienced.
Doward and Harry Zitlau organized the Swan Valley Old Timers Reunion in October of 1963. There were fifty (50) in attendance. It was decided that it would be a yearly activity to be held on the last Saturday of July of each year. Doward was Chairman of the first and President of the second Old Timer Community Reunion. He was elected and served as President for several other terms. The schedule he used is still being followed: sending fliers to remind former residents of time and place, potluck dinner at noon, business meeting for elelction of officers, and honoring guests, etc, passing the hat for donations to pay the expenses, and using an old timers orchestra for entertainment and dancing.
Doward could see the need of a "Memorial Roll" honoring those that had passed away. He built a cabinet with a glass door for the roll. He also built the stand that now holds the guest book. This year his name was added to the list {1991}.
