Bruce Crandall Boren

Bruce Crandall Boren ended 90 years of a damn good run on Friday, August 5, 2022. His wife Dawnie and his best kid, Joe, were there to see him off. He was a hard working wild boy, a rule breaking hell-raiser, a jokester with a heart full of love for many people, and all dogs. (There was never a day in his life when he did not own and love a dog.) All his life he wanted to be free, have fun, and be good and he did those things.

Bruce was born Feb.12, 1932 in Oakley, Idaho, to Gib and Olive Boren, in the house his grandfather built. Growing up in Burley, he ran around with his friends, fished the river with his brothers, played sax in the band, chased girls, ‘borrowed’ the family car for joy rides, and played a few pranks, one of them involving a cow and the school principal’s office. He worked many hours in his father’s Pontiac dealership, and there he developed a lifelong love of good cars and driving fast. He looked up to his older brother Richard, teased (but loved dearly) his sister Carol, and kept an eye on his little brother Robert, who he may or may not have accidentally shot in the behind with a BB gun.

After high school, Bruce gave BYU a shot, but it wasn’t for him. He was deeply disappointed that the classes were extremely boring and that he wasn’t allowed to shoot at pheasants from the doorway of his dorm. Nor to cook the pheasant on a hotplate in his room. Nor to point his shotgun at the RA when asked about the hotplate. So he headed off to automotive school in Pontiac, Michigan, and on his return, took a job at a garage in downtown Salt Lake. Here he met Lynne Pedler, who wandered in with a flat tire emergency. They were engaged 6 weeks later and married April 18, 1958.

In 1966, Bruce and Lynne moved their growing family to the Boren “farm” in Oakley where they busied themselves raising three kids, along with a menagerie of chickens, pigs, sheep, a couple of borrowed horses and the occasional overly aggressive goose. Bruce’s child and livestock wrangling was limited to weekends, however, as he was busy pursuing a decades-long career as a very successful, well-loved, traveling salesman for F.G Ferre and Sons, an automotive supply company, covering a large territory. During these years he logged literally millions of miles of drive time between Ontario, Oregon and Salt Lake City at an average speed of 150 mph (a slight exaggeration). He definitely knew how to straighten out a curve and avoid a speed trap. He won many awards for Salesman of the Year, and all of his clients loved him, due to his congenial and jovial nature. Summer vacations were always spent as Bruce had in his youth, at the family cabins, fishing on the Salmon River.

The 1980’s found Bruce spending more time in Boise, where he met and fell in love with Dawneeta Clausen. They were married in 1988 and proceeded to have many adventurous and fun-filled years together. They became realtors and contractors and operated a successful house flipping business, completing over 30 projects. They spent many delightful days boating at Payette Lake in McCall and Lucky Peak Reservoir. They had lots of wonderful friends and went on many cruises and motorhome adventures. With Dawnie, Bruce traveled to places of which he had not previously dreamed: Hawaii,  Alaska, the Baja Peninsula, and many, many points in between. Her family became his family, and they accepted and loved him as their own. Life with Dawnie and her family was full of fun, love and adventure. Dawnie was a faithful and true companion for over 34 years and they were together to the end. She put up with his sometimes grouchy stubbornness, and took care of him through thick and thin. 

Bruce is survived by his wife Dawneeta, sister Carol Masich, brother Robert Boren, sons Craig Boren, Joseph Boren, Scott Clausen, daughters Sherry Wallwork, Pam Clausen and Krista Clausen, many grandchildren,cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends who dearly loved him and by whom he will be greatly missed. His father, mother and beloved brother Richard were waiting for him on the other side and it was no doubt, a joyous reunion.

A memorial service will be held September 10 at 2 pm at the cultural hall of the LDS church at 3555 S. Cole in Boise, Idaho.