Our father, Bill C. Bridge, lived to the ripe old age of 97 years and 11 months. He passed peacefully away Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. He was a good man, husband, father, friend; beloved by his grandchildren.
Dad was born near Brownfield, Texas, on Christmas Day, 1926, to Elmer E. Bridge and Mittie Edwards Bridge. He was the third son, followed by three sisters. Dad joked that because his arrival interfered with Christmas Day, his mom tried to get rid of him. He did have several near-death experiences as a child, including inhaling smoke as a baby in a cot in a wall tent when the kerosene stove blew up. His Southern mother, a believer in odd remedies, swabbed his throat with kerosene when he had colds, but used too much one time. He inhaled it and nearly died.
As a child, Dad was so crazy about the radio program Chuck Wagon Jamboree that his family started calling him “Chuck.” The nickname stuck, following him through life with family members and close friends. Of course, he also had a big appetite, liking his “chuck!”
When Dad was around 6, his father uprooted a reluctant wife and six small children and moved them from Texas to the tiny town of Lindrith in northwest New Mexico. At an elevation over 7,200 feet, winters were cold and windy, with homes poorly insulated. It was the Great Depression and times were hard. The family raised pinto beans and milked cows for cash. They raised pigs and chickens for meat and eggs. Children, as well as adults, worked hard. Dad hardly ever spoke about those harsh years to us, except to say he was determined to make a better life for his children.
As was typical of rural teenagers before World War II, Dad’s formal schooling ended after eighth grade and he went looking for work. He traveled to his grandparents in Buckeye, Ariz., and eventually to the oil fields in Texas. His dad was a skilled welder and had taught him well, plus he had skills as a mechanic.
World War II was on, so at 17 he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. After basic training in San Diego, he was shipped to Pearl Harbor. There he trained as a photographer.
Bill was decommissioned at war’s end and began job hunting again. An opportunity arose when friends invited him to join them in Idaho where there were jobs at an orchard. So in the spring of 1947, Bill arrived in Mesa, Idaho. At that time there were large fruit orchards and a thriving community. Bill went to work in the Mesa Orchard Company shop as a mechanic and welder. Eventually he helped build a new applesauce cannery. The engineer of the project discovered Bill could build whatever he asked. This was a proud accomplishment for him.
That summer he met Marie Brown, whose family lived near Mesa, on a blind date. She was to be a senior in high school that fall. After the dreary years of the Depression and war, young people wanted to have fun, going to movies and dances every weekend. By Christmas Bill and Marie were engaged. Mom had part-time jobs and they began saving for their future. They were married on May 23, 1948, the same weekend Mom graduated from high school. Dad turned his first paycheck as a married man over to his new wife to manage and save. Thus began their life together, a balanced partnership of love and support. They had plans.
Daughter Peggy Ann was born in 1950 and son Randall William was born in 1953. In the spring of 1955 our family moved to Grangeville, built a house and made Grangeville home. We had good neighbors.
Dad initially worked for Wagner Auto as a mechanic. Then, a business opportunity arose and Dad had the new Phillips 66 service station and auto repair built on U.S. Highway 95. Mom was his bookkeeper. They also built an addition to their house. Now, Bill was an agreeable man. He didn’t really fuss when Marie’s passion for the color pink manifested itself in their new bedroom: pink carpet, pink walls, floral pink bedspreads and pink towels in the bathroom. In the early ’70s they converted the service station into a grocery store.
In the meantime, Dad’s interest and skill in photography were finding an outlet. He was selling photos through stock photography companies. Beautiful pictures of the Camas Prairie in all its seasons. He began taking wedding photos and family groups. He set up a dark room and people came to him to make copies of old photos. Then high school students began asking him to take more individualized senior photos rather than the standardized studio portraits.
So our parents rented out their highway building, remodeled their home to create a studio space and started the Bill Bridge Photo business. This was the work Dad loved the most. He and Mom especially enjoyed the interaction and collaboration with the high school kids over their senior pictures. Dad was the first photographer in the area to take unique photos of the kids, leaving the studio to take photos of them in the countryside and with their horses and dogs. He took photos at the area proms and dances and Mom went along to help. He also had many an interesting small plane ride as he was hired to take backcountry photos. Mom would not go on those adventures.
When you’re self-employed in a small town, you need fallbacks, so Dad put some of his extra time and energy into doing camera repair. He also took on a school bus route that lasted nearly 20 years. He was an early riser and the school bus schedule worked well with his business. He really enjoyed those farm kids on his bus route.
After retirement, Dad still needed to stay busy. He and Mom did some traveling to see family and trips especially for Dad to find new sights to photograph for the stock photo companies. Then came the invention of digital cameras and the internet, both a blessing and a curse for professional photographers. It crashed the stock photography market and was a blow to Dad’s plans for photography income in retirement. But when he got a digital camera, he loved it. He bought a computer and a color printer for photos and learned to use them. A whole new world of creating opened up for him for the next phase of his life.
Bill loved living on the Camas Prairie, the multi-colored fields, the unique skies, especially its sunsets, the surrounding mountains and rivers. Our family homes are full of Dad’s beautiful photos. These last years of his life, Dad had become like aged cheese: salty, a little sharp and full of character. Dad had a sense of humor all his life. Right up to the end he was joking with his doctor, nursing staff and family.
Dad was preceded in death by his life’s partner of 74 years, Marie; daughter-in-law, Cyndyn Bridge; infant granddaughter, Rebecca Woods; his parents; his brothers and sisters; all of Marie’s brothers and sisters and her parents; and many friends. It’s not easy to be the last, but Dad remained philosophical and spiritual. He was a member of the Grangeville (First) Christian Church for over 60 years.
He is survived by his daughter Peggy (Steve) Woods, his son Randall Bridge, grandsons Jesse and Jeffrey Woods, Julian and Maxwell Bridge, great-granddaughters Lexington and Charlotte Woods, great-grandson Weston Bridge, and sisters-in-law Dorothy Brown and Mildred Bridge.
We plan to have a joint memorial service for our parents in the spring.
Blackmer Funeral Home of Grangeville is in charge of arrangements. Send condolences to the family to blackmerfuneralhome.com.
