Cleve Marler
Tibbitts was born with his twin sister Doris on September 16, 1921 in Idaho
Falls, Idaho to Byron Moody Tibbitts and Vera Bodily Galbraith Tibbitts. He was the third child in the family of
six. He had a very special bond with his
sister Doris throughout their lives.
Cleve grew
up in Idaho Falls until the age of twelve years old until they moved to St.
Anthony, Idaho where his father had been working every week and coming home on
the weekends at their family farm in Egin Bench, Idaho. Cleve found a job working as a newspaper boy
delivering the Post Register.
He attended
South Fremont High School. In high
school Cleve was a friendly and likeable person. He enjoyed the time he had with his friend
and sometimes this lead to neglecting his schoolwork. He would always regret his early negligence
for his education. Because of Cleve
physical stature and poor eyesight, he never participated in sports, so he
played the French Horn in the marching band then switched his senior year to
Drum Major.
Joining the
Marching Band was one his greatest decision because this leads him to travel
and also to meet his future wife, Betty Lou Davis. At first Betty was unaware of him, but Cleve
always had his eye on her. They began
dating at the age of fourteen years old and continue to date throughout high
school.
After high
school Cleve attended Idaho State University and also negliged his studies here
and regret it. His second year attending
Idaho State University World War II broke out.
He knew he would be drafted, so he decided to enter the Army. He reported to Fort Douglas in Salt Lake City
in November of 1942. He was honorable
discharged after two years of military service because of his poor eye
sight. He returned home to work for his
father. His relationship with Betty
began to progressed. They decided they
wanted The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to play a huge part in
their life and their friends they were associating with would not lead them
there. They sat down and decided that
church would be a solid foundation in their lives and was married on April 10,
1945 in the Salt Lake City, Utah Temple.
A short time
after their marriage, Cleve when to the University of Utah in Salt Lake City,
Utah and graduated with bachelor’s degree in zoology. He applied for medical school at Utah
University and was not accepted because of his poor grades at Idaho State
University. In his adolescence he did not
realize the importance of his early education.
After this he returned to St. Anthony to work with his father. His
father owned an expanding business farming potatoes and wheat, and as well as
ranching cattle.
Since living
near his parents he had a special relationship with them. His mother instilled in him spiritual and his
father instilled hard work. His father
developed a mental illness and suffered a nervous breakdown. At the age of 74 in July of 1967, Cleve
father, Bryon, committed suicide by drowning himself in the Snake River. After this Cleve realized the great
responsibility and stress that comes from running a business and gained a
greater understanding and appreciation for his father. Soon after his brother Byron Jr. passed away
from a fatal heart attack at the age of fifty-five.
Cleve held
many church calling such as bishop, high councilman and his last calling was
stake patriarch. He received the calling
from Elder Marvin J Ashton. He was very
nervous about his calling, but grew to love it.
In 1993
Cleve and Betty turned in their papers to serve in the Adelaide, Australia
mission. They traveled around the
mission giving patriarchal blessings. It
was at this time they learned to lean on each other since they were so far from
home and their families making their marriage strong than ever before.
On February
24, 2008 Clever Marler Tibbitts passed away from complication of a surgical
procedure. He is extremely missed by his
wife, six children, twenty-three grandchildren, and (soon to be) thirteen great
grandchildren.
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