- Date Of Birth: August 22, 1921
- Date Of Death: June 23, 2018
- State: Idaho
George Graf Zollinger, 96, of Burley, and formerly of Rexburg, passed away June 23, 2018, at Highland Estates in Burley from causes incident to age. He was under the care of Harrison Hope Hospice.
George was born August 22, 1921, in Rexburg, Idaho, to Albert Zollinger Jr. and Marie Graf Zollinger. He was the eighth of ten children of Swiss immigrants. He spent his entire life in Rexburg, initially in town, and later on a farm in Hibbard that his father had purchased when he was a young boy. He lived on this same farm until he was 83, when because of health and the recent death of his wife, DeVona, he moved to Burley to live with his oldest daughter, Diane.
His father passed away when he was six years old leaving his mother, who spoke little English, and the rest of the family to run the farm. As a result, he attended Rexburg schools through only the 8th grade. He entered the military at a young age and served in the Navy’s Asiatic Pacific Area Campaign on a mine sweeper. After being discharged, he returned to Rexburg where he met DeVona Westover while working on his soon to be father-in-law’s farm. They were married November 5, 1950, in Rexburg. The marriage was later solemnized in the Idaho Falls Temple.
He soon began farming the approximately 140 combined acres in Hibbard and the Westover ranch just north of Rexburg, for most of the rest of his life. He also worked for many years at U&I Sugar Company in Idaho Falls and later at Roger Brothers/American Potato in Rexburg, until his retirement in 1989.
He enjoyed fishing, watching boxing, the Utah Jazz and just about anything the color red. Many a tractor and dented truck were spray painted red at the Zollinger home. Few new cars or trucks were purchased that were not red. He and DeVona had season tickets to Ricks College basketball, which they enjoyed for several years.
