Herbert Stanley Aldous

POCATELLO – Herbert Stanley Aldous, 95, passed away August 31, 2004 at the Portneuf in Pocatello. He was born July 25, 1909 in Cambridge, Idaho, the 14th of 15 children of Robert Frederick Aldous and Matilda Felt, and was the last surviving member of that family. He attended school in Cambridge until he finished the eighth grade. Then, feeling that he had all the education he needed, he began hiring out to work for other farmers in the neighborhood.

While he was growing up he enjoyed horse racing and baseball. He also tried skating, skiing, basketball and a variety of other pastimes. As he grew a little older, his time was quite fully occupied during the summers with haying crews, operating the grain heading machine and threshing.

In 1928 he found employment at the Lamb Dairy in Pocatello, then in 1932 as a section hand on the railroad. However, the next year he returned to farming, where he claimed he could make more money than on the railroad, even though he had to work from dawn to dark.

About 1933, he enrolled in Idaho State, where he learned the carpentry trade. He later built his own home. In 1941, he went to work building Army barracks in Boise. One day his foreman mentioned that he was considering going to work on Wake Island. The idea appealed to Stan, so he signed up that very day and was soon on a boat headed westward. He worked in construction on Wake Island for eight months before it came under attack from the Japanese.

On the second day the civilians were placed under the command of the military to help defend the island. After 15 days, the defense crumbled and 1,150 prisoners were taken. Stan was held on Wake for about two weeks before being moved to Japan, then to China. After being confined in China for eight months, he was moved back to Japan, where the prisoners were given a spade and forced to raise their own food.

Stan stated that they were all beaten with bamboo sticks on their backs and down their legs until they were black and blue. He was hungry for 44 months until his six foot frame got down to 122 pounds.

After the war, Stan married Fern Elizabeth Daniels on March 10, 1946. He married Alice Irene Sandstrom July 13, 1985.

Stan was employed at Idaho State University before his retirement in 1974, after 25 years of service.

He was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

When he was unable to care for himself, he lived for 15 months at the Veterans Home in Pocatello. More recently he had resided at the home of a grand-niece and her husband, Teri and Cory Lamb, where he was given an abundance of loving care for the last nine months of his life.

Stan will always be remembered for his vast storehouse of humor. He had an excellent memory for poems and stories, which he loved to recall for the enjoyment of anyone who had time to listen. He had been dearly loved by a host of family and friends.

His two former spouses preceded him in death, as did his parents and 14 siblings, Will, Frank, Ellen, Henry, Ethel, Josephine, Jack, Newell, Violet, Lucile, Millie, Odetta, Virgil and Blain. Stan is survived by four step-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be held September 4, 2004 at the Colonial Funeral Chapel, Pocatello with Bishop Gary T. Dance officiating. Burial will follow the service at the Cambridge Cemetery near Downey, Idaho.