Thomas Wesley Priest, 88 of Nampa died Saturday, August 13, 2011 at Streamside Assisted Living in Nampa.

He was the son of William Edward Priest and Mabel Josephine Young and was born June 25, 1923 in Shelley, Idaho.  Tom grew up on the family farm in Taylor and graduated from Shelley High School in 1941.

He attended the University of Idaho, where his college education was interrupted when he joined the Navy Air Force to become a Navigator.

At the close of World War II, he resumed his education at the University of Idaho, graduating with a degree in Agriculture in 1949.  He started working for the Soil Conservation Service, first in St. Anthony, then Valley County and Canyon County, mapping the soil types and land use conditions.

He remained in the Naval Reserve until February 1954.

He married Alta Helm Turman in 1951 and had two children: Susan and Chuck.

To broaden his knowledge, he attended Michigan State University and graduated in 1956 with a Master’s degree in Soils.

He became Idaho State Soil Scientist, then later was transferred and became Colorado State Soil Scientist for ten years, before retiring in 1985.

His hobbies included gardening, hunting, fishing and camping.  He enjoyed collecting and polishing gemstones and fashioning them into bolo ties and jewelry.

He and his wife Joan married in 1971.  They enjoyed traveling in their Airstream Trailer to Mexico and Alaska and other states.  They also traveled to the Orient, London, Scotland, Denmark and had a cruise around the Baltic Sea.

Tom is survived by his wife, Joan Davidson Brandt Priest of 40 years; children: Susan Shrader and Charles Robert both of Arizona; Karen Brandt of Sacramento, CA; Marcia Leitch of Tolcott, WV; Eric Brandt of Meridian, ID; Victor Brandt of Honolulu, HI; Valerie Brandt Hall of New Delhi, India and Audrey Brandt Pierce of San Francisco, CA.  There are seven grandchildren.  Tom was preceded in death by his parents, 7 brothers and 5 sisters.

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