Dennis Lyle Critchfield

BURLEY -Dennis “Coon” Critchfield, age 88, of Burley, departed his earthly body to go fishing and hunting for the first time in way too many years. He is most certainly joined on his first heavenly adventure by his dad, Thomas Lyle Critchfield, his mom, Virginia “Sis” Alexander Critchfield Bauer; his sisters, Ella Rae and Colleen; his grandparents; and his aunts and uncles on both sides – the Critchfields of Oakley, Idaho, and the Alexanders of Marion, Idaho.

Except for a short stint as a young boy in L.A., Dennis grew up in Oakley, where chores on the family farm were often followed by fishing, hunting, and roaming the wilds of the South Hills of southcentral Idaho – which he continued to do on a regular basis until old age kept him at home. A gifted athlete, he obtained the nickname “Coon” from the two black eyes he got from a bat flung his way during a game of baseball. He was a super-fast runner, often covering the two miles between school and the farm in record time. It was natural that he lettered in track at Oakley High School, where he was the 1953 Idaho State Champion in the one-mile.

He wanted to be a butcher, but coaches from Idaho State convinced him to come run track for them and it changed the course of his life. From 1954 to 1957, he helped the Bengals dominate their conference and win three consecutive Rocky Mountain Conference Outdoor Track & Field titles. Labeled by Coach Dubby Holt as the “finest of all Bengal distance runners” he competed at the NCAA Track & Field Championships in 1955 and 1956, and the Olympic trials in 1956.

After Idaho State, he joined the U.S. Army as a Specialist Class 4 from 1958-1960. He was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division specializing in parachute assault operations into denied areas. While in the Army, he still competed in track & field, finishing third in the steeplechase at multiple track meets. While stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, he met and married Sondra Henderson from Faith, North Carolina, in 1960. They moved to Idaho and raised two daughters, Lorri and Stacy. They were divorced in 1979.

He worked hard and he played hard. After working eight hours every weekday as an electrician for the City of Burley, he could be found creating beautiful rock fireplaces or running up and down a basketball court refereeing high school boys’ basketball games. Did we mention, fishing, hunting and enjoying the beautiful Idaho outdoors? He did that a lot.

He played competitive men’s softball and met the love of his life, his wife, Anne, while playing at softball tournaments in the Treasure Valley. They were married July 3, 1985, in Burley, Idaho. For over thirty years they’ve enjoyed a shared love of antiques, beautiful stumps, rocks, and rusty old treasures collected from all over the state to decorate their lovely yard. Anne made Dennis’s former bachelor pad a beautiful home.

In 2001, Dennis was inducted to the Idaho State University Sports Hall of Fame for his performance as a distance runner for the Bengals. He was honored to be chosen and to be inducted by his former coach, Dubby Holt, made the award even more special. Always a track & field fan, he was thrilled to be inducted alongside Olympic gold medal pole vaulter, Stacy Dragila.

Dennis is dearly missed by his wife, Anne, of Burley; daughters, Lorri, of Boise and Stacy, of Garden Valley; granddaughter, Jessica, of Boise; and great-granddaughter, Hazel, of Boise; stepsons; Michael Walters, of Lahaina, Hawaii, and Scott Walters, of Nampa.

At his request no formal service will be held. Cremation arrangements have been entrusted to the care of Rasmussen-Wilson Funeral Home of Burley.