Robert McClellan Hull Jr.

Robert McClellan Hull Jr. (Bob) was born in Preston Idaho on August 7, 1943, to Robert McClellan Hull and Marian Bowden of Whitney, Idaho. He was the oldest of six children (two brothers and three sisters). In his youth, he loved scouting, the outdoors, and life on the family farm. In between work, and watching the Lone Ranger and Howdy Doody, Dad spent his time riding horses and playing in the snow. 

In his teenage years, he was active in sports, 4-H, and very successful in FFA. After high school, Dad served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Appalachian Mountains (East Central States Mission). In his later years, he would regale his children with stories of the locals mistaking him for an FBI agent and dumping their mash tuns into streams as he approached their properties. Sadly, he didn’t bring any of that sweet corn hooch home, Brady and Will would surely enjoy it today. He received a Bachelors Degree in Agronomy from Utah State University and in 1968 he married a sweetheart of a girl Susanne Davis. He enticed Mom with his red Pontiac GTO.  They settled in Whitney on the farm a short distance from where he lived as a child and had four rowdy, strong boys: Rob, Brady, Chris, and Will.

Dad enjoyed scouting from a young age and received his Eagle Scout award. His love and dedication to the Boy Scouts carried into his adult life where he dedicated a great deal of time as a Scout Master and various other scouting positions. He received practically every award imaginable as a scout, culminating in the receipt of the Silver Beaver Award. One of his great legacies is the work he did in the scouts and the lives of the youth he impacted there. 

Later in life, he enjoyed watching James Bond, Superman, Rocky, Star Wars, and Indiana Jones with his boys on a rental RCA Video Disc player from Adventure Video.  He often took time to take them to the USU football, and basketball games. He enjoyed watching sports with them and usually cheered for the underdog. His boys loved and respected his opinion so much that they went on to form lasting, ill-defined hatred towards dominant sports teams. He had a blast with them at Lagoon Dairy Days where he kept riding the rides like he was still a kid. Whenever possible after the day's work was done, he would rush his boys out to one of the local reservoirs barely long enough to get a line in the water before the sun would dip behind the foothills. 

Dad also loved being involved with church activities and the community of Whitney. He loved the prophet, Joseph Smith. Dad’s family credo was: first church, work, then scouts otherwise you can pick your switch. He had garnered a great deal of joy from these three endeavors and he wanted his boys to be blessed with the same regardless of how obstinate they were. 

He loved reading, particularly the writings of Louis L’Amour. Every year for Christmas the boys would buy him a book and a jar of dry roasted peanuts–we didn’t know what else to get for him. He was a man of little wants or needs outside of his family and community. He loved his boys' spouses and their children. There was some contention surrounding Christmas given that he always bought them the best gifts. While at Heritage and later Maple Springs he would dominate the BINGO boards to secure presents for his grandchildren. 

Ten years ago August, his sweet partner and our mother Susie died rather quickly of cancer. A short time later, Dad was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Given the stress of his devastating loss, Parkinson’s rapidly progressed causing him a great deal of pain and discomfort.  However, Dad never complained; he always had such a positive outlook. He passed away peacefully surrounded by family on October 25, 2023. He was preceded in death by His wife Susanne; his parents, Robert and Marian; sisters, Sandra Lee and Kathleen; and by his brother, Cordell. He is survived by his brother Dick and sister Clixie; by his children, Rob (Holly), Brady (Ondylun), Chris (Paige), Will (Jodi), and 9 grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held on Monday, October 30, 2023, at 11:00 a.m. in the Whitney Ward Chapel, 1444 S. 1600 E., Preston, Idaho.  Viewings will be held Sunday from 6-8 p.m. and Monday from 9:30-10:30 a.m. both at the Whitney LDS Church.  Interment will be in the Whitney Cemetery.  Memories and condolences may be shared with the family at webbmortuary.com

The services will be streamed live and may be watched Monday at 11 am (MST) by clicking on the following link:

https://youtube.com/live/P6zRuKZU-wU?feature=share