JAMES BYBEE, PIONEER ENGINEER, DIES AT 87
James A. Bybee, pioneer Twin Falls tract engineer and former county surveyor, died of causes incident to age Wednesday at his home in Boise at the age of 87. He is widely known in the Twin Falls area for his role in engineering the Twin Falls tract shortly after the turn of the century. He served four terms as Twin Falls county surveyor.

He became an engineer in the state highway department in1924 and remained with the department until his retirement three years ago. During the time he was with the highway department he resided in Boise.

A native of Uintah, Utah, Mr. Bybee did his first engineering work on the construction of the Denver and Rio Grande Western railroad into Utah in 1881.

He was born July2, 1865. In 1883 he moved to Menan. He married Ozetta Eastman at Idaho Falls in July, 1893. She died Feb 12, 1932.

In 1903 he moved to Twin Falls. He was associated with Paul Bickel in laying out the irrigation project.

He was a charter member of the Twin Falls lodge of the IOOF and past grand patriarchof the grand encampment of Idaho.

Recently he had made his home with a son, Lee J. Bybee, Boise. Other survivors include another son and three daughters, Mrs. Ozetta Hoskins, Twin falls; Mrs. Lenora Smith, Havre, Mont., and Mary Fosnot and G.R. Bybee, both Boise; one brother and two sisters, F.M. Bybee, Idaho Falls; Mrs. C.W. Poole, Rexberg, and Mrs. Alice Boomer, Salmon; 10 grandchildren and 10 grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at the McBratney-Alden mortuary chapel in Boise.

* * * * *

"James Andrew Bybee. No better illustration is needed of what pluck and determination can accomplish when there is a foundation of ability and ambition than is shown in the life-story of James Andrew Bybee, a prominent civil engineer of Twin Falls, Idaho, and now surveyor of Twin Falls county, who is considered as an expert in his line. He has reached this attainment without a technical school training, a college education, or even the full advantages which the public schools afford. It has been the development of a natural bent in one who had the resolution and tenacity of purpose with which to overcome adverse conditions and to plod steadily toward the coveted goal, the mastery of his chosen profession.

"James Andrew Bybee was born in Uintah, Weber county, Utah, July 2, 1865, a son of Robert L. and Jane (Miller) Bybee. The father was born in Indiana and the mother was a native of Scotland. They became pioneer settlers in Utah, locating in that state as early as 1851, and there the mother passed away when James A. was but five years old. Robert L. Bybee is now a prominent resident of Idaho Falls, Idaho, a commissioner of Bonneville county when it was created from Bingham county, has also served as state senator from Bingham county, and is an active worker in the Democratic ranks of the state. In business his attention has been given to farming and ranching and he is now the owner of valuable ranch lands in Bonneville county. Of six children that came to him and his wife, James A. is the youngest son. The others were: Betsey, who died in infancy; Robert L., whose death resulted from a wound received on a saw mill; Francis M., now a prominent merchant and large realty owner at Idaho Falls, Idaho; Mary A., the wife of Anthony Boomer, who is engaged in the transfer business at Idaho Falls; and Elizabeth, the wife of Charles W. Poole, state senator from Fremont county and a prominent attorney at Rexburg, Idaho.

"James A. Bybee received a haphazard education in the public schools of Utah as his parents did not remain in any one place for any length of time. As a boy his natural bent came into evidence in his play, which oftenest took the direction of laying out walls, fences and canals in miniature, and as he grew older this developed into a desire to become a civil engineer. His parents, however, were then unable to afford him a college training to gratify this ambition. Opportunity came his way when at the age of seventeen he found employment in the engineering department of the Rio Grande Western Railroad. It was not long until he was advanced to the position of level man, continuing in this capacity for some time. After that his attention was given to farming for some years but he never gave up his interest in engineering and continued to read along the lines of that profession and to keep himself in practice, for it was the work he loved. In 1903 he took employment with the Twin Falls Land & Water Company and continued as their engineer five years. After completing their project he opened offices in Twin Falls for private practice as a civil engineer and has been very successful, having established a reputation as an expert in this line. In 1910 he was elected surveyor of Twin Falls county and in 1912 was re-elected on the Democratic ticket for that office.

"Mr. Bybee is also an enthusiast on horticulture and has a fine fruit orchard of thirty-six acres adjacent to Buhl, all in a thriving condition. He is a member of the Woodmen of the World and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has filled all the local offices of the latter order.

"Mr. Bybee was united in marriage to Miss Ozetta Eastman on July 20, 1893. Her parents are Ozro F. and Mary E. (Whittle) Eastman, now retired residents of Idaho Falls, Idaho. Mr. Eastman became a pioneer settler of Utah in 1847 when he crossed the plains with the first company of Mormons that sought new homes in the West, though he is not a Mormon. He afterward made many trips overland from Salt Lake City to California, and passed the most of his active career as a merchant. Mrs. Bybee is the owner of 320 acres of ranch land in Twin Falls county. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Bybee, namely: Ozetta, Lenora, Genoris, Ozro and Mary E." [History of Idaho: a narrative account of its historical progress..., Volume 3 by Hiram Taylor French (1914)]