Kim's County Line: Gone Fishin': Lyle Fritzemeier, 1958-2020

Warm Lake, Cascade, Idaho, taken in 2011

"Gone fishin'."

Lyle Fritzemeier passed away during the early morning hours September 17, 2020, in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Warm Lake, Cascade, Idaho, taken in 2011

When Randy visited Lyle last week in the hospice, Lyle asked if Randy and I had gone fishing in South Dakota. He recommended it. No, we didn't have a chance.

Payette River, south of Cascade, Idaho, 2011

But it made me think about going to some of Lyle's favorite fishing holes when we visited him in Cascade, Idaho, back in 2011.

At the time, he owned and operated the Pinewood Lodge Motel there. (Click here to read about that trip and see more photos.)

When I was sorting photos, I also found a photo Lyle had taken at the Peace Creek pasture, which shows the bridge I mentioned earlier this week. It was the site of many childhood expeditions. Randy now has the photo over his desk.

When I posted the Peace Creek photo on Facebook this morning, one of those Hornbaker cousins (Pam) shared this memory:

Oh the stories to tell of deeds done here! The famous rocket tree, picking leeches from between our toes, the nest of owlets beneath the bridge, fishing with string and a safety pin and never understanding why we were such unlucky fishermen, and the hundreds of miles racing our bikes down those sandy roads.
Pam Hornbaker Turner

I thanked Pam for the word picture she painted - a glimpse at my husband's childhood. He's a man of few words. Even though he mentioned Peace Creek as a favorite memory, he didn't provide such vivid details as Pam. She also made this observation:

I was thinking that if we were kids today, we’d have a million selfies of all those deeds, but I don’t think I have even one photo of the 5 of us together (6 with Kathy, but she was never in on the bridge escapades)!

It's true. I couldn't find one photo of the neighborhood hooligans who visited the Peace Creek bridge. But I did find a few more photos from their childhood tucked into the pages of scrapbooks compiled by Marie, their mom.