Earl Leland Braga

Earl Leland Braga, Twin Falls, Idaho, passed away on September 16, 2010. Earl was born in Gooding, Idaho, on September 12,1918, the tenth child of eleven children born to Antone and Mary Ann Braga Silva immigrants from the islands of Sao Miguel and Pico in the Azores. He grew up on an eighty acre farm east of Gooding where he and his younger brother lived in the pump house as there was not enough room in the home for the whole family. And yes, he did walk a mile through the snow that was over a fence high to catch a school bus. During his youth he worked on the family farm and to earn extra money borrowed the family horses and worked for neighbors for 37.5 cents a day (remember $5 would buy school clothes for an entire year. After graduating from Gooding High School, he continued to work on the family farm and was a member of the National Guard. He was accepted as a cadet in the United States Air Force in 1942 and began pilot training in March 1943. He graduated as a Second Lieutenant in December 1943. During the war, he flew C-47s in the Troop Carrier Command in the South Pacific and was involved in the post war occupation of Japan. Earl was married to Glenda Kolb on March 19,1943. He met Glenda, a native of Nebraska, while she was working in the Ration Office in Gooding - and all he went in for a was a set of tires! After returning from the war, they took an extensive driving vacation and delayed honeymoon for three weeks traveling to Montana, Washington, Oregon and California. This year they observed their 67th wedding anniversary. After the war Earl worked for Mountain Bell and then transferred to Idaho Power Company, where he worked in power plants from American Falls to C. J. Strike Dam. He was transferred to Twin Falls as a dispatcher in 1962, retiring after thirty years of service in 1981. During his working years Earl always had various additional jobs from remodeling houses to farming, eventually retiring to their own forty acre farm west of Twin Falls. Earl and Glenda traveled extensively around the United States and Canada, Hawaii, Alaska, visiting three of the Azores Islands, and taking several cruises. Earl was a wonderful husband and father. Family was always his first concern. He was an avid reader of economics and business material, enjoying golf when he finally semi-retired, traveling and maintaining his home. He was very mechanical and could fix most anything. In fact he built his son a car from parts of a Cushman motor scooter, a lawnmower axel, and Model T steering wheel. It had rear wheel drive with a rear mounted motor and independent suspension of the front wheels and could go forty miles an hour. He Was a member of the First Baptist Church in Twin Falls. Surviving are his wife Glenda, son Larry (Ann) and granddaughters Talli Sperry and Brittany Frintner and great-grandson Austin Walsh, his brother-in-law Herb Deagle, cousin Ramona Syverson, and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents and all siblings. Services will be held at Parke Funeral Home on October 2, 2010 at 1:00 P.M. to allow for family members who are following Earl's example of traveling, to return home. In lieu of flowers it is requested that a memorial be made to the First Baptist Church, 910 Shoshone E, Twin Falls, or to the Boys and Girls Club in Twin Falls. The family would like to thank the staff at Rosetta Homes for the loving support and comfort provided to Earl these last few years.