Royce Denmore Kempton, 90, passed away May 1, 2014, in Coeur d’Alene.

Royce was born August 7, 1923, in Hartford, Conn., to Wesley and Bernice Kempton. As a young boy, Royce worked on several farms and ranches. He also spent some time taking people on horseback rides while he talked about the area.

Royce was a tech sergeant during WWII stationed in Nome, Alaska. He was an x-ray technician. At some point during his service, Royce met Dorothy Hertzog. After completing his time in the service, Royce married Dorothy in a chapel in Clovis, N.M., and settled in Amarillo, Texas. While in Amarillo, Royce went to tech school to become skilled as an electrician, and used those skills for his profession working on electric motors.

Texas was dusty and dry, and Royce felt the need to explore new parts of the country. Somewhere he had heard about the Coeur d'Alene area, and in the spring of 1954, Royce and family moved to the Wolf Lodge area just outside of Coeur d'Alene where he purchased a parcel of land and a cabin. Royce got a job at the Albany Falls dam after the move. He was also employed at the Rutledge Mill, Potlatch Forest, Inc., for some time. Other employment included working for co-op Supply, Tinling and Powell electrical contractors, North Idaho College, Templin's Resort, and the Coeur d'Alene Resort.

Early on, Royce loved the outdoors of North Idaho, visiting the Lochsa and the Powell USDA Forest Service area where he always camped in tents and sleeping bags. Later, he expanded family trips to Glacier National Park, always drawn to the mountains and the pure awe of that great area. Royce’s activities always included hiking and backpacking into some fairly remote areas. Over time, he likely covered several hundred miles of different trails during numerous visits over the years.

Royce loved reading National Geographic, enjoying information about other parts of the world. Later in life, Royce and Dorothy decided to sell their home and acreage in Wolf Lodge. Since they had never had a new, finished home, they bought one in Post Falls, Idaho. Being near town, Royce enjoyed visiting local pawn shops and dickering on items they had for sale. He also liked talking to the staff at Black Sheep Sporting Goods. He was a regular at JB's Restaurant, and the staff there knew him well.

Royce was preceded in death by his wife, Dorothy, of 57 years. Royce and Dorothy had three sons: Gary, David (Dave), and Charles (Chuck); eight grandchildren, and numerous great grandchildren.

Urn committal will be 10 a.m., Tuesday, May 13, at Forest Cemetery. Yates Funeral Homes has been entrusted with the care of final arrangements.