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ITD mourns recent loss of Byran Bidegain

ITD’s District 3 recently lost one of its own while he was on the job in Idaho City. Byran Bidegain died Dec. 13 while clearing snow near the small mountain community. Byran was 62 years old and had been with ITD for about five years before his untimely passing.

The outpouring of support for Byran’s Idaho City crew has been outstanding, from D3 colleagues and transportation techs statewide. Many offers have also been made to help cover critical maintenance activities in and around Idaho 21. That solidarity has included shifting resources and personnel in the wake of Byran’s passing, ensuring that all responsibilities and operations are met seamlessly.

“Byran was always in a good mood, and would jump in and help with whatever task needed to be completed,” said D3 Maintenance Coordinator Dan Bryant.

D3 Idaho City Foreman Stuart Wilson shared the same sentiment about Byran’s willingness to work with minimal direction. An example stems from his close supervision of regular inmate crews that go to Idaho City to assist ITD with maintenance activities.

“Byran really enjoyed working with that group—and they liked working for Byran. When they learned of his death, they started working on a card which means so much.”

Byran’s wit, even about his own name, was also noted by D3 Operations Manager Michael Garz.

“He would preface his introduction to any new person by saying ‘Hello, I’m Byran, not Bryan,’ which always made me laugh.”

Wilson added, “I’m going to miss Byran and the way we he used to stop into the office at least once a week, and say ‘Stuart, we’ve got a problem.’ The funny thing is that usually we ended up laughing about it later, because it was something we were always able to take care of.”

A memorial service for Byran will be held at the Idaho City High School Gymnasium on Dec. 30 at 1 p.m. The district is collecting donations to assist the family with expenses. Byran’s family has also established an account at CapEd Credit Union for those wishing to contribute.