Cleon G. (Chauncey) Hammer, 87, died May 9, 2012, at Idaho Falls Care Center of natural causes. He was born November 23, 1924, at Woodville, Idaho to George and Eleanor Taysom Hammer. He attended schools at Harlem, Montana; Taysom, Osgood, York, and Dewey in the Shelley and Idaho Falls area and graduated from Shelley High School.

He served in the U.S. Army during World War II.

He was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

He married Effie Irene Peasley on January 8, 1948. They lived in the Idaho Falls area. They were later divorced.

Following World War II, he worked for Western Air Lines at the Idaho Falls Airport, C.C. Anderson Farm and Home Store in Idaho Falls, and in January 1951 started work with the Atomic Energy Commission at the AEC site west of Idaho Falls. He completed 34 years at the site, retiring from Westinghouse Electric Corp. at the Naval Reactors Facility in December 1984.

In recreational activities he enjoyed hunting, competitive shooting, flying, sailing, dog sledding, back packing, prospecting and treasure hunting. They all provided material for his greatest joy, free-lance writing. He numerous articles and short stories published, both fiction and non-fiction, in newspapers, magazines and books. He also published some poetry. To look at a blue summer sky filled with white billowy clouds, to listen to the river rapids at night, or inhale the magnificent aroma of the lavas after a rain storm were the simple things that gave him great joy.

He is survived by his children, Clifford Hammer of Rexburg, Karen Rynn of Rossford, Ohio, Tony Hammer of Idaho Falls, Reed Hammer of Carrollton, Texas and Kathy Didier of Colfax, Washington; 20 grandchildren and 28 great-grandchildren. He had three brothers, Howard, Charles and Wayne; six sisters Violet, Dora, Ellen, Bernice, Lula and Erma, all deceased. He is also preceded in death by his parents and a grandson, John Hammer.

His reward in life was his sons and daughter. He loved them very much but felt that he sometimes failed to show it. Other relatives and friends also played a part.

Grave side services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, May 14, at the Burton Cemetery. The family will receive friends Monday morning from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at Flamm Funeral Home in Rexburg prior to services at the cemetery.