Henry Stanger Milstrap, of Shelly, Idaho, came to the end of his miserable life last Thursday, succumbing finally to a last fit of anger of the kind that had characterized most of his 68 years. The family is confident that he has now gone to his just reward in that lake of fire and brimstone, symbolic of the hot flashes of rage that filled his life and tormented those around him for so many years.
Born on August 2, 1950, in Challis, Idaho, to unsuspecting parents Marvin Milstrap and Emily Carter Milstrap, he was the oldest of five children. He was a problem child already at the age of two, and the "terrible twos" personality remained with him throughout his life, making his parents and later his younger siblings miserable with his tantrums and meanness. When he was 12, the family visited Yellowstone Park, where they attempted to leave him, thinking that a grizzly or a geyser would end their troubles, but Henry was clever enough to find his way back home on his own, without getting arrested.
In 1973 he succeeded in trapping Gwendolyn Meyer into agreeing to marry him. Gwendolyn was six years his senior, and should have known better, but her mother was so fearful that Gwendolyn would end up as an old maid that she pushed the poor girl into the marriage. Gwendolyn endured the marriage entirely by large daily doses of antidepression medication.
He was self-employed his entire life; no employer would keep him for more than a few days. He and his family survived on his vegetable garden and the rabbits and chickens he raised. He once commented that his only joy in life was in killing the chickens and rabbits.
Two sons, Sam and Timothy, were born to the warring couple. Both escaped as soon as they reached their teen years. A town celebration will be held next Tuesday, where those who had the misfortune of having to deal with Milstrap and live in the same town will have the opportunity to share their joy at his passing. A contingent will then go out to the cemetery to spit on his grave.