BY HIS SON, GRANT THOMPSON

CHILDHOOD YEARS

Gordon Francis Thompson was born 28 April 1894, the fifth child and the third son of Henry Bronson and Hannah Elizabeth Yates Thompson in Scipio, Millard County, Utah. His brothers and sisters were Henry Merwin, born 1 November 1885; Bessie Henrietta, born 17 April 1888; Vera Louise, born 8 March 1890 but only lived six weeks; Leland Millis, born 25 September 1891; Sterling Daniel, born 7 May 1896; Shelby Yates, born 1 January 1898; Ethel Irene, born 9 April 1904; and Norma Marguerite, born 3 June 1906 and died when she was eight years old.

He was blessed on 6 May 1894 when he was only eight days old by his grandfather, Thomas Yates, who was bishop at that time and the second bishop of the Scipio Ward. He was baptized and confirmed on 3 June 1902 by William I. Hatch, probably because his father was up in Ogden Valley (Eden) working for his brother-in-law, Walt Lindsay.

Dad's father, Henry, had worked with his father, Daniel, and his two brothers, Wilmer and William in cattle ranching. This lasted about ten years and concluded about the time Dad was born when they had to leave a herd of approximately 10,000 cattle in the Henry Mountains when early snows stranded them. In 1894 to 1895 Dad's father was Superintendent of the Scipio Co-op Mercantile and later he managed the store again in 1898.

Dad's father served a mission to Scotland from April 1899 to September 1901 during Dad's fifth to seventh year. Dad said he didn't understand why his Dad had to leave and serve on a mission. His mother, Elizabeth, managed the co-op store while her husband served his mission. She also made hats, a skill she had learned from her mother, Elizabeth Francis Yates, to supplement the income for her and the six children.

While Dad only lived in Scipio until he was ten years old, his experiences there made such an impression on him that he talked frequently about them the rest of his life. He loved to talk about Scipio and tell the stories that he remembered. He especially enjoyed telling the humorous ones.

He would tell the story about a man who fell down a shallow well and then told about the experience. "As I was going down the well, I thought of all the good things I had done, I thought of all the bad things I had done, I thought, oh Hannah, oh Hannah, I'll be good to you, now." He thought all these things as he fell down a shallow well.

He related about a Scandinavian mother talking about how proud she was of her son. "My Yonny, he been isum, goodsom, nobodies boy" which translated means," my Johnny is as good as anybody's boy."

He told about a young boy walking down the road crying. Somebody asked him, "what do you want?" He said, "I have the beller aches, that's what I want."

He loved to tell about a little girl named Vera Norton who could not speak plainly. Someone would ask her what her name was and she would say,"Berwa Noty." When the one asking the question would repeat, "Berwa Noty," exasperated, she would say, "No! not Berwa Noty, Berwa Noty!" She knew how her name was supposed to be pronounced but could not say it right.

He would often relate about the drummer (salesman) that would come to visit Scipio, no doubt to sell merchandise to the Co-op Store that his mother was running. When the drummer would see Dad milking the cows, he would tell him to get away from the cows or he would get kicked. Dad's Grandpa Yates would say to the drummer that Dad was his hand that milked his cows so he could safely be around the cows.

Dad's Grandma Yates lived between his house and the school house. He related many times that on the way to school, he would go into his grandmother's back door and out the front because it was a little bit shorter. On the way home from school the procedure was reversed, in the front door and out the back door. Because his grandmother was so sweet and patient she would not say anything to him or request that he go around the house instead of through it.

He enjoyed telling about what an expert his father was with a lariat. On one occasion a group of men were trying to catch a horse in a corral but were not successful. Someone noticed that Henry had just got back in town and they said,"Go get Hen Thompson; he will rope him." They did just that and Henry roped the horse with the first throw and then dropped the end of the rope and said you can take it from there. I'm tired and I am going home.

Another of his favorites was telling of the Danish polygamist who was hiding out in the middle of his grain field from the federal officers . When the officers began to walk through the grain, the polygamist could not stand it, and even though they had not found him yet, he stood up and yelled,'Ged oud of da grain, ged oud of da grain.' He could not tolerate them tromping down his precious grain even though it meant he would be caught.

On one occasion Dad became mad at his family for some reason and decided to run away from home. He started walking up the road toward Holden but since the road was up a rather steep hill he became tired and running away did not seem such a good idea. When the mailman came along and offered him a ride home, he decided to accept the offer and return home. He related that he thought he had been gone forever but in fact it was only a short time.

When Dad's father returned from his mission in 1901, he spent part of that year working for his brother-in-law, Walter Lindsay, in Eden, Utah. The following year he managed his father-in-law's two herds of sheep, two hundred head of cattle, and the biggest farm in Scipio. Walt Lindsay requested his help again sometime in 1903 and apparently that looked like a good opportunity for him because the whole family moved to Ogden on 21 September 1904.

They lived at 3434 Washington for one year and then moved to 3025 Adams Avenue both of which were part of the Ogden First Ward. While his father worked as Lindsay's sheep foreman, Dad attended South Washington Elementary School. In the summers, Dad worked on Bingham's farm in Riverdale which was about two miles away from where he lived. He not only weeded and harvested the garden crops but helped to sell the produce in Ogden.

ADOLESCENT YEARS

About 1906-1907 Dad's father left Lindsay's to become a partner in a sheep business with Jack Spires. He bought 106 acres of land from Jack Spires in Plain City so his sons could have a place to work and learn responsibility. Dad said: "When we took over the farm from Jack Spires, it took a lot of hard work to get that farm in good farming condition. Merwin, being the oldest, was in charge while father was away. Father gave us to understand that we were to follow Merwin's instructions and all work together. This farm required a different type of farming than those in Scipio. Merwin didn't understand exactly how to go about it. He was one of the hardest working men I've ever known. He taught us all how to work. He felt that often he had to work on Sundays to make the farm go."

Initially, they raised barley by running the water out in ditches on the high ground and let it run into the low places. They would sell the barley to Beckers in Ogden, which they made into beer, and then they would begin scraping to better level the farm to get ready for next year. After the farm was more level and they were able to irrigate it more readily, a wider variety of crops were planted. Dad said of the later period: "The farm was mostly row crops: potatoes, sugar beets, tomatoes, barley, alfalfa, beans. Father didn't do much with plowing, cultivating or such work."

Byron remembers Uncle Merwin telling about they plowed some ground to plant sugar beets but they did not harrow it for a few days. When they tried to harrow it to prepare the soil for planting, there were huge, hard clods that would not break up with the harrow. The boys, which I assume were Uncle Mer, Uncle Ster and Dad, took sledge hammers into the field to break up the clods. William Hodson, a neighbor, told them they were wasting their time. They continued and planted the beets and had an excellent harvest. Bill Hodson talked about that for years later.

Dad's father was a rancher and that was what he liked rather than farming. Since he was in the sheep business he was gone most of the time. Dad went out and spent the winter, when he was about eighteen years old, with his father herding the sheep on the Hogup Mountains which are south of Park Valley. He related: "I only went to the sheep herd in the winter because I was too busy helping Merwin work on the farm in the summer. Mer and I did most of the farming. Someone asked me why I was going to the sheep herd. My answer was, 'so I can get acquainted with my father!'"

Earl remembered Dad telling about the dog that Dad used to have when he was the herder for one of his dad's herd of sheep that winter. He was a well trained sheep dog and Dad could send him out to round up the stray sheep. He would go over several ridges, if necessary, and would come back with six or so sheep. This was much easier than trying to round them up himself.

On one occasion Dad kicked the dog because he didn't mind as he should and the dog would not follow his commands after that.

Earl also remembered Dad telling about the horse that he used while he was the herder. One time Dad was out with the sheep on the horse when the fog rolled in. Dad became lost and did not know how to find the camp. Finally, he allowed the horse to go where he wanted to go, and they were soon back in camp.

Byron remembers him talking of hunting rabbits with a ten gage, double barrelled shot gun when he was out with the sheep. He sneaked up on a rabbit and when he shot he pulled both triggers at the same time, which knocked him a rolling.

One outcome of his staying with the sheep herd was when he came back, he had lost his girl friend. He told us about that many times during his life and said that he was glad he lost her because Mom was so much better than her.

With the help of Frank Gale and Rollo Taylor, Dad worked with his father and brothers to build a six room, two story, cement block house which the family moved into in May of 1913.

Dad often talked of his mother putting a pan of milk in the cellar where it was cool to let the cream rise to the top. He and no doubt others in the family would hold slices of bread on the cream on top of the pans until it soaked into the bread. After sprinkling sugar on the cream soaked bread, he would have a delicious treat.

Dad attended school in Scipio and after they moved to Ogden he went to South Washington Elementary School. He graduated from the Eighth Grade in Plain City in 1908. Bertha Weatherston was one of his teachers and taught all of his children as well. He attended a part of a year at Weber Stake Academy in Ogden but then spent the rest of his youth learning to farm by working with his brother, Merwin.

Dad and his family used to sing quite often together with a piano or banjo. They sang some favorite songs which became family traditions. They included "Ollie" and "Rebuen Blue." The words for "Ollie" are given below:

Verse 1

My name is Ollie Olsen and I yust come from Nor-vay

I come to New York, I can't find no verk

So I tink I go vest right away

I buy me one ticket to Saint Polly

And I get on one hella fine car

Conductor comes long and said Ollie

You ride in the immigrant car

Chorus

Vell it's Ollie, dey all call me Ollie

I don't know how dey find out my name

I never tell none of those fellows

But it's Ollie yust the same

Verse 2

When I get off the train at Saint Polly

I only had fifty cents

I buy me one pint of Alcoholly

And on a big drunk I did vent

When a man with blue coat and brass buttons

Says Ollie you come go mitt me

And he pulled and he pushed and he kicked me

and he locked me up vitt a big key

Verse 3

Next morning dey take to the courthouse

Dey take me before Yudge Green

He whispered some tings to dem fellow

and made me acquainted on dem

Ollie the big Swede from Nor-vay

has been on a big drunk, so dey say

Dey give me ten days on the rock pile

So I tink I remember that day

Rueben Blue began like this:

Rueben Blue from the restaurant flew

With a little bunch of whiskers on his chin

Dad met his future wife, Margaret McFarland after a dance which was held in West Weber where she lived. She had gone to the dance with her brother but when the dance was over, her brother, Tom, was not around. She and her cousin, Susan McFarland, were going to walk home but another cousin of hers, Henry Dance, said wait a minute and I will get someone to walk you home. Dad gave them a ride home in his horse and buggy.

Shortly after that Dad went over to another dance in West Weber but because he had not learned how to dance, he did not go inside. He sent a friend of his, Rube Hancock, into the dance to ask Mom if she would come out and talk to him. She came out and that was apparently the first opportunity they had to really get acquainted.

It was apparently a few weeks later when Dad went over to West Weber before Mutual was over and waited for her to come out. He asked if he could take her home and that began a courtship which lasted for over three years. The courtship was one that used a horse and buggy. Dad related that he could drop Mom off after a date and the horse would go home, from West Weber to Plain City, with the reins tied up while he slept. He thought that was a real advantage over having to drive a car home.

ADULT YEARS

He married Margaret McFarland, daughter of James Rankin and Mary Eliza Etherington McFarland, on 22 December 1915 in the Salt Lake Temple. The ceremony was performed by Elder Alvin F. Smith, A half brother of Joseph Fielding Smith. The witnesses were John Cairns and Christian Christensen. It is interesting that Joseph Fielding Smith performed the sealing of Dona and I over thirty three years later.

They rode the Bamburger train from Ogden to Salt Lake and arrived at the temple before it was light. They went to the temple without any relatives or friends accompanying them. After receiving their endowments and being sealed, it was evening and dark when they left the temple. They stayed that night with Dad's Uncle, Thomas J. Yates, in Salt Lake City.

They were blessed to have seven children. Gordon Earl was born on 20 January 1917 while June was born 18 April 1919, both in Plain City. June only lived for three weeks when she died of pneumonia. James Lyle was born on 26 May 1921 and Byron H was born on 4 April 1923 both in Hansen, Twin Falls County, Idaho. Grant was born 26 February 1927, Marilyn was born 10 January 1932, and Darrel was born 6 September 1937, all in the Dee Hospital in Ogden.

Their first home was a rented adobe home which was located directly behind and north of the Plain City School. This was later the Vern Palmer home. Sometime after Earl was born, which was in January 1917, they traded homes with Dad's father and mother, Henry and Elizabeth, moving into the cement block home. Dad needed to be closer to the farm and Grandmother, who was Relief Society President, needed to be closer to the meetinghouse and the center of the ward.

Dad and his brother, Merwin and their father, Henry were in a farming partnership for about four years and Dad and Merwin ran the farm in Plain City. In 1919 Dad and Mom moved to Hansen, Twin Falls County, Idaho and bought an eighty acre farm. It was a beautiful, fertile and well irrigated farm. He raised hay, clover seed, potatoes and grain. In the cattle area he had 10 or 12 milk cows as well as raising Duroc Jersey pigs. He was a lifetime member of the Duroc Jersey Hog Association.

When Dad bought the farm, clover seed was selling for 39 cents a pound. By the time they were ready to harvest the first crop of clover seed, it was selling for eight cents a pound. As you can tell they bought the farm when prices were high but then almost immediately, a depression come along and prices plunged down.

The individual, a Mr. Koing, from whom Dad bought the farm carried the mortgage and for a couple years he did not require that payments be made when they were due. Dad was able to make adjustments and therefore it appeared that they would be able to keep the farm in spite of the depression. However, the mortgage holder decided that he wanted the farm for his son and therefore began to require that all payments be made on schedule. He tried to get Dad to get help from his father to make the payments but Dad refused. That is when Dad and Mom realized they would lose the farm. For the next two years they stayed on the farm but rented it from the owner.

They salvaged enough money to buy a new Model T Ford and they left Idaho in 1925. Dad always maintained that he was glad he lost the farm.

Dad rented the use of a box car from the railroad to ship animals and other materials to Utah. There were cows and a Duroc Jersey boar, among other things. Uncle John Mc Farland went up to Hansen to ride back and take care of the livestock during the trip. The Duroc Jersey boar was later the Grand Champion at the Ogden Livestock Show.

In 1925 Dad took a course in auto mechanics in Los Angeles which lasted about six months. Earl finished the school year in West Weber as they lived with Mom's mother and father. Later Mom and the three boys joined Dad in Los Angeles until his course of study was over.

Dad opened an auto repair business which was referred to as the garage in Plain City in 1926. The garage was part of the Maw store and lumber complex in Plain City and Dad rented it from them. This business was a successful one and one that Dad enjoyed because he liked dealing with and meeting people. There was, however, one major problem in that many people would not pay their bills. He would have continued in this occupation except his boys were growing up and he did not like the idea of them not having enough to do.

In 1929 prior to the depression which began in October he bought part of the original farm from his father in Plain City. His brother, Merwin had bought the rest of the farm. They moved back into the cement block house and began farming in the spring of 1930.

The farm was small with only 26 acres of irrigated ground plus some pasture which was along the Warren and Lym's canals between the lane and the road that runs between Plain City and West Weber. There was another piece of wooded pasture south of the Warren Canal and east of the Plain City-West Weber road that contained about three and a half acres.

It was very difficult for Dad to make ends meet on this small farm during the depression. He had Federal Landbank loan payments to make, a family of six children to feed and clothe and it was a struggle.

He and his boys cleared the three and a half acres of wooded pasture by cutting down the trees and brush, pulling up the roots or burning them out, burning all the trash which was not useful as fire wood. About half it was cleared for farming on the east side initially, which had the least large trees, and then the rest was completed a couple of years later, first with horses, and later with the help of a caterpillar crawling tractor which was hired. This new piece of ground really helped because it was new ground and therefore very fertile.

The first crop planted was Bliss potatoes which had vines so heavy that, according to Earl, Dad thought they would not produce many potatoes. However, when they were harvested, it took two people folding the vines on to the row to keep the vines in the digger, and one to pull the vines under the seat of the digger to keep them moving. The yield was about three hundred and fifty, hundred pound sacks to the acre. This was about twice the normal yield. The first crop of sugar beets yielded about 30 tons to the acre which was phenomenal.

He also rented ground so that a larger harvest could be made. He said many times he would do anything he could to earn a few more dollars.

He was watermaster for Pioneer Land and Irrigation Company which pumped water from the Weber River near the farm and was used by farmers in that area. He began this job about mid 1930's. His job was to keep the pump running, which not an easy job, schedule the water turns for the farmers, which was difficult because they did not always want it when it was available. Nevertheless, He was able to work with people very well and smooth out problems and, in general keep people happy. Therefore he was successful in the job and was liked by almost all.

I can remember going with him over to the pump during the drought of the 1930's to turn off the pump. At the same time Ross Folkman would be there from the Warren Irrigation Company to start one of their pumps to pump into the Warren Canal to supplement the water they were getting from up the river. There was not enough water in the Weber River to run both of Warren's pumps and the Pioneer Land and Irrigation's pump. In fact, most of the water being pumped was coming from raw Ogden City sewer. Since Pioneer had the first water right, Warren shut down one pump during the day. Dad would help Ross fix the dam so that the water that was coming down to our pump would be held for Warren's pump. Early the next morning at about 5 AM that process would be reversed.

Our kids remember so well riding with their Grandpa over to check the pump in the old red Dodge Pickup truck. They have fond memories of those experiences.

In 1938 He bought a red, 1933 Ford truck for use on the farm but primarily to haul sugar beets to the factory, not only his but other farmers as well. After the sugar beet harvest was over some of the truck owners in Plain City began to haul coal from the Price-Huntington area for their own needs and to sell to others. Dad began joining them and they initially would travel in groups.

It was the custom in the beginning to stop at Ross and Jack's Cafe on Twenty Fifth street just below Washington in Ogden at about midnight to have hot cakes before beginning the journey to the coal mine. A stack of hot cakes only cost 15 cents but soon that practice was stopped because it was too expensive. It also was not long until the Deer Creek mine, owned by Byron Howard, which was west of Huntington was where he went for the coal because it would burn the best and leave the fewest coals and clinkers.

His brother, Sterling used to tell him he was not making any money trucking coal but he was just borrowing money on his truck and you will have to pay it back with interest. Dad's reply was: ' all I know is that at the end of the month I have a few more dollars to buy the things that we have to have.'

The coal was still being pulled out of the Deer Creek mine by horses. A single horse would pull a cart full of coal along a track to bring the coal to the bin where it could be dumped into the waiting trucks. Dad tried to be one of the first in line so that he could be loaded quickly to start the journey back to Plain City or wherever in Weber County he had sold the coal.

His boys would often accompany him on these trips. There are several things they remember about these experiences. Dad really enjoyed whistling and would usually whistle all the way down and back. It sometimes seemed that it was very loud, especially if you were trying to sleep. His favorite tune on these trips was "Maria Lana." They remember seeing the miners coming to work as they waited in the truck for the mine to open. They often commented that they looked about as dirty as when they left the night before. Dad specifically told of a miner coming to work on Monday morning and when he raised up his pant leg, the leg was coal black. Obviously, he hadn't taken a bath over the weekend.

They also remembered the good lunches which their mother sent along packed in an empty Karo Syrup bucket. Byron also remembered one of the miners who was a rough talker saying he did not even know the name of his Bishop. Dad said to the miner, "Just wait until you have sickness in your family and then you will soon find out who your Bishop is." The miner became very quiet after that.

In 1939 Dad bought a brand new ton and a half Ford truck which was dark green. He continued to haul coal but soon added another commodity to the list: grain. He hauled grain from both Box Elder and Cache counties and occasionally from as far away as Malad, Idaho. The places included Blue Creek, Fielding, Beaver Dam, Cache Junction, Newton and Trenton. In Newton, he often bought from a widow who trusted Dad a great deal. If Dad wasn't finished loading the gain on the truck, when she had to go some place, she would say go weigh the load and leave the money.

One experience which I remember was as we were loading sacks of wheat on Ericksen's farm at Beaver Dam. We were loading it on a steep side hill and there were no sides on the bed of the truck. When we were almost loaded, about half of the sacks slid off of the truck. Since the sacks of wheat split open, it was a difficult clean up job. The grain was scooped up with as little dirt possible and put back into sacks. Sacks that were split open were sewn back together. Most of the grain was reclaimed but Dad was not sure what he would do with it. He was able to sell it to a chicken farmer in West Weber because the dirt would not be a problem for the chickens. While he lost money, at least his losses were minimized.

Sometimes Dad did not buy grain directly from the farmers but would buy it from a mill. One of those was Erv Stohl in Tremonton. On one occasion Dad had taken five loads of grain from the mill the cost of which amounted to about one thousand dollars, a lot of money in those days. He went into Erv's office to settle up and pay him. Erv said I don't have time now so we will do it later when you are up here again. Then he added, there are not many people that I would trust like I do you.

Dad had a reputation for being honest with everyone with whom he did business.

Another one of his trucking businesses was to buy and sell cedar posts. He bought cedar posts in Duchense, Scipio-Holden area, and Snowville-Stone, Idaho area. He trucked to Weber County, primarily to sell to farmers and ranchers.

One time Dad, Earl, Byron and myself were taking a load of posts up to Keller's sheep ranch which was across Ant Flat, north of the head of Beaver up the south fork of the Ogden River. The weather was beautiful when we left Plain City but unknown to us, there had been a heavy thunderstorm the night before up in that area. As we left the head of Beaver, it was dirt roads and they were wet. We got very stuck and had to work very hard to get the truck out. We put cedar posts under the rear dual tires to give more traction, we dug and we dug and we dug, but we finally had to wrap the chain which was holding the posts on the truck around the rear dual tire to finally get out.

Even though we had brought a lunch with us, we were famished by then because it was late afternoon and we had worked hard. When we got to the sheep camp to deliver the posts, Dad said a sheepherder will always feed hungry people so he asked the sheepherder if he would fix us something to eat. He fixed eggs, meat, hot canned creamed corn, and biscuits. I have always said that was the best meal I have ever eaten, probably because I was so hungry.

Another brief enterprise was hauling redwood railroad ties from the old, original rail bed that went around the north end of the Great Salt Lake. During World War II there was a great need for steel and so they tore up the tracks for the steel which left the ties. Some of them were redwood and even though many had been there for over twenty years, they were perfectly preserved, because there was so little rain and snow in that area. He hauled them from beyond Kelton, Utah, which does not exist any more, and bought them for twenty five cents a piece and sold them to farmers for seventy five cents or a dollar.

Through all of these other activities Dad continued to farm. He was a good farmer and raised high quality crops. He raised hay, grain, sugar beets, potatoes, tomatoes, and from time to time onions and peas. He had anywhere from five to nine cows which were holsteins although only those that had been purchased for his boys 4-H club projects would be registered. In the early years, Dad and Earl built a chicken coop out of railroad ties. They raised two hundred or so chickens from baby chicks. These hens then became the laying hens from which eggs were gathered and sold. There was always a hog being raised for meat along with a beef of some kind which was usually a holstein.

Dad really knew how to handle a team of horses so that they would do the job right. As he plowed or planted his rows were always very straight because he had the knack of knowing how to have the horses walk in a straight line. When he would cultivate the small sugar beets, he could have the knives on the cultivator very close together which would kill more weeds. This was possible because he could keep the cultivator from moving from side to side, which if it happened, resulted in the beets being cut off. He was truly a master at cultivating demonstrating his skills with horses.

He was also a master at irrigating. He knew how to regulate the amount a water to go down each row so that they would all finish about the same time. He was constantly going back and forth to push more water down a slow row or shut off some of the water going down a fast row. Harold Thompson, Uncle Merwin's son, would often say when his irrigating wasn't going just right,"We need Uncle Gordy here to show how to irrigate."

Dad and we boys had great times working together on the farm and he taught all of us how to work and the importance of working hard. Not only did we enjoy working together and seeing the farm work progress, we enjoyed having interesting discussions as we worked. We discussed the gospel, politics, current events, the last Weber County Farm Bureau League baseball game that Plain City played, and so on. There were always beets to thin or hoe, ditches to clean, crops to water (or more properly irrigate), potatoes or tomatoes to hoe, onions to weed, hay to cut, pile, pitch and haul, potatoes to pick up, tomatoes to pick, onions to harvest and sort, grain to cut and shock, threshing to do, beets to top and haul to the factory, manure to spread, plowing to be done, and etc.

One of the traditions which we had on the farm was to sing together as we picked tomatoes. We sang for hours and hours. The two songs that we sang most frequently were, "It's Just An Old Shanty In Old Shanty Town" and "Isle of Capri." I have sung them many times to my family.

During World War II Dad went to work at the Ogden Arsenal to help the war effort and to earn some extra money to help pay off the mortgage on the farm. Most of the time he worked on the graveyard shift in the motor pool. They were not always busy at that time so some times he would be able to get some sleep. He still continued to farm and be watermaster for Pioneer Land and Irrigation Company. In this way he was able to make the last payment to the Federal Land Bank for the loan on the farm.

After the war He and a friend of his, Roll Etherington, had an appliance business for several years. They would primarily take orders on refrigerators, stoves, radios, and etc, and then bring them in from the wholesaler. Dad was a good salesman and this was a successful business while appliances were somewhat scarce after the war. As they became readily available, the business slowed down and they decided to discontinue it.

In the election of 1946 a Republican Sheriff, Mac Wade, was elected for the first time in quite a few years in Weber County. He was looking to fill the positions in the office with faithful Republicans and Dad was given the job of Bailiff in the District Court. He held this position for eight years and worked primarily with Judge Charles C. Cowley. He enjoyed this job very much and still continued to farm as well.

Dad served for many years (probably 10 to 15 years) as Plain City's representative on the Board of Directors for the Weber County Mosquito Abatement District beginning in about 1947. The first manager of operations was Dr. Orson Whitney Young who was a teacher at Weber College and he was replaced by Lewis Fronk. Dad was always proud of the progress that was made in controlling mosquitoes in the county. I am sure it was Dad's influence that got me a job there and I worked during the summers of 1948, 1949 and 1950.

The most important things in Dad's life were his family and the Church. He expressed his love for his family to them and others often. He often said that while he would not leave his family worldly riches, he wanted to leave them with a strong testimony of the gospel. He certainly had a strong testimony and expressed it to his family frequently. He expressed his love for the Lord and his great work and demonstrated it by the way that he lived. He often said he didn't want his kids to be as good as he was - he wanted them to be better.

Dad was a very patient man for the most part, especially when you might expect him to be upset with you. When I had the team of horses run away with me on the hay mower because I walked up the tongue to kill a horse fly, I was miraculously spared from any harm. However, the tongue of the mower broke along with one of the wheels. To make matters worse, when the tongue broke a large sliver went into upper part of the leg of the best horse and it died a few days later. Dad's only concern was for my safety. I did not receive a "scotch" blessing which he knew how to effectively give.

There was also the time that Lyle wrecked the 1933 Chevrolet Car and after Dad found out that Lyle was unharmed, he never said another word.

He sent Byron over to the piece ground by the river to herd the cows on some alfalfa. He told Byron not to let them get too full. When Byron brought the cows home they looked fine but then one of them started to bloat. Dad told Byron to stand by the cow and if she bloated more to stick her with a trocar, a pointed piece of metal with a sleeve, to release the gas from the cow. Byron stood there trying to decide when to stick the cow and he let the cow die. Dad never criticized him at all.

One of Dad's trademarks was that he was always whistling. He had a very beautiful, loud whistle and he would whistle beautiful tunes. If he were out in the barn or out in the field working, you could always hear his whistle. He liked to get up early in the morning and cultivate beets before milking the cows. Byron and I would be still in bed upstairs but we could hear him whistling very plainly.

Dad could also whistle loudly to get peoples attention by placing his two index fingers in his mouth and forcing air out of the constriction. For years our neighbor across the street did not have a telephone. Their friends and relatives would often call us and ask us to get them to the phone. Dad could go out on the front steps and whistle and they would come to the door.

Dad had many sayings which he had picked up from other people over the years which he used to emphasize a point. His children have continued the tradition by using many of them as well.

If you were anticipating something that he was afraid would never happen, he would say:" Get off of that colt, you will make it sway backed." This is the equivalent of saying, don't count your chickens before they are hatched.

He related the story of its origin by saying a young boy told his dad he was going to buy a chicken to lay eggs and then have her set on them to raise baby chicks. The chicks were to grow up and would lay eggs resulting in more chicks and chickens so that he could sell the eggs and buy a mare. He would then raise a colt from the mare and would begin to ride it. His father told him to get off that colt, you will make it sway backed.

Another of his sayings was:" There is no fool like an old fool."

When speaking about his age, he would say," I am old enough to sleep alone if I wasn't afraid."

Another saying of his would come when he was asked something that he may not want to talk about. He would jokingly say," Ask me no questions and I will tell you no lies."

He often said, "I love skim milk as long as it is the top part."

He frequently stated that cream makes anything taste better.

When Dad was upset about something he would say, "Wouldn't that jump up and jar your grandmother's preserves."

He would tease us kids when we wanted to do something special, perhaps after we had worked hard on the farm all day. Dad would say," Let's go to the springs." We would get very excited because we thought he meant Hot Springs, a natural hot springs swimming resort near Pleasant View. He would then let us know that he meant the bed springs or more directly, the bed.

He would often say that he had a very good memory but he didn't always use it. When he was older he would say that he had a good "forgetter".

When someone made a mistake or something similar, Dad would say, "Is that all the sense what you got to do."

When someone would complain a lot he would say, "you would complain if you were hung with a new rope."

If Dad asked someone how they were and they responded pretty good, he would say, "If you are pretty and good, you can't be much better than that."

He would say if he hadn't seen someone for a long time, "I haven't seen them since nor after."

If something was not perfect and someone was concerned about how it looked, Dad would say, "If you were running for your life, you would never notice it."

If he was eating something cold, he would say "that is cold enough to freeze your teeth and give your tongue a sleigh ride."

Dad loved to travel and would go on a trip gladly when he had the opportunity and when he could afford it. He loved to see new sights and then to talk about what he had seen after he returned. He and Mom made many trips to the Los Angeles area because Uncle Lorin and Aunt Bessie Thompson Hansen and Uncle Leland and Aunt Clara Thompson lived there.

I can recall vividly the trip we took to Los Angeles in 1936. The thing that made that trip possible during the depression was the fact that potatoes sold for a high price that year. As I recall, there was a drought in the potato growing areas in the East and therefore potatoes brought the unheard of price of one dollar per hundred pounds.

We bought a used 1933 Chevrolet car and we were very excited to take it on the trip. I can recall there were 33 miles of dips in the road between Las Vegas and Barstow and I would say "Step on it, Daddy, step on it," because I liked the feeling it gave me, like a roller coaster ride.

Dad and Mom were reluctant to fly but in their later years, they flew to Hawaii because they really wanted to see that beautiful area.

Dad was a very good Father and demonstrated that in many ways. He taught the gospel to his children in many different ways and at many different times. While we did not have formal lessons like at a Family Home Evening, often on Sunday afternoons between Sunday School and Sacrament Meeting and after Sunday dinner, we had great gospel discussions. Dad had the ability to explain the gospel so that it was easy to understand. He would mention something that was discussed in his Sunday School class or ask us what we had discussed in our class to get a discussion going.

He took advantage of many other opportunities to teach the gospel. While we worked together on the farm, he would often bring up gospel principle or subjects which we talked about as we worked together. All of us learned a great deal from him.

To teach us the importance of honesty, Byron remembers that Dad would relate an incident that involved his brother, Merwin. Uncle Mer had a holstein bull that was young and which he was interested in selling. A man from Plain City, Mr. Hunt had come down to Uncle Mer's farm to look at it and Uncle Mer offered to sell the bull for a certain price. No sale was finalized but the man was interested. Shortly after the bull won first place at the Plain City Black and White Days show. Uncle Mer was offered twice as much money for the bull but because he had offered it to Mr. Hunt for a certain price, that is what he sold it for. Dad emphasized that Uncle Mer was a man of his word and we should keep our word as well.

Dad was very diligent in keeping the Sabbath Day holy. Anyone who knows anything about alfalfa hay knows that if it gets rained on its value is greatly diminished and cows and horses do not like to eat it. With hay that had been rained on, cow's milk production would always drop. Even if he knew it was going to rain on Monday, he would not haul his hay on Sunday to prevent it from getting wet. He felt the Lord would bless him in other ways.

He rarely irrigated on Sundays although sometimes it was required if his irrigation turn was on Sunday. Almost always there were others who preferred to irrigate on Sunday because they worked and therefore Dad would arrange it so that he did not have to.

Dad always supported the Church in every possible way. If there was a meeting that he was supposed to attend, he was there. He did not support the Lord's work because he was supposed to, but because he wanted to. He was blessed to have the Spirit with him and he used it to guide his life. He accepted callings as they came to him and then tried to do the very best that he could to fulfil them.

He was ordained an Elder by Henry J. Garner on 28 November 1915, a Seventy by Rulon S. Wells, a member of the First Council of the Seventy, and an High Priest by Hyrum G. Smith, who was Patriarch to the Church, on 8 March 1924.

For the six years he lived in Idaho, he was busy in the Church with many callings. He served as a Mutual Teacher, President of the Mutual, First and Second Assistant Superintendent of the stake Sunday School, and Counselor in the Bishopric of the Kimberly Ward.

He served on the North Weber Stake High Council for eight years. It was during the depression and Dad was having a difficult time earning a living for his family. He was working very long hours farming along with any other jobs he could find, and he felt he did not have enough time to fill the High Council calling as he should. He talked to the Stake President and said that perhaps he should be released. The Stake President said they wanted him to continue to serve and if he could not do everything, he should not worry about it.

When Dad was released from the High Council, a party was held at our home. One of the High Council members was Fred Williams, who was affiliated with Shupe-Williams Candy Company. He brought a lot of candy to the party and Byron thought that was a great treat.

He served as First Counselor in the Bishopric of the Plain City Ward for six years. Charles L. Heslop was Bishop and Abram E. Maw was Second Counselor. He worked hard to do a good job in this calling and his family was very proud to have him serve.

Byron and I remember Dad's responsibilities for Fast offerings as he served in the Bishopric. If some districts were not completed as they should be, Byron and I would go out to complete them. We also remember helping to remove the money from the Fast Offering envelopes and then counting the money to make certain it was all there. The latter was done around the large round table in the dining room.

He later served as Chairman of the Plain City Ward Genealogical Committee. In this capacity the amount of temple work conducted by the ward greatly increased. They would call recommend holders and encourage them to go to the temple on the appointed day and would arrange for busses to take the ward members to the Logan Temple. The Plain City Ward was doing more endowments than the rest of the Stake combined.

In the late 1950's Dad and Mom began going to Mesa, Arizona in the winter, a practice which they continued for over twenty years. Initially, it was just for a week or two but then they extended it to three or four months. When they began to stay longer, they first lived with Ruth Evans who was a widow. They had a bedroom and shared the bathroom and kitchen facilities with her. Later, Dad bought a trailer in Roy and Earl pulled it behind his truck down to Mesa. I went along on the trip with Dad and Earl.

Dad, as well as Mom did a great deal of temple work as they spent the winters in Mesa. Dad would usually do five endowments a day while Mom would usually only do three. They would do three in the morning, have lunch at the temple, have nap in the trailer and then Dad would go back for two more endowments in the evening. Dad would do about 350 endowments each winter. In addition, he worked at the veil as well.

He died 18 December 1982 at our home in Brigham City, Utah.

COMMENT

Dad lived a full and righteous life and truly was successful. He put first things first in his life. The Lord's work and his family were more important to him than were his own personal worldly pleasures. His honesty was known to all who knew him. He truly lived a Christ-like life.

(This sketch was completed 17 August 1996)