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My Life Story

I am Leoma McCain Iverson, born August 3, 1898 in Cains Hill, Cedar County, Missouri, My parents, Albert A. McCain and Rhoda Elizabeth Chamberlain were born and raised in Tennessee. After their second child was born they met the Mormon Elders, they were converted and baptized. As a result all of their family and friends turned against them. Because of this they decided to move west. They had very little money, but they managed to go as far as Missouri. There my Dad hunted work, so they could continue their journey. It was while they were there that I was born.

Then in the year of 1901 they came by train on to Utah, to Heber City. Then Archie Richardson, one of the missionaries who helped convert them came by team and wagon to take them on to Jensen, Utah, where he lived. This where we made our home for the next twelve years.

My folks always took us to Sunday School and meeting and sent us to Primary. I was baptized in the Green River when I was eight years old. When I was twelve my second oldest sister, Bell was getting married. They and my father and mother went to the Salt Lake Temple, where Bell was married and us children were all sealed to our parents.

When my oldest sister and her husband decided to move to Arizona so my folks sold out and moved also. But instead of going to Arizona we settled in Moapa Valley. It was while we were living here that I met my future husband, Victor Moses Iverson, son of Hans Peter Iverson. I will also write a brief history of his life.

Victor had just been released with an honorable discharge from the Marines because his mother Juliana Johanna Dorthea Christensen Iverson was in poor health. The first time Victor saw me I and my mother was going by team and wagon from Overton, Nevada to Kaolin to visit my sister. Victor was helping some other men clean ditch by the side of the road and when we drove by he asked some of the fellows who that girl was driving the team and they told him. He said he knew then that I was going to be his future wife.

We met at a dance at Overton a few evenings later. This was the spring of 1916. We were married the 23rd of December of that year by our Stake President, Willard L. Jones. We were happy. We to Las Vegas for a while then we went to Parashont, Arizona and Victor took up a homestead. But without much money we found it too hard to make a go of it so we moved to Pine Valley where Victor got a job from Slim Wearing, a cattleman, and worked for some time. Then I got homesick, so went to back Kaolin to visit my folks.

I was there about a month then Victor came down. We moved out to Grand Gulch where Victor got a job. We lived here in a boarded up tent for several months or just a short time before our first child was born. We had to buy all the water we used while living there, it was hauled in barrels and we used five gallons a day.

Then just before the baby was born we went back to Kaolin. We moved in a freight wagon which was hauling ore out of Grand Gulch. This was the same manner we had moved out there.

On Jan. 6, 1918 our baby was born. She was a beautiful baby girl with lots of long blacker hair and we named her Berneice. We lived here until the baby was around three months old and as Victor needed work we moved back to Las Vegas. He got a job in the ice plant and I took in boarders and cooked for some of the men that worked where Victor worked. But working on the ice made Victor sick and the doctor told him he would have to quit that job. Then Victor decided to go to Idaho to try his luck at finding a job. He sent me and the baby to Delta to stay with my folks, but due to bad luck he never reached Idaho; he only made it as far as Ogden, Utah. Then he wrote me from my sister's place and as soon as I got his letter I boarded the train for Ogden. When I got there my sister my sister informed me that she had only seen him one time. I was there about one week then Victor found out where I was by writing to my sister in Delta. So he came after me. He had got a job out at Magna, Utah, where his cousins, Vick and Jenny Peterson, was working. Victor had a job oiling the machinery in a big borax plant.

We was there several months then we went to Salt Lake on the little Bambarger line to buy some new clothes and things we needed. After we had got off the train and was walking down a sidewalk I said I wish we knew where Mary had moved to since she came to Salt Lake. In a little while we was passing a big rooming house and heard someone yell hello. We looked up at a window in the second floor of this rooming house and there was Mary so we went and visited them. Victor got to talking to Bill, my sister's husband and was talked into going to work on the railroad.

Then we moved to Pocatello, Idaho. It was while he worked on the railroad that the first flu started. Victor caught it, he quit the railroad and got a job on a dairy. The day we moved Victor was so sick he could hardly wait to go to bed. He and Berneice were both sick. Victor was real bad for three weeks, during which time I was lucky to get five minutes sleep once in a while. I had to grub brush for a fire and many times I would have to get it in the middle of the night, and to make it worse, it snowed during this time. Victor and Berneice were both burning with fever all this time and I only had a five pound lard bucket to get water in. I had to go a block to get the bucket full of water so had to make lots of trips.

I tried several times to get a doctor but there so much sickness and death there was none I could get. One time I thought sure Victor was dying, but he finally recovered. He worked there for the rest of the winter, then we moved to Inkum, Idaho where Victor farmed on a big dry farm for most all summer. Then we moved to Dillon, Montana, Victor worked on a ranch about forty miles out of Dillon, but Berneice and I stayed in town in a small house we rented.

We were in Montana around two months; but it was about time for our second child to be born, so we moved back to St. George, Utah. Here we stayed with Grandma Iverson and Aunt Annie.

One day while I was in bed after my second little girl was born, the house caught on fire. There was a young boy boarding with us at the time, he got so excited when the fire started that he grabbed a bucket of water and gave it a sling at the fire, but instead of hitting the fire, the water went all over Marie and I, and our bed was just soaked. The fire was finally put out, but it burned the unbleached muslin which had lined the walls.

We lived there until Marie was about a month old, then moved to Mt. Trumbull, where we bought my brother Harold's improvements on a homestead. We had many hardships while living here: we had to depend on rain for water, so a lot of the time we were without. Victor hauled water in a tank when we were out.

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LIFE HISTORY OF LEOMA McCAIN IVERSON: by Sharon Iverson Hunt

FOREWORD

I have chosen to add to the history of our beloved father, Victor M. Iverson, a brief history of Leoma McCain Iverson, his eternal companion, and our loving mother. I will begin this history just prior to her birth. I will strive to high-light her childhood, up to the time of her marriage, and then move on quickly to her widow-hood, after the death of her dear husband. I feel much of her history in middle years is already covered, being so closely entwined with Daddy's.

They were always very close and loving, one with another, and much credit should go to mama for the love, encouragement and support that she gave to him through the years.

She was willing to do anything necessary, move any place at any time for the welfare of her husband and children. She has always been very selfless caring and hard-working, always doing the very best job possible. Even in the years when she has been older she has kept busy. She has made beautiful hand cut and sewn quilts by the dozen. Many people have enjoyed the fruits of her labors. She has made a quilt for each of her grandchildren, and many others. She has also made many beautiful crocheted doilies, afghans, baby shawls, Christmas ornaments, table runners and etc. For a while she pieced together quilts for the Relief Society.

When her family was young, she could not afford to buy clothing very often, so she sewed most of them. She had a natural talent for cutting and sewing what ever she desired to sew. She never learned to read a pattern.

She has always had a strong testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and her greatest desire is for her children and grandchildren, and their children to live the commandments of God and have love for one another, that we might all be together as an eternal family some day.

She has always made friends easily, and she has many friends, some which lasted through all her life from child-hood despite all the moving which she did.

Despite her very small size, she is a tower of strength, patience, love and forbearance. I would like to honor her and let her know much she is appreciated and loved.

Her family came from Tennessee. They joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints (Mormons) after their second child was born. They knew from the moment Elder Archie Richardson and his companion came into their home that they should not chew tobacco or drink coffee, though they didn't know why. They had grown up chewing, from the time they were small. In fact, they felt that it was necessary to chew to keep from having worms. Yet upon meeting the Mormon missionaries, they were ashamed to use these things in their presence.

They embraced the gospel, knowing that it was true from the start. Then their families and friends heard that they had joined the Mormons, they became hateful and wanted no more to do with them, with the exception of Alex and Suzzie Nelson,(a half brother of Grandma Rhoda McCain) who also joined.

They found threats on their fence, addressed to Albert and Alex "Mormons". One depicted a man in a coffin, another threatened mob violence if Suzzie went into the waters of baptism.

Sometime during this time their third daughter was born, and after this some time they decided to move west. They had to leave everything except what few clothes and belongings they could carry on the train. They traveled as far as their money would allow. They stopped in Missouri where Albert worked for a while for his uncle, Anderson McCain, while they saved money to go on to Utah.

It was while they were living in Missouri that they had their fourth little girl, Leoma, the subject of this history.

Sharon Iverson Hunt

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The Albert and Rhoda McCain family in Missouri, 1898; Left to right: Mary, May Belle standing, Albert, Artie standing, Rhoda, Leoma-the baby

Leoma was three years old when the train pulled into Heber Utah. As she got off the train with her father, mother and three older sisters, she remembers seeing a huge dog. The biggest she had. ever seen. In fact she thought it looked big enough to be a horse.

They were met at the station by their old friend, and the man who had converted them to the church, Archie Richardson. He took them to Jensen, with team and wagon, to his home where they stayed until they could make a home of their own. They lived in Jensen for the next twelve years. They made many wonderful friends and had many experiences, both good and difficult.

Mama tells that on her birthday, when she turned either four or five, she got a new dress. She says:

On another occasion, she remembers, "I went with mama and my younger brother Harold, to visit Mrs. Johnson. She had a daughter named Alice, that I liked to play with. Harold kept following us around, so we run down the road to get away from him. Well we just kept running clear down past our house and on to Billings' apple orchard. We got us some apples and were sitting in the shade eating apples and having a good time when here come mama and Mrs. Johnson. They each got a little switch and they switched us every step of the way home. I can still remember seeing Mrs. Johnson going down the road switching Alice, after we got home. They had a lot further to go than we did."

So with experiences like this, Leoma learned to be obedient.

For a while her older sister, Artie, worked for the Billings. Sometimes Leoma would go over to visit. Mr. Billings was a real tease, and he always seemed to get the best of Leoma. One day when she was 4 or 5 years old, she went to visit. Grandma McCain had cautioned her not to tell Artie that they were having a surprise birthday party for her. Of course Leoma had said "I won't." As usual Mr. Billings started to tease. Leoma thought, "He won't get the best of me this time. So she started saying, "I know something you don't know!" Well then he wanted her to tell him. Artie was working around the room all this time, and Leoma remembering her promise, said I can't tell you while Artie is here." Well in a little while Artie went outside. Leoma saw her pass the window, and thought that she was going after wood. Mr. Billings said "Now you can tell me, Artie is gone." So Leoma told and later it eras found that she had just hid by the window and was listening. So the party was no surprise at all.

It was a rare treat for Leoma to have a piece of gum. She thought it was the most wonderful thing to have a piece of gum and a swing to swing in, both at the same time.

Occasionally the family would load a picnic lunch into a wagon and quilts to sit on and go for a day of picnicking with family and friends. On one occasion Leoma was helping to load the wagon. Grandpa McCain threw a pile of quilts into the wagon and a mouse jumped out and was running around the wagon. He told Leoma "You guard that hole in the wagon so it can't get out." Leoma obediently guarded the hole in the wagon bed by placing her foot over the it. Despite this the mouse soon disappeared and no matter how hard grandpa hunted for it, he couldn't find it. "You let that mouse get away", he said to Leoma. "No, I'm sure I didn't " she answered.

The family were all in the wagon on their way to the picnic, the mouse forgotten until suddenly Leoma let out a shriek and grabbed at a little bump that was moving up, beneath her dress. That little mouse had found the perfect hiding place, that is until Leoma grabbed it and squeezed it just a little to tight. Ever since then she has been afraid of mice.

Mary and Leoma McCain

It was Aunt Mary's birthday, ( Leoma's sister, just older than her). They were having a surprise party for her. Grandma McCain took Mary to the garden to work with her while Belle and Artie cleaned the house, made a cake and got everything ready for the party. Leoma stayed to help in the house. Finally everything was ready, the guests had arrived and Mary was on her way to the house. "You go be sewing a doll dress on the machine, they told Leoma. We'll send Mary in to see what you are doing, and everyone will jump out and yell, "Surprise!"

It was a great plan and everything went smooth until everyone started yelling "Surprise, surprise!" and with all the excitement going on Leoma forgot to quit sewing while she watched the excitement, and sewed right through her finger.

Oh how it hurt! Grandma McCain had to be summoned to get the needle out of Leoma's finger.

Leoma was a good student. She liked school and she made friends easily. She was only able to finish school to the eight grade, but there were two grade she missed because she was above grade level.

One time she had a little doll which she took to school to play with during recess. She set right next to a boy named Oral Peterson. He just loved to tease her, sneaking things out of her desk, pulling her long red hair, and making things lively. On this day, Leoma was afraid that Oral would take her doll out of her desk while she went to the front of the class for reading class, so she took it with her. She hid the doll under the folds of her dress to keep the teacher from knowing that she had it, but the teacher noticed that she was hiding something.

"What have you got hidden in your dress?" the teacher asked.

So Leoma had to reveal her doll, which the teacher took until school was out for the day. Leoma had to promise never to bring it to school again to have it returned. She promised, and she kept that promise.

At Christmas the McCain family never got a lot for Christmas. One year, however, it was skimpier than usual. The kids were told the reason was that Grandma McCain. had sent an order to Sears, and it hadn't arrived on time. But when it did arrive, there would be a doll for the two youngest girls.(Leoma and Mary.) So it was with great excitement when the package finally arrived. As the package was unpacked, they watched with anticipation, eager for their first glimpse of a doll. Finally one was pulled out. It was a pretty little doll with blond hair. Mary grabbed it and said, "This one is mine, this one is mine!" Leoma said ok, and waited for the next one to appear. When it did, it was larger and with dark hair. Oh, it was so pretty, Leoma was glad she had waited. However when Mary saw it she said, "No, I want that one! Mama, make her trade with me!" Grandma McCain said "No you wanted that doll so now that is the doll you will keep." Leoma said that was the one time she remembered when she didn't have to give in to Mary. Most of the time she was dominated by her older sister.

One Christmas, Grandma McCain went ice skating with Leoma's oldest sister, Artie and her husband Albert Snyder. While they were gone, Mary said that she knew where some big boxes were hidden out in the granary. "If you will help me over the side, Mary said, I'll show you what is in the boxes."

Leoma helped Mary over, and she did show her what was in all the boxes but one, and that one box she wouldn't show. Leoma said it was her gift.

Artie McCain and Albert Snyder

While Albert Snyder was still courting Artie, he brought a big bag of oranges. The only one he shared them with was Artie, and then he hid the rest. However, Mary had her sharp eyes on the hiding spot, and when they were away, she took Leoma and Harold over to Mr. Johnson's haystack where he had hidden the oranges . She gave each of them an orange or two before returning the rest to the haystack.

Leoma made a special friend while they lived at Jensen, who remained a friend with whom she stayed in contact for more than 70 years, even during all the hectic moving around years of her marriage. They always sent each other birthday cards and Christmas cards and letters every year. She never saw this friend again until 1983, 70 years after they left Jensen when Leoma was 13 and her friend Leona, was 12. Leona Rassmusson and her family lived not a great distance from the McCains, and the girls spent a good deal of time together. Leoma's daughter, Sharon Hunt took her to Vernal in 1983, accompanied by a granddaughter, Cathy Iverson and great granddaughter, Charlotte Iverson where Leoma and Leona was interviewed by the news paper as they visited.

Archie and Harold McCain

One time Leoma went to Rassmusson's for dinner. They gave her a big piece of meat and bread. It tasted so good she saved part of it and took it home to share with her little brothers, Harold and Archie.

On another occasion, Leoma and Leona went to Leona's brother, Ralph's sheep camp to clean up his camp wagon. They spent quite a while cleaning and it was late afternoon when they were finished. By the time they started home it was getting dark. As they walked along visiting and laughing, they suddenly saw something dark sitting on the fence. They couldn't tell in the late evening just what it was sitting on the fence. They talked about it in hushed voices. Was it an animal or what? It didn't move but just sat there. Finally as they approached, they crossed to the far side of the road and about that time, what ever it was jumped off the fence and started chasing them. They squealed and ran as fast as they could and upon reaching Leoma's house, they rushed inside, out of breath and frightened. When Grandma McCain asked what was the matter, they told her of the thing that had chased them. "Oh that was probably your pa", she said. Even when he came in a little later, Leona was too afraid to go on home alone, so Leoma had to walk with her the rest of the way.

Someone gave Harold a little horse. He was riding it one day and Leoma was riding Little Belle, one of her dad's horses. They started to gallop and Little Belle wouldn't stop and Leoma fell off.

Another time they were riding to school. It was winter and very cold. Leoma was riding Ol' Pet, a big work horse, with a short work bridle. Mary was on Little Belle. They had been in a hurry to leave that morning and had not taken time to water the horses, so when they came to the creek, they stopped to let them drink. Little Pet finished first and started on. O1' Pet was not a horse to want to he left behind. and when he saw that Little Belle was going he made a sudden lunge on across the creek to catch up. When he lunged Leoma landed in the icy water of the creek. Oh what a cold soaking. She had to return home and change and get warm. She did not go to school that day.

Sometimes, Leoma helped her mother in the many jobs Grandma McCain did to help increase their income. For a while, Grandma McCain made butter and sold it to an old man that lived some way from them. Grandma put a pound of butter in a small bucket with a lid and bail. Leoma rode on Little Belle. As they were going along a storm came up and the wind started blowing and Little Belle didn't want to go. She kept whirling trying to turn around. Finally the bail came off the bucket, it fell and the lid came off. Leoma had to wait until the storm was over and then go back home. She never did get that pound of butter delivered.

Jim Hiatt and May Belle McCain

Harold had the measles when he was quite young. Artie was expecting a baby at any time and Albert came and got grandma McCain even though Mary was already staying with them. This left Leoma to see to Harold. He got so terribly sick in the night, and Leoma was up all night with him. He was burning up with fever and delirious. Leoma went to her dad and asked him to go for Grandma McCain but he, not realizing how sick Harold really was just told him to be quiet and go to sleep. He told Leoma to go to bed and quit bothering him. She continued to nurse her little brother as best she could and the next day told her father, "If you don't go get mama then I will!" He said "If you do they will lock you up." They were quarantined in because of the measles.

Finally Jim Hiatt, Leoma's second sister, Belle's husband came by and saw how sick Harold was, and went and got Grandma.

One summer when Leoma was 8-10 years old she was asked to represent Iron County on a float for the 4th of July parade at Vernal. There had been a sickness going around, and it was believed that if they would tie some "Acidiphy" around their neck in a little rag, it would protect them. So Leoma and Mary both wore a small bundle tied in a rag around their necks beneath their dresses and went to the parade. (Mary was also on the float.)

Leoma had been saving all her money for a long time and she decided to take it to Vernal in case she saw something she wanted at the celebration. She tied her money, less than a dollar, up in a handkerchief. There were so many wonderful things that she wanted to try that she couldn't decide. She would look first at one thing and then another. Should she buy ice cream or an orange, or should she save her money and buy some cloth for a new dress? Each time she resisted temptation to spend her hard saved money. When she finally checked her money she found that the hanky had come untied and the money was gone. How she wished then that she had spent it on some of the good things she had seen instead of saving it.

Grandpa McCain and Albert used to cut huge blocks of ice from the Green River in the winter when it was frozen. It was so thick that they would drive a team right onto the ice and load the big blocks into the wagon. Then they would store the ice in an ice-house in straw where it would stay until summer when they would get it out to make ice cream, cold drinks etc.

Grandpa McCain and Albert used to net Carp out of the Green River. Then it was Grandma McCain's job to haul them to Vernal and peddle them. It was Leoma's job to go knock on the doors and ask if the people wanted to buy fish.

One day after a busy day selling fish, Grandma and Leoma were on their way back to Jensen when it started to lightening and thunder and the wind whipped. As Grandma drove the team along, a bolt of lightening struck a tree just feet away from them catching the tree on fire. When it struck, Leoma said they could feel the electricity in the air so strong. It was a very frightening experience.

Leoma was baptized in the Green River when she was eight years old. When she was around twelve and her sister Belle was getting married, they and her parents went to the Salt Lake Temple. The children were then sealed to their parents for time and eternity.

Leoma says, "When I was fourteen years old, my oldest sister and her husband decided to move to Arizona, and my folks sold out and moved also, but instead of going on to Arizona, we settled in the Moapa Valley.

It was not long after they moved here that Leoma's future husband saw her for the first time. They were at a 4th of July celebration. Leoma, along with some other young girls had entered in the foot races. She had beaten out all the competition except one girl. This girl was daughter of some prominent person there, and the judges wanted her to beat this newcomer. Even though Leoma was beating her every time, they made them race over and over. Finally Leoma beat her so far they had to concede and give her the prize. While all this was going on, there was a young man named Victor Iverson, watching along with some of his friends. "Who is that young girl with the red hair?" he asked. Upon being told, he thought in his own mind, "That girl is going to be my wife."

It was some time later when they actually met, and Leoma was married at age 18. Their history was very closely entwined from this point on and is included mostly in Victor's history.

Leoma, the girl who was afraid of mice, was called upon to be very brave many times in the face of serious sickness, rattlesnakes, drought, hard work, moving from one place to another, poverty and even death. Through all, she had strong faith and held up her end in every thing they were called to endure. Finally when her life love and companion died at age 54, leaving her with two young children to finish raising, she wondered many times if she had the strength to go on alone. She was very lonely, much more than anyone realized, because she kept her chin up and put her faith in the same great power that had brought her through all the other trials of her life, the power of prayer, and her faith that her Heavenly Father still loved her and would sustain her in her need.

To demonstrate her faith in the power of prayer, Sharon remembers, "When I was around 10 years old, my brother Keith was herding sheep out on the Arizona strip. Budd decided to take his wife, Haroldean, Mom, Archie and I out to visit him. We went in an old World War Two army truck that Budd had purchased after the war, and he had painted. it and fixed it up. We got there ok, but Budd had noticed that the fuel gage had dropped a lot more than it should, so they measured it, and sure enough there must have been a leak or something and they were sure we would not have enough fuel to get home on.

We slept that night in very cramped quarters, in the sheep wagon. (Haroldean, Archie, Mom and me.) Keith and Budd slept outside.

Next morning we loaded up and started back to St. George. Budd said, 'How far do you think we will get; Haroldean?'

'Oh, to the top of the mountain if we're lucky', she answered.

'Well, if we get to the top we can coast down the other side', Bud said. 'Mom, how far do you think we'll get?'

'Clear home', was her astounding reply.

'What makes you think we'll get home?' Budd asked.

Mom explained that due to the cramped sleeping conditions, she had been unable to sleep, and she had stayed up all night praying that we would get home ok.

Bud said, 'Well, Mom if we get home, I'll believe in prayer.'

We did get home. We were living on the highway, now St. George Blvd. on the east side of town. Budd pulled into the driveway and let us out, then pulled back across the street to the gas station and there ran out of gas."

It was only a few years after that, and three children later, that Budd and Haroldean were divorced. It became necessary for Leoma to move from her home on the highway, and move into Budd's home to help him raise his children. She became more mother to his three children, than grandmother.

On occasion through the years, Leoma, and Sharon and Archie would take trips to Idaho to visit Marie and family. On occasion, she stayed a month or so to watch children for Marie while she worked.

She served more than her family. She taught both primary and Jr. Sunday School for years. Then finally just Jr. Sunday School. She had a way with children, and most that she taught really came to love her. Today at age 88 years, many of her former students still see her and speak, asking her if she remembers them. She also worked in Relief Society, being a visiting teacher for many, many years. She still does that when she is able.

When she moved from Budd's, she bought a little home on the corner of the street southwest of where Dixie College Gymnasium stands.

On occasion she would go to Enterprise where her youngest daughter lived, and tend children or just visit. She saw her youngest son, Archie through an unfortunate marriage. It seemed that she was always doing something to help some of her children or grandchildren.

She worked for Maser Terry at the turkey plant in St. George for quite a long time.

Then in 1975, she had the misfortune to break her back in two places. She had to wear a brace for a long time and she was very miserable. Sharon, Marie and others spent as much time helping to care for her, as they could. Sharon took her to Enterprise for a while while she was so miserable.

All this time Archie lived with her, giving her company and they looked after each other.

It was not an awfully long time after her recovery from her broken back when she had to have a Hysterectomy. Again it gave us children a chance to repay in a tiny part some of the debt owed to this wonderful mother.

One thing that happened to her that has not been mentioned in either history happened in 1942. I (Sharon) was just a year old. Mother became very ill with terrific cramps and then she finally just passed out. When she came too, she could not see. Daddy got someone to drive her to the old St. George (McGregor) Hospital and Dr. Reitchman operated. They said when they made the incision she was so strutted with blood that it just sprayed, even on the ceiling. She said that while they were operating, she was in the top of the room watching, and she could hear them talking and see everything that was going on. She had had a ruptured pregnancy.

Later in the hospital bed while she was recuperating she said two little girls kept running around her bed. One was Berneice who had died many years before, and the other was Sharon, the little one at home. Every once in a while, they would bump her bed and it would hurt terribly. She finally decided to go with Sharon.

She thought she saw the big building which Nephi and his father, Lehi saw in their visions, that they describe in the Book of Mormon, with the people laughing and dancing. The music and laughter disturbed her a great deal. She thought, "What an awful time and place to have a dance."

It took her quite a while to recover and several days for her eyesight to return. When she did recover, the Dr. said, "It was a higher power than us doctors that saved you."

Dixie College decided they wanted the lot where her little home stood on the corner of 700 E. 300 S. They began to make offers, threats to condemn and counter offers, but did not want to give her enough to replace the home. She held out for a couple of years or more, but they got more persistent, and finally they upped their offer enough and with some help from Archie, she bought a home at what is known as "River Bend Estates" South of Middleton. With help from family members she moved April 13th, 1979. It was a brick home of several colors. The nicest and largest home she had ever had. It was located down a muddy street in the middle of high brush, next to a lot that someone had dumped on. Now over the years, it is paved, and the junk has given away to neighbors on every side. Town homes, trailer homes, new church, schools and much continued growth.

Sharon, Keith and Leoma on their homestead in Mt. Trumbull, Arizone

Leoma feeding her chickens

Even now at almost 89 years, she still has a hint of red in her silver hair. Incidentally she always hated her red hair, but Daddy loved it. He said she hated it so bad that she wished it off all their children. However they do have some redheaded grandchildren and great grandchildren.

You will still see her out irrigating her trees and grape vines. She finally gave her chickens up just two or three years ago. She has not been very well this last year, but she still tries to do all she can.

She loves to have her family visit her. She loves each one very much and always has a listening ear. She is the last survivor of her generation on her side of the family and only Daddy's youngest sister, Annie, remains.

Our beloved Mother, grandmother, great grand mother and great-great grandmother does have a wish for us, her family. She wishes all of her offspring to live the commandments of the Lord to the best of our ability. She loves us all and wishes us to live so we can be an eternal family, enjoying each others company through eternity. She hopes we will love one another putting family relationships above the superficial things of this world.

May we give her and our father, and grandfather, etc. a monument of love by honoring their greatest wish, and live in a way that they may be proud of us, that they may feel well paid for all they have gone through for us. Let us, their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren be honorable people.