This week I would like to post something about my grandparents- each one of which had an influence upon me during their lives, to one degree or another. Each name has a link to Family Tree
Born the seventh of nine children to Mads and Brighamina Johnson, on 04 July 1902, in Lakeview, Utah. Grandpa often mentioned that it snowed on the day that he was born, which seems an odd statement for anyone familiar with the weather in Utah during July. But I have come to think that what he may have meant is that it was just simply a cold day and that perhaps the top of Timpanogos received a dusting of snow which is not all together uncommon.
I do not know much about Grandpa Johnson’s formal education, and there is no record of him graduating from high school. I do know that from his early teens he was working jobs- especially on the local farms. Other than seeing his signature on a driver license, I have no other documents written in his hand, so I am not too sure just how much he could read or write?
I believe that it was while my grandmother (Edna) was visiting in Lakeview that the two of them met and eventually began courting. They were married civally on 20 September 1923 in Provo, Utah.
Grandpa eventually went to work for the Union Pacific Railroad in the Provo train yard, where he worked as a handyman and was skilled in building tools to assist in the maintenance of the train cars. He worked his entire career with the railroad- eventually retiring in the late 1960’s. I believe that he had a heart attack sometime prior to his retirement.
At least once each month, our family would go up to my grandparent’s house (usually on Sunday evenings) to visit. They in turn would also come to visit us at about the same frequency. When we little, we knew that each time grandpa came to the house that he would have pieces of graham crackers in his shirt pocket to share with us.
At around the age of ten years, each of us boys had our turn at mowing our grandparent’s lawn each week during the summers. Along with mowing, we also had to take the hand clippers and go around the entire yard clipping the edges. In the end, we were treated each time to 7-Up and vanilla wafers, along with a couple of dollars for our efforts.
As my grandpa Johnson aged, his body began to slow down, and his eyesight became diminished. He became a very unsafe driver. Due to osteoporosis, he would sit in the driver’s seat with his upper body leaning forward and towards the driver’s door. He had a daily ritual of going over to the grocery store to get the needed groceries, and to also stop at the snack bar for his soft drink and something to snack on. My dad told my grandpa that he needed to surrender his driver license after having a few mishaps in the grocery store parking lot. He agreed and both went out to surrender the DL and to get him an ID card. Our family then assisted them with these errands. Shortly thereafter, we began to see grandpa again driving to or from the store.
Grandpa had a kind and gentle personality. He was very patient with his grandchildren. I only heard him raise his voice one time, and that was when my grandma was getting on him about something.
On 02 April 1983, after having health issues, Grandpa Johnson died in the Utah Valley Hospital, at the age of 80. As the family had gathered at the hospital, the nurse assisting grandpa that morning told them that he seemed to be in good spirits, and had asked her who the young man with red hair was that had sat with him in his room the during the night? Shortly after that he went into cardiac arrest and was revived but passed away a few hours later. The family believes that it was “Baby Gary” my older brother who had passed away as an infant who was there for grandpa that night.
Grandma always told me that she loved my eyelashes and blue eyes!
Born on 11 October 1905 in Clover/Tooele, Utah, grandma was the second of three children to Lester Nathaniel and Elizabeth Jane De St Jeor. Her dad worked as a miner and was known to be very stern. Her mother died in 1925 at approximately 43 years of age.
As for the marriage of grandma and grandpa, they basically eloped- along with grandpa’s sister and her boyfriend. Soon afterwards, they had to make the visit to Lester so that grandpa could tell him that he had married his daughter.
Four children were born into the family: Khalil (K.V.), Elizabeth (Beth), Burdett (Bud) and Gary.
Grandma was employed by the Tiny Tot Bonnet Co, where she sewed for many years.
On 22 August 1947, grandma and grandpa had their marriage solemnized (sealed) in the Salt Lake Temple at the same time as Aunt Beth and Uncle Dutch Dalebout were being married.
Family History and Genealogy became an interest for grandma, and she compiled a lot of family names over many years. She became a “Daughter of the Utah Pioneers”.
As we would visit their home grandma was sure to always go into a recollection of her family and tell us stories from her early years.
Whenever I had a big dance date, I would stop by their house and ask grandpa if I could borrow their car (Plymouth) for the night. Grandpa would always refer me over to grandma for permission.
One of the most regular letter writers during my mission was Grandma Johnson. She would do her best to keep me caught up on her entire family. Along with each letter she would usually enclose a 5 dollar bill.
On 20 May 1992, grandma died at the Utah Valley Hospital at age 86.
Baby Gary
Grandpa Norton was born 24 May 1917 in Panguitch, Utah, the third of thirteen children to Merritt Lee Norton and Eliza Ann Cameron. He graduated from Provo High School where he was a member of the basketball team.
I don’t know exactly as to when and where grandpa and grandma met, but most likely it was at PHS.
From what I recall my mom telling me, he began drinking alcohol sometime during his high school years and struggled with alcoholism until the end of his life. Grandma and grandpa divorced sometime during my mom’s early childhood years.
Where he worked exactly, I’m not sure. But during the 1960s he did start some kind of a business venture and got my dad to leave his job at Provo City to go to work with him. I believe the business never really got off the ground and immediately crashed.
From that point until probably 1978 my mom did not have any contact with grandpa Norton.
During the 1960s, he met and married a lady named Ellen, whom we called “Aunt Ellen”, and together they had a baby girl that they named Noreen. That marriage did not last long, and they eventually divorced. My mom, and aunt Shurlene, kept in contact with aunt Ellen, and I recall playing with Noreen who in reality was my aunt. Noreen was diagnosed with leukemia, and passed away at around age five. Grandpa Norton did not attend her funeral-claiming that he had been arrested and was in jail at the time.
Around 1978, with the assistance of my mom’s, Norton uncles and aunt, she was able to call and talk to her dad and to invite him down to our home for a Christmas Day visit. I think it was the first time that I had ever really met and got to know a little bit about grandpa Norton.
The next and last time that I saw my grandpa was at the viewing for his dad, Merritt Lee Norton.
He died in 1984 at age 67 while I was serving my mission in Hawaii. My mom later sent me the audio tape from the funeral, which contained a talk by one of my mom’s cousins, who spoke not only about grandpa Norton and his alcoholism, but was also speaking directly to many of the surviving brothers who were struggling with the same issue.
Randy wrote to me and told me that when he went to grandpa’s viewing and stood next to his open casket, in his mind, he told grandpa that he loved him, even though he didn’t know very much about him. Randy then wrote that he felt two arms hugging him, and even though he could not see who it was, he knew that it was grandpa Norton.
Born 29 September 1916 in Escalante, Utah and was the fourth of five girls born to Andrew John Moir and Agnes Young. Her dad left the family while the girls were still young, and I do not believe there was much of any contact with him after that time.
Grandma and Grandpa Norton were married 23 December 1936 in the Manti Temple.
Sometime after the divorce she met and married Charles "Charlie" Edgar Thornton on 26 December 1952 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Both grandma and grandpa Charlie worked for the Mountain Bell telephone company – grandma as an operator in Grandpa as an electrical engineer.
Grandma Thornton had been a regular part of our lives from my earliest memories. She never forgot us on our birthdays or Christmas. When we were younger, she would pick us up each summer (those who were old enough) and take us up to Lagoon during the Mountain Bell telephone day at the amusement park.
During my mission, she would occasionally send me letters and would include parts of the Ward newsletter that they would receive (and kept hidden from Charlie), and which had quotes, or anything else she thought I would enjoy.
After retirement, they moved from Salt Lake City down into Arizona for a number of years, and then moved up to Kettle Falls, Washington to be near Shurlene and Gil.
As she begin to age, her eyesight became diminished, and then the memory issues set in. Through it all grandpa Charlie took excellent care of her while he could, and then found the best place possible for her to live during the final part of her life. I was able to travel up to Kettle Falls and provide a priesthood blessing for grandma Thornton, as she was approaching her final days of life.
Grandma died on 30 January 2003 at age 86. A graveside service was held for her at the Provo Cemetery.
Though he is a step-grandfather, I’ve always thought of him as my “Grandpa Charlie”. He was born on 01 June 1916 in White Swan, Idaho, and passed away on 02 November 2017 in Colville, Washington at the age of 101.
He was divorced from his first wife, and they had one daughter (Aunt Pat). He married grandma and the two of them were happy together.
Charlie loved anything to do with electronics and was quite a handyman.
Even though they each had good jobs, they lived life frugally- repairing things themselves and investing every spare dollar they had into stocks. After a lifetime of doing this, they had quite a portfolio, but you wouldn’t have known it as they did not live life too lavishly.
Charlie did write to me one time during my mission when he had received a new Apple computer for Christmas. Being an atheist, he had nothing spiritual to offer but rather talked about how overpopulated the world was, and also about censorship.
I got to go on a fishing trip to Lake Powell with him and grandma when I was about 11 years old. It was a fun trip, and I probably learned a bunch of new swearwords during that trip.
He was very opinionated on most everything, but in his heart, he was a good man, and could be very generous.
He wanted nothing to do with LDS church, or religion in general, but in a few years (2026) he will be eligible to have temple Temple ordinances done, and I hope to be able to do them for him at that time, if not sooner. After that, it will be up to him as to whether he accepts what will be done for him.
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