Lucille's "Life of Claude Arthur Erskine"

For some ancestors, there are no recorded histories. For others, there may be multiple. When we spotlighted Claude (Dad/Lamar's grandfather, great-grandfather to the Westra siblings) here on the blog, (Claude Arthur Erskine - A Biography) it was a compilation of details from three different documents. From the "Life of Claude Arthur Erskine" featured below, from the similar history written for Olive, and Lucille's "I Remember Dad" document. 

The original history had been saved to FamilySearch in PDF format. It is 20-pages long ... but only the first three pages are actually Claude's history. There is also a letter to a descendant from the President of the LDS church, Thomas S. Monson, recounting his memories of Claude.  

As we've been looking at the histories, if we can, we'll retype them up for easier reading and so that portions could be cut and pasted if needed. Chris retyped Claude's history, as written by Lucille. 

Life of Claude Arthur Erskine

He was born February 7, 1883 in Salt Lake City, Utah, and died February 14, 1953  at the age of 70. His mother was Eliza Roberts and his father Archibald MacFarland Erskine. His mother came from England and his father from Scotland. He was #3 of 10 children. Archibald Frank born March 28, 1880, Kate May, August 3, 1881, Claude February 7, 1883, Stanley John December 16, 1884. Ruby November 10, 1889, Bessie March 30, 1891, Ralph Samuel January 6, 1894. His parents raised seven children. Archibald Frank, William Rob and Infant Son all died right after birth.

He lived at 726 1st Avenue while growing up. He has a wonderful mother and father, brothers and sisters. They were a close knit family and his memories of boyhood days and growing up were very precious to him. They had a large family and everyone had to do his share.

He broke his arm when a child, and the doctor set it crooked. He always said that is why he never had any money - couldn't  hold his hand out straight.

He loved fishing, and used to bicycle to the canyons with his friends. They would camp for a week at a time. His friends were Bob Batley, Tom Squires, Will Sears, Rue McKnight, and Will Loveridge.

Olive Laura Cushing and Claude were married in the Endowment House on June 12. 1907. They had 6 children. Mildred lived only 2 days. She was born on Nov. 9, 1908. Ruth January 2nd, 1910, Lucille October 25, 1911, Maxine September 18, 1913, Harold Claude February 28, 1917, and Shirley Laura July 11, 1924.

Claude took Olive as a bride to their home at 836 Spruce Avenue, later named 831 Harrison Avenue. They lived there all their lives. It was fun having their own home, and Claude enjoyed working in the yard and fixing the place up to suit them. They had a fireplace in the living room which they thoroughly enjoyed and used often. They had a wonderful life together.

He learned the bookbinding trade as an apprentice, and worked at Arrow Press for years as a bookbinder. He belonged to a Union. He was unable to get work at one time and had to go to Butte, Montana in order to find work. It was very lonely being away from his family. He worked at Western Hotel Register as a bookbinder for many years and had a wonderful association with Spence Monson and Mrs. Zelley. She took over as head of the company when her husband died. Claude bought stock in the Company and enjoyed being a shareholder.  (Spence Monson was the father of President Thomas S. Monson and we have a letter from President Monson recalling his relationship with Claude).

He lived in the 21st Ward, Ensign Stake while growing up, and when he was married they lived in Emerson Ward and Hawthorne Ward. He was baptized August 30,1892 by Charles W. Hardy, confirmed September 1,1892 by Wm. Bayles, ordained a Deacon March 26, 1897 by James Maxwell, ordained a Teacher January 13, 1902 by James Maxwell, ordained a Priest June 2, 1907 by Bishop M. S. Woolley, ordained an Elder June 6, 1907 by Bishop M.S. Woolley, ordained a Seventy February 13, 1931 by Rulon S. Wells, ordained a High Priest July 19, 1946, by Doreal Jensen.

He loved to drive his car once he got the Chevrolet in 1926.  He always parked his car in front of the house so he could put it to bed at night, by driving around and up the alley. He always said that if he got so he couldn’t drive any more he didn’t want to live.

Claude was pretty healthy all his life. He had a broken arm as a child and a broken ankle while skating at Liberty Park. In November 1947 they discovered he had leukemia. He was in and out of the hospital for blood transfusions. He did get pretty strong for a while and went back to work, but died of leukemia on Feb 14, 1953 complicated by chickenpox, which he caught from his grandson Jim Dunlop. When his children were young and had chickenpox he was not susceptible to the disease

He used to play the mouth organ. He would accompany Olive on the piano. They also had a mandolin which he liked to play.

He loved fishing, and after he got his car the fishing trips were more frequent. He loved to go to Fish Lake and up on the Weber and Provo. He was a good fisherman and always got his limit.

The Erskines used to have fun home evenings. They would play Crokinole, Pit, Room, and Rummy. Olive would always have yummy refreshments. She was a wonderful cook. Claude liked to make stuffed dates and the children enjoyed them. Every Saturday he would bring a big bag of taffy from Keeleys home for the kids.

Claude and Olive used to love to go to the Wilkes theater on State Street, and see the plays. The Clollinger Company played there for years. When the Salt Lake Theater was on First South and State, they went there often to see plays and concerts. They used to pass a silver goblet down the aisle for those who were thirsty, They almost always brought chocolates to eat.

Their friends liked to play the game of 500, and mostly every Saturday night they would get together with one couple or another. They had their club for over 40 years. There were Helen and Bob Batley, Ethel and Will Sears, Tom and Virtue Squires, Teen and Will Loveridge, and Olive and Claude.

They enjoyed going to Saltair on picnics. When Saltair was first opened they had roller skating to music on the big dance floor. They enjoyed going to Lagoon, Liberty Park, Bear Lake, Hermitage in Ogden Canyon, Vivian Park in Provo Canyon, and to all of the beautiful canyons close to Salt Lake City.

Every summer they would have an Erskine Reunion at Liberty Park, honoring Claude’s grandmother. She was 99 years old when she died, and had her picture in the paper numerous times as the oldest lady on Old Folks Day. This was a big family and they enjoyed seeing Aunts, Cousins, Uncles and 2nd Cousins. They would pull a red wagon down to the park, loaded with a big picnic lunch. On the way home the youngest would get to ride back. They loved to go through the Zoo. It was located at the west end of the Park.

Claude enjoyed going down to the Municipal Ball Park close to his home to watch the baseball games. He enjoyed taking Harold down there to fly his kite. They would make the kite out of newspaper and sticks. Some flew and others crashed and they were back to make another one. It was fun to have a son to do man and boy things with. He taught Harold to fish and he loved the sport.

When Harold grew older they went to football, basketball and baseball games together. He didn’t neglect his lovely girls though. They had good times hiking, sleigh riding, and skating

Maxine was the first to get married. She married Clarence W. McEwan on Oct 1, 1931, and they had two children, Janice and Ronnie. This marriage ended in divorce after 10 years of marriage, and Maxine married John Blair who had a son Keith, on Dec. 27, 1949. They had a son by this marriage, Mike. This marriage also ended in Divorce.

Lucille was our next to marry. She married Joseph A. Westra in the Salt Lake Temple, Sept 5 1935. They have two sons and two Daughters. Joseph LaMar, Sharon Lucille, Diane, and Steven Arthur.

Ruth Married Oscar F. Benson on July 17, 1936. They had no children.

Harold married Frances Wilcke of Dayton, Ohio on July 12, 1946. They have four children. Dale, Mark, Dean, and Nancy.

Shirley married Phillip Dunlop on Feb 6, 1945 in the Salt Lake Temple. They had one son, James Phillip, and he was 18 months old when his father was burned to death in an explosion. Shirley later married H. LeGrande Lewis on Nov 24, 1950. He had two little girls, Barbara and Kathy. They have three children by this marriage. Connie, Kristie and Stephen.

They had 18 grandchildren, and loved every one of them. They have 18 great grandchildren to this date, Sept 1, 1973.

Olive and Claude had a very special marriage. They were happy that they could be together from 1907 to 1953. When their  family was all grown and married, they had time to do things they weren’t able to do before. They went on many lovely trips around the United States, and had some good trips with their friends, Ethel and Will Sears. They enjoyed each other’s company.

Line of Authority

• Claude Arthur Erskine ordained a Seventy Feb. 13, 1931 by Rulon S. Wells
• Rulon S. Wells ordained Seventy Oct 22, 1875 by
• Brigham Young ordained Apostle Feb 14, 1835 by
• Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris, who were called by revelation to choose the Twelve Apostles, and were “blessed” Feb 14, 1835 to ordain the Twelve Apostles, by
• Joseph Smith and his counselors in the First Presidency.
• Joseph Smith was conferred the Melchizedek Priesthood in 1829 by
• Peter, James and John, who were ordained by Jesus Christ the Savior.

Lucille's "Life of Olive Laura Cushing" History

You can read the most recent write-up for "Olive Laura Cushing Erskine" here on the blog. For that presentation, I took parts and pieces from several different documents. Lucille had typed up histories for herself, her husband Joe, for both her parents, for her grandmother, and did "I Remember" spotlights on her parents.

Below, you will find a copy of the original "Life of Olive Laura Cushing" just as Grandma Lucille wrote it up. You'll find many of the same/similar passages in the most recent write-up, but also other things that I left out in my version of Olive's history. It's always interesting to see  what people choose to include. Grandma Lucille added in a lot of facts about family members (Olive's mother, brothers, children, the doctor/nurse) that didn't seem to be "Olive's History" but definitely information that I might spotlight elsewhere. 

The original scan of Olive's history WAS on FamilySearch, but it was a bit hidden, in a 20-page PDF that started with Claude's history, and was only included in Claude's memories. Now, the original "Life of Olive Laura Cushing" as written by her daughter Lucille has been uploaded as a PDF to Family Search, and it is also in the Westra Dropbox (A Photos and Histories by Family -- Lamar's Relatives) ... and now it's also included here on the blog.

 

Claude Arthur Erskine ~ A Biography

Claude Arthur Erskine was born February 7, 1883 in Salt Lake City, Utah. His mother (Eliza Roberts) came from England, and his father (Archibald MacFarland Erskine) from Scotland. He was the third of 10 children (only seven siblings survived childhood, the first baby boy died, then there were triplets, of which only one of the three survived).  They were a close knit family. Claude loved fishing and used to bike to the canyons with his friends. They would camp out for a week at a time.  He broke his arm when he was young, and it was set crooked. Claude would always say that was why he never had any money ... he couldn't hold his hand out straight.

When Olive and Claude were courting, he would walk down to her home from 1st Avenue, and she would walk up to meet him. They were married June 12, 1907 in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City.  They had planned an outdoor wedding but it started to rain, and it rained for two weeks! They set up house and lived in the same home all their lives (The House on Harrison Avenue). Claude enjoyed working in the yard and fixing the place up. They had a fireplace in the living room which they enjoyed and used often. 

Six children were born to this union. Five girls and one boy. The first child, Mildred only lived two days. Then came Ruth, Lucille, Maxine, Harold and Shirley. Claude enjoyed going down to the Municipal Ball Park close to the home to watch the baseball games. He enjoyed taking Harold down there to fly his kite. They would make the kite out of newspaper and sticks. Some flew, and others crashed ... and they would be back to make another one. He taught Harold to fish and they went to football, basketball and baseball games together. He didn't neglect his girls though. They had good times hiking, sleigh riding and skating.

The Erskines used to have fun home evenings. They would play Crokinole, Pit, Room, and Rummy. Claude liked to make stuffed dates and the children enjoyed them. Every Saturday he would bring a big bag of taffy for the kids. Claude would play the mouth organ while Olive played piano. They also had a mandolin which he liked to play. Every summer they would attend an "Erskine Reunion" at Liberty Park with all the extended family. This was to honor Claude's grandmother, who was 99 years old when she died. She had her picture in the paper numerous times as the oldest lady on Old Folks Day.

At an early age (12) Claude had quit school to help out the family. He first started working at the Arrow Press as a clean-up boy. Later, he apprenticed as a bookbinder, and was still working there when he and Olive got married. At one point, when Claude was unable to find work he had to leave his family for work in Butte, Montana. He then worked at Western Hotel Register Co., a printer of hotel registers, menus and other types of printing (the manager was Spencer Monson, see Memories From Thomas S. Monson). Claude bought stock in the company and enjoyed being a shareholder.

Claude rode a bicycle to work for years. They bought their first car in 1925. It was a Chevrolet touring car. He loved to drive and always parked his car out in front of the house so he could "put it to bed" at night (by driving around and up the alley). He always said that if he got so he couldn't drive anymore, he didn't want to live. After he got his car, his fishing trips were more frequent. They would drive out to the flats on the Weber every 4th of July with the car so packed with supplies and kids that it wouldbarely make it to the summit.

 

As the children grew up and got married, Claude and Olive took trips to California, the Northwest, Yellowstone, Fish Lake, Bear Lake, Glacier National Park, and all the canyons around Salt Lake, Provo, Logan and Ogden. They loved going to the Wilkes Theater to see plays and going to Saltair on picnics. They belonged to a dance club, which they enjoyed. There was a group of friends that would meet each Saturday night to play the game of "500" ... they called this the "500 club" and met for over 40 years!

In November 1947, Claude was diagnosed with leukemia. He was in and out of the hospital, but recovered enough to go back to work for a time. The leukemia, with added complications from chicken pox became too much. He passed away February 14, 1953.  It was Valentine's Day, and he called the florist and ordered a bouquet for Olive before he died.

This history was compiled from documents on FamilySearch.org. There is a history written by Claude's daughter Lucille "Life of Claude Arthur Erskine" with additional details from "Life of Olive Laura Cushing" and "I Remember Dad". Original documents are on Family Search and will also be included here on the blog in the near future. 

Quarantine!

Mom received an email from Cousin Nikki ...

Hi Margie and LaMar, I hope you are doing well during all this craziness. You might find this interesting. Years ago I went to Grandma and Grandpa Norman's house and they let me scan a bunch of photos in their albums. I remember Grandpa telling me about a time when their family was quarantined because they had caught an illness. He remembered being stuck at home for a while and he and his brother weren't allowed outside of their yard. Here is the picture of them during this time. Notice the cross in their window. He said that let people know the family had been quarantined. I think it was most likely the Spanish Flu. It seems like the math works out on the years.

Mom's Response~ Thanks Nikki! Ive never seen the first picture and the explanation of the cross on the door! Yes, on the terrible Spanish Flu in 1918, when Rex would have been about 3 and Gordon 18 months younger.  I remember when my Grandma Norman (Louella) told me that she and Herb were too sick to even care for the boys. And that it was the members of the Oddfellows and Rebekahs service organization that stepped in to help and care for them and their two little boys. Grandma said she doesn't know what they would have done without that help. So Grandma and Grandpa became members of the organization their whole life, as I remember, and held offices.

Taken from Herbert Lavar's Autobiography ...
That fall, along in November (1918) I took the flu. There was a terrible amount of flu then. There were many, many people dying with it. They took me home from work. The doctor got there and told the fellow who took me home to get me to bed and take care of me. They fixed me up and asked me if we had any liquor in the house. Mother (Louella) said she didn't know what it was, but I had just purchased a case of something for Fred Rassmussen. He got me part of that, and he rubbed me with it. He then made a "hot toddy" for me. The Odd Fellow's Grand Noble got a nurse who stayed for three hours. Then he got another one, and she stayed for a couple of hours. That is the way it was for two or three days. At least they had someone there to take care of me night and day. I went unconscious, and the doctor asked Mother if we had any relatives around. She said the nearest was in Mt. Pleasant, Utah. He said she had better get them because I couldn't live. That was an awful thing to tell her. 

The girl that was at the depot came and got the two boys and took them down to her house to take care of them. They were homesick and lonesome so she brought them back the next morning, and they had the flu. Mother was still up and going. I was unconscious for thirteen days, and when I became conscious I had a hemorrhage. I bled the washbasin nearly full of blood. They got the doctor to our home, and he packed my head in snow (there was snow on the ground because it was just a little before Thanksgiving). He finally got it stopped. Mother asked what she should do if I had another one.He said to get him and get him fast. About an hour and a half later I had another one. They finally got a hold of him, and I was still bleeding when he got there. He finally got it stopped and shook his head. He told Mother she had better get the folks because I could not make it. She asked what she should do if I had another one. He said I couldn't survive another one. That made Mother feel awful bad. I could hear what they were saying, but I couldn't say anything. An hour or two later, I had a third hemorrhage. They got the doctor and he came in a hurry. When he came in and took care of me, he said to Mother, "Mrs. Norman, if he can make blood as fast as he has been making it lately, he will be well." He said I was in better shape than when he first came down. It had turned red instead of black. That was the last hemorrhage I had, but I laid there and couldn't do anything. I got to feeling better so was able to sit up in a chair. We still had the nurses there, and Mother came down with the flu. She was expecting another baby, and it was quite a turmoil. 

When I got so I could go out, I went to pay the nurses because I felt they were the first ones who should be paid. I asked each nurse how much we owed them, and each one replied , "Nothing". The Odd Fellow's Lodge had taken care of all the expenses including the coal we had to buy from the lumber yard. I always maintained if it hadn't been for the Lodge, I wouldn't be here today. I paid them back. I couldn't do it all at once, but I did it as fast as I could. I figured if they could do that much good for me, they could do that much good for someone else. 

From Grandpa Rex Norman's History (this would have been a later quarantine)...

I was the oldest. I started school at the age of six. I can remember when my brother and sister both came down with Scarlet Fever. We were quarantined for over a month. The kids would bring my schoolwork home and place it on our fence for me. Dad had to live away from home during that period of time. I remember after about four weeks the doctor came and examined them and going over their bodies he found a couple of scales and kept us in for another week. We were sure mad and we called him Dr. Quack. We then had to fumigate the whole house. We had to stuff all the cracks and openings with rags and would do part of the house at a time.

(More from Mom) I remember when we were little kids on Boxelder St. and had measles and mumps, etc., how the county health dept. (?) came and put up a quarantine notice on your front door. I don't know when that practice was discontinued. We'll all have to do some research on those interesting times.

History of Marjorie Norman Westra

1st 20 years (growing up)

I was born on Saturday, Nov. 7, 1942.  The address listed on my little newspaper birth announcement was 140 Gerard Ave. in S.L.C.   My parents didn't live here for very long. Gerard Ave. was just barely on the North side of downtown S.L. I remember my dad saying that Gerard Ave. was torn down and Social Hall Ave. replaced it. Social Hall Ave. was where Rex worked in his career a few years into their marriage and then for the rest of his working career (when we lived on Boxelder street in Murray). So Dad said he worked on the same street where they used to live when I was born! We moved to Mt. Pleasant soon after my birth, by my Dad’s parents, when he went off to serve in World War II (he never did combat, but stayed in the states). Merrill was born in Mt. Pleasanton May 3, 1944, when I was 18 months old.

I can’t remember exactly how old I was when we moved to 4568 Boxelder Street in Murray, but it was before kindergarten. When we first moved there, the trains just west of us were so loud, in the night it was scary for me as a child because it sounded like they were heading right for the house. But soon you never even noticed the noise. 

I went to the movies at Murray Theater a lot as a child (It is still there on State Street in Murray, but not used as a theater). As I remember it, I would have 20 cents. It would cost 12 cents for the movie ticket and I would buy 8 cents worth of penny candy at a little store by the theater. We also went to a theater in downtown Salt Lake (Utah Theater I think). I can't remember if we took the bus or someone's parent took us. I remember there were black and white newsreels of what was going on in the world and lots of cartoons. Later, when I was teen, my friends and I would go to Murray Theater a lot on Friday or Saturday nights----no so much for the movie, but to see friends from school, especially boys, who might be there. I remember I could often tell who was there as they walked up the aisle in the darkened theater, just by the way they walked, and size and shape etc.:-).

We lived at the Boxelder house through my sophomore year in high school. I attended Arlington Elementary, Murray Jr. High and Murray High School. In 8th grade, my friend DeAnne Webb and I were cheerleaders, song leaders, and would lead the school in the school song after each assembly. We did a lot of lip sync acts on assemblies. I was elected Sophomore Secretary in 10th grade and was one of the nominees for prom queen, but didn't get chosen. 

My first job was as a carhop at the A & W Rootbeer Drive-in at 4500 South and State Street. We moved to 2665 E. Spring Hollow Drive, in East Millcreek, in the Fall of 1959, after Nelva got married on March 20, 1959, on her 20th birthday. My mom’s brother, Berthell Howell, built our house. Merrill and I started school at Olympus my Junior year and I had to drive from Murray for awhile. We were in the new house before my birthday in Nov. I went from being “a big fish in a little pond” to being “a little fish in a big pond.” Olympus was a very big school, with 720 in my graduating class in 1961, so I didn’t get well acquainted in my two years there. I was #20 academically. Skyline started the following year, so Olympus was divided. Nelva worked as a secretary at a law office in the Sentinal Insurance Co. building about 21st South state Street and got me a job there. She was married and had a baby and worked mornings and I worked after school. I received a full-tuition scholarship to Henager’s Business College, so I went there and graduated in 1962, shortly before we got married. I was voted by my classmates at graduation as “The Secretary most likely to Succeed.” LaMar graduated from the University of Utah in Chemistry 1962 also.

While at Henager’s, a chapter of Lamda Delta Sigma (the Church fraternity/sorority at the U.) was started—Omicron. I joined. As part of joining, you had to memorize the names of the Inter-chapter officers, of which LaMar was one. I thought Westra was a nice name. I met LaMar at the first “conjoint” party between Omicron and Delta chapter (which LaMar was in). It was a Halloween party. The day before meeting LaMar, I sent off the missionary I was planning on marrying. We were “pinned” for Valentine’s Day and became engaged at the U. of U.’s Junior Prom at the UnionBuilding in April.

First 20 years of marriage~

We were married in the Salt Lake Temple on June 29, 1962. I was 19 and LaMar was 25. We had our wedding breakfast at the Maxfield Lodge up the canyon. Our reception was held at our Church bySkyline High. Our first apartment was in a new 8-plex in Sugarhouse on McClelland Street. LaMar did a year of post-graduate work at the U. to avoid the draft, which ended at age 26. I worked as a secretary in the Radiobiology Dept. at the Cancer Research Center at the U. 

Around the time of our first wedding anniversary, we moved to Richland, Washington. LaMar had 3 job offers, one in California, one in Denver, and the one in Richland. He visited Denver to interview, we both made the trip to California to interview----then accepted the Richland job offer from General Electric without even visiting there. I was 3 months pregnant with Scott. It was difficult to find a place to rent. Apartment complexes didn’t want people with children or expecting one. We finally found an old house to rent on Rainier Street. LaMar had to start work, so I had to spend the days in the empty house, waiting for the moving truck to arrive. I had morning sickness and ate barbecue-flavor potato chips while waiting at the house----I haven’t been able to stand them for the next 50 years! 

We had some nice young couples as neighbors and enjoyed life there. LaMar was a stake missionary and took classes a couple times a week, so I got tired of being alone a lot. Scott was born on Monday, Dec. 16, 1963, just before midnight, at the Kadlec Methodist Hospital. It was a fast labor and delivery. My parents came up for a visit after he was born. After they returned to Salt Lake, I developed a fever and weakness on my left side and was re-hospitalized. They did a spinal tap, etc. to check for meningitis, etc. Our pediatrician arranged for baby Scott to be admitted also, so I could nurse him, and so LaMar didn’t have to care for him. The doctor put the bump on Scott’s ear as the reason for the hospital admittance.

I had a couple more episodes of the fever and weakness over the next few months and my doctor had me go to a neurologist in Seattle. I was never really diagnosed—just “an inflammation of the brain.” It hasn't reoccurred but has left me with a slight weakness on my left side.

LaMar had appendicitis and had it removed (I think while I was pregnant with Chris). Chris was born on Sept. 5, 1966. Chris was a long labor and was born on Labor Day. We purchased a new home at 726 Saint Street before Wendy’s birth on April 29, 1968. Since I was sent home from the hospital when I first went in for Chris’s birth, I almost waited too long when in labor with wendy and was only at the hospital a half-hour before she was born. Jeni was born Nov. 10,1970. We moved back to Salt Lake in August 1972 and bought a newly built home at 1677 Hermitage Circle. We lived there for 23 years. Shane was born on May 3, 1976. Kellie Sue was born April 17, 1979, and died of a congenital heart defect at Primary Children’s hospital on April 25, when she was 8 days old. Cory Matthew died in utero two weeks before his due date, and was born on Nov. 5, 1980. Derek was born May 5, 1982. Scott was 18 ½ and graduating from Cottonwood High School. After one year at BYU, Scott left for his mission to Tampa, Florida, May 1983.

The History of Joseph Lamar Westra

Birth and growing up years, 1937-1949, Ages 0-12. 

I arrived into this wonderful world 28 May 1937, the first child of Joseph Ate Westra and Lucille Erskine. I was born in Salt Lake City, and spent most of my early childhood in the South Salt Lake area, where we attended the old Haven Ward, just a block west of State Street about 2300 South. Our family grew to include two sisters and one brother. The old Haven Ward must have been torn down after we left the area. 

 We lived at 246 East 21st South. 

 

My father’s parents were both born in the Netherlands, so my father was 100% Dutch, making me 50% Dutch, with ancestor surnames such as: de Haan, Bangma, Scheeringa, Posthumus, Snip, Ploeg, Hofstra, Wijnalda etc. My mother’s ancestry was mostly English and Scottish with ancestor surnames such as: Erskine, Cushing, Roberts, McFarlane, Peat, Bird, etc. 

One of my early memories, when I was a small boy, was when I set fire to the field behind our house. My mother had always said how she liked a nice bonfire, so I lit the fire for her. She wasn’t pleased. I think my fire almost burned up a cow that was in the field. 

I attended Madison Elementary on State Street about 2400 South: kindergarten through 6th grade. Some of my friends during my elementary school days were Boyd Parry, Fred Dalton, Gary Royce and Norman Middleton (see more about friends from Madison and the neighborhood, including a first girlfriend). There was an initiation into the 6th grade that all the lower grades would dread. It involved harassment by the outgoing 6th graders, and eating grasshoppers. 

I remember having a thriving nightcrawler business. My dad and I would go out at night and gather nightcrawlers from golf courses around the valley: Nibley, Forest Dale, and Bonneville, and Fairmount and Liberty Parks. I would store the nightcrawlers in my basement in large flat wooden boxes, spread with damp gunny sacks, and feed them Cream of Wheat until we sold them. I would take orders in advance, so often we would have to make special night excursions to fill orders of 10-12 dozen nightcrawlers. I charged 15 cents a dozen, or two dozen for 25 cents. My sister Sharon would be my helper and help customers if I wasn’t home. We even put electrical rods in our back lawn to bring the night crawlers out. It worked pretty well, but the worms became a little woozy. 

I got my dad to take me fishing. We would go down to Spring Run on 9th East about 50th South. It was the final point of one of our bike trips. One time, when I was about 10 years old, my dad and I were fishing in Mill Creek, near Granite High. The water was very deep there, and I caught a whopper. I pulled it out and it came flying out of the water up on the bank, and the hook came out. It was about to flop back into the water when my dad grabbed it and tossed it up on higher ground. It was a 21 ½ inch rainbow trout. We took it home, and somehow the newspaper got word of it, and my picture appeared in the newspaper, with this big trout hanging over my shoulder, and hanging almost down to my waist. It would be about 16 years later, after I had married, and we had moved to Richland, Washington, when Margie’s dad called us and told us that my name was on the big yellow Dees cup for being the record holder in Utah for the largest rainbow trout. It was listed on the cup as a 21 ½ pound rainbow trout, caught in Millcreek Reservoir. That record actually stood up for many years. It was the listed record until they built the Flaming Gorge reservoir, and grew rainbow trout bigger than 21 ½ pounds. 

My father was a returned missionary, having served in the Southern States Mission under President LeGrande Richards. But during my growing up years, he was not too active in the church. My mother would attend church with us children. My father was very often playing golf each Sunday. He was a pretty good amateur golfer, and had lots of golfing trophies. But when I was 12 years old, I was given the Aaronic Priesthood and ordained to the office of Deacon by my father. I was also ordained to the office of Teacher by my father, but I was ordained to the office of Priest by someone else: Melvin Brain. My father later ordained me to the office of Elder. 

Grandview Circle Years - 1949-1957 Ages 12-20

When I was 12 years old, our family moved into a new home South and East of Sugarhouse, at 2740 South Grandview Circle (about 1700 East).  See the neighborhood around Grandview Circle.  I remember working with my dad doing cleanup during the construction: sweeping, straightening nails, etc.  We lived in the Wilford Stake and attended the Grandview Ward on 20^th East, about 2900 South.  I attended Roosevelt Junior High, which is now Rowland Hall, a private school.  It was located west and down the hill from East High School.  We were bussed to Roosevelt.  I remember some of the teachers at Roosevelt: Mr. Kartchner for PE, Justin Tolman for math, Buttermilk Bertha Rappoport for type.  I wrestled for Mr. Kartchner.  Mr. Tolman would tell us how he taught the young man who invented Television, Philo Farnsworth.  He said he had long discussions up in schools in Idaho with Philo, who would explain his theories, and fill the blackboard with complex equations.  Buttermilk Bertha Rappoport gave me the only D I ever got on a report card.  Then the next semester she gave me an A.  My mom told me she had Bertha Rappoport for type when she was in Roosevelt Junior High.  Buttermilk Bertha got her knick name for sitting outside her classroom on a garbage can and drinking buttermilk. 

Then I attended South High School which is now part of the Salt Lake Community College and Grand Theatre.   Having all three of my old school buildings no longer operating as public school buildings makes me feel somewhat of an outcast.  At South High, one of my favorite teachers was Rocky Schroeder for math.  Mrs. Schroeder was a diminutive little lady, probably less than 5 feet in height.   Another favorite teacher was Mr. Armont Willardsen, for acapella choir.  I tried out for the choir as a Junior and got in as a baritone.  So I was in the choir for two years.  We would go around to different wards in the area to sing in sacrament meetings.  We put on the whole program, including speakers and 8-10 musical numbers.  One of our favorite closing numbers was Battle Hymn of the Republic.  I can still sing the baritone part today.  We sang almost every Sunday.  I remember singing also at locations in downtown SLC, the Hotel Utah and the Congregational Church, and for the big Baptist church on 13^th East just north of East High School.  The pastor there, Fenwick Fowler, knew that most of the members of the choir were Mormons, so he always planned on a baptism as a part of the service.  The baptism was done in a font, high above the pulpit, complete with mirrors so the audience could see the baptism being performed.   The pastor always had a fiery sermon prepared for us.

Chemistry teacher got me to major in Chemistry at the U. 

I was also enrolled in early morning seminary.  We had a carpool, mainly driven by Don Phippen.  My sister Sharon and I were in the carpool together.  She was one year behind me at South High.  Others in the carpool were my sister’s friends: Joyce Keiser and Eileen.  We would be in a big hurry every morning, and would very often arrive late.    

Some of my friends from the ward were: Frank Willardsen, Tim Maxwell, Mike Dixon, and John Dunn.  Tim had lots of exotic birds: pheasants, etc.   Tim’s dad was our scoutmaster, and each year, our ward would take a trip to Moab to camp and hike n the Arches.  Some of the friends I met in High School were Jim Peterson and Dick Van Wagenen.  I would play lots of basketball with Jim, down on Ashton Avenue, and ping pong with Dick down in his basement. Dick lived on Parkway.

On Sundays, we had a big group of boys who played football, at the Stratford Park church, just south of the Crystal Heights ward building. I played on our ward young men’s teams: basketball, and softball(Libby EdwardsSchool). My sister Sharon didn’t have many friends in our Grandview ward, so she attended the Crystal Heightswardin the next Stake to the North, where she had lots of friends: Steve Stutz, her old boyfriend, JoyceKeizer, and Eileen. Don Phippen also lived in that ward. I think that Don and Joyce were cousins. When Sharon eventually married, she had her reception in the Crystal Heights ward.

I worked each summer for the Granite School District, starting about age 14.  My dad was the purchasing agent.  The main offices were in a small two story building on State Street just north of 33^rd South.  My dad knew everyone at the school district, and got me jobs, first in the Cannery at about 25 cents per hour, and then on the cleaning crew.  The crew was made up of 5-6 teachers, and 5-6 young guys like me.  We would travel from school to school and clean rest rooms and dough clean walls and ceilings with wallpaper cleaner: soft pink stuff you would wipe over the surface and it would clean the dirt off.  We would build scaffolding to get to the ceilings.  It got quite precarious in rooms like the Granite High School auditorium.  We would be way up there on the scaffold, walking a thin 2 by 8 plank, swinging our arm wildly from side to side.  Then we would throw the dough at each other.  Then I got jobs on the plumbing crew, installing and repairing sprinkler systems.  The last jobs I had were watering new lawns as they were planted.  They planted seed, which needed watering every day.  I brought up new lawns at Granger High, and several elementary schools: Eastwood, East Mill Creek, etc.  I would also catch gophers when they made mounds in my new grass, by inserting gopher trips in the holes.  My main boss for all of this work was Lee Davey. 

After my graduation from high school in 1955, I attended the University of Utah for two years, majoring in Chemistry.  I spent much of my free time at the LDS Institute of Religion.  A big group of South High graduates met there.  We played a lot of ping pong, and took institute classes, and ate our lunch, and joined Delta Chapter, one of the four men’s chapters of Lambda Delta Sigma, the LDS fraternity/sorority at the U of U.  I met lots more friends there.  Many of our girlfriends were from Sigma chapter, the woman’s chapter that met the same night we did, on Wednesday evenings.  We dated lots of different girls, but many of them were set up dates between our Delta chapter and one of the seven woman’s chapters.   

Some of the group went on a river trip down the Colorado, with the Socotwa River Rats.  We had four Deltas on our boat, and three Sigmas.  The Deltas were Steve Carr, Tim Maxwell, Don Phippen and I.  Steve was there with his girlfriend, Annette Thorpe.  We got in the Colorado near Moab, and floated down through Cataract Canyon until the convergence with the Green River, in what is now Canyonlands National Park, and then to the convergence with the Yampa River.  We met with others in our company who were floating down the other rivers.  We were on the river 10 days, clear down past the Glen Canyon Dam being built.  We could see some of the construction high up on the canyon walls.  We hiked up some of the side canyons that are now covered by Lake Powell, including Hole in the Rock and Rainbow Bridge.  In some of the side canyons, we would hike up a narrow canyon, and then encounter a section of water, where we would have to swim or wade.  We got to one canyon with a fantastic waterfall.  Some of our group actually dove from the top of the waterfall down into the deep pool in which it was falling.  We continued our floating, past the Arizona border. 

Some of us had a last fling before our missions.  We went on a trip to California with Jim Peterson and ….  Ray ….  ….. Marlo Gwynn

Mission Years (1957-1960)

  

I was called to the Netherlands Mission: 1957-1960.  I was pleased to receive a call to the land of half of my ancestors, and to be able to learn the Dutch language. 

I was 20 ½ when I was called.  I attended the old Missionary School in downtown SLC, 20-31 August, near where the LDS Conference Center is now.  Dick Van Wagenen and I were there together.  Dick had been called to the Northern States Mission.  We skipped out to visit our girlfriends: Joann Despain and Sylvia (Saliva) Wheelwright.

My mission is pretty much described in my Missionary journal, including the trip over to the Netherlands, with my traveling companion, Elder Ronald Whiting, of Firth, Idaho,  via train to Chicago, where we had to change trains, and train stations, and New York, where we stayed two days, and were able to visit Niagara Falls, and New York City, Central Park, Empire State Building, Radio City, show, the Pajama Game, and the boat trip on the SS Maasdam, 5-14 September.    

We made a stop in Southampton, England, and LeHavre, France, and got to Rotterdam on 14 September.  We were met by Elder Russell and Elder Teerlink, and went to The Hague in President Sperry’s car.  We stayed in The Hague for three days, and then were transferred.  I went on 17 September to Amsterdam, with a trainer, Elder Robert J. de Bry, who was the District President in Amsterdam. 

Usually, when new missionaries arrive in the Netherlands, they go straight to the mission home in The Hague to the mission school.  However, since there were just the two of us, me and Elder Whiting, they decided to have us wait for the school, until three other missionaries would be arriving. 

So I spent my first month in Amsterdam with Elder de Bry.  We made trips to Haarlem and other places. 

I got back to The Hague to attend the mission school, 19 October to 8 November.  Our school teacher was Elder Schetselaar, and the missionary presidents for the Sunday School and Mutual (OOV) were living there also, Elder Shupe and Elder Lemon.   Some of the others attending the mission school, were Elder van Boerum, Elder Whiting.     

I was transferred to my next assignment, in Arnhem, 9 November.   My companion was the Branch President in Arnhem, Elder Butler, and then Elder Sieverts, and finally, Elder Ladle.  We were in a foursome, living above the church in Arnhem.  The other two missionaries were the District President, Elder Stewart, and his companion, Elder Stuart Poelman.   

I was in Arnhem for about 7 months. 

I was transferred to my next assignment, back to The Hague, 26 May 1958.  My companion was Elder Leon de Vries.

After I was released as a missionary, I went up to the Northern two provinces of the Netherlands, Groningen and Friesland, and did family history work in Friesland the archives in Leeuwarden, and visited the villages where some of my ancestors had lived.  I stayed up there for two weeks, waiting for the release of three more missionaries. 

We toured, with five missionaries and two Volkswagons, through Germany and Austria and Italy and France and Belgium.  We had tents and camped out, or stayed in youth hostels along the way,  We went to England to do more touring, and to board the SS United States for our return to the US.  We toured New York and Washington DC and traveled west to Dayton, Ohio to meet with my uncle Harold Erskine.  We continued our trip west in our Volkswagons to SLC.  My mom was not aware of where we were until we knocked on her front door.    

Post Mission Years (1960-1963)

After my mission, I returned to the U of U, where I continued my chosen major of Chemistry.  I got into summer school when I got back home, to avoid being drafted.  I took 20 hours during summer quarter, 4 five hour classes, all relatively easy: German 1, Music 1, Statistics, Econ 1.  Our teacher in Econ 1 was a young bearded fellow, who taught with a cigarette in one hand, and a piece of chalk in the other.  He would sometimes forget which was which.  I remember one of our texts for Econ 1 was The Communist Manifesto.  I graduated in 1962, and spent an additional year of post graduate study, changing my emphasis from Chemistry to Math and Computers.

At the U, I was actively involved in Lambda Delta Sigma, the church sponsored fraternity/sorority group.  I was elected an inter-chapter officer, Treasurer.  It was there I met the love of my life, Margie Norman.  She didn’t attend the UofU.  She went to Heneger’s business college.  A group of Henegers students created another chapter of Lambda Delta Sigma, the Omicron chapter.  We would have conjoints, or parties between one men’s chapter and one women’s chapter.  The first conjoint between the Delta chapter and the Omicron chapter resulted in 5 or 6 marriages.  Margie and I were married 29 June 1962 in the Salt Lake Temple.   

We moved into our first apartment, an 8 plex on McClelland Avenue in Sugar House, and went on our honeymoon to Las Vegas, with a stop at Bryce Canyon.  Margie showed her prowess as a gambler by winning several big returns on her slot machine.  We took in a few shows in Las Vegas: PillowTalk, and

We paid $80 per month for our apartment, and it was the only one of the 8 that did not have a carport and storage unit.  The builder promised one, and when it didn’t happen quickly, we paid only $75 per month.   t ….  Address ….   We stayed in the apartment for one year, while I did a year of graduate study.  Margie had her job at the Huntsman Cancer research center, and I had an assistantship where they paid a stipend for teaching lab and research classes in Chemistry. 

In the summer of 1963, I went on two interview trips.  One was by myself, flying to Denver, Colorado to interview Marathon Oil, and then Margie and I drove to San Francisco to interview Shell Oil Company.  Then we accepted a job offer from General Electric in Richland, Washington, one of the three cities making up the Tri Cities.

Richland, Washington Years (1963-1972)

In the summer of 1963, I went on two interview trips.  One was by myself, flying to Denver, Colorado to interview Marathon Oil, and then Margie and I drove to San Francisco to interview Shell Oil Company.  Then we accepted a job offer from General Electric in Richland, Washington, one of the three cities making up the Tri Cities.  I was hired as a chemist, but never did any work in chemistry.  I was assigned to work in computer programming, and spent the next 40 years as a computer programmer/systems analyst.  We had planned to stay in Richland about two years, and get some work experience, and then return to Salt Lake City.  Those goals didn’t work out quite as planned.  We lived in Richland for nine years, in two homes.  Our first home was a small house in what was called Richland Village, at 2031 Raineer Street, on the corner.  We paid rent: $79 per month.  The house had a garage and a basement.  We made acquaintance with two of our neighbors.  Elwyn and Marilyn Shimoda lived in the house just west of ours, and Gil and Eileen Litchfield on the next street.  They each had one child.  Eileen served as a surrogate mother for Margie, since her own mother was so far away.  

We had our first child 16 Dec 1963.  Scottie was born in Kadlec Memorial Hospital, which had been built years before by the government.  The whole city of Richland was built by the government to support building the atom bomb.  A lot of people were hired to work in Richland in the years before 1945.  Most of the people who worked there didn’t know they were working on a project to build the atomic bomb. 

After the first two atomic bombs were exploded in Japan, the local Richland High School changed their mascot name to the Richland bombers. 

In Richland, General Electric was a sub contractor for the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), and was operating the Hanford nuclear reactor plant on the Columbia River.  I started with GE in the tech grad program.  There they had new employees take 3-4 three month assignments with different groups.  Then when the employee and the group manager come to a mutual agreement, the employee is assigned to that group.  I had one assignment out in the labs, a 20 minute bus ride west to the lab area, and another assignment in downtown Richland.  I accepted the second assignment, working in the Richland Federal Building for Glenn Otterbein, doing computer work, mostly in Fortran.  After working there for just a year or so, GE’s contract expired, and the contract was divided into 5-6 different groups.  Other subcontractors won the contract with the AEC.  I sat at the same desk, but was now working for Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC).

My father died in May 1965. We returned for his funeral.

We had our second child, Christopher, 5 Sep 1966.

Moved to a new house, 726 Saint Street.   Nov 1967 …    Richland 1^st Ward.   Richland Stake new Stake Center …  included wards in Kennewick and Walla Walla.   Neighbors Roy and Sharon Kent on one side and Jean and Dick Turley on the other side …..   

Served in Family History, starting the Richland Family History Center in our new stake house.   Served as a stake missionary …   adult Aaronic replacing Dick Turley …

Graduate Classes at the Richland Center for Graduate study …….   Classes in Math, Advanced Calculus, Advanced differential equations, linear algebra, etc.  The Richland Center would contract with professors from Washington State, U of Washington and Oregon State to fly in to teach the classes.    

Wendy was born 29 Apr 1968. 

 In the summer of 1969, CSC moved us to Los Angeles for three months, along with 8 or 9 other families, to develop software at the main CSC headquarters in El Segundo.   

Back in Richland: One time I was working out in the yard and supposedly tending the kids.  I didn’t notice, but Wendy wandered off.  One of the neighbors way up the hill saw her and brought her back home, clutching an all-day sucker.  I hadn’t even missed her.  The neighbor said they knew her from church, with those beautiful blue eyes. 

Jenny was born 10 Nov 1970. 

I taught early-morning Seminary (9th grade) for a year before we moved back to Salt Lake.

 Hermitage Circle Years (1972-1994)

(check out The Hermitage House post)

   

We finally returned to Salt Lake City in August 1972, along with our first four children, ages 1-8.  We moved into a new split entry home in the Jamestown subdivision, 1677 East Hermitage Circle.  The Jamestown area was part of the home show in the year before.  We attended a number of Cottonwood Wards in the Cottonwood Stake.  We were first in the Cottonwood 9^th Ward, meeting in the ward house on Highland Drive.  A few weeks later, the new Cottonwood Stake Center on 1830 East 6400 South was finished.  We were assigned to the Cottonwood 11^th Ward meeting in the Stake Center.  …Bishop Harry Peckham . 

  

In our move to Salt Lake City, I was hired as a computer programmer by the Sperry Corporation, who ran a plant out by the Salt Lake airport.  They eventually merged with other companies and became the Unisys Corporation. 

In my first assignment there, I worked with David Powell and Franci de Long.  Our boss was Wayne Slagle.  I worked as a computer programmer or analyst.  During my work there, I took many trips: many to Roseville, Minnesota and many others to Blue Bell, Pennsylvania.  I took another trip to New Orleans, and another to Miami to attend conferences of some kind or another.  Other bosses were: Wayne Ivie, Glenn Johnson, John Burns, Franci de Long.  I worked on many projects. 

Church callings – Family History, FREP, Church, FH Center …..membership clerk, teach ….  Varsity Scouts ….. 

  

3 May 1976      Birth of Shane Michael Westra

Ward split, 13^th Ward …Bishop Robin Egan, with counselors Lane Summerhays and Steve Woolston.   Margie was the first RS president.   We were a very small ward ….  After two years, Steve had to be released: working for the church, too much travel, South America.  I was called to replace him as 2^nd Counselor.

17 Apr 1979     Birth of Kellie Sue Westra.  Our little girl had a heart defect and died at the age of 8 days.

22 Jan 1980     Death of Margie’s grandmother, Louella McGee Norman

5 Nov 1980     Birth of Cory Matthew Westra.  He was a full-term stillborn little boy.

5 May 1982     Birth of Derek Alan Westra. I was almost 45 years of age.

26 Dec 1982     LaMar - called to serve in the Bishopric of the Cottonwood 13^th Ward, with Bishop Robin Egan and Lane Summerhays.  LaMar replaced Steve Woolston who was doing a lot of traveling for the church. 

Budd Ferre was later called as a counselor to Bishop Egan, and when Bishop Egan was released, Budd was called to be the new bishop.  I served as a counselor to Budd also.  I served for almost 7 years as counselor. 

26 May 1983    Scott was called as a missionary to the Tampa Florida mission.  He departed 26 May 1983.  The missionary system had been recently changed, with new missionaries called for a period of just 18 months.  Scott returned 30 Nov 1984.   After Scott’s return, the missionary system was changed back again, with new missionaries again called for a period of two years.    

• 31 Mar 1986 Death of Herbert LaVar Norman
• 13 Oct 1986 Death of Hannah Lucinda Hurst Howell Bohne
• 21 Oct 1987 Chris departed as a missionary in the Columbus, Ohio mission. Chris returned 6 Oct 1989. 
• 5 July 1989 Wendy departed as a missionary in the Atlanta, Georgia ASL, American Sign Language. Wendy returned 24 Jan 1991.
• 26 Nov 1989 Release from Bishopric after serving almost seven years in the Bishopric 
• 29 Aug 1990 Death of Lucille Erskine Westra Burgener
• 15 July 1991 Marriage of Chris and Casandra Mueller
• 20 Mar 1992 Marriage of Scott and Amy Whiting. They moved into a house in Cottonwood Heights, 2256 East 6630 South, 84121.
• 13 May 1992 Birth of our first grandchild, Conner Joseph Westra 
• 22 July 1992 Marriage of Jennifer and Grayson Blackham. 
• 23 Feb 1993 Birth of our second grandchild, McKenna Nicole Westra 
• 15 Jan 1994 Death of Victor Alma Burgener
• 12 Mar 1994 Move Chris and Sandy to Fayette
• 2 June 1994 Birth of our third grandchild, Kadan Christopher Westra 
• 28 July 1994 Marriage of Wendy and Rick Jensen. 

We lived in the Hermitage home for over 22 years, and then built a new home, just east of our old home, in a new subdivision called New Haven.  12 Nov 1994     Move to 6176 South Haven Moor Circle. We have now been in our current home for over 10 years.      

Haven Moor Circle Years 1994-Present

• 12 Nov 1994 We moved into our new home: 6176 South Haven Moor Circle
• 15 Feb 1995 Birth of our 4th grandchild, Alyssa Blair Westra
• 19 July1995 Departure of Shane for his mission in Brazil. Shane returned 25 June 1997. 
• 7 Sep 1995 Birth of our 5th grandchild, Landon Gordon Blackham
• 8 Dec 1995 Birth of our 6th grandchild, Janika Carol Jensen
• 16 Dec 1995 Move Scott and Amy, and McKenna and Alyssa, to Draper, 404 East Rosewood Park Lane. 
• 16 Oct 1996 Birth of our 7th grandchild, Kellen Scott Westra
• 12 Dec 1996 Move Jen and Gray, and Landon, to West Jordan, 3692 West 8070 South, 84088
• 6 June 1997 Birth of our 8th grandchild, Corin Benjamin Westra
• 28 June 1997 Move Rick and Wendy, and Janika, to Ivins, 582 North 300 West, 84738
• 8 July 1997 Install new computer
• 2 Dec 1997 Birth of our 9th grandchild, Jase Rick Jensen
• 5 Aug 1998 Birth of our 10th grandchild, Kemery Chase Westra
• 21 Feb 1999 Birth of our 11th grandchild, Callahan Joseph Blackham

1 Jan 2000   One of the last projects I worked on at Unisys was the Y2K project.  In Jan 2000 all the programs that relied on a two digit year would be compromised, because the year 00 was then 1900.  The Y2K project has us go through all our programs and see which ones needed to be changed, so that on 1 Jan 2000, they would not all become obsolete.

•  8 Mar 2000     Birth of our 12^th grandchild, Jared Daniel Jensen
• 31 Aug 2000     Birth of our 13^th grandchild, Keaton Glen Blackham
• 9 May 2001     Marriage of Shane and Alicia Marie Green.  
• 3 July 2001     Departure of Derek for his mission in Campinas, Brazil.  Derek returned 2 July 2003 
• 4 Oct 2001     Move Chris and Sandy, and  their three boys to Gunnison, 711 East 300 South, 84634.  Chris had purchased the property, and built the house there. 
• 1 Jan 2002     LaMar retired from Unisys, after working there for 30 years. 
• 27 Apr 2002   Birth of our 14^th grandchild, Camden Jacob Westra
• 20 June 2002   Departure of Merrill and Lorrie to be the Mission President in New Jersey.  They returned June 2005.
• 12 Aug 2002   Start of LaMar’s Family History Mission.
• 14 Oct 2002    Birth of our 15^th grandchild, Janelle Marjorie Jensen
• 27 Aug 2003    Birth of our 16^th grandchild, Taylee Grace Westra
• 28 Aug 2003    Birth of our 17^th grandchild, Cooper Grayson Blackham
• Oct 2003          Margie and LaMar called as Area Family History Advisors
• 1 Nov 2003      Move Shane and Alicia to Sandy, 9704 South 1700 East
• 3 Mar 2004      Move Rick and Wendy, and their 4 kids, to Santa Clara
• 31 May 2004    Birth of our 18^th grandchild, Jaiden Wendy Jensen
• 2 Nov 2004     Birth of our 19^th grandchild, Adria Elisabeth Westra
• 12 Feb 2005     Move Scott and Amy, and their 5 kids, to 936 East Old English Road

This was the start of a 9 month period where we had four grandchildren born.

• 20 Dec 2005     Birth of our 20^th grandchild, Colton Jensen Blackham.  
• 16 Apr 2006     Birth of our 21^st grandchild, Joshua Joseph Jensen
• 22 May 2006     Birth of our 22^nd grandchild, Cayson Michael Westra
• 23 Aug 2006     Birth of our 23^rd grandchild, Mirella Marie Westra

•  4 Nov 2006       Marriage of Derek and Danielle Taylor.  
• 13Jan 2007       Move Shane and Alicia and their two girls to Lindon, 967 East 300 North
• 17Aug 2007      Move Derek and Danielle to Hawaii, 2065 Lanihuli Drive, Honolulu
• 27Jan 2008       Death of President Gordon B. Hinckley

I have always been an avid genealogist, especially on my Dutch lineage.  After being released from my mission in the Netherlands, I spent two weeks doing research in some of the old archives in the Netherlands.  In Richland, I worked with others in starting up the Tri Cities Family History center. 

I have held a number of church callings.  I was in a Bishopric in our current ward for 7 years (serving under two Bishops), and also served as membership clerk and then in Family History work as the Stake Family Records Extraction Director.  I worked with others in our stake to establish a Family History Center, and worked as Stake FHC Director for a number of years.