Person:Don Longmore (1)

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Don telling story of his exciting motorcycle trip. Yes he was a speed demon.

History of Don Longmore

Don Longmore was born on December 3, 1931 in Thomas, Idaho in the merry month of December. Maybe that is why he always liked Christmas so much. He was the second child born to Elmer Henry Longmore and Lillian Sedgwick. There were many more children to come to bless the lives of this family. He has seven brothers and three sisters. A mighty eleven.

The Lord knew it was important for Don to be here on earth. He had a mission to fill. When he was only a few weeks old, he became very ill. None of his food would pass through him. He was taken to the hospital in Idaho Falls. He had what they called an abstraction of the bowels. He would have to have surgery. His chances to survive were very slim. But the elders were called and they blessed him that he would live. At the hospital they opened him up and took everything out from his rib cage down. They pulled the intestines out from inside of each other and put them back in and sewed him up. It is a miracle that he is here today. And his family is very thankful for him. He has a very big scar to prove it all happened.

Don is thankful for his good parents. They always did their very best to take good care of their family. They stayed living with Grandma and Grandpa Longmore for a period of time. Don was Blessed on March 6, 1932 by his Grandfather George B. Longmore in the Thomas Idaho Ward, the Blackfoot Stake. Times were hard and it was not easy to get a job. Finally they moved to Salt Lake City. When they moved to Salt Lake they spent some time living with Lillians parents until his dad got a job. His dad got a job as a painter and paper hanger and they moved into a place of their own with their little family.

His first memory of living in Salt Lake is on “B” street up in the Avenues. He has a few memories of “B” street. One is that he had an imaginary scooter that he took to church. One day his dad asked him where his scooter was. He said “Oh I left it at church”. And then they really had a hard time to talk him out of going back to get it. (Don says he really doesn’t remember this, but was told about it by his parents). He does remember walking to a little corner store to buy candy. One day he had gotten a stick of licorice. On the way home a big dog knocked him down and took it away from him. These are really early memories. He was probably only about three years old.

He moved with his family to a couple of different apartments. On Almond Street for a short period of time and then they moved to Third North. After that his dad bought an old house on 373 Quince Street. It had had a fire in it. His dad rebuilt it, and this is where he spent his years growing up.

He had so many good experiences and fun times as he grew up. In summer time he and his friends had bon fires in the vacant lot by their house. They threw potatoes into the hot coals and roasted them. Sometimes they burned them, but they still tasted good. Especially the buttered part. They told stories. The neighborhood kids liked to play softball in the vacant lot. They also played a lot of softball at the school. They also played kick the can. He just liked to spend time together with all the kids. There was a swimming pool at Washington School. Washington School is where he went to grade school. He could swim there a lot and he did. Sometimes he climbed the fence and swam at night (along with other guys).

Don was also known to be quite a tease at home and caused a few problems with his siblings. His older sister says she remembers a knife or two being thrown at her. Don says, “ I knew it wouldn’t hit her”. Also a fork or two. If everything is true it’s a wonder they all survived. His younger brother was a favorite target of Dons teasing. He would sing Loodle, Loodle, Loodle and look at him and he would cry. “Don is teasing me.” If Don was left to be the baby sitter when his mother went out, he would watch for older sister to be coming home and then he would take off out the door and as he flew past older sister he would say, “you have to tend the kids.”

Don was always somewhat mechanical minded. He liked to take things apart and see how they worked. He took a few watches apart. To many peoples dismay. Sometimes they worked after he got through with them. He has said, “one time I took a watch apart and I was having difficulty to get it back together and everyone kept bugging me so I ran away. I took my bike and went to Ogden where my aunt Luella and Uncle John lived.” They let him stay and didn’t say anything. However, they did call and tell his parents he was there. His dad said, “he got there on his bike and he can get back home on his bike.” The tires were pretty thin but he made it.

He has told us he liked to go to Lagoon whenever he could. They could ride the bamberger train out to Lagoon. (The old Bamberger train was a train that ran from Ogden to Provo. It also had a line out to Saltair and it had open cars. He went out to Saltair on that train also.) All around that area there were cherry orchards and they would go and pick cherries to earn enough money to get in to Lagoon. They also had a few to eat. He says, “One time dad had told us if you go to pick cherries bring me home a big bag full of cherries. We carried them with us to Lagoon. A younger brother had them with him in the Dodgem cars. Well, Don got a chance to run into him head on. That was a big bump and guess what happened to the cherries. The bag flew out and cherries went everywhere. Our Dodgem cars with steel wheels went bump, bump, bump until the ride ended. We got out of there fast. Cherries were smashed everywhere!!! The Dodgems were shut down for about an hour while they cleaned up the mess.”

He and his friends tore apart and put together a few bikes in his young life. Even a motor scooter when he was a little older. And even finally a motorcycle. Sometimes he had a few parts left over. But, he said, “They usually worked when we got through.” He used his bikes to deliver newspapers. He had more than one paper route. One of his routes was out in Swede town in North Salt Lake. About five miles out of town. It was a long ride. Especially if it was cold and rainy or snowy. He remembers one day that it was just too much to keep going in the snow. He dumped his papers and went back home. (He thinks his boss never found out).

Oh, and by the way he drove that motorcycle under a Greyhound sightseeing bus. “Well”, he said “ I wouldn’t have gone under that bus if that dog hadn’t run out in front of me and I hit it first. I led a charmed life.” The bus driver was sure happy to see me alive when he got out of the bus. I had dived off the motorcycle and rolled into the bar pit and the motorcycle went under the bus. The front wheel of the bus stopped right on top of it. I was so close to the bus that the driver couldn’t see what happened.

Don went to Horace Mann Jr. High and then on to West High. He learned to know the City of Salt Lake like the back of his hand. Besides the paper routes, he delivered telegrams for Western Union. That took him in and out of all the office buildings uptown. He knew them all. The hard ones were when he had to deliver a telegram all the way out to 35^th or 39^th South. That was a long bike ride and took a long time. At that time it was not considered to be part of the city limits.

One day when he had to deliver a telegram out on the edge of town he got a little risky. He knew his dad was working on the Hotel Utah and that he parked his car up there fairly close. So Don went and hot wired the car and delivered the telegram with the car. He came and put it back where he got it. Well, one thing made it not such a good idea. When he was backing up, after delivering the telegram, there was a pole sticking up at the end of the driveway. He hit it! That left a dent in his dad’s car. It took his dad a couple of days to notice it, but when he did. Guess What! He guessed how it got there. And then the fireworks started…Well, needless to say Don didn’t try that again.

Don attended church at the old 19th ward. It is a historical building now. It is being used by the Salt Lake Dance Co. He enjoyed scouting. Especially the camp outs. Winter campouts were a favorite. He was baptized in the Salt Lake Tabernacle. He was baptized on January 6, 1940 in the 19^th Ward, the Salt Lake Stake. They had a baptismal font in the basement of the tabernacle. That font has been moved and put into the Vernal Temple now.

He went to West High for one year. It was a good time. He liked his wood shop class and the friends he had there.

Don also worked as an usher in the capital theater. He got to see all the movies. He bought a car. It was a 1934 Chevy sedan. He really liked his old car. He and his friends had a good time in it. Cummings drive in was a favorite spot. The big milk shakes for only a quarter. Also The Farmers Daughter. Another drive in that a lot of teenagers met at.

Don was quite adventurous. And living that close to the capital and all the hills in that area gave him lots of opportunity to be adventuresome. In winter they skied on wall street. They didn’t have the best skis but they worked. One day he decided to fool everybody. He put on older sisters coat and hat and came skiing down the hill. Everyone thought it was older sister. He got a good laugh out of that.

They made go carts out of boards with wheels on them. There was a big hill by their house. They could go on more than one hill with those go carts. They would have a friend stand and watch that there were not any cars coming from the opposite direction and then they would give the sign. “Let Her Rip”. And away they would go. They could run for several blocks. One bit of bad news – the go cart didn’t have any brakes. I guess there were brakes of sorts. They just put their feet down and dragged them. It just had to slow down or if worse happened, you just bailed off…He spent time up on Ensign Peak – on foot and on bike. One day they rode on bikes up on the Peak and made jumps off of whatever they could find to jump off of. And then on the way home, just riding down the grassy hill at the capital building, he hit a water sprinkler and tipped over. He bumped his head and lost his memory for a day. When they got him home he couldn’t even remember that older sister was getting married or who her fiancé was. He could bike ride up City Creek Canyon. It was open to Public to have picnics and parties. In fact when he and Mary got married they spent many a Friday evening up City Creek Canyon having a wiener roast or picnic. They shared some of this time with Lew and Dwayne.

As Don got older, he adventured further. He used to ride his bike out to the mill ponds by Grantsville. There weren’t any houses out on the southwest side of Salt Lake. They could take their 22’s and hunt for rabbits. They could go skinny dipping in the mill ponds. There was a rope swing there in the trees and it was great fun to spend an hour or two after the long ride out there from Salt Lake. (Just a little insert here. Years later Don was scoutmaster here in Kearns 14th ward. Sometimes he shared these old haunts with his scouts. They hunted rabbits and also went skinny dipping. No way could that be allowed in these days. In fact he took his wife Mary to show her where they used to go and the rope swing was still there in the trees.(No skinny dipping though.)

Well, about the time Don was turning 18 and some of these lazy fun days were coming to a close, Don decided to go with some of his friends out to Deeth, Nevada where his friend Elmer worked for the railroad. They were going to pick Elmer up and bring him back to Salt Lake for Thanksgiving. Don thought it looked pretty good there and so he asked Elmer’s boss if he would put him to work on the railroad also. The boss, Paulus Svedin, said yes. You will turn 18 the 3rd of December so if you come back after that I will put you to work. It makes you wonder if anyone could have guessed what this little turn of events would bring about.

Don did come back out to Deeth, Nevada and went to work right after the first of the year in 1950. A lot of events started to happen right after that. Don worked hard. Mr. Svedin was a good teacher. Don grew and developed muscles from the hard physical labor. Within a few months he started to date one of Mr Svedins daughters. In fact he lived at their house. Both he and Elmer lived there. A good time was had by all. They went with friends to movies and rabbit hunting. And just plain old visiting. They played cards with the family. It was a pass time they enjoyed. Don was never a card player though, so he mostly just watched. It did happen that Don and Elmer moved down to the railroad bunkhouses and no longer lived at the Svedin home. But by June Elmer decided to move back to Salt Lake and told Don if he stayed there he would end up being married. (Hmmm, wonder how he guessed that)

Don says, “Now when I came out to Deeth, my only intent was to get away from home and get a job and be on my own. But my intent changed when I met my future wife. Once in awhile I would steal a kiss from Mary while we were in the back seat of the car coming home from the movies with the family. She and I dated, we went to dances and movies, mostly to Wells, but sometimes Elko. I fell in love and could hardly wait for her to finish high school so we could get married.”

The environment in that area of the state is not as good as it could be. There are many temptations to choose a different life style. Word of Wisdom problems and others. Don stayed on in Deeth and subsequently after time, probably by August or September, Don started to come to church with the Svedin family. His future father in law, Paulus Svedin was a good example to him and gave him good advice even when he didn’t feel like he wanted it. He gained a testimony during that period of time As he came to church regularly he received callings. In particular to be a home teacher. He was a partner with Paulus. He truly enjoyed this time and learned to love the people he visited with. There was quite a distance to visit those they were assigned to visit. They were out on the ranches. But this was one of the choice times of his life. His testimony grew. Don says, “I studied the Book of Mormon and prayed to understand it and how to put it to work in my life. As questions came to my mind, I prayed about them and I can tell you that the answers usually came at the next Stake Conference when one of the apostles would speak on the subject I needed to know about.”

He was asked to give a talk in Sacrament meeting. He says, “ I felt I wasn’t a good speaker and was not sure I could do it. But I prayed about it, especially as I continued to study The Book of Mormon. When the day came to give my talk in Sacrament Meeting the Holy Ghost was with me that I could say all the words I wanted to say. I felt the presence of the Holy Ghost very strongly. Others at the meeting told me that they also felt the presence of the Holy Ghost.”

Don lived in Deeth for one and a half years. From January 1950 to June 1951. During that time he and his fiancee spent a lot of time together. In September of 1950 on the way home from Elko, Nevada one night. He said to her, “If I asked you, would you marry me?” Her reply was “you will have to ask to find out”. He took that for a yes and things became more serious. More important, he said “When I get married I want to get married in the Temple” And he went to work to become temple worthy. He was active in church and also started to pay tithing. And has continued to do so since that time. It was during this period of time that Don was made a Priest first and then an Elder. He was ordained an Elder by Paulus Svedin a High Priest and also his father in law to be. They planned to marry in June of 1951 after high school graduation.

Don felt that there was not a good place to live in Deeth, not wanting to live with family, and so he took a weeks vacation just before the date to get married and came into Salt Lake to find a job. He got a job at the brickyard. Don was married to his sweetheart on June 22nd 1951 in the Salt Lake Temple. It was a joyous time. His parents had not been attending church for a time. Because of the large family and feeling they did not all have Sunday clothes. They asked their Bishop if they could just get a recommend to come and see us get married. But the Bishop counseled with them and told them at least one of them could come to church each Sunday and to pay their tithing. He gave them a full recommend and so they attended the temple with us. They said it made a difference in their lives and they continued attending meetings from that time on and were very faithful. Mary’s sister and her husband also received their endowments on that day and were married. A double wedding.

The honeymoon was short, actually very short. A weekend trip to Ogden to stay in a Motel. Then he had to travel back out to Nevada to work one day or he would not be able to get his vacation pay. But he was back on Tuesday to go to work at the brickyard. He and his wife first lived at his older sister and her husbands apartment. They were on vacation and had gone to Idaho. It took him about a month to find an apartment of their own and they moved out. To seventh east and about 2700 South. They only stayed there about one month and then moved to an apartment on 13th East and about 38th South. He also changed jobs. Thinking one that he got on the D & RG Railroad would be a better job. It payed more, but only lasted a couple of months and then there was a cutback in the workforce and he was layed off and was out looking for a job again. He went to work for the Lang Co. To learn to be a welder.

This was during the time of the Korean War and in December Don got his greetings from the government. He was being drafted into the U.S. Army. He was to report to Fort Douglas on the 8th of January. Their spirits still remained high and they prepared for Christmas. It was their first Christmas together. Don shopped and bought several gifts for his wife. They were beautiful packages. But he didn’t believe in opening anything until Christmas morning, so they had to set under the tree to just be looked at.

Don quit his job just at Christmas time and they let the apartment go. He took a week to go back out to Nevada and visit to get prepared to leave for the army. Don's mother-in-law Maude Svedin brought Don and his wife to Salt Lake and left Don at Fort Douglas. It was a trying time. He really didn’t want to leave. But leave he did from the Union Pacific Depot one evening. His family came to see him off. They had what they called troop trains at that time. So it was a whole train with the cars full of soldiers. His first stop was Fort Lewis Washington. He was only there for a week or two. It rained a lot and they had to march out on the parade field whether it was raining or not. He was then sent to Camp Roberts in California. This is where he received his basic training. He was sent to the dentist and to the doctors to make sure he was in good shape. The dentist thought his tonsils were so big he had to have them out, so he sent him to sick bay. But Don said no he did not need his tonsils out, and so they let him keep them and he still has them today. In March his wife was able to join him for a few months. Don could not live off of base and so she lived in a trailer with another girl whose husband was there.

Don felt like they needed something to travel around on and so they found someone who was selling his motorcycle. He bought it, and they did a little sight seeing around that area on the motorcycle. They were able to see each other more often and on weekends he was off. They went to the beach and a couple of other towns. San Louis Obispo was the closest town to them. The trailer was in San Miguel, a very small little town. The bike was pretty neat and he had a good time riding it. He liked to tell his wife if she didn’t lean with him when he turned a curve they would tip over. It was an Indian. He wishes he had kept it. In June his basic training was over and he had also had schooling in Field and Wire. On May 29^th he received a certificate of training from Field Wireman School.

It was time to leave the States and go to Korea. So his wife returned to Nevada by car and Don rode the motorcycle home. He had many experiences on that trip home. He got on wrong roads trying to find a short cut. (or misleading instructions) He ran into roads that were closed because of the deep snow in the Sierra Nevadas and it was late June. So he would have to back track. And close to the end of the trip, he had a blowout and had to hitch hike the rest of the way to Deeth. A family picked him up and brought him right to the Svedins home. In fact they put their tent up in their back yard and slept there the rest of the night. His mother in law fixed breakfast for the family the next morning. And Don and his sweetheart drove out to where the bike was and fixed it and brought it home.

His leave lasted for a couple of weeks and they visited family members in Nevada and in Salt Lake. But finally the leave ended and Don caught a bus from Wells and was on his way.

He left from San Francisco on a boat traveling to Korea. The “U.S.S. General Wm.Weigel.” They made a stop at the Philippines, Manilla on July 18, 1952 and then on to Japan and then on to Korea. It seems that when you cross the 180^th Meridian you have to be initiated into the Mysteries of the Far East. So those who were crossing for the first time on the Weigel were initiated and given a certificate that they were now numbered among the Truly Golden Dragons. He was on the boat for one full month.

Upon arriving in Korea they were put into trucks and driven to the area where the war was going on. There was a kind of scary time on the way to his company. As they came up to the Imjim river and were going to cross a bridge he could hear a lot of gun firing and explosions. It seemed like he was in the middle of the war. The trucks had to stop for awhile. Then he found out that the North Koreans were floating dynamite down the river trying to blow up the bridges. There were a couple of big tanks on each side of the river. They were shooting out the rafts that were floating down the river with the dynamite on them. No one told them what was going on, and they just assumed that the North Koreans were shooting at them. Finally there was a break in the rafts coming down the river and they finished their trip to the company he would serve with.

Don was with a heavy artillery company. He was in Head Quarters battery, of the 936 Field Artillery Battalion. The job of this Battalion was very important. They kept communications for the firing batteries that were shooting at the enemy. Their telephone and switchboard equipment was in bunkers and they also lived in their bunkers.

There were not many opportunities to attend church. Only a couple of times when there would be church leaders there and they would have conference for the servicemen. It was a 60 or more mile trip to go. Just getting transportation to the meetings was difficult. He was able to go a couple of times. There were times when he was certainly protected by his Father in Heaven. Notably, one time when they were receiving heavy shelling on their bunkers. They had to move their equipment to a safer place. They also had to keep communication going until the other equipment was set up in another location. Don and one other soldier kept the old equipment going while the move was being made. They finally were able to go to the new bunker. They returned the next morning to pick up some things that had been left. When they got there, they saw that their bunker had received a direct hit and was all blown up. He served in Korea for one full year. He was allowed what they called two weeks of R & R. (rest and relaxation) The first week he did go to Japan and was able to do some sightseeing and get some rest. He bought quite a few souvenirs while in Japan. I will mention a few. He sent a set of China, several silk tablecloths and napkins, some pictures, some jewelry, a silk kimono, a corner shelf, some Ivory carvings. I feel bad that I did not take more care of all the things he sent, but I didn’t. There are only a few left today. A sugar bowl from the China. A tablecloth or two. One of the ivory figurines. But the most important thing was that he came home safely. It was fourteen months in all. One month over, a year there, and one month on the ship coming home.

On August 2, 1953 he received a Certificate of Appreciation for outstanding service while he served in the 936 Field Artillery Battalion in Korea during the period of August 1, 1952 to August 2^nd 1953. He also was given a letter of appreciation from his commanding officer. This is the contents of the letter;

God speed and best wishes as you depart from Korea, and the comradeship of the Battalion. I can assure you, it should be with a sense of knowledge that you have rendered the highest service to your fellow Americans and the free people of the world.

As a member of this Battalion you were handed a series of tough, sometimes unpleasant assignments, but no matter how difficult the job, you and the other members of this Battalion met it with determination and fortitude. Your personal conduct has been such to raise you above the average soldier in Korea today. May you continue to show pride in it.

Each man, serving as a part of the Battalion, is to be commended for his unselfish devotion to duty, and for the many long hours that contributed to the spirit of the “936”. As you continue in our free way of life, you can be proud of the fact that you helped keep it that way.

He arranged to meet me in Winnemucca, Nevada. I was brave and drove our little old “40” Chev coupe all the way there. But it was worth it to have a few days to ourselves. We came to Deeth first and spent a few days. While there we purchased a new car. A beautiful powder blue hard top convertible Mercury. I believe the price was around $3,500. And that really was a lot of money. I had worked and saved quite a bit and that was the down payment. Was Don’s brothers ever surprised and happy to see us with a brand new car. They called it a tank.

Of course one of the first things he wanted to do with that brand new car was take a vacation. We called it a second honeymoon, since we never really had a first. He planned a really neat trip. We went up to Thomas, Idaho and saw his grandparents. We had a really nice visit with them. They treated us like we were royalty. I met a few of his other relatives. He took me to see his aunt Em. The house he was born in was in that area. We went and saw that. After he felt like we had a good visit we went off to Yellowstone Park. It was during September, which is a cold part of the year in Yellowstone. So there were very few other people there. We were camping in a little pup tent. Actually an army tent. It had a long round tube for the opening to climb through into the tent. The first night in it, I could hear Elk walking around and bugling. I was frightened and so got up and we slept in the car. The next night we stopped at Fishermans Bridge. There were other people there. I thought oh, this is safe. We had dinner, put up our tent and got ready for bed. Well, guess what, there was a big old bear in the camp ground that night. We saw him going around and looking in the garbage cans. But we weren’t afraid. Later in the night when we were asleep he came around our tent. Don thought maybe he had gotten tripped on the ropes. Anyway, we were jolted awake. We could hear the bear snorting around the base of our tent. Don wouldn’t let me sit up. I was ready to get out of there and run. When the bear had left, Don said, “Look Up” After he had been holding me down so I couldn’t sit up, there was the results. Three claw slits through the roof of the tent. Needless to say as soon as he could hear all was clear we got out and slept in the car again. We didn’t even put the tent up the next night. Three nights in the park and three nights sleep in the car. But we had such a good time. We saw everything we wanted to see. Old Faithful, wild animals and such beautiful scenery. Don reminisced of the good times he had had when he came to the Park with his dad and uncle and cousins. And then we were back to home.

Don had to return to California to Fort Ord to receive his separation from the Army. We drove to California through the Sierra Nevadas as he had done on his motorcycle trip. They are always beautiful. We were aiming for Alameda, California. We had to find that tunnel that went to Alameda. I had an Uncle and Aunt that lived there, It was fairly close to Fort Ord. It took a little searching, but we found our way there and Uncle Dewey and Aunt Nellie were very good to us. They invited us to stay and that I could stay there until Don had gone to Fort Ord the next morning and found out what he would have to do there. And to find us a place to stay. It took a few days. Don had another one of those blessings on that trip to Fort Ord. As he drove along the highway he was on, it was very foggy. He really couldn’t see much of anything. Travel was very tedious. As he was going along he noticed a flash of light occasionally up ahead. He kept looking and slowing a little to see if he could figure out what he was seeing. Finally he came to stop, because he was prompted to, and looked closer. He could see he was at a train crossing and the flashes of light were from cars on the other side of the train as the train cars went by. He was close, but he was stopped and safe. Thankfully. He got a motel room in Carmel, the town by Fort Ord and came back and got me. We had to spend some time there to get to his separation date. He was happy to be home with his wife wherever they were. He received an honorable separation from the active military on October 7, 1953. He was then in the Army Reserve. He had received a Korean Service Medal w/3 Bronze Service Stars, a UN Service Medal and a National Defense Service Medal. On December 14^th 1961 Don received an Honorable Discharge from the Armed Forces of the United States of America.

Soon that was over and the trip home was another second honeymoon. Don drove them back home through the Southern route. They came across the desert from Bakersfield and headed for Las Vegas. Oh my gosh! was it ever hot. No air conditioning in those days. We made it but we were happy to be able to get out of the car. He got us a motel and the decision was made that we would stay inside until the sun went down and it cooled off a little. We did a little sight seeing. Had some good dinners and did some shopping. Don bought a really nice suit while we were there in Las Vegas. It was double breasted and a nice blue gray color. It really looked good on him. He needed all new clothes now that he was out of the army duds.

After all this free time and traveling it was time for Don to find a job. He applied at Mountain Bell at first because of his training in field and wire. But because he didn’t have a high school diploma they would not hire him. So, he decided he would rather stay in Nevada if it were possible. He applied for a job with the Southern Pacific R.R. He was hired as a relief signal maintainer, which he thought would be a good job. But it didn’t work out either. So we were unemployed for some time. He then went to work for the Western Pacific Railroad as a relief section foreman. Then he got a promotion, if you can call it that, to an assistant foreman on an extra gang. (that is a large group of men that live in R.R. house cars. They move to where ever there is a large job that needs done, such as putting in new rail tracks or leveling the old ones) He could be working any place between Portola California and Wendover Utah. I was not always able to go with him, but we shared a lot of experiences together. We lived in section houses with no furniture except what we carried with us. (a roll away bed and a couple of chairs, eventually a baby basket). One time we lived in the foremans house and tended the dog while the foreman was away on vacation. We lived in a house car on the siding track. And usually took the train back to Deeth for weekends if we didn’t drive. One time we lived on the Salt Flats at Knolls. It was pretty hot and Don’s lips and ears were so sunburned it was bad. They didn’t have all that sunscreen at that time. He found that Veto deodorant worked good to cover his lips. It was thick and it was white.

I have talked a little about Dons hunting, but he liked to fish too. There was a lake high up in the Ruby mountains that he especially wanted to hike to. Boulder Lake was the name of it. He had been told there were some really big fish in Boulder Lake. He made two trips to that lake and really didn’t get to catch one of those BIG fish. He had met a section foreman by the name of Rainey and he wanted to go to that lake too. So Don said he would take him. The weekend started off kind of bad. Don was working on the Salt Flats and had to come to Deeth. He was late getting there and his wife and her family were in bed. So he had no supper. Then he slept in the next morning (which was still pretty early) But he had to meet Rainey and his son. So off Don went without breakfast or a lunch. Not a good way to take a big hike. He met his friends and they started up the mountain. Raineys got tired and decided to quit but not Don. He was determined to make it to the lake and catch those fish. But as he went on up the mountain without food or water he started to become kind of faint. His energy was spent. He even considered trying to eat a raw fish but he wasn’t that hungry. (no matches). He did make it to the lake and did a little fishing, but he knew he needed food to be able to hike back out of there. He laid down and napped for awhile and prayed. As he walked around the lake a little he came upon a patch of fresh green onions. He pulled up a few and ate them. They actually tasted really good to him and they gave him the strength he needed to hike back down off of that mountain.

Then later, his brother in law Bill Koons had heard of that lake too and he wanted to go there. Bill was from Illinois and had brought his wife Della out to visit her family. So early one morning Bill and Don started the hike up to the lake. They fished on the stream on the way up. Well, Bill wore out. He said he wouldn’t hike further if there were a ton of big fish to be caught. So he waited on the stream for Don to finish the hike. By the time Don got there his bait was low. He said, I had one worm left. I caught one nice fish on that worm and then it was really chewed up, but I tried again with what there was and caught another one. But it got away. So then the worm was really chewed up. I didn’t get anymore bites. And I didn’t try that hike again.”

. Mary had gotten pregnant in late December of 1953. Our first child, a daughter was born on September 16, 1953. She was a beautiful baby. Since it was so close to time for the baby to be born, I had to stay at home with my parents while Don traveled on his own. When the delivery time came of course he was on a remote railroad section far from home. It was past a small town named Gerlach. There were no phones available to call him. His mother in law contacted his boss, called the roadmaster and told him Don needed to come home. But she was told he could only be contacted in an emergency because they would have to call out a worker from Gerlach and pay him over time to take the message to Don. Well, to make a long story a little shorter, the roadmaster called and had a message taken to Don to come to Elko. His wife was in the hospital dying. I think Don knew what was going on, but he made the trip to Elko in much shorter time than usual and in fact arrived before the baby was actually born. He was allowed in the delivery room to sit with me up until the time of delivery. At that time you stayed in the hospital for several days and no one but the mother and nurses were allowed to hold or see the baby. I don’t think there was even a window into the nursery there. Well, Don asked so many times because he was going to have to leave before I could come home, that they finally opened the door to the nursery and let him see her. I think he might even have held her. Memories are kind of vague. He really loved his new baby girl. He didn’t let many other people hold her and he didn’t like the plastic pants they put on babies in those days. They made ridges in her chubby little legs. Thank goodness she was a polite little girl. His sister in law Carrie called him worse than a mother hen.

Don was quite a hunter during his young years. He liked to hunt rabbits or deer or whatever was available to hunt. He also liked to hunt Sage Hens, and other birds. In fact a lot of the dates he and Mary had were to hunt rabbits when he got home from work at night. There were a lot of little cottontails on the riverbanks along the railroad so it was a nice place to walk and the rabbits were very good eating.

He got a nice big four point buck while living there in Deeth. He took it home to Salt Lake to his family. It was easy to hunt deer up on the hayfields in Starr Valley. The meat didn’t have a wild taste and you could drive right to where they were. Don enjoyed hunting with his dad and brothers for quite a few years. Finally his own sons got old enough and he could take them too. They had good experiences. One time they were hunting up in the canyon above Bountiful It had been quite snowy and the snow was deep. Almost to the tops of their legs. They found a wallet laying in the snow that someone had lost. It had quite a bit of money in it. Several Hundred dollars. The boys were really excited. They wondered if they could keep the money. Don told them they would have to try and find the owner. A little later they saw a woman coming up through the snow. It wasn’t easy to walk through. She was having quite a time. Don knew no one would be walking up there for entertainment. They called to her and asked if she was looking for something. Anyway she said yes and identified her wallet. They returned it to her and she was very very grateful. It was a good teaching moment of honesty.

Don also hunted with a bow and arrow. The boys went with him on those hunts also. But eventually because of the crowded conditions of the hunt and the fewer deer to find, Don gave up hunting. Much to the dismay of some of his children. Those boys liked the outings. Don was interested in so many things it is hard to name them all. He also took up Mountain Man hunting. Also primitive hunting. He got a deer with his bow and arrow up in City Creek Canyon. He and David and Luther built their own black powder rifles. Don also built a pistol. He did carving on the stock and also on the powder horn. He grew a beard that was ridiculous. It was clear down on his chest.

Don was a still a good fisherman during those years also. He took his family on a few camping trips that were really fun. Especially the Uintas to Lilly Lake and then they would hike into other lakes. He put up a tent for then to stay in. The little ones could hang around camp and color and play games with Mom. He took his family to Flaming Gorge. One of the first years there they rented a raft and floated down the river. When they got home, he started shopping for his own raft. It got quite a bit of use for a few years. The family loved going and floating on the river. They would camp at Little Hole camp ground and then mom could drive them up to the dam and put the raft in the water. Then go back to camp and the rafters could just float back down to Little Hole. What a fun time. Finally Maryann was old enough to drive and she could take the raft up to the dam and mom got to ride down too. The rapids were great. It was fun to go through the white water. Watch out for the rocks. It was family time for them. One of his sons liked scouting and made a wood chopping area. It was all roped off. Another son who like animals ran up through the rocks and hunted for lizards. One year they rented a trailer so some could sleep inside. There was a stove and a refrigerator. The girls had fun baking a cake while out camping.

Don became interested in rock hunting after he wasn’t hunting animals any more. He took a few people for long hikes through rocky country. Some liked it and some didn’t. The joke was-put a bunch of marbles in your shirt pocket. Then every time you bend over to pick up a rock, one marble will fall out of your pocket. When you have lost all your marbles you’re a true rock hound. He made some jewelry with his rocks. Some that he found, and some that he bought. He took a lapidary class to go along with his rock hobby. He made some really nice things. Many are still around and actually get worn. Well, even today if you look out behind our shed you will find many rocks. Geodes, Apache tears, rocks with a few little fossils in them, rocks with a few little garnets in them that came from down by Ely. Petrified wood. So much you can’t name it all.

About this time he also became interested in photography. He took a class at the University of Utah from Bill Samon. His class was about the zone system. He was doing black and white pictures. He did some really good pictures. He practiced on his grandkids and that was great. He even tried going into the photography business. He did a few weddings. The pictures were all good. In fact he should have done a calendar. He has many good Utah scenery pictures and many good pictures of trains. He loved the old steam engines and spent time doing some travels around to ride on them. To name a few. The one at Silverton, Colorado, Cripple Creek, The Georgetown Loop and others. He took time to visit the train museum in Colorado He still at this times talks about going to other states to ride the trains

He has liked trains for a long time. When he was young and the children were young (very young) he bought train cars and track for them for Christmas. For many years when they got up on Christmas morning and the lights were turned on the tree, the train automatically started running around the tree. It made for a beautiful Christmas morning. I also will mention at this time the tradition he carried over from his young family years. Their dad tied a rope from one side of the room, across in front of the tree to the wall on the other side. This rope was their fireplace so to speak. So, can you imagine all those little socks hung up on that rope line. There was then a walnut placed in the toe of each stocking and an orange above that. Then a string tied to the walnut. That string led to the gift of that persons sock. The stocking was filled with other stuff, like candy and nuts and fruit and maybe even a toy of some kind. Even a lump of coal once or twice. Well, Don did the same thing for his kids. And we loved it. We didn’t put the tree up until Christmas Eve for a long time and then as the kids got older they couldn’t wait that long for a tree. So we started putting it up on the oldest boys birthday. The 22nd of December. But that way everything was so new on Christmas morning and as the family grew and you had five to seven socks, it looked just like a store window. All of the stockings hanging from the rope with a string tied to the nut in the toe and that string leading to what belonged to the owner of the sock. Don made a lot of the Christmas presents. I will mention a few. Of course the train and in later years they even built some of their own cars. He made a rocking horse for the kids. (twice) He built a really neat little crane with the hook and string to lift things with. He built them a chest of drawers. Two, one for the girls and one for the boys. That was drawers on one side and shelves on one side. I think those chests are still in existence. He put a lot into Christmas with whatever funds he had available. He bought a pool table one year when the kids were older and that even had to be delivered on Christmas Eve when everyone had gone to bed. We got a new kitchen table and chairs for Christmas one year. We stayed up and had Christmas Eve dinner on our new table at Midnight. Don was working the afternoon shift and didn’t get home until midnight. It was beautiful. The chairs had red upholstery on black wrought iron. You would have to see it to believe how beautiful it was.

. Well, back to the story. Don had gone to work on the Western Pacific Railroad. After Assistant foreman on the extra gang, he eventually became a foreman on a section of track of his own to take care of. It was an area called Silver Zone. It was out in the middle of nowhere exactly. Between Wells, Nevada and Wendover, Utah. There was a house there for them to live in. There were also bunkhouses for track workers to live in. (Section Gang). By that time they had Maryann. She was just a baby. Now the house was special. It didn’t have any running water. They did have a pump by the sink. There was no electricity. They had kerosene lamps. Which worked pretty good. Their heat was from a coal stove. The cooking was done on a coal stove. And they had been able to get a gas motor put onto the washing machine. (Mary purchased the washer from her mother when her mother got a new automatic. This one was a good Maytag conventional washing machine). To start the washer, you had a kick starter kind of like a motorcycle. Well, they were expecting Bart by that time. So Don carried the water to the stove by buckets full into a large tub on the stove. This heated the wash water. Then it was carried to the washer and there were tubs to rinse the clothes in after they had been washed. It was quite a process. But Don did most of the heavy work before he left the house in the morning. And Mary could do the laundry.

About the first of November on one Sunday morning, Don's wife had some labor pains while they were in Wells visiting family members and going to church. They were going to the doctor in Salt Lake. Which was three or four hours away. So it was decided that they should go in to the Doctor. This they did and the doctor said that Mary should not go back out that far from the hospital. So it was decided that she would stay there with Dons family until the baby was born. Don went back to Silver Zone to work. Well, time passed slow, Thanksgiving came and went. And December was passing. Don decided that it was too hard to live there without any conveniences and it was quite cold. He didn’t think it was a good place to bring a new baby. So he started looking for a job in Salt Lake on his weekend visits. He got a job for Eimco company and left the railroad. He moved to Salt Lake. So apartment hunting began. They got an apartment on Kensington Avenue between 7th and 8th East. It was a basement apartment. It wasn’t long until the new baby arrived. Our second child, a son was born. Again the hospital trip was a bit trying. Don left me in the labor room area and he went to register her. Well, he went to the wrong waiting room when he was through with the paper work. I kept waiting for him to come back and he didn’t come back. I finally asked the nurses about him and they said they had been paging him in the delivery waiting room but he didn’t answer. They thought maybe he had gone out to the car to sleep. I said no he didn’t. Anyway he finally got concerned about waiting so long and came up to find out what was going on. By that time I was in the delivery room. But the nurse came and told me he was there so I would know.

We were members of the Marlborough Ward. Don was active in the ward and made friends. He was called to be an elders quorum counselor with Richard Taggart. Richard took flying lessons and encouraged Don to take them also. It didn’t take much. Don was already going to Trade Tech (now SL community College) he was studying sheet metal layout. But he changed and used his veteran schooling to take flying lessons. He was taking schooling for a commercial pilots license. They paid for most of it. Don really enjoyed flying. He was excited to share it with others. He wanted to take everyone for a ride when he got his private pilots license. I was kind of scared when I was up that high in those little airplanes but he talked me into going a few times. Of course by that time I was expecting Michael. So my excuse was that I could not go up that high because the air was thin and would deprive the baby of oxygen. But finally Don called the doctor himself and asked if I could go. He said yes. What a traitor. But not to go over like 10,000 feet. So a trip was planned to go to Pocatello to visit some friends that Don had made in the service. The trip to Pocatello was great. We had a good time visiting for a weekend and then we had to come home. It was a very windy day. In fact the window on the passenger side of the little plane blew out while they were preparing to take off from Pocatello. But that didn’t deter Don. He looked at it and saw he couldn’t repair it and took off anyway. The wind persisted all the way home and made me very nervous. The plane could be pointing down and still the altimeter was going up because the updraft was so strong. Don was finally going to land in Malad Idaho and let me take a bus home. But as we went to come down to a lower altitude it just got rougher and I said “take me home”. Well the trip was finished to Salt Lake. The landing was rough, but Don decided it wouldn’t be good to go around again to come in a little better and I think I agreed. I had been up there long enough. Don continued his flying lesson for a few years. Later dropping out because of time and financial concerns.

About that time they were talking about buying a house. He looked in several areas, Murray, Sandy, even his grandfathers old home on the Avenues. But the final decision came down to a home in Kearns, Utah. It seemed to have a little more room for the same price. Such as a basement. The price was good and the interest was good also. He could get a veterans benefit on the interest also. The house cost $10,750.00. Their house payment was only $67.00 a month. But remember the income was also low. They thought they would never be able to buy another thing. They moved into their new home in Kearns in October of 1957. They had 2 children between 1957 and 1958. The family was growing fast.

Don was still working for Eimco as a mechanic. The chance came for him to move to another department as a Lathe Trainee. He decided to do it. Even though he had to take a cut in wages. It seemed like a good opportunity and he didn’t like what he was doing. After he had moved to the trainee position for a couple of years he was offered a program to go to school and become a journeyman machinist. He would continue to work and they would count the two years he had done as a trainee towards his Journeyman Certification. This was a good move for Don. It provided him a good profession for the time that he worked. He was a very good machinist. He continued to work for Eimco. He worked for them for fourteen years. He always seemed to work a lot of overtime. Sometimes ten hour days and Saturdays a half day. There were a couple of times when he worked two jobs. When he got off work at Eimco he would go to another place and work. Cordin Company for one. He would usually only work four hours on his second jobs. He was sorely missed at home. Those were long days when dad didn’t get home to help with the family. He didn’t feel like we could afford to pay for insurance for his family and so we spent a lot of years without insurance. It seems we were blessed during those years because nothing ever happened too serious. We did have to pay for our babies. The hospital stay was usually three days then. During those years another son was born. Then another son a few years later.. I talked the doctor into letting me go home in just one day.

Don had a good friend named Fritz Hubricht at Eimco. Fritz loved to garden and to fish. So Don and Fritz would leave after work and drive to Strawberry Reservoir and fish for the evening. Fritz said he would take his car and gas if Don would drive. Fritz had a little fishing boat that he left there with a motor on it. It was good fishing at that time. They always came home with a good string of fish and really enjoyed it.

Don also liked to fish with his sons. They would go to Strawberry on Saturdays and fish. One of the stops on the way was to buy licorice at a little store in Heber. They were hard black licorice sticks. But they sure liked them. They said it helped catch fish. Because the fish could smell it. Grandpa Elmer Longmore liked the licorice too. He was with them on those fishing trips sometimes.

I want to tell you this little story if I can do it justice. It was on a Saturday and Don and the boys and Grandpa Longmore went to fish up on Strawberry. They stopped and got their licorice and were out for a good day of fishing. They were in a little boat that they rented. Grandpa had a really large hook in his tackle box. The kids asked what was that big hook for? So since they had forgotten their net to pull up the fish with, Grandpa said, “ well, if we catch a fish we can use it for a grappling hook to pull our fish in with.” Pretty soon one of the young boys caught a fish. He was reeling it in when his line just went limp. He thought, oh I lost my fish. And he started to reel in his line. It was still limp. But all of a sudden a fish jumped out of the water and right over the back of the little boat and into the boat. They couldn’t believe it. He kept pulling in his line and sure enough it was his fish. Grandpa Longmore said, “That fish just didn’t want to get pulled in with this big hook”. This is a true story. No fish tale. This young fisherman won a little prize from Wheaties for entering this story in a contest.

In 1969 Don decided to try for a job at Kennecott Copper. While he was on vacation from Eimco he went there and applied and was hired. That was a really good change for him and for his family. The income increased significantly and there was no more overtime or second job. The work was easier. He was able to spend more time at home. At that time he bought a blazer (four wheel drive). Now there were more places they could get to to hunt and fish. A little more room in the vehicle for the family. They could load more stuff in it to go camping.

He also bought a little Willys Jeep during this period of time. He really liked his jeep. He could take the kids and see how steep a hill they could climb. He remembered the hills he went on with his bike up on Ensign Peak. And he tried those. And many others. It came in handy for rock hunting. In fact both vehicles were good for that. One day after being out trying a few hills, he stopped at the store on the way home. One of the boys was with him. He was probably pretty young. And he said, “Dad, do you think we could drive up that wall?” Well, it’s a wonder Don didn’t try it.

After Don went to work for Kennecott, we found out that we sure did need that insurance for our family. A daughter cut her foot jumping over a fence and needed stitches. Two of the boys had broken bones, one a leg, the other an arm. A daughter also fell on some benches in the lunch room at school and broke her nose. It needed lots of surgery. It was broke and cut. She needed a specialist. Another daughter had allergies and had to go to the emergency room. And I had a miscarriage that required surgery. There was only one baby born after he had insurance. Their last baby a girl was born in1972. It was a good change for Don and for the family.

Don continued to work at Kennecott for the next eighteen years. He kept busy. With his church callings and hobbies. One new hobby he started was flying radio control airplanes. He built a really neat little airplane and he made a friend from Bountiful that helped him to learn to fly it. He really enjoyed that. The boys liked to go and watch. They never did get in much on the flying part. It took a lot of practice.

In about 1987 Kennecott had a big layoff. They were selling Kennecott to BP America. Don took his retirement from Kennecott at that time.

He wanted to try his hand at being in his own business. He had become very interested in photography and thought he could do good doing weddings and photography in his home. He remodeled the basement into a studio. He had a darkroom already. He bought a nice camera and lights. He also found someone who was selling their photo processor. And he bought that. By that time he had used up his retirement fund. Business was slow. He passed out flyers. Some neighbors came and had their pictures taken. He did a few weddings. But it seemed like the output was more than the income. His pictures were first class though. His talent in picture taking was really good. He finally quit.

He took a job as a security watchman at the HEAT program uptown. He was on the same street as the First Security Office where I worked. We saw each other once in awhile and could ride back and forth to work together. That was a temporary job and didn’t pay very well. He had gone to Salt Lake Community College at the time he was layed off and took a class in CNC machines. He decided to go back to work in his machinist trade. He went to work for a couple of small companies running their computer operated machines. It really wasn’t satisfactory. The machinist trade was not in as much demand as it had been when he first became a machinist. He finally applied to work as a machinist at Geneva Steel in Orem. They hired him and so he was back to work. It was a long drive down to Orem every day. But he did it. He made several really good friends at Geneva. To mention a couple, Danny Carter and Lynn Frisbe. They talked him into playing Golf. Another Hobby! So he built his own set of clubs, and he built a set for mf too. They thought they would golf together. It didn’t really work out. He was more dedicated and even when I decided to take lessons and made an appointment, he came along and the teacher did more teaching to him than her. He became a pretty good golfer and it was a good time for him. He also became partners with a few of his friends here in his ward. Golf gave him a chance to go out with his family and golf also. He had made her a set of clubs for his wife also. It was a good hobby and still is.

During these years working at Geneva, Don decided they should buy a trailer so they could travel around a bit. So he set out to shop. Saying he was only looking for what to buy when he retired. But after so much looking (and liking) there was nothing left to do but to buy one. In 1989 they bought a new trailer and of course that required a new truck. So they were both purchased and there were some nice trips taken. Even trips in the canyons. But especially to Arizona to Phoenix and Tucson and places between. Karyl went with them on their first trip to Tucson. We had time to go for a trip up highway 101 and saw the big redwoods and the ocean. Travel through Colorado to the mines and the trains. It was a good time.

After nine years at Geneva Steel, that was all he could take. His knees had been bad before and now they were worse. Especially his left knee. It needed a replacement. He had both of his knees scoped. That helped a little for awhile but was not enough. Standing on his feet all day at a machine just put pressure on his knees. So as soon as he turned sixty-two he took his retirement from Geneva. He was happy to be off of his feet. He went to the doctor. He still needed to have the replacement on his left knee. It was bone on bone. So that operation took place in about 2002. He has recovered pretty darn good. In fact as years have passed he has forgotten how bad his knee was. He can use it very good. And since it doesn’t hurt so bad, he doesn’t put all the pressure on his right knee and it is better also. It probably will not need to have any surgery. We hope so. It did put a jinx on his hiking in the hills. If he tries a big walk like that he does get a swollen knee.

After retirement from Geneva he did some remodeling work on the house. He covered the front with brick and made a neat little porch. The rest of the house is siding. Well, the house work was done and so he had talked about going on a mission when he retired. The time was right. So papers were put in to go on a mission. He and his wife were called to serve a Temple Mission to the Denver Temple. They left in November of 1996 to go to the MTC. We served a good mission. We went to the Temple every day except Sunday and Monday. He served in many positions. Of course as ordinance worker and as shift supervisor. It was a good time. Some of his kids were able to visit us while we were there. Of course some of our grandchildren came with their parents. It was a good time for all of us.

He returned from his mission and it didn’t take long for him to be right back in the middle of many things. He took up golfing right where it had left off. In fact it really hadn’t completely left off. He made friends in Denver that liked to golf also. And so they could go on their P-days (Mondays). His first calling in the ward was to be a cubmaster. He did a good job with that.

On June 22, 2001 we were married for fifty years. We celebrated our anniversary by having all of our family together with us at the Joseph Smith Memorial building. We had such a good time. Everyone came. We had a nice dinner that was catered for us there. Steak and Salmon and chicken strips and all the good side dishes you could think of. Our children did a really nice program. They even wrote a little poem for us that they sang to “That’s Amore”. We received a video with some greetings from everyone. It was fun and is still nice to watch. We love it. We also have a lovely statue labeled “The family”. We are so thankful for the years we have been together and the times we have shared. Especially with the kids.

Don had a few health problems in the next few years. As soon as we got home from our mission he had a prostrate problem and had to have surgery for that. The doctor didn’t take as good care as he should and so he got infection and suffered from that for several months. It left so much scar tissue he had to have the same surgery again in just a couple of years. He finally did have that knee replacement in October of 2002. Other than that his health has been pretty good. They found he had high blood pressure and he takes medication for that and it works pretty good.

Well, he was Cub Master for a few months and then he was called to be second counselor in the Bishopric. He served in that position for five years. It was a good calling for Don. He enjoyed the involvement with the people seeing all the good help they gave. He loved the people here in his ward.

Some of the callings Don has held up to this point are; Ward Teacher, Elders Quorum Counselor, Sunday School Superintendent, Executive Secretary, Teachers Quorum Advisor, Scout Master (more than once), Explorer Advisor, Sunday School Teacher, Elders Quorum President, Stake Missionary, Counselor in Stake Mission Presidency, Temple Missionary to Denver, Temple Ordinance worker in the Jordan River Temple, High Priest Group Leader, Basketball referee, and Stake photographer and now at this ripe age of seventy four he is again with the Scout Age Young Men. He is the first counselor in the Young Mens Presidency.

My tribute to Don:

Don has been the light of my life. I am very thankful that he came to Nevada and met me. I know he saved me from many problems. He has been a good example of faith and of living the principles of the Gospel. His testimony is strong. He has worked hard to be a good provider for his family. Never asking for much for himself. He has shown love throughout all of his life. I have watched him give service to many people. Who have loved him for it. He is always willing to give of his time to go to the aid of others. He and I together wish for our family to have strong testimonies of the gospel of Jesus Christ and for them to be able to do their best to keep the commandments of their Father in Heaven.

Written by his loving wife together with Don.