SARAH JANE HERMANSEN (ALLRED)

Lawrence HERMANSEN was born on 15 August 1899, in a log home in Escalante, Garfield, Utah. He was the last of 15 children born to Marcus HERMANSEN and Marie Christine CHRISTENSEN-MONBERG. Marcus and Marie Christine were born, reared and married in Denmark, where they had joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and then moved to Utah to raise their family in a better environment. At this time, Marcus had moved his family to Escalante, Garfield, Utah so that he could operate a flour mill, which was owned by Isaac J. RIDDLE. Since coming to America, Marcus had found it difficult to provide for his family, so they lived in quite humble circumstances. Shortly after Lawrence was born, his mother began experiencing very poor health and was taken to Cedar City, Iron, Utah to receive medical care. Although she returned home sometime later, she never completely recovered and experienced poor health to some degree for the rest of her life. Because Marie Christine had to leave young Lawrence was nursed by Mrs. RIDDLE along with her baby son. The HERMANSEN and RIDDLE families grew quite close and remained friends for the rest of their lives. When Lawrence was two years old, Marcus learned of an opportunity to operate a flourmill in Ephraim, Sanpete, Utah. He traveled to Ephraim to evaluate the opportunity and accepted the job. He returned to Escalante for his family, and they moved to Ephraim to begin a new chapter in their lives. The journey to Ephraim took the family six days. The family was very happy to leave Escalante and move to Ephraim, where they had friends and felt more at home. The family lived in a home east of Ephraim and Marcus ran the water-powered flourmill in the foothills. Lawrence didn't start school until he was seven years old because his parents thought he was too small to walk all the way down to the middle of town to attend grade school. Even at this early age, Lawrence would always run errands for his parents and help out in the mill however he could. During these early years, he always wore a little pair of bib-overalls. During the summer, the children would never wear shoes or underwear. Lawrence loved to play in the hills and especially along the creek whenever he had a chance. Lawrence used to say that because he was the youngest child in such a large family, he was a teenager before he realized that a chicken had parts besides the tail and the wing. As Lawrence grew older, the relatives remember that he had a large appetite, and that he loved to eat a slice of bread about two inches thick covered with butter and jam. He worked hard and didn’t have much time for recreation. A common custom of those times, Lawrence only attended school through the eighth grade. Then it was presumed that he knew enough to get along in the world, and he was expected to begin to earn a living. When Lawrence was about 11 or 12 years old, he spent a lot of time with his nephew, Herman HERMANSEN. They were about the same age and they loved to play together, and were sometimes involved in mischief of one type or another. At that time, Lawrence's Aunt Marie used to cook apple pies and put them on the windowsill to cool. In later years she would tell family members that she had to watch the pies closely or one of them would disappear, and she would find Lawrence and Herman eating it in one of their hiding places. On one such occasion, she saw them grab a pie, so she chased after them around the orchard until the pie bounced out of the pan and broke on the ground. She said that she was not about to let them get away with the pie and enjoy it. In personality, Lawrence was an open and friendly individual who loved to tease and associate with his friends. He worked hard, but he would never have been considered pushy or dominating. He was a kind individual and would never spread rumors or speak ill of other people. He would never swear or profane in any way. Most of all, he loved and enjoyed his family. Sometime during his teenage years, Lawrence moved to Gunnison, Sanpete, Utah, to live with his brother, Niels, to help him operate the mill that Marcus had built there earlier. He lived and worked there for several years. He also worked as a postal clerk during that period of time. When Lawrence was 19 or 20 years old, Niels purchased a flourmill in Fountain Green, Sanpete, Utah, and needed someone to operate it. Lawrence accepted the new opportunity and traveled to Fountain Green to begin his new job. While Lawrence was living and working in Fountain Green, he went to a dance and met a girl named Sarah Jane ALLRED. They danced and became acquainted with each other, and started to go other places together. Sarah lived with her family in town and worked as a clerk in the local store. Some people said that she was the most beautiful girl in Fountain Green. People who knew her described her as good natured, even tempered, somewhat shy, religious, loving, a good cook and seamstress, and one who always had good friends who she enjoyed visiting. She also took life seriously, and her children remember that she was strict with them and required them to do the right things and be good people. Lawrence and Sarah dated each other for a while, fell in love, and were married on 28 April 1920, in Manti, Sanpete, Utah. They were sealed to each other for time and all eternity in the Manti Temple on 20 July 1921. Lawrence and Sarah continued to live in Fountain Green for several years. Their first child, Merrill Lawrence HERMANSEN, was born on 11 May 1922. They moved into the telephone office where Sarah worked as the telephone operator. Her sister also worked there some of the time and Lawrence said that sometimes at night when a call would come in, he would be the operator. On one occasion, an emergency call came in from the Marshal to report that Butch CASSIDY, a notorious robber, had robbed a nearby bank. Lawrence enjoyed his work and his relationships with his customers. Sometimes they would horse around together and play tricks on each other. On one occasion, Lawrence traveled out to a customer's farm to make a delivery, and they grabbed him and oiled him up good with an oilcan. They put it in his pockets and down his pants and shirt. Lawrence made sure that he got even with them when the occasion presented itself. Sometime before 1925, Marcus HERMANSEN asked Lawrence to come back to Ephraim to help operate the large electrically powered flourmill that Marcus now owned on Main Street in Ephraim. Lawrence and Sarah accepted the offer and moved their little family to Ephraim. They moved into the old Tithing Office located next door south of the mill and lived there for some time. That was where they lived when their second child, Ruth Marie HERMANSEN, was born on 9 August 1925. As Sarah was going through labor and delivery in the back bedroom, she was upset because a group of Indians started to set up camp in their back yard. The Indians had come to town as part of the annual Black Hawk celebration. Sarah was afraid of the Indians and didn't want them just outside the window where she was giving birth. Lawrence asked the Indians to camp elsewhere but they would not leave, so he found the Sheriff who ordered the Indians to move their camp, which they did. Lawrence had a sense of humor, and he started to do an Indian war dance around the yard which caused quite a stir. The townspeople had quite a laugh. Lawrence, Sarah and the children were happy living in Ephraim. They lived in fairly humble circumstances, and the children remember having some of their clothes made out of used flour sacks. However, they were happy as a family. Lawrence worked hard at the mill and their financial situation improved, enabling Lawrence to purchase a small home of their own. Lawrence started to buy stock in the mill and when Marcus died, Lawrence owned a good portion, but less than half of the mill. At this time, three of Lawrence's brothers decided that they would like to take over the mill, but they were unable to assemble more than one-half of the stock, so Lawrence kept operating the mill and purchasing more of the shares which were owned by his brothers and sisters. Lawrence and Sarah were serious about eternal matters, and they actively participated in Church activities. Sarah was involved in the Relief Society and Lawrence was First Counselor in the Ward Young Men's Presidency. Sometimes during the summer, Lawrence would take the family to the nearby mountains for recreation and enjoyment for which Sarah would always pack a picnic lunch. Several times a week after work, the family would all gather at Marcus and Christine's home located on the east side of Ephraim. The adults loved to sit and visit while the children played around the yard with their cousins. Many times on Sunday, the family would travel to Fountain Green to visit with Sarah’s family. This was also a great time for Merrill and Ruth. During the summer of 1933 Sarah became ill and couldn't seem to regain her health. The doctor tried to help her, but he was not able to determine what was wrong. The family was very concerned and tried to help her. Even though she sometimes seemed to improve, her health continued a downward slide. On 13 September 1933 Sarah didn't feel well when she woke up. She told Lawrence that she had something that she wanted to speak to him about, but she felt so tired that she needed to get a little more sleep first. She drifted off to sleep and died within a very short time. Because the doctor did not know the cause of her death and was concerned about the disease spreading, he quarantined the family for about two weeks. The funeral service was held outside, but Lawrence could not even join them because of the health threat. He was required to sit in a car, away from the other people during the services and burial. Sarah's death was a tremendously sad and difficult time for Lawrence, Merrill and Ruth. Lawrence and Sarah had been very happy in a marriage full of love and open affection for each other. Her unexpected death left him wondering how he could go on with his life. Many relatives and friends stepped in to help the family. The most helpful of all was Lawrence's sister, Agnes Thomina (Minnie). Minnie took Merrill and Ruth to her home for a while, and then she came to stay with Lawrence and the children until her husband ran out of patience and told her to come back home. The service she gave was a great blessing to the entire family. Lawrence had experienced the greatest tragedy of his life, and even though he eventually learned to deal with his loss and built a new life, he was never again as carefree and spontaneous as he had been before Sarah's death. Lawrence continued to work hard at the mill to provide well for his family, and he also tried to be both father and mother to Merrill and Ruth. This was a lonely and frustrating time for Lawrence, and he realized that it would be best for the family if he would marry again. Lawrence started to date a pretty widow named Inez Adams who taught school in town. She had taught elementary school as well as teacher education at Snow College. Her first husband had been killed in an accident several years earlier, and she had a cute little son named Roland. At first Inez seemed hesitant to get too close to Lawrence, but Roland always tried to encourage the relationship. Sometimes he would run away from home and come to the mill, which of course, would force Inez to come to the mill to retrieve him and to visit Lawrence. After some time, Lawrence and Inez fell in love, and they were married on 15 August 1935. They bought a nice home just one-half block west of Main Street, and began their new lives together as one family. Inez was a very open and outgoing individual who enjoyed being around other people. She was very religious in nature and was a good mother who cared for her children. She was always interested in their activities and progress. Her children say that she did not coddle or pamper them, but tried to teach them to be self-reliant. For the rest of Lawrence's life, he fussed over Inez, loved her, and provided very well for her. Combining these two families was sometimes a challenge, but Lawrence and Inez were totally committed to this marriage. They worked hard to develop close relationships within the family and to bring the children together as one family. Their first child, Charles Lawrence HERMANSEN, was born on 8 July 1938. Their second child, David Byron HERMANSEN, was born four years later on 9 September 1942. David was born quite premature, and the delivery did not go well for Inez. The doctor thought David was dead at birth, so he set David aside and tried a save Inez’s life. After he was able to stabilize Inez, he looked over at David and noticed that he was alive. He then turned his attention to saving David. The doctor had a homemade incubator which became David's bed for three months. Lawrence had the Bishop come to the home and help give David a name because he was too fragile to take to Church, and they did not know how long he would live. After he survived this crucial time, he was always quite a healthy child. During these years while the children were growing up, the family got along quite well. They had a corral and barn behind the house, and they always had a cow and some chickens that provided some of their food. Lawrence kept busy at the mill and his business grew. The family became quite prosperous, and enjoyed many of the nice things in life. Lawrence was able to save some money, and in approximately 1939 he purchased a 600-acre farm about 7 miles north of Ephraim in Pigeon Hollow. Lawrence bought at least part of the farm from his friend, Tom SORENSON, who continued to work the farm under a partnership arrangement with Lawrence for many years. They raised cattle and the crops necessary to feed the cattle. Lawrence and Inez had an active social life with a group of very good friends. They would usually go around with Ralph CHRISTIANSEN, Curtis and Roger ARMSTRONG, Spencer OLSEN, Dr. Ralph JORGENSON; Eldon FROST and their spouses. This group would have parties and stay out until the early morning hours. Usually the hostess would cook pancakes on her coal stove in the early morning hours, and then the whole group would go home. Sometimes if one of the group did not come to the party, the whole group would crash in on them in the middle of the night and make them cook breakfast. This entire group of people enjoyed each other and together they had a "whale of a good time." Inez experienced serious health problems in 1948 and needed to have at least two surgeries. She developed a blood clot in her spine, and was told that she would never walk again. The family and doctor took care of her the best they could, and Ruth, who was a trained nurse, came home from Chicago with her baby, Jane, to help care for Inez and the rest of the family. Inez did recover, even though she had a slight limp for the rest of her life. Lawrence was extremely worried about Inez during this time, and did what he could to help her both physically and emotionally. He had always told Inez that some day he would build her a new house, and so he began to build their new home across the street west from Snow College in an effort to lift her spirits. Lawrence and Inez lived in this home for the rest of their lives. Lawrence and Inez were always active in the community. Lawrence served for many years on the Board of Directors for the Bank of Ephraim, and he was a very respected businessman in town. He served as president of the Ephraim Lion's Club. They were always active in the Church. Lawrence served as the Sunday School Superintendent for approximately 20 years, and for a time he also served as Ward Financial Clerk. Lawrence always loved his family and considered them a big part of his life. The family did many things together and always enjoyed each other's company. The boys worked in the mill with Lawrence. As the children grew up, moved away and started their own families, Lawrence and Inez loved to go and visit their children and grandchildren. They especially enjoyed it when the families would come back home to Ephraim for a visit. There were always treats for the grandchildren, and during the winter months, a warm fire burned in the living room fireplace to be enjoyed by all. Sometimes even after the children left home and were experiencing financial difficulties, Lawrence would help them. For the grandchildren, the highlight of the year was the annual Christmas Eve party held at Lawrence and Inez's home. This was a time of great excitement, and Santa Claus usually made a surprise visit. During the late 1950's and early 1960's, technology changed the flour and feed business. Farmers stopped bringing their wheat to the mill to be ground, and people started to buy bread in the stores instead of making it at home from flour. Farmers started shipping their grain to the markets far away, and the larger, more modern mills were able to make flour less expensively. Lawrence felt that he was too old to invest large sums of money to modernize the mill, so he continued to operate as usual and his business started to disappear. Over time, the mill started to lose money, and Lawrence could no longer make the mortgage payments on the mill. He finally took the keys for the mill to the bank president and told him that the bank could have the mill. At the request of the bank president, Lawrence helped liquidate the equipment and inventory, and the bank kept the building. This was discouraging and embarrassing to Lawrence, and he wondered if he should move. After thinking the situation over for a while, he decided to stay in Ephraim. After that time, he raised turkeys for two or three years and operated his farm for a few more years. Finally, he sold his farm and completely retired. When Lawrence was about 65 years old, he and Inez were called as ordinance workers in the Manti Temple. They worked in the temple several days each week for about 10 years. They loved this experience, and made many more wonderful friends. When Lawrence was about 75 years old, he and Inez submitted their names for a call for a full-time mission. The doctor was not impressed with their health, but after several visits, he finally agreed to recommend them as being healthy enough to receive a mission call. Lawrence's major worry was deciding what to do about their home and yard while they were away. When the mission call came, they were called to serve as Directors of the Visitor's Center at the Manti Temple. The temple was only seven miles away from Ephraim, so Lawrence and Inez stayed in their own home and drove to the temple each day for three years. This opportunity provided many beautiful experiences, and Lawrence said that this experience was the frosting on the cake for his life. Shortly after Lawrence was released as Director of the Visitor’s Center, his health began to deteriorate and his age seemed to be catching up with him. Inez's health also started to deteriorate, and her mind started to slip. Even though Lawrence was tired and weak, he expended much energy in taking care of Inez. This seemed to wear him down, and he also developed colon cancer. He went to the hospital in Provo, Utah, Utah to receive an operation for his cancer. He lived a few days after the surgery, and then he died on 16 January 1982. Lawrence had lived a good life and served as a role model for many people. His funeral was well attended by many friends, associates and relatives who loved him very much. He left a wife who was ill, and five children who are all good, productive and decent individuals. He also left 22 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren. He left an estate worth approximately $100,000, yet, very few personal belongings. He had spent most of his life helping others and not focusing on himself. Several days before Lawrence died, my brother, Franklin, and I traveled to Provo to visit with Grandpa and cheer him up. We found him more tired and weak than we had expected him to be. We had a wonderful visit for a short time, and then decided to leave so Grandpa would not get too tired. Before leaving, we told Grandpa that we loved him. He responded, "I love you, too--I love my whole family so very much. I am so proud of my whole family." Then he said, "Thanks for coming, thanks a million. Thanks a million times for coming." In my mind, these last words typify Lawrence HERMANSEN. He was a kind, considerate, appreciative, and caring human being who loved his whole family--and they loved him!

My father’s parents, Marcus and Marie Monberg Hermansen, were living in Denmark when the Mormon missionaries taught them the gospel and they were converted to the Church. My grandfather owned a windmill that made flour. My grandmother owned and operated a little store. They sold these possessions, and with their four living children, came to America to settle in Zion. They later had nine more children, my father, Lawrence, being their fourteenth child. My grandfather was a flour miller in this country also, and six of his sons grew up to operate flourmills, including my father. My mother’s ancestors joined the Church in its early days. My second great- grandfather, Wiley Payne Allred, was a close friend and bodyguard of the Prophet Joseph Smith. My second great-grandmother was one of those present at the first meeting of the Relief Society. I was born 9 August 1925 in Ephraim, Sanpete County, Utah, to Lawrence and Sarah Jane Allred Hermansen. The house where I was born is located on Main Street, just south of the flourmill. This house at one time was the Tithing Office. When I was a child, I thought it was a joke that I was born in that house because I wasn’t the tenth child. I was the second child born to Lawrence and Sarah, their first being my brother, Merrill Lawrence Hermansen. My early days were happy days, even though my mother wasn’t very well, and we didn’t have much money. From the time I can first remember until I was 10 years old, we lived in a little broom adobe home on Center Street and 3rd East. There were apple trees around it then, and plenty of fences, all of which I loved to climb. My brother and I had so much fun playing together and with the other children in the neighborhood. Some days and evenings, we played hide and seek for hours at a time. Once a week, we would have a bath in a round tin tub that was set in front of the coal stove in the kitchen. I surely did like my Dad. I remember when I was really small, I would follow him all around our lot as he worked. I would try to make the same sound he did when he walked as his pants legs would brush together, but I never could make the same sound. I’ll never forget one day when I was four years old, I socked the neighbor boy and broke his glasses. My dad had to pay for them. I felt bad to cause him that trouble because I loved him so much. Once I broke my wrist playing on a teeter totter that my brother and I had made by putting a long pole through a pole fence. I can’t remember that it hurt so much after the first day, but I really enjoyed all of the attention I received because of it. One day soon after my eighth birthday, my mother became very ill. My brother and I were sent to stay with Dads sister, Aunt Minnie. A couple of mornings later when we were eating breakfast, Grandpa Hermansen came in his shiny little black car to rush Merrill and me over to our house. When we got there, they said my mama was dead. There were lots of people standing around on the lawn, and none of us could go in because they said my mother had diphtheria. When no one was looking, I pushed my tricycle over to the bedroom window and looked in. My mama was lying on the bed all wrapped up in a white sheet. Then in a few minutes, I saw two men carrying a big long basket out to the long black car. I knew my mama was in it. Well, then I looked around and there were a lot more people on the lawn by that time. Mama’s father and brother and everyone were crying, and I finally found my Dad. He was sitting on the pole fence behind the house. The tears were rolling down his face, and he was telling someone that life would never be any good any more with her gone. My mama was such a good, sweet lady who everyone loved, and they were really sorry that she had died so young. I don’t think I’ll ever be as pretty or as good as she was. My dad had to stay alone in our house for a week or ten days after mama died to see if he was going to come down with diphtheria, but he didn’t. I look back over that time and wonder how he ever stood it. I’ll never forget him sitting in the car alone by the grave when they buried mama. He was crying, and I couldn't even go over by him. When Merrill and I could move back home, hired girls would come and do the cooking and cleaning. Some of them I liked, and some of them I didn’t like. We were all lonesome for mama, but I felt the worst for Daddy. He was a fine and brave man, though, and did the best he could for us kids. I remember one time when he ordered some clothes for me out of the catalog. He had a hard time figuring out what a little girl like me should wear. When the order came, he had to put some of it in the big trunk because they were too big for me. Soon after mama died, it was time for me to be baptized. Aunt Minnie and Daddy took me to the South Ward to have this performed. Our neighbor, Rulon Peterson, was there to do the baptizing. I was glad, because I liked him. This took place 1 October 1933. I was confirmed the same day by William E. Thorpe. The next spring, Daddy’s father died. I felt bad because I had always liked Grandpa. He was so good to all of his grandkids. When he would come to see us, he would make us laugh by lifting up his back false teeth with his tongue and make the funniest clicking sound. I can remember how he would say, “Nay Tak" when mama would ask him if he wanted more to eat. Then he would take me out to his car, roll up a white paper like a cone, and fill it full of raspberry candy. Grandpa had the first car in Ephraim. They say when he would go down the street, he would have to go around the kids playing there because their mothers told them they didn’t have to move for him. When I was in the eighth grade history class, T.L. Thompson told us that Grandpa thought so much of that car that he boiled the water he put in it. Maybe that’s just a joke, I don't know. Uncle Niels was getting married about the time Grandpa got this first car. His wife must have liked it really well, because they tell how Grandpa told someone that that little girl didn’t need to think she was going to marry his car and get Niels for Christmas. In the summertime, Merrill and I would go to Fountain Green to stay for a week with mama's brother and his family. They had four children about my age. We would have so much fun playing out in the big orchard. Their house had a long flight of stairs with a banister to slide down. I must have just about worn it out. I would go to Wales to stay with mama’s sister, too. Once I jumped off their hayrack and ripped the back of my leg open on a cedar post. I didn’t get to go out to the field and jump over the raked hay that day. Mama’s sister is really sweet like my mama. She is getting to look so much like mama. Two years after mama died, Daddy married again. He married a nice widow who had a little boy about two years younger than me. We moved to a bigger house down on 1st South just below Main Street. I thought that was fun. The house had a real bathroom in it. I didn’t know what to call Daddy’s wife. I must have said hey to her, so Dad told me I should call her Mother. I did then, and always have. She was a really good cook. The good regular meals surely improved the condition of my stomach, which had suffered some during the two years without a mother. I was pretty well taken care of, though, since my dad was conscientious and Aunt Minnie was good to see that I got bathed and had my hair washed. She also made me a whole bunch of slips out of flour sacks. When I was 11 years old, Mother got me to start 4-H and take sewing class. I enjoyed this, and soon became a good seamstress. I made most of my own clothes in high school. After Dad and Mother had been married almost three years, a baby was born to them. They named him Charles after Mothers father. Her father, Grandpa Darius we called him, was a grand old man. He was a Patriarch. He would tell us stories of the pioneers, and about his boyhood days. I remember how he would sit in his room by his little stove and read the Book of Mormon. After he died, Aunt Orpha gave me one of his Books of Mormon. He had written in it. I have read this book many times. I prize this book very highly. We were all really happy for little Charles. He was a real fine little fellow with blond curly hair and blue eyes. Four years after Charles was born, Mother had another baby. He weighed only four pounds. He spent the first three months of his life in a homemade incubator that Dr. Ralph Jorgenson had made. Mother got well, and the baby, David, lived, and we all felt very blessed. My school days seemed to pass very quickly. I played a French horn in the band and enjoyed this very much, especially when the band would go on trips. When I was in the 10th grade, the band got new uniforms. Many were the days that I sold donuts and tickets to entertainments to help raise money for them. I played a solo at our 10th grade graduation. At that time, the last two years of high school were held at Snow College. When I was sixteen years old, I had my Patriarchal blessing. I had looked forward to this for a long time. I was told that I had a testimony of this work embedded within me. Then I knew why I had always known the gospel was true. When people would stand up in church and say they had received a testimony, or that they couldn’t say for a surety that they knew the gospel was true, I would think these things to be strange because I had never doubted. Also, I was told that I had a long life of usefulness . . .that I may be numbered among those of this New Era ahead of us, wherein service will be the great aim and objective for those who live in the Golden Age, when this troubled earth will have been cleansed from the terrible ordeal through which it is now passing. This caused me to believe that if I can become good enough, I will still be living when the Millennium comes. I hope and pray that I can become good enough for this to be fulfilled. In December of 1944 when I was 19 years old, I left home to enter the University of Utah to begin nurses training. I had already finished four quarters at Snow College. While at the University, I lived at Carlson Hall, a girl’s dormitory. My roommate was Jeanne Marie Newman from Holladay. When our two quarters of work at the University were finished, we started training in the LDS Hospital. Then we were living for a few months at 49 North State Street. We then moved into the nurses' home on the third floor. I enjoyed my training very much. It was hard and trying at times, but most of the girls in my class stayed with it. I was especially interested in my duties in the operating rooms. Several times, the surgeons would compliment me on the fine assistance I gave during the operations. I also greatly enjoyed serving on the maternity wards and in the nursery. I would like to relate an incident that took place in the nursery when I was on night duty there as a student nurse. It has certainly been a testimony to me that we each have a guardian angel and some unseen power looking after each one of us. In the main room of the nursery, there were usually between 50 and 80 babies all of the time. One night, a graduate nurse, a nurse’s aide and myself had given the hungry babies their 2 a.m. feedings and changed all of their diapers. The other nurse and the aide had left this large room, and I was preparing to go to the other room to help take care of the premature and sick babies. I walked over to the corner of this room and looked at a baby there. I knew not why, but a second time I walked back and looked at this same baby again. It appeared to be all right, its color was good. I walked to the other side of this big room of babies, and was about to go through the door when some power seemed to cause me to turn right around again and walk straight back to this same baby that I had for some reason observed before. I can still feel that power literally pushing me along that floor and causing me to stop right there by that very baby again. I knew no reason why I should be doing this; the aide had just changed all of the babies in that part of the room, while I had cared for the babies on the other side. But this same power caused me to unwrap this baby, and there was that baby’s cord that had come untied and was bleeding. Her underclothes were just soaked with blood. The aide had not changed this baby as she should have. I picked her up and took her quickly to the other room. The cord was tied. An intern called and they thought that the baby had lost enough blood that she should have a blood transfusion. Try as they could, they could not get a needle into a vein in the baby’s head to transfuse her, but the baby lived. Her guardian angel had led me to her before she had lost so much blood that she would have died. If that unseen power had not pushed me back to her before I left that big room, she would have surely been near death before we had come to care for her again. The Lord wanted that baby to live for some good purpose. Try as I will, I cannot remember the name of this baby now. I oftentimes wonder why I did not go to the mother of this baby and tell her of the power from above that led me to help save the life of her child. During the summer of 1946, a boy from my hometown came home from serving with the infantry in Europe. His name is Glen Dale Jorgenson. We started to date. I had always had a lot of admiration and respect for him. We had known each other all of our lives, and had gone to school together. We became engaged the last part of December, and planned to be married the next September when he was finished with his years schooling at Snow College. On 19 September 1947, we went to the Manti Temple and were married for time and eternity. How happy we were that day! I shall never forget kneeling at the altar with my Dale and repeating our vows. We lived in a small apartment in Salt Lake City when we were first married. He was studying at the University, and I still had three months of training at the hospital. I graduated from the Dr. W.H. Groves Latter-Day Saints Hospital School of Nursing in December of 1947. We took our state board exams soon afterward. I was expecting a baby the next August, and was not in very good health. I found it very difficult to study for these exams. As soon as I could sit down to study at night, my eyes would shut, and I would have to go to bed. I was quite concerned about not being able to study, and prayed very hard that I would be able to pass the state board exam anyway. As it turned out, the Lord did answer my prayer, and I passed the exams with a 92% average, which was only a little less than the highest score of any nurse in the state that year. Dale had sent applications to several dental schools, and in February of 1948, he received word that Northwestern University Dental School had accepted him for their next class starting in September of 1948. We were surely thrilled and happy, as were our parents. I worked in the hospital when I was well enough from the time I graduated until spring when Dale was finished at the University. Then we moved to Ephraim, staying part of the time with Dale’s father and part of the time with my folks. On 12 August 1948 in the Gunnison Hospital, our little Jane Elvira Jorgenson was born to us. We were surely happy for such a precious little baby all our own. She was such a good baby, and was healthy and strong. In September, Dale left on the train to go to Chicago to attend dental school. It was a sad parting for me because we didn’t know when he would be able to send for me. Five or six weeks later, he and two other Mormon fellows with wives, were able to put a down payment on an old three-story house that three families could live in together. It took a whole hour to get to school each morning, but at least it was a place to call home where we could be all together. The last part of October, I took Jane and started for Chicago. Mother drove us to Salt Lake where we took the train with the wife and little boy of one fellow who was part owner of this house we were going to live in. Things went fine with us that first year in Chicago. I had a lot of colds, it seemed that my body couldn’t adjust to the damp climate there. The August after we arrived in Chicago, my dad wrote and told us Mother had to have a very serious operation on her spine. I had such an awful feeling about it that I felt I just had to go home, so Dale let me go home and then he would come in a couple of weeks when his summer quarter was over. I arrived in Salt Lake City with Jane the morning after Mothers surgery. She was in serious condition, but the doctor thought that she would pull through. I stayed with her at night when my brother's wife could take care of Jane. Dad took us to Ephraim when Mother was better, and then later he brought Mother home. Dale came when his school was over. I was happy to see him and glad that he could visit with his father for a couple of weeks. We returned to Chicago in September, and things went well with us until just after Christmas. I had been thinking how we should be grateful for this when it seemed that I heard a voice in my mind that said, The Lord will give you the strength. I wondered if this could mean that a great trial was coming upon us. Within a few days, I came down with a severe case of the flu. Many days passed, and it seemed I just couldn’t overcome the infection in my body. I did get a little better for a week or so, and then became very ill again. This time I had pneumonia, and I just couldn’t seem to recover from that. Then it was found that I had a very rare imbalance of white blood cells along with the rest of my illness. My doctor then put me in a hospital. After being there for a week, my condition hadn’t changed a bit. He was thinking of calling in a blood specialist from Northwestern University. Then he felt he would try giving me a new preparation designed to help those with pernicious anemia, and immediately my blood count started to turn towards normal. After another week in the hospital, I was allowed to return home. This was surely a trying time for my husband. He couldn't find the time he needed to study and take care of little Jane and me, too. I didn’t seem to be able to get my strength back, and then we found I was expecting another child. Somehow those months passed. The doctor was so concerned about my low blood pressure and my great size, and I just couldn't seem to go into labor. After rather drastic measures, my baby, Byron Dale, was born. I had been so sick for so long that I marveled that I could even have a baby, and wondered if the child could even be normal under those conditions. But when he was born, he was a big, healthy, perfectly formed baby. My troubles weren’t nearly over, it seemed. I then proceeded to get every complication in the books, one after another. There were times I would be so tired that I wondered if I would even be alive by the next morning. The Lord did give me the strength to keep on living. Those were hard days for Dale. He would come home late and tired from school, and have to wash the clothes, clean up the house and find a store that was open to buy food for us, because I had strength to take care of the little ones, and there it ended. By the time baby Byron was five or six months old, I could begin to wash the clothes and take over the duties that were mine, and the worst of Dales school was over. Life seemed worth living again. We arrived back in Ephraim the day Byron was one year old. Dale’s father had married a short time before, but seemed to be in failing health. There was a good opening for a dentist in Ephraim then, and Dale felt he would like to be near his father in his remaining years. He started practicing dentistry in Ephraim in October of 1951. His father died soon after. We moved into his father’s house the next spring, and started making payments on it to his father’s wife. On 4 July 1952, another little son was born to us, Franklin Lawrence. The feeling of pure joy that would come over me as I held this child in my arms was something I’ll always remember. Surely he will be a joy to me all of his days. It seemed those long months of sickness in Chicago had left their toll on me, and I was not very strong. I took care of the children the best I could and had to hire little high school girls to help clean this big house we lived in. In June of 1955, Dale was called to be 2nd Counselor in our Bishopric. Soon after, I was called as 1st Counselor in the Primary. Later, Dale served as 1st Counselor with Bishop Findlay. On 9 June 1956, a little daughter, Nancy Ruth, was born to us. It seems our appreciation of children grew all of the time. Oh, how all of us love this little doll. We always planned on having at least six children, and now my health was improving, and we thought we would have as many children as the Lord would bless us with. Oh, I loved all of my children so much, I wanted 8 or 10 by now. Then one day when I was in Dr. McQuarrie’s office, he found that I had at least two large growths in my abdomen. He said that I must undergo surgery within a few days. Oh, how my heart did ache. Not because I was afraid of surgery, but because I knew in my heart if I ever got on that operating table I would never have another baby, and I was only 31 years old. That was too young to end my childbearing days. I went to talk to Bishop Findlay about it. He told me, Ruth, guard your health. Before I left for the hospital, he gave me a blessing and promised me I would soon be back home caring for my children. I thought, Oh, how can that be? My recuperative powers have never been good. Surely after major surgery, I will be weak for months. The surgery was of a necessity extensive, and I could never have any more children. My heart seemed broken, but how thankful I am to the Lord for the fine sons and daughters I do have! My Dale is so good to me, too. Surely I am blessed. I was very ill for a week after surgery, but soon recovered enough to go home after two weeks. Six weeks after my operation, I was able to take over my family, my house, my church position, and I felt better than I had for years. Surely the blessing I had was answered. There I was, “fit as a fiddle" in a miraculously short time. Little Nancy was still a baby, and having her still young enough to be always cuddling in my arms eased my aching heart. We are so thankful for the opportunity we have of serving in the Church. We have been blessed greatly these years Dale has been in the Bishopric. We are so keenly aware of the importance of the work of the Lord. We hope and pray we may always be of service in His kingdom. Dale has built a new dental office in Mt. Pleasant. We plan to move there this summer, but Ephraim will always seem like home. One of the choice experiences of my life has come to me the last few weeks. I have the opportunity of attending a class in genealogy, taught by Brother William O. Tolman. He is a most inspiring teacher! I look forward to this class from one week to the next. I feel sad that it soon must end. I wish to bear my testimony that I know that God lives, and that Jesus Christ is His Son; that Joseph Smith was a Prophet as were all of the Presidents of the Church; that David O. McKay is a Prophet of God. I know all of the teachings of the Church are true. I have a great desire to do good, be good, and to serve the Lord all of the days of my life. May the Lord bless us all with the blessings we stand in need of, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

My earliest memory is that we were at the railroad station in Ephraim, Utah. My father Lawrence Hermansen was holding me and he was crying. I also remember that my father's brother Nels was crying. Then I remember that the passenger train arrived and they took a casket off from the train, and my mother Sarah Jane Allred told me that it was my grandmother Hermansen's body and that she had died. I do remember just a short time before that I had visited my Grandmother Marie Christine Christensen Monberg Hermansen, and she was ill and in her bed. I remember that she gave me two little white peppermint candies. I remember how sweet she was and that I loved her very much. I suppose that she was taken to the hospital in Salt Lake City a short time after that and that is where she died. I would have been about two and one half years old. Later that same year on August 9, 1925 my sister was born. In those days there was no hospital for the mother to go to, and so the doctor would come to the home to attend the birth of a baby. I remember that I spent part of that day with my grandfather Marcus Hermansen up at his home. Then he took me back home and I went in and loved my mother, and she showed me my baby sister. They told me later that I said, "I fink her awfully cute, but I don't know what her name is." Then they told me that her name is Ruth Marie Hermansen, and so I was then introduced to my sister. One of my greatest treasures at that time was a coin savings bank in the shape of the "Liberty Bell", and so I loved my sister so much that I wanted to share with her. I got my treasured savings bank and went and put it in her bed by her feet. My mother only had two children, myself and my sister. We were a happy family until 1933 when I was eleven years old, when my mother died. It is a truth that no one will ever love you like your mother loves you and there has been an empty spot in my heart since I was eleven years old. The best proof that my Father in Heaven loves me is that I have my lovely wife, Jean, and my wonderful children, grandchildren, and Great-grandchildren. Merrill Lawrence Hermansen