A few stories of Glen Ralph Killian
On the back of the picture: Glen & Elva Killian -- Feb 4, 1979 "Golden Anniversary Open House" at their home in S.L.C. . . . to Stephen & Barbara from Grandma & Grandpa Killian.
I was born Jan. 20th, 1911 in Salem Utah. My parents were Alex and Irene Pierce and I grew up on the farm at the head of Loafer Street, just below the Salem Canal. I had a brother Byron, who was 6 years older, an older sister, Zola, and three sisters -- Beatrice, Hazel, and Marjorie -- who were all younger than me.
Please click on any of the following topics to jump directly there, or just read straight through all of them:
I have many pleasant memories of when we lived on
the farm. Putting the harness on the horses, plowing, mowing hay,
hauling hay, cultivating row crops . . . It was all done with
horse power. There were no tractors or trucks; no hay balers. The
hay was cut, raked into windrows, bunched into piles, hand loaded
with pitch forks onto hay racks, hauled to the barn, and stacked
for the winter use.
My mother baked bread every day -- 4 loaves. We had a big flour bin in the kitchen and every fall dad would take some of the wheat to Payson to have it ground to flour, and then he’d fill the bin. There were no refrigerators or freezers. The pork was put in salt brine barrels to cure. Before we could eat it it had to be boiled to get the salt out. All the milk was sent to the creamery each day. Mother would keep enough for our use and to make butter
We had a coal burning stove, so we had to make a fire every morning. It was Byron’s job to get up and start the fire in the Kitchen stove. After he started the fire he would cut two slices of home made bread, skim the cream off a pan of milk mother had set the night before, sprinkle a little sugar on it, and bring it back to bed -- one for him and one for me so I wouldn’t tell. Boy it tasted good! Before long it was my turn to get up and make the fire. Of course, I wouldn’t skim the cream off Mother’s milk (Ha Ha!).
At Christmas time I remember we’d always have a real tree. My dad would take us boys with him on horses and we’d go up Loafer and chop down our tree. Dad would nail it to the floor. He would never take the time to put it on a stand
In the summer we all worked in the fields. We grew lots of row crops -- tomatoes, lima beans, sugar beets, corn, peas, potatoes, hay, and grain. In the mornings and at night I had to tend and milk cows. We always had 6 to 8 cows, 3 work horses, 1 riding horse (in the summertime we would ride this horse to take cows to the pastures), calves, pigs, and chickens -- there were always chores to do every day of the year.
Byron -- six years my elder -- could take me down easily and sit on me. My mother would come to my aid. She would say she longed for the day when he could no longer do this to me, and that day finally came.
Zola and I got into a water fight one day. We each had a bucket and would dip water out of the ditch and throw it on one another. It ended up at the swill barrel. This barrel was kept to help feed the pigs. It had sour milk and all kinds of scraps from the house in it. I had gone in the granary to get some grain for the pigs and as I came out of the door, Zola let me have a bucket full of swill right in the face and all down the front of me. If you have ever smelled pig swill you know how I felt. I also tasted it! By the time I got my eyes wiped out and got my own bucket full of pig swill, Zola as long gone. I looked all over the barn, haystacks, chicken coops, barnyard, and even in the house. We had a big orchard out back with all kinds of fruit trees -- apple, peach, plum, pears, and cherry trees. The next day Zola told me she had gone out in the orchard and climbed a cherry tree. She had just outsmarted me. Oh well . . . there will be another day ;-)
I went to the Salem Elementary School, about 1 and
1/2 miles away. I had to get up early and help with the chores
before school.
I think of the days in the Salem Elementary School. There were only four boys in our class when we got to the 9th grade. All the rest had dropped out -- Glen Christensen, Clarence Hill, Cecil VanAusdale, and myself. A big bunch of girls -- Ruth Hanks, Pearl Carlson, Denis Sheen, Flora Beddoes, Inez Christensen, Nadine McQuivey, Edith Taylor, Bula Sheen, Barbara Koyle, Evelyn Snow, Ruby Warren, and Muerol Sheen.
My grandma -- Lucreatia Bingham Killian -- was a widow who lived alone in the house next to us. We would stop in to see her on the way home from school. She would give us grape jam sandwiches. She was really lonely and liked to talk to us. If we had anything new she would ask us where we got it and how much it cost. Zola used to sleep over at her house overnight quite a lot.
In 1927 I started attending Spanish Fork High School. We rode the Intermountain Electric Train to school. We would board it at the train station in Salem and it would go right past the High School and down main street 2 blocks to the station. Then we would have to walk back to school. Lots of times I would come out of our front door and see the train coming down Payson hill. I would run all the way to the station -- one mile -- to catch it. This kept me in good shape.
It was about this time I started to notice a girl. She had long hair in ringlets. Her name was Elva Cloward. It wasn’t long before I asked her for a date. She said yes. So we started going together. Some of the time when we got off the train coming from school I would walk her home. This made me late getting home and Dad would get mad at me.
I had great times in school and learned many important things. I took a seminary class each day. I loved my teachers and made many new friends. I played basketball, football, and went out for track. One day when we were playing Basketball they passed the ball to me. I turned all the way around with it and Earl Ainge was hanging onto it. When he let go after being air-borne he fell to the floor and broke his leg. Earl was a small guy and the coach got on me for being rough on the small guys.
One day when we were at the track, I threw the javelin way down the field. There was a kid standing down there with a pair of bib overalls on. When the javelin came down it landed in the bib of his overalls, and then hung down. From where I was it looked like it had gone right through him! Luckily it did not hurt him at all.
What we did to entertain ourselves:
My father, along with Roy Taylor and Ross Hanks, bought the old Salem Show House from Andrew Peterson around 1924 - 1925. These were the days of no sound. They showed the pictures and you would have to read what they were saying. They had shows on Wednesday and Saturday nights. It was a big deal to go to the show twice a week. They had an old player piano that was pumped by foot. Someone would play this before the show started.
The Salem Pond is where I learned to swim. It was
about 1/2 mile through the fields to the head of the pond (or
Salem Lake as some call it). It is fed by natural springs that
bubble up. The water was very clear and pure, but today it is
contaminated like most natural water is. After hauling hay, or
working in the hot field all day, Byron, myself, Bliss &
Claude Beddoes, Frank Beddoes, Oliver Floyd, and Neldon Nash
would all meet at the head of the pond. It was here we all
learned to swim. It was our old swimming hole and we all had a
good time.
By this time I had advanced through the Priesthood -- first deacon, teacher, then priest. During this time I was in the Scouting Program. We took many fun trips. We would go up Provo Canyon to Aspen Grove, camp there, then hike up to the top of Timpanogos and slide down the glacier. What fun we had.
During all this time there was no television so we had to create our own fun and entertainment. We went to many dances, both indoors and out. They had outdoor dances at Arrowhead in Benjamin, and at Edgewater in Salem. We also went to many two and three act plays put on by the local people of our church. This gave the people a chance to use their talents.
When
I was 16 years old I could go deer hunting with my dad and carry
a gun. This was a big deal and I had been looking forward to it.
My dad, Byron, old Frank Davis, Worthy Davis, Agustus Carson,
Frank Beddoes, and Chancy & Mark Christensen, all went to
Strawberry hunting deer. They would take a team & wagon, 3 or
4 saddle horses, and stay 3 or 4 days until they all got their
deer. Now -- finally! -- I was old enough to go with them. I
stayed along with Dad so I wouldn’t get lost. We were
hunting 5th water. Dad saw one lying down at the edge of some
timber, but the deer got up and walked into the trees. Dad said
he would hide down below him, and run him out in the clearing to
me. He had just been gone for a few minutes, and here came a big
four-point on the run trying to get away.
I shot one shot and down he went!
My dad came dashing out of the timber on his horse and said ‘Where is he?" "Right here," I replied. "Did you get excited!" he asked. "Oh, it was about like shooting a jack rabbit," I said trying not to look too excited.
We went back there for several years until Dad was gone. Then I quit going there -- too many roads had been built all over the land and too many people could get to it.
When I was 14 or 15 years old my parents and all the family, except myself and Beatrice, had gone early to the show. This was in the days of wood and coal burning stoves. Mother was baking bread and Beatrice was to watch it and, when it was done, take it out of the oven. I was to do the chores and milk the cows. Then we were to go to the show. I was in the barn milking cows when Mrs. Howard Davis, our neighbor, came running over and yelled, "Glen! Your house is on fire!" We ran from the barn to the house. When we got there it was so bad we couldn’t get in the kitchen -- it was all in flames. I ran to the front door and all I could see was the piano by the door. So I began pulling it out with Mrs. Davis' and Bea’s help. We got it outside. We were unable to get back in the house. It was full of smoke and flames.
All the clothes we had were on our backs. Someone went to tell my parents and they rushed home to find everything had been lost. We all went to Aunt Martha Christensen to stay that night (Mother’s half sister). Uncle Chris Christensen , Aunt Martha’s husband, had a farm just above the canal with a 4 room house on it. This was right next to where we lived. My dad rented it and this is where we lived.
My parents had to start all over again. There were six children and we never had a change of clothes. We lived there four or five years, then my dad bought Teddy Beddoes' house downtown. This was where my parents lived until they died -- Dad in 1952, Mother in 1954.
Dad didn’t continue his story in this journal, but we know he spent most of his life working hard in road construction. You couldn’t travel many major highways in Utah that he hadn’t built or improved and if things were'nt done right he’d call it ‘road destruction’.
Dad’s health was always good but two recent surgeries took their toll. These he endured with quiet dignity and without complaint.
Because he worked hard all his life, his favorite place was his home. He loved his home, and he loved his family --- and we loved him.
My favorite part of Dad’s journal was about his high school days when he wrote: "It was about this time I started to notice a girl. She had long hair in ringlets. Her name was Elva Cloward. It wasn’t long before I asked her for a date. She said yes. So we started going together. Some of the time when we got off the train coming from school I would walk her home. This made me late getting home and Dad would get mad at me."
That was about all that was written in Dad’s journal about the girl with long ringlets. But we know the last chapter. He married the girl and they just celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary.
Work Record (mixed with more stories)
Work Record of Glen R. Killian (Written by Glen R.
Killian)
I started Construction work in
1930 when I was 19 years old. The first job I worked on was in Spanish Fork
Canyon (Cold Springs to Diamond Fork Junction). I worked for Floyd S. Whiting
Co. (Floyd married my aunt, Estella Killian). On this job, Chauncy Christensen
drove his team and I ran the tongue scraper spreading fill after the trucks had
dumped.
(1930-1931) Chauncy, Worthy Davis, and
I started home from work one night and the lights went out on the car. We missed
a turn and ran off the road. The car tipped over and rolled down a bank 40 feet
high. Nobody was hurt too badly - we all went back to work the next day.
(1934-1935) I went to Marysvale Canyon
to work on a road up in the canyon. I lived in a tent with a board floor in it.
Elva came down and stayed with me for a while. Rowena stayed with her
Great-grandparents (Ada and Parley Cloward). On this job, I learned to operate
the "60 Cat" and Dozer. Zeek Ewell was killed in a blasting accident.
(1935) I worked at Coalville, Utah on
the road around Echo Reservoir and Dam. This job is where the truck driver ran
off the road; his truck tipped over and he rolled down the bank. The kids on the
school bus saw him down in the bottom trying to crawl up to the road. Alex
Killian (my father, who was supervising on the job) started to Salt Lake City
with him (to a doctor) but he died on the way there. I bought my first trailer
on this job - from Clark Evans. It really looked like a square box with four
wheels on it. That winter we worked from North Beck Street to the Salt Lake
Capitol Building.
(1936-1937) We
went to Salina, Utah to work on a construction job up Salina Canyon - up by
"Rattlesnake." Elva and Rowena went with me. We got to Salina late at night and
did not know where to park our trailer, so we pulled into a little City Park for
the night. We stayed there for a short time, but I don't remember where we
eventually parked the trailer.
I also worked on a job in Circleville Canyon. I
parked the old box-trailer on the old "Parker's Ranch" where the Edward Davis
family lived. The "Parker's Ranch" was where the famous outlaw "Butch Cassidy"
lived. In fact, I am sure he was born and raised there. Elva and Rowena came
down and stayed with me during the summer.
(1938) I worked
in Cedar Canyon and lived in Cedar City all winter in our lovely new trailer
house, which we had made to order. We parked it on the lot owned by the
"Bullock" family and it was very close by their home. Elva and Rowena became
close friends with Mrs. Bullock and her girls. The next spring, we moved to the
"Beaver" job which was up "Wildcat Canyon." We parked our trailer in a nice
little green orchard which was right on Main Street. Dee and Kathryn Abbott
parked right by us and we had a lot of fun together.
Elva and Rowena were with me. The family who
owned the orchard lived right through the fence from us---their names were
"Tattersol" and the lady was bed-ridden with arthritis.
Dee Abbott and I decided to go hunting for sage
hens - out of season. We had good luck and came home with some nice big sage
hens. We proceeded to clean them, when Mr. Tattersol came through the fence and
told us how sorry he was to have to do this, but he was the game warden. He took
the sage hens away from us and we had to appear before the Justice of the Peace.
But he came to the hearing and pleaded on our behalf and the fine was greatly
reduced. However, it made the newspaper and when we went back to Salem one time,
Dave Hanks said to me, "I hear you've been hunting sage hens!" Just my luck!
Beryldean and June Cloward (Elva's brother and wife) came to visit us here. They
were just married and on their Honeymoon.
(1939-1940) We
moved to Fairview, Utah and I worked in Fairview Canyon. Elva and Rowena were
with me and Rowena went to school there for a while. We parked our trailer house
again in a little green orchard which was owned by Tim and Lola Fowles. Their
home was just through the fence and Elva and Lola were good friends and Rowena
and her two girls were great friends. This was the year the Second World War
started - Hitler invaded Poland.
In 1940 we moved to Panguitch,
Utah and I worked on the road to Bryce Canyon up in the beautiful "Red Canyon"
area. Rowena, Elva, and our new baby girl, Myrna, were with me. We were very
lucky to find such a nice place to park our trailer - on the front lawn of an
old couple by the name of "Shakespeare". There were lots of big pine trees and
it was so clean and cool. Mary and Jim Grant parked right by us and we had it
pretty nice. That is, until Rowena caught the "whooping cough" at school and
gave it to baby Myrna, who was only four months old. Rowena got along quite
well, but Myrna was very seriously ill. I think the doctor there was afraid he
couldn’t handle it, because he told us to leave immediately and take Myrna to
our family doctor at home - which was Dr. Merrill Oldroyd at the time.
He worked so hard to save Myrna and we were
very near to losing her. I had to go back to work and Elva, Rowena and Myrna
stayed at Grandma and Grandpa Cloward's house so they could help take care of
Myrna. These grandparents (Ada & Parley Cloward) of Elva's were the ones who
raised Elva from the time she was six years old - when her mother died. Elva,
Ada and Parley took turns walking and holding Myrna - both day and night. It was
a long ordeal but Myrna could not be laid down in a bed for fear she would choke
to death. With everyone working together, Myrna pulled through this ordeal - and
mostly with the help of the Lord, we are sure.
The last part of 1940, we did small jobs in Big
Cottonwood Canyon, Little Cottonwood Canyon and Emigration Canyon.
(1941) We moved to Heber, City (in
Utah). Elva, Rowena and Myrna were with me. The "Coleman Family" owned a big
home on a corner lot just a block off Main street. In back, there was grass and
a few fruit trees. They let us pull our trailer in there and we had a fine
parking place. Annie Coleman even let Elva use her washing machine most of the
time. Rowena went to school there and made some very good friends. I worked on
the road around Deer Creek Dam - the traffic still went up the bottom road,
along the Provo River. We also got a job in Echo Canyon from Wasatch Hill down
to Moore's Ranch. My cousin, Kenneth Whiting, stayed with me on this job. He was
a special boy and I thought so much of him. Also this year, we worked from
Emigration to Mountain Dell (Parley's Canyon) - the Old Mormon Trail Road.
Also, and during World War II, I worked at Clearfield
Navy Supply Depot. We had the job of leveling around the buildings and also
building roads between them. At this time, "Hill Field" was just starting. They
had a large number of German prisoners - or Nazis. They were in an area which
was fenced off with a high chain-link wire fence with strands of barbed wire on
the top. The fence was 12 or 14 feet high. They would let the prisoners out in
the yard during the day to exercise, then lock them up again at night. In the
daytime, the prisoners would stand by the fence and watch us at work. Some of
them would try to talk to us - which they were not allowed to do. The guards
would come over and herd them back away from the fence. We could never
understand what they were trying to say to us when they could sneak over by the
fence. It was quite a sight to see.
(1942-1944) I went to work at Tooele,
St. John and Dugway. "W.W. Clyde Const. Co." and "Floyd S. Whiting Const. Co."
and the "Mendenhall Brothers Const. Co." had 165 miles of road in Tooele
Ordnance Depot. From Tooele, I went to Dugway and stayed there for two years. If
I stayed there, I was deferred from the army because I was working on military
Installations. Kenneth Whiting joined the Air Force and trained in Texas. He was
offered an Instructors job, but decided he wanted to fly instead. He went
overseas and was shot down on his 21st mission. He was in Germany and he was
leading the air attack flight in the head plane in a ‘V’ formation. Some of his
buddies saw his plane go down in flames over enemy territory. No one has ever
been able to find out what happened to him. His parents, Floyd and Stella
Whiting, spent a fortune working through the Red Cross in trying to glean some
kind of information, but with no success. I felt so badly about losing my cousin
and when we had our first (and only) baby Boy, we named him Kenneth – after
Kenneth Whiting. I was deferred from the army four times and if I hadn't stayed
where I was, I most certainly would have been drafted.
(1944-1945) I
worked for Cornell Mendenhall from Stockton to Fairfield (in Tooele County,
Utah). I operated the big dozer and tandem scrapers. It was here I met Shelly
and Shirley Nielsen and they became very good friends of mine and Elva's. I sold
my trailer house to Cornell Mendenhall at this time. Kenneth was born in 1945
and we were so happy to have a boy at last - not that we could ever have gotten
along without our dear girls.
(1946-1947-1948) I worked on the “Sevier
River” job and lived in Salina, Utah. We widened and deepened the old river
channel from Salina to west of Axtell. We built two diversion dams - one at
Redmond, Utah and one at Axtell, Utah.
In 1947, we worked on the
Modena-Enterprise job. I stayed in a company boarding house. Rowena and Pat got
married this year. I had a terrible time with my back and went to Cedar City,
Utah to see a chiropractor.
I had to catch a bus and go home and was unable
to work for a while.
(1948) The
winter of 1948 was extremely cold and there was lots of snow. All sheep and
cattle were snowed in on the West Desert. They had to air-lift feed in to them;
all roads were closed on the desert.
It was below zero every night for 30 nights
during January. At this time, I had been made foreman on the construction jobs.
(1949-1950) We
worked on the "Clear Creek Canyon" job. We went over the top from Cove Fort and
down Clear Creek Canyon for five miles. This was my first job as superintendent
- coming up in the world. It was here that I met Hod Miller; he was project
engineer for the Forest Service. Hod had a vacation, so I hired him to install
culverts.
I gave him a back-hoe and crew and made him a foreman.
Old man Finch (his boss from Ogden, Utah) came down to the job and found him
working for me. He said that Hod was too friendly with me and fired him, or put
him on another job. Then he sent Pop Morrison to take his place.
(1950-1951) This
was when we had the "Mayfield" job (Utah) We worked east of Gunnison, Utah.
Also I lived in the company boarding house. We
also did an oil job in Cedar Canyon and I lived in Cedar City, Utah.
(1952-1953) This was the time my father,
Alex Killian, died. He was born in 1883 and died in 1952 at the age of 69 years.
We did some flood control work for army engineers on the Spanish Fork River,
Hobble Creek (in Springville), the Provo River, and the Weber River (below
Ogden, Utah). This was all dragline and dozer work - clearing the old channels
of all debris.
(1953-1954) We
worked on the job at Kanab, Utah. We worked from Sevier Summit to Swains Creek -
towards Cedar Breaks. We lived in Orderville, Utah (the last place where the
"United Order" was lived in early Utah History). We rented part of a house from
Emma and Irvin Hoyt. They were warm and friendly people and we really enjoyed
them. Elva, Myrna, and Kenneth lived here with me. Myrna and Vondell Hoyt became
very close friends.
(1954-1955) We did the "Echo Canyon" job
from Castle Rock to Moore's Ranch.
(1956-1957) This was the time we did the
"Devil's Slide" Henefer job. We worked on channels all winter and it was cold
and miserable. I got the new orange Chevrolet pickup truck on this job. Floyd
Whiting got it for me to use.
(1958-1960) We
did the job from Castle Gate to Helper, Utah. I bought a new trailer house and
moved it to Helper to stay in. Myrna and Keith were married in 1959.
(1961-1963) We did the "Thistle-Red
Narrows" job in Spanish Fork Canyon. I was still supervisor (or superintendent)
of the job. Kenneth Killian (my son) killed his first deer back of "Pace's
Ranch" in Spanish Fork Canyon. I lived in Salem, Utah at my own home for the
first time. This was a real treat as I was able to attend church regularly.
Philip Lunddell (from Payson, Utah) was project engineer. Jim West was district
engineer. We blasted rock in the Red Narrows and it came down and covered the
road. Next to the highway there were two sets of Railroad tracks. The blast and
falling rocks also covered the west railroad track, so they had to switch the
trains to the east track so the passengers could still travel. The west railroad
track and the highway road were blocked for 16 hours. The Highway Patrol
detoured all traffic at Helper and the mouth of Spanish Fork Canyon. The people
who lived around the Spanish Fork Area could come up the canyon as far as the
slide, and there were many who came to see this spectacular sight. There were
many unhappy travelers, but it was something that could not be helped. My
son-in-law, Keith Chapple, and my nephew, Kent Killian, worked on this job with
me.
(1963-1966) I
went to work for the 'H.E. Lowdermilk Const. Co.’ (from Denver, Colorado). Ben
Lodermilk was project manager and he and I got along just great. This job was in
Emery County on I-70 - from Fremont Junction to Mud Creek. I was superintendent
and started to work in August and worked all winter. The next spring, in April,
I was transferred to the "Indian Canyon" job - east of Castle Gate. My son,
Kenneth, worked all summer with me on this job. He flagged traffic, etc. That
fall, in November, he was called for his L.D.S. mission to Japan. We were all so
thrilled for him! Elva, Kenneth, and I lived in the trailer house until time for
Kenneth to leave for his mission. Then we rented an apartment, for it was
getting to be very cold weather. We rented an apartment in Helper, Utah from
Mary and Joseph Skerl. They lived in one half of the house and we lived in the
other half. They became very dear friends of ours and we still keep in touch
with Mary as of now (January, 1979). Joseph is now dead. Mary and Elva were
together all the time and it kept Elva from getting lonesome in a strange place.
But we were both so lonesome for Kenneth so far away.
The next spring, we started to work in Price
Canyon. The old road went along the side of the mountains and was very dangerous
even in dry weather. When it was icy, many people were hurt and killed on this
road. We built a new road up the bottom of Price Canyon - which was certainly an
improvement that was badly needed.
I would like to insert something here: when we were on
the Emery job, Clarence Prettyman was killed. He was operating an 80D shovel
when a large slab of rock fell off the bank and crushed him to death. When we
were in Price Canyon, a state survey engineer was killed. A large rock rolled
down the bank to the bottom of the canyon. It hit him and he was killed
instantly.
(1966) I went to work for "Strong Co."
of Springville, Utah as foreman. I worked at Greenriver, Utah on I-70 (the new
interstate highway). While on this job, I bought a new, green Chev. pickup
truck. I lived in Greenriver in my trailer house. It was very hot and the
drinking water was terrible! My Trailer House was parked right by the railroad
tracks and when a train went by, it sounded like it was coming right through the
trailer - sort of like a mild earthquake. Elva came out on the job for a few
days and she couldn't stand it when the trains came through - she was scared to
death. Before she went home, we went picking asparagus (it grows everywhere out
there). We got so much that Elva decided to take it home with her. When she got
ready to go home on the Bus, she put her clothing and etc. in a paper sack and
filled her suitcase chuck full of asparagus. The Bus Driver picked up her
suitcase to help her on with it and it was so heavy that he asked her what she
had in that suitcase.
(1967) I went to
work for "The State Road" on the maintenance crew out of Spanish Fork, Utah.
I lived at home again and was elected to the
Salem City Council on Nov. 7, 1967. In May of 1967, we went to Hawaii to meet
Kenneth (our son); he was coming home from his mission in Japan. His plane
ticket was arranged so that he could take a 10-day layover in Hawaii and then
continue on home to report to church authorities. We met Kenneth in Honolulu. We
visited four different islands which were very beautiful and also went through
the Hawaii Temple. We also had 10 days to visit with our son before he got home
to all the family, friends and relatives. It was a very choice trip and when we
left Hawaii we all traveled home together. I worked for Utah State until the
spring of 1969.
(1969) I went to
work for "Industrial Construction Co." whose headquarters were in Nevada.
The construction job was from Wendover, Nevada
to Knolls, Utah - a distance of 40 miles.
(The state line goes right through the city of
Wendover; one half is in Wendover, Nevada and the other half is in Wendover,
Utah.) We had to lay 5 inches of oil on the I-80 Interstate.
The company got me a new Ford pickup truck with
a 2-way radio to use on the job.
(1970) I went to
the Echo-Henefer job as superintendent for Industrial Construction Co.
Kenneth (my son) and his friend, Paul Nelson,
worked all summer on this job. They worked with Swede Woodward - putting in
drainage pipe--on the 1-80 Freeway job. That fall, in August, Kenneth and
Michelle were married and they left for Chicago, Illinois where Kenneth was
going to attend dental school at Northwestern University. Also in 1970, I went
back to work on the I-80 job for Industrial Construction Co. The job was at
Delle-Tempie, and we lived in Grantsville, Utah. Elva went with me and we rented
a small house from Jemma Johnson (a widow.) The house sat directly back of
Jemma's home but had an entrance onto the main road. Jemma and Elva were good
friends.
(1971) I went
back up to Henefer and finished that job. Also in 1971 we sold our house in
Salem, Utah and moved to Salt Lake City, Utah. We moved during the months of
February and March. Kenneth flew home from Chicago to get a last look at the old
home and help us move.
He helped me put up fence around all the ground
we did not sell (we just sold the corner where the house stood and just a little
ground around it. We owned one fourth of a city block). Kenneth also helped us
make many trips up to Salt Lake in our pickup truck to take our furniture and
all the other things we had accumulated during our lifetime - a lot!
(1972-1973) I moved to the
Fillmore-Meadow job (Utah) on 1-15. I bought a new Chevrolet Impala sedan while
on this job - which we are still driving as of this date (Jan., 1979).
(1974-1975) I went to work for W.W.
Clyde Construction Co. (of Springville, Utah.) The Job was on "Parley's Summit"
from "Lambs Canyon" to "Park City Junction." This was onI-80 and I was foreman.
I lived at home in Salt Lake City, Utah (7168 South 1700 East) and drove back
and forth to work. This was a 2-year job.
(1976) I worked
for "Gibbons and Reed Const. Co." S.L.C. at the electric dam at the head of
Huntington Canyon. I lived in Fairview, Utah, in my trailer house and commuted
to work.
I ran a Blade (or Patrol) and worked all night shifts.
(1976) I worked at Beaver, Holden to
Scipio (all in Utah), for Industrial Construction Co.
And in October of 1976, I decided
to retire - which was a big mistake!
I wrote this record in Dec.,1978
and Elva typed it for me in Jan., 1979.
I was privileged to dedicate both Grandma and Grandpa's gravesites as part of their funerals.
At Grandpa Killian's graveside service: "Our Father in Heaven. By the authority of the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood, which I hold, I dedicate and consecrate this gravesite as the resting place for the body of Glenn Ralph Killian, whom we loved. And we ask thee to hallow and protect this spot, to keep it safe and filled with peace, until the time of his resurrection and the reunion of this body with his sprit. We ask thee to comfort and console our family, and his many dear friends, in his loss and ask that Thou will fill us with Thy spirit. Let us feel the assurance and comfort of the Gospel, with the certainty and vision that we will see him, whom we have loved and honored, standing again, strong and young, at the head of his family, in that glorious world to come. Though he may now seem far from us, encircled safely in Thy arms, we look forward to that bright day when we may once again fill our embrace with him. And we do and ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."
At Grandma Killian's graveside service: "Our Father in Heaven. By the authority of the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood, which I hold, I dedicate and consecrate this plot as the resting place of Elva Killian. I pray that this plot may be protected, as her body lies beside those of her husband and daughter, and that a spirit of peace and faith may descend upon our family knowing that they are united again, and will be there to meet us in that future, bright, morn. And I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."