Salem school ran from the first thru ninth grade. I entered school at the age of 6. It was very traumatic because I was very shy. Because Dad and Mother were not church going people, I had no experience of socializing or being in crowds. Mother was L.D.S. but dad was non-sectarian (agnostic).

Mother was ill, as I recall from the time I was born until she died from heart failure in 1931. I recall when she went to visit Grandmother Soren, we had to walk 2 blocks but there was a Hollow between and she would ask me to help her up the hill. I would get behind, put my hands on her rump and push her uphill. Memories of Mother were few but I don't ever remember her being well.

I was 11 years of age when Mother passed away. Marion and Ross, my older brothers, were married and not at home. This left Nadine, Bob and I to hold the fort. Dad left at this time to go prospecting for gold in Montana.

Dad had been a chicken farmer for several years. He had 2 large coops with about 3000 laying hens. This is what Bob and I (14 & 11) inherited. Within 2 years or less we were out of the chicken business. We were just not up to running or managing this responsibility.

I graduated from Salem school in 1935 (9th grade). I was selected as Valedictorian of the class and had to give an address. Nadine helped me write my speech which was supposed to last 8 minutes. After much practice and timing, I was ready. (I think I took 4 minutes the night of the graduation).

Nadine had a job with the Orem Electric Railroad (a Passenger Line from Salt Lake to Payson). Through her I got a job as janitor and yard tender. For $3.00 a month I took care of the yard, a huge lawn and several flower beds. In the winter I maintained the station, kept a fire 24 hours a day and took care of freight shipments. I think I had the only 2 jobs in town because I had a 5 mile paper route. I had only 21 papers but the route was 5 miles long. This paid me about $2.10 per month. I lived the next 3-5 years with Ross and Venna (1 year), Marion and Jen (2 years) and then with Grandmother Soren.

We bussed from Salem to Spanish Fork where I went to High School for 3 years. To put myself through school, I would work on farms until Oct., or so, and then start school. Needless to say I graduated in 1938 with no honors.

In 1938, I entered the Civilian Conservation Corps. This was a government subsidized program to help the young. We received $30.00 per month. $22.00 of this I had to send home to Grandmother Soren. I kept $8.00. I was in the C.C.C. until 1941, by now I had advanced to Sergeant and was making $45.00 per month. At this time I met Lily Burgener on a blind date, were very compatible, in love and therefore we married on July 2, 1940 in Farmington, Utah.

We lived in a basement apartment in Grandmother's home. On April 16, 1941, Jay was born at home, (no hospital) it cost $25.00 for delivery. At this time the C.C.C. was abandoned and I had no job. We picked cherries and strawberries in early 1941. In July I was called to work for the Forest Service at $75.00 per month. This I accepted gladly. In August I was called to Mare Island California for a job with the Navy. We moved in August 1941 to Vallejo, California. My wages were $5.18 per day (Big Money).

We lived here from August 1941 until March 1943. At this time I was homesick so we moved back to Utah. We moved into 2 rooms of Grandmother Burgener's house and I went to work at Geneva Steel. I worked on a surveying crew during the construction. In December of 1943 Geneva was finished and started production. I transferred to production and went to work in the chemical laboratory. Jerry was born in July of 1943.

In July of 1944, I was drafted into the Army and sent to Camp Hood, Texas. My Army career was quite uneventful. I spent 1« years at Camp Hood and then was transferred to Fort Sill in Oklahoma. The war ended during this time but I wasn't discharged until July of 1946.

There was a lot of unemployment at this time. I had vowed not to work at Geneva but because of nothing else available, I returned to the chemical laboratory. Dave was born September 24, 1946. I remained at Geneva for 31 years. 25 years I worked as a turn foreman until my medical retirement in November of 1974.

Ray and Roy were born in January of 1949. This completed our family.

In the ensuing years, I was very interested in sports. I played softball, coached little league baseball for 9 years, and coached junior men's basketball for 4 years. I also bowled and golfed. Golfing turned out to be my real love.

In 1949, we purchased Grandmother Burgener's home in Provo for $7,000.00 with a 4% loan. I built her a room over the garage which she was very proud of. We lived in Provo until 1958. At this time B.Y.U. was expanding greatly and they bought our home for $20,000.00. I had prior to this time bought an acre of ground in Lindon for $800.00. We had a home built and moved in November 6, 1958. I purchases another acre next to ours and we moved a frame home from B.Y.U. and set it up next to our home. This was to be Grandmother Burgener's home until her death.

In August of 1968, I suffered my first heart attack. It was very frightening and not much fun. I spent 28 days at Utah Valley Hospital. Upon release, and after recuperating for 3 months I returned to Geneva. My condition did not improve so in December 1970 I was operated on at the L.D.S. Hospital. They did a triple by-pass. This type of operation was fairly new at this time, but it seemed to help.

In November of 1974, I elected (upon the advice of Dr. Thorne) to take a medical retirement from Geneva. In 1979, I started having problems again so back to the hospital for surgery #2. This was done in February. Since then I have fared pretty well.

We enjoyed very much raising our 5 boys and feel proud of their accomplishments. They are all married and we now have 21 grandchildren so our posterity continues on.

Taken from an undated manuscript, dictated to his granddaughter, Jennifer McQuivey.