Homes of Isabell Church Cooper

My grandmother, Isabell Church Cooper was born in a house at Three Mile Creek, which is 3 miles north of Panguitch, Utah.  She wrote in her personal history that it was a little Danish style house down by the river.  The day she was born, the roof blew off the house.  She and her family also lived in Spry at "the dear old farm," as Bell referred to it, until most of her brothers and sisters were born.  Spry is located about 15 miles north of Panguitch.  If I remember correctly, their farm was on the west side of the highway.  Bell's father then traded the farm to Mr. Joseph Beckstrom for a ranch in Little Valley and a home in Panguitch at 189 West 200 South.

This is a picture of the Little Valley ranch where the Church family lived during the summer.  The ranch is located about 10 1/2 miles from Panguitch on the road to Panguitch Lake (Hwy 143) on the right side of road. The Church family had cows and made cheese which they sold.  This picture was taken quite a few years ago.

The following pictures of Little Valley were taken in 2011.  The buildings are still standing.  The land looks much the same as I remember it.

The house below is located at 189 West 200 South in Panguitch.  This is the house that the Church family got in the trade for the Spry farm.  At one time it had a porch surrounding the front of the house.  

Church family home at 189 West 200 South.  Later became Than and Bell Cooper's home.

Isabell and Nathaniel Cooper lived in this home (below) when my mother was born (1930).  I believe they lived there for quite a few years before that too.  They lived here until Bell's mother died.  Bell had been caring for her mother in her old age, and when she died Than paid for her burial, so they became the owners the Church house (above).  The Cooper family moved into the house when my mom was 3-4 years old.

House where my mother was born.

My Father: Donald J. Rosenberg

My Talk Given In Dad’s Funeral, October 23, 2010

The inscription on my mother’s and soon to be father’s headstone says “There is no greater blessing than belonging to a loving and loyal family.”  I am so grateful to have been blessed to have Don Rosenberg as my father.  You who are here today know Dad from your association in many different ways.  But I think we all know that he was a good and honest man.  I know him as a kind, loving father who loved his family dearly. 

Our home was such a pleasant place.  I never saw or heard my mom and dad argue.  They probably had their disagreements and were mad at each other, but they didn’t do it in front of us. My dad also did not let us kids argue among ourselves.  He said, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”  So we never got in the habit of bickering with each other.  If I said, I hate something, dad would stop me and say, “Oh you don’t hate anything.” So one thing I learned from my dad that has helped me through my life is to be positive.  He always believed in me and that I could do anything I tried to do.

Me, Dad and Craig

Another thing that I learned from my father was that the family is very important.  My dad worked two jobs to provide for us.  He worked his day job, would come home, grab his surveying equipment, go out and survey for an hour or two, then come home, eat dinner and later that night at about 9:00 or 10:00 p.m. draw up or draft the survey by hand which took sometimes an hour or two.  In between all of that he had his church job, the lawn to mow, the yard to take care of etc.  He worked hard for us, but he always made time for us.  I remember my dad taking me to do lots of things, like going to the archery course, going swimming, and when I was older, motorcycle rides over Bear Trap in Settlement Canyon.

Our new Plymouth Fury

 Our family went on many wonderful vacations to many wonderful places.  Often we went with several other families.  Those were great times.  We had a trailer and beginning about Easter, we would go camping once a month or so. We would finish up our camping season around UEA.  During the summer we always went on a week-long vacation to some place, again often with other families.  I have to say that this is probably one of the reasons our family is so close.  We spent a lot of time together having fun.  Dad loved to get away in the outdoors and enjoy God’s handiwork.  He especially loved Southern Utah, because that is where he was from.

Camping at Antelope Flats at Flaming Gorge

He taught me that the gospel of Jesus Christ was important and that it would bring peace and comfort and true happiness to my life.  Just a couple of weeks ago when I was visiting Dad, he wanted to give me a Father’s Blessing.  I am grateful for that experience.    He told me while growing up that it was ok to make mistakes as long as I learned from them and didn’t make those mistakes again.  I could always tell my dad about my mistakes because I knew he would forgive me.  What a great example.

Dad was able to retire at relatively a young age which was wonderful for Mom and Dad because they were able to travel quite a bit and enjoy their grandchildren that were coming into their lives.  Dad was a fun grandpa.  He always did special things with the kids. He took them on camp outs in the trailer to Vernon Reservoir and let them drive the boat.  He took them hiking in the canyon.  He let them shoot his bb gun in the back yard.  They thought these activities were great, but the best thing was being with grandpa. 

I know that my kids were blessed to have him as part as their life.  When my husband died nine years ago, he was there to offer his love and counseling if they needed it.

Dad was always interested in history and geology.  Whenever we would go someplace, he would explain how that mountain was formed or tell us what kind of rock we had or tell us about the history of the place where we were. When he was working with the Soil Conservation here in Tooele his association with many of the farmers around the county exposed him to a lot of history of the area.  He heard about places like Iosepa, Gold Hill, Shambip County, etc. and he gathered these details in his head until later on in his life when he wrote about them.  Even a few days ago, my dad could recite details, facts and figures about places and projects he had worked on.  He had an excellent memory.

Dad joined the Sons of Utah Pioneers and Mom and Dad became associated with many people that they considered special friends.  They so much enjoyed the conventions and tours that they went on with this group.  They often talked about how glad they were that they joined the SUP and what a fine group of people they were associating with.

Mom and Dad had a group of friends that they enjoyed over the course of their life here in Tooele.  They called them their “crowd.”  They got together for New Year’s, summer fish fry’s and other activities for years.  As they have aged and some have passed away, the activities have dwindled, but the crowd’s gatherings still continue. 

If there were some highlights in Dad’s life I would say that they would be:  

Summer Tennis Trophies

• Being a loving son, husband, father, grandfather, and brother.
• Serving as a stake missionary since he never had the opportunity to serve a mission as a young man. 
• In his career, when he was working for the Soil Conservation Service he acted as inspector on water projects in several counties.  He was the inspector on the dams built at Minersville, Pleasant Grove, and Vernon Reservoirs.  While inspector on the Vernon Reservoir he surveyed the pipeline and designed the Vernon land sprinkler system. I believe he was also inspector on the Tooele dam. 
• Another highlight would have been obtaining his surveyor’s license. You see my dad didn’t graduate from high school or college.  After working many years having someone else sign his surveys, he went to night school and earned his license.
• After retiring from the Soil Conservation Service he ran for Tooele County Surveyor which office he held for 20 years.  So you see, holding that office meant a lot to him. 
• A major highlight in his life was meeting both President Monson, President Hinckley and President Faust.  He met one at a fireside he spoke at and the others at dedications for momuments that were placed in Skull Valley at Iosepa and during the dedication for Hilda Erickson.
• Another highlight would have been the time he was asked to speak about the Polynesian Community of Iosepa in the Assembly Hall on Tablernacle Square.  There were hundreds of descendents from Iosepa in attendance.
• Winning the Salt Lake Tribune “No Champs” Tennis Tournament.  He played in it several years before winning the coveted trophy.
• A major highlight in his life would be his involvement in the SUP where he was one of the charter members of their chapter.  He was the president twice, he was the National Vice President over monuments which George talked about.  He was also asked to be the National President, but declined feeling that his health wasn’t up to it.  Like I said, it was a choice activity in their life.
• Another highlight was that Mom and Dad were chosen as Outstanding Couple by the National Organization of the Sons of Utah Pioneers in 1991 for their involvement in the chapter and in their community.  They were awarded this honor at the national convention.

A funny story about dad’s involvement in the SUP:  While he was working on the Hilda Erickson project, he was so involved and he talked about Hilda all the time, I started calling her, “The other woman.”  He thought that was pretty funny too and started referring to her as such.  Well for some holiday, his birthday or Father’s Day, I had a t-shirt made for him as a joke.  I thought he would just think it was funny and never wear it, but he thought it was great advertisement.  He wore it all the time.  I told him jokingly Tuesday night before he passed away that maybe Hilda would even be there. He laughed and said, yea, maybe she would.

You could always tease Dad and have fun with him.  He and his friend, Ferrell Stewart had been deputized in the Senior Patrol for the Tooele County Sherriff and enjoyed taking a weekly drive out somewhere in Tooele County to monitor the roads. If they happened upon anyone in trouble, they could radio in to the dispatcher for help.  I told him that if he saw any trouble, he and Ferrell would run like Barney Fife.  So from them on he called his patrols, “Barney Fiffin’.”  He would say, “I’m going Barney Fiffin’ tomorrow.”

I am so grateful to have had such a fine man as an example in my life.  He taught me so many things, but mostly he loved me so much.  Like the inscription on my parent's headstone says, I was blessed to belong to a loving and loyal family.  Families are part of God's plan for us on this earth.  I am grateful He sent me to be part of the Rosenberg family.

When I was little, my dad would pay me a dollar whenever I sang in public.  I'm not such a good singer anymore, but this song says what I feel about my dad.  So this is for you Dad: 

(I sang the song, “My Daddy Reminds Me”)

I lived with my Heavenly Father

Before I was sent to the earth.

But I cannot remember the sound of His voice.

For that was forgotten at birth.

But Daddy when your arm’s around me

And I feel so safe in your love

I wonder do I hear in your voice

A sound like my Father above.

I lived with my Heavenly Father

Before I was sent to the earth.

But I cannot remember the look in His eyes

For that was forgotten at birth.

But Daddy when I look in your eyes

I seem to recall how it was.

God gave me a dear earthly father

So I would remember His love.

God gave me a dear earthly father

So I would remember His love.