William Talbot - Grandfather of Isabell Church Cooper

I recently obtained a very long history on the life of William Talbot.  I wrote a blog entry about his wife, Charlotte Emily Newman Talbot, but I had not written about William Talbot's life except his involvement in the Quilt Walk.  I was very excited to obtain this long history because it includes events of his early years and his conversion to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Wiliam Talbot was born on September 21, 1825 in the village of Ashmonsworth, England to Thomas and Lydia Skull Talbot.  His father was a very strict, devout and religious man, and taught his children to believe and read the Bible.  When William was a small boy, his father would make him stay in the house and read the Bible on a Sunday afternoon, rather than let him go out of doors and play with the other boys, which he resented very much.  He left his father's home and went to work for a man named Bradford, in the district of Kingsclear.  Bradford was very mean and used to beat him very severely for a mere nothing.  Later in the year he worked for a Mr. Thomas Higgs whom he liked very well and who said many times he was the best boy he ever had.

Though he had been taught to read the Bible and thought it was good, after getting away from his strict father, he did not read it very much and took up the pleasures of the world.  He would rather go and get a pot or two of beer and sit and sing until a late hour, and sometimes he got pretty drunk.

In the year 1848, he believed a great deal through the prayers of his father, it pleased the Lord to bring him to his senses, by making him very ill with typhoid fever.  When he was stricken with the fever, he weighed nearly 200 lbs, and was very strong.   In a short time, he was brought down to a mere skeleton and was afraid his bones were going to come through his skin.  He was as helpless as a baby and had to be lifted in and out of bed.  He then realized what a poor weak mortal he was, and that he was not fit to die.  The doctor said it was impossible for him to recover, and his friends thought he would surely die.  But he said he still had a spark of faith in the Almighty, and with what little strength he possessed, he prayed to his Heavenly Father with all the earnestness of his soul to be restored to health.  He promised the Lord if He would be so merciful, he would serve Him all the days of his life.  The Lord heard his humble petition and answered his prayer.  He was restored to health and said he never again had any desire for the pleasures of the world.  His greatest desire was to serve the Lord with all his heart.  He was so terribly weak from having the fever, it took a long time to gain his strength, but as soon as he was able to sit up, he began to read the Bible with a prayerful heart.

He said that he soon decided that if the Bible was to be a guide for people, very few were guided by it.  He believed the Bible to be a divine record, and if we believed that, we ought to live by it.  In the New Testament, he read Paul's epistles to the Ephesians that there is to be one body, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism.  William found by going to the different churches that they all had a different form of worship, a different faith, a different baptism, and many of them didn't believe in baptism at all.  Many of them had a different concept of God.  He felt very badly upon discovering all these things, and he was bout to give up in despair.

The day of January 27, 1850 was a day he would never forget.  He was living about a mile from the town of Gospert, Hants, England.  It was a Sunday, and he had prayed very earnestly to his Father in Heaven that He would give satisfaction to his soul that day, and his prayers were answered.  After breakfast, he and a boy about 14 years old went to Gospert.  Shortly after entering the town, they saw a newly printed poster on a large door which opened into an alley.  The sign advertised that the Latter-Day Saints had a meeting room in the alley and that both priest and people were invited to come and hear the gospel preached as it was preached by Jesus and his Apostles.  He was struck with amazement, because he had heard that this people denied the Bible altogether and professed to have a new Bible that some fellow in America had dug up under a rock.  He had heard many bad tales about them, and to think that they could preach the gospel as Jesus and his Apostles, and deny the Bible seemed preposterous to him.

He turned away and walked about a half mile through the town and entered a meeting house of another sect.  He never knew what sect it was, because as he entered it, the Spirit of the Lord whispered and told him to go and listen to the Latter-Day Saints.  He ran back with all of the speed he could muster for fear he would miss the commencement.  He was however, in time and instead of hearing from a new Bible, he heard the gospel preached as recorded in the New Testament.  He was promised if he would embrace it, he should know of himself if it was of God or not, and if he was a true believer, the same signs would follow him as did the former Saints.

He said that he embraced it all with his heart and could boldly testify that he did know of a surety that it was the work of God.  He said that during his life he saw the sick healed by the anointing of oil and the prayer of faith and laying-on of hands.  He saw many other things which he considered miracles.  He was baptized on February 18, 1850.

He married Charlotte Emily Newman on October 12, 1850.  Charlotte did not yet belong to the Church.  Shortly after their marriage, she was taken ill and dreamed if she was not baptized that very day she would die.  Charlotte told her husband about her dream and he related it to Elder Ward.  After dark that night the two men carried her some distance to a beautiful little lake and there baptized her.  When she came out of the water, she was instantly healed and walked in her wet clothes to Brother Ward's home several miles away.  There she changed her clothes, ate a good supper and walked home.  She never had a cause to doubt the gospel she had embraced. They remained in their native land until the year 1854.  In December of that year they sailed for America.  They sailed from Liverpool with their two small children, Orson and Mark.

The British Saints had been scheduled to sail to America on the ship “Helios” which was set to sail from Liverpool on November 23, 1854.  During the night there was a storm and the ship was damaged when a small ship called a ‘brig’ collided with the “Helios” breaking the ship’s bulwarks.  The passengers had to find lodging until they could board another ship.  They spent about two months in Liverpool with poor living conditions and a scanty diet until the health of many people had deteriorated.  They finally left Liverpool on January 17, 1855 on a clipper ship, the “Charles Buck” with 403 members of the Church. 

Many of the members of the Church were coming to America with the aid of the Church's Perpetual Immigration Fund, the debt being worked off by the recipient once they arrived.  The Church would charter ships for large groups of church members and would stock the ship with provisions for those people.  The provisions stocked on the "Helios" had been described as "excellent and unusually comfortable and a liberal amount."  When they had to leave the "Helios," the provisions were withheld from them by the captain of the ship.  He instead provided them with raw oatmeal, course biscuit, a little rice and flour.  After sailing for about six weeks they began to run out of supplies and the passengers were placed on short allowance of provisions.  This was two weeks before their arrival in New Orleans.  For several days many of the Saints had nothing to eat but oatmeal cakes or porridge, and for three days only two quarts of water was served out to each passenger.  The Talbot history describes the trip as a very rough voyage with much storm.  During this ocean voyage Charlotte and her infant child were very sick.  She was not able to sit up or take care of her baby.

After a very long and trying voyage they landed in St. Louis on the morning of March 14, 1855.  Orson turned three years old the day they landed in St. Louis.  A few days after landing the baby (8 mos), Mark died.  The Saints were very kind and helpful during their journey and also during their sorrowing days in St. Louis.  William then became very ill which prevented them from continuing their journey to Salt Lake.  Many of the passengers of the ship came down with cholera.  They were not in very good condition after having to spend several months in poor living conditions in Liverpool, then without sufficient nutrition on their voyage.  Their weakened physical state probably left them vulnerable to the cholera.  The Saints continued to be kind and helpful to the Talbots which they were more than thankful for.  They felt that on their departure from St. Louis, they were leaving many good, kind, friends, and their kindness was never forgotten.

As soon as possible they started, to cross the plains with an ox team and met many obstacles along the way.  When they arrived in Fort Bridger, nearly everything they owned was burned.  Can you imagine this loss; losing all they owned after all the previous trials of the journey? 


They arrived in Salt Lake in the fall of 1855, the year of the cricket menace, when there was but little raised to sustain life.  Roots were dug to eat and to pay rent.  William spent three days trying to spend fifteen cents for something to eat, but could not get anything.  Heber C. Kimball had a little flour which he rationed out as far as it would go.  Families received a cup of flour a day.


In the year of 1856 they were called to Parowan, Iron County, whey they farmed for a Bishop William Darne.  A small house was built in March, 1857, this was their first home since leaving England.  Daughter Lydia was born on March 19, 1857.  Another daughter was born in Parowan.  Rhoda Jane was born on August 26, 1858 and died two days later on the 28^th. 

William and Charlotte must have made the trip to Salt Lake to do their temple work, because records show that they were endowed and sealed on October 15, 1859 in the Endowment House.

In the fall of 1860, a call came for them to settle Dixie.  Charlotte had just given birth to Thomas on March 6 of that year.  They willingly left their little home and obeyed the call.  Stores were very scarce in those days, so when traveling, William would make a torch out of bark.  He would get a lot of cedar bark about two feet long and wrap it tightly with other bark.  Just before starting, he would light one end of the torch, carry and swing it all day, and at night, would light the fire and then put out the torch until time to start again in the morning.  Matches were also scarce, so he sometimes used two flints which he could rub together to start a fire.

At the beginning of the journey the weather was good, but on reaching Hamilton Fort, it started to rain and continued raining for days.  The water was so thick it was like mud.  Their drinking water had to be hauled for some distance which was no easy task.  The children suffered much at times for a drink.  The rain subsided after a few days and the journey was continued as far as Kanarra where it again began to rain so hard that it was impossible to travel down the Black Ridge, so the family remained in Kanarra for the winter.


Spring came with Charlotte in poor health.  William wrote a letter to the First Presidency of the Church telling them their condition and asked if they still wished them to go on.  The answer was no, that they had made the sacrifice and was now at liberty to settle where it suited them best.


The family went back as far as Cedar City, Iron County, and lived there for a short time.  Their son, William, was born on June 16, 1862.  Afterwards they moved to Summit, Iron County where their last daughter, Charlotte Emily (our ancestor) was born on Jan 4, 1864.

In March 1864, they were called with a company of others to settle Panguitch which was then a part of Iron County.  When they arrived in Paragonah, they were told that the Indians were on the war path so people were not allowed to travel over Bear Valley without a company.  They had a week layover in Paragonah waiting for a company of people to form.  They continued their journey and upon arriving in Panguitch, they found the people in very poor circumstances.  The first year was cold and crops froze before reaching maturity.  They had very little flour.  Wheat was boiled and also pig weeds.  Wheat was ground between two flat stones to make mush.  Charlotte had a few potatoes which she divided with her neighbors.  Some of the children were so hungry, they would get the potato peelings out of the pig's swill buckets and eat them.  There was very little food raised the first year and not too much the second year.
 

The winter of 1864-65 was extremely cold and the snow was deep.  The nearest settlements to obtain supplies were either 115 miles to the north in Gunnison, or 40 miles west over Bear Valley.  Seven men volunteered to go to Parowan to get flour and food for the starving colony.  The seven men were:  William Talbot, Alexander Matheson, Thomas Richards, Jesse Lowder, John Butler, Thomas Adair, and John Paul Smith.

The snow was so deep; they had to abandon their 2 yoke of oxen and light wagon at the head of Bear Valley.  They proceeded on foot often breaking through the snow's crust.  The story told in a journal by Alexander Matheson says that the men held a prayer circle.  They were kneeling on quilts on the snow when they discovered that they did not sink into the snow.  The men put one quilt down on the snow and walked to the end of it.  Then they would place another quilt down and retrieve the first quilt.  In doing this relay, the men made it over the mountain to Parowan and obtained flour to take home to the starving settlers.  The return trip was even harder because they had to carry the supplies back over the mountain. 

The following information was recorded by Alexander Matheson:  "We decided that if we had faith as big as a mustard seed, we could make it and bring flour to our staving families.  So we began the quilt-laying in prayerful earnestness.  The return trip was harder with the weight of the flour, but we finally made it to our wagon and oxen and on the way home with thankfulness to the Lord for his goodness.  The whole settlement welcomed us, because we had been gone longer than expected.  There had been prayers, tears, and fears which turned to rejoicing and cheers."  William was 39 years old at the time of the "Quilt Walk."

The "Quilt Walk" Memorial Bronze statue In Panguitch

More trouble began with the Indians in the area, and it was not long until the people had to leave their crops and all that had been done to settle Panguitch.  The settlement was abandoned in 1866. 
    

A call came to go to Circleville to help strengthen that settlement.  The meeting house was given to William for his quarters.  A number of families lived together there.  They only stayed in Circleville one week.  A number of families were going to Parowan with their grists to the flour mill.  William and his family went with them where they stayed that summer.  They then moved to Beaver where they lived until 1879.


They must have lived in Escalante, Utah at some point because the 1880 US Census says that they lived there with three  of their children:  Thomas (20), William (18), and Charlotte (16).

Once again they moved back to Panguitch and lived there the remainder of their days.  William and Charlotte Talbot were the parents of seven children, two died in infancy.   William was a farmer all his life.  The Quilt Walk Memorial in Panguitch also states that he was a wagon maker.  They had a home in Panguitch and a farm.  It is presumed that they lived on the farm during the summer months and moved into town for winter.  William wrote many letters to relatives and friends in England trying to convert them to the Church.  His parents had joined the Church before he left England.  He was a devout Latter-Day Saint and preached many a fine sermon in his letters.


Charlotte Emily Newman died on December 15, 1892.  Charlotte's obituary says that she suffered from paralysis for over 40 years before she passed away.  William died six months later on June 16, 1893.  They are both buried in the Panguitch Cemetery.  

Picture courtesy of Linda Olsen on FindaGrave

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.

Happy Birthday Mom

Today would have been my mom's 82nd birthday.  I wanted to share the talk I gave in her funeral.  I lost my original copy, so I had to transcribe it from a recording made during the funeral.

(Before my talk, Jimmy Cooper (nephew) sang “The Wind Beneath My Wings,” and Kirsten Rosenberg (granddaughter) sang “Somewhere Over The Rainbow.”)

That was one of my mom’s favorite songs.  She played it on the piano all the time.  I would like to thank my cousin Jimmy for his song.  He is a truck driver and he drove clear from California to sing that song today.  My mom made her wishes known of the things she would like in her funeral, and she wanted a lot of music.  She wanted Jimmy to sing that song and it would have made her so happy to hear her granddaughters sing today in her funeral.

She asked that I would speak.  Anyone that knows me knows that I don’t like to speak, I would rather sing. With singing, you know the words and the music, and once you start to sing, you can usually get through it.

I feel it is an honor to say a few things about my mom. I hope that I am able to tell you the things that I would like to say about her because she is someone that I admired and loved so much.  If there is anyone I would like to be like it is my mother.

Whenever someone dies we talk about their good qualities and the things we admire about them. I’d like to take this one step further and say, what is something we can learn from the life of Faye Rosenberg?  I have written down a few things.

Be happy

Love others

Love your family

I’m going to begin by telling you something about my mom that many of you probably don’t know.  I think it is something that shaped her character and made her to be the caring, loving person that she was. When she was ten years old, she became lame and it was discovered that she had a hip disease called Perthese.  This disease is a deterioration of the hip joint and it causes limping and pain.  For a period of about five years she went through many kinds of treatment.  She was bedridden at times, she was in traction for awhile, and for a time when she was bed ridden, she had a full body cast from her chest down to her toes.  All this time she was on crutches and was not allowed to walk.  She also wasn’t able to go to school, she was home with her mother.  She wrote in her own words about this time,  “This was a very hard time for me, but now as I look back on it, what a privilege it was to spend time with my dear mother.  She and I had lots of fun together, she taught me to sing, also to play the piano, to sew, and she taught me all my school subjects in 6^th grade.  I loved my mom dearly.  I like the saying of President Lincoln, ”For all that I am or ever hope to be I owe it to my angel mother.” She gave her all to me throughout my entire life.  Faith of my mother and my family played a great part in my ever walking again.”

I like this saying too.

On her last visit to the specialist in Salt Lake City, the doctor told her she might never walk again.  When she returned to her hometown of Panguitch, she had a Priesthood blessing and she was promised that she would walk again, and that she would become a mother in Zion.

Little by little she began the process of learning to walk again, first by getting rid of one crutch and then the other.  Her brother also encouraged her to walk.   He  was a World War II soldier serving in Europe.  He told her that when he came home again he wanted to see her walking.

My dad told me a story about this time in her life.  My mom went to dance with her mother.  She was about 14 years old and this was her first grown up dance.  She was sitting on a bench with her mother and a young man that was a friend of hers came up to her and asked her if she would like to dance.  She put the crutch under her bench and stood up.  With the help of this friend she danced for the first time in her life since she was a little girl. She leaned on him, and with his assistance she was able to dance.  She wrote what a thrill it was for her to be part of life once more.

She was able to walk again without crutches but her hip limited her activities the rest of her life.  I know that her hip caused her pain, but she seldom complained about that.  Her hip eventually deteriorated to the point that she had to have hip replacement surgery.   She dealt with not being able to do many physical things her whole life.  She suffered and she had a lot of pain, but she rarely complained. She was hardly ever irritable because of her condition. She had a lot of other health problems too, but she endured all this with dignity and with very little complaining.

I think the fact that she was handicapped part of her life shaped her character into being the caring and loving person that she was.  She felt compassion for people that were in similar circumstances. 

I remember whenever we were some place and she saw someone who was crippled, she would stop to talk to them and was always kind.  Whenever she saw someone in a wheelchair, she stopped to have some kind words for them and sometimes if the situation was right, she encouraged them to have faith that they might walk again. She taught me to have compassion for people who were in those situations and to never make fun of someone that was crippled. She had compassion for anyone that was suffering in any way.

 

My mother was a very happy person and she was a very fun person to be around. She had a great sense of humor. I wish I could repeat some of the stories she told and the funny things she did, but I wouldn’t do them justice.  So many people I have talked to the last few days have repeated the fun times they had with her.  She was the life of the party and she liked it that way.

My friends were always welcome in our home.  She loved them and they loved her.  She liked to make people laugh. It wasn’t hard to love my mom because she always made you feel good.

One of the things she loved most in life was music.  I remember Mom once saying she couldn’t imagine a world without music in it.

I remember spending many hours at the side of the piano singing while my mom played the piano for me.  She was always singing or humming a song.  Early in her life she began singing duets in programs.  Sometimes she sang with her sister or a friend, sometimes her mother or her brother.  She sang with the group The Joy Singers.  I asked one of them how long they sang together and they said about 20 years.  Singing gave her a lot of joy and satisfaction in her life.

Anyone who lived near her they could probably hear her playing the piano almost on a daily basis. They could probably hear her playing in the afternoon for hours.  As I mentioned before, her mother taught her to play the piano.  She wasn’t an accomplished pianist but she had a beautiful touch. Another gift that she had was that she could “play by ear.”  I thought she was a beautiful pianist, and whenever I sang, she was my choice for a pianist.  I can’t tell you how many times she played that piano as my accompanist and I stood next to it singing in a program or in sacrament meeting in this chapel. The first time I sang I was 4 years old. 

She played the piano in the Primary and in Relief Society for years. Music was something that gave her a lot of enjoyment.  She loved to go to musical programs especially if her grandchildren were in them.

It seems to me as I look back on the memory my mom, that she was almost always happy.  She was seldom grouchy or mad.  It is so nice to be around that kind of person.  Even when she didn’t feel well, she was always good natured.  What a wonderful quality to have.

There were some hardships my mother went through.  We lost my brother in an car accident when he was 21.  That was a really hard thing for her to get over.  I think if it hadn’t been for music and the Joy Singers, and her job at West Elementary that she might not have made it though that time.

Another thing I’d like to tell you about my mom was how she loved others.  She was always kind to other people.  She especially had an affection for people who were crippled and older people. She was really one of the most Christ-like people that I know.  In several instances when I was with her in the store and I saw her go up to someone who looked poor and she handed them some money and said you need this more than I do.  She was always calling on one of her many friends on the phone to visit, to give them some encouragement, to see how they were, or to cheer them up.

She loved to send cards to give someone a lift or to wish them happy birthday.  Just last month she sent out Thanksgiving cards to many of her family members, and tucked inside were pictures of her mother and father that we had recently found. She sent them because she thought that they would like to have them.  That’s how she was, always thoughtful. 

Because mom loved others they loved her.  This summer it was my honor to take my mother to Panguitch for her 60^th class reunion.  She hadn’t been well for several months before that and she wasn’t sure that she wanted to go.  But we told her it wasn’t every year that you have a 60^th class reunion.  When she arrived, all of her classmates came out to see her and they were so happy to see her.  They told her that they were so glad that she came.  It made her feel so good to know that she was loved. She came away from that weekend feeling that she was the queen of the ball.  I was so happy to be part of that happiness.  It was one of the best and most memorable trips that I’ve taken in a long time.  My mother was very loved in her hometown because she always made an effort to go see the people she cared about.

Part of loving others is being willing to forgive others.  Mom was a very forgiving person.  She was always willing to forgive someone who said something about her or to her.   She didn’t like to have disagreements with others.  I think that is a wonderful character trait.  One of my friends posted this on Facebook in memory of  Mom: “ I have learned that people will forget  what you said.  They will forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel.”

I would like to tell you about how my mom loved her family.  One of the things that she was proudest of in her life was her family. She was a loving wife, mother and grandmother.  I feel so blessed to have been her daughter, and to have been taught unconditional love by her.  She was an incredible example.  I hope I can learn to be as patient and loving as she has always been.  

We were very close partly because I was her only daughter. We were not only mother and daughter, we were friends. She supported me in everything I did.  I don’t believe that many mothers and daughters have that kind of relationship.  Our relationship began at an early age.  We always enjoyed doing things together. We talked on the phone nearly every day.  She was my confidant, my biggest fan. 

About 10 years ago my mom gave me a memory book.  It details things about her childhood and things about me growing up.  When she gave it to me I thought it was nice, and I hadn’t really looked at it a lot in the last ten years.  But now that she’s gone, it means so much to me.  I’m grateful that she made it for me. It was just like her to do something so thoughtful like that and I’ll treasure it always. I have read it since she died, and it really does mean so much to me.

My mom loved all her family.   She dearly loved her mother and she always did all that she could to help her even though she lived in Southern Utah.  She loved all her brothers and sisters and had a close relationship with all of them and was concerned about their welfare.  She always made an effort to visit them when she could.  She was especially close to her two sisters who are here at her funeral today.  She was close to her many nieces and nephews, and she kept in contact with her many extended family members.

There are a lot of people and family members who would be here today if it weren’t for the weather or the fact that they are out of town.  Family was important to mom. 

Mom was a wonderful grandmother.  She was so excited to become a grandmother and she was proud of her grandchildren's achievements and activities.  She loved to spend time with her them.   She loved to have them stay at her house.  If there was ever a proud, doting grandmother, it was my mom. I hope her grandchildren know how blessed they are to have such a loving grandmother in their life.

There were many people who said to me in the last week, “What a terrible time to have a death in the family.  I bet you had a terrible Christmas”.  My daughter said something to me that I would like to repeat:

She said that she thought that Christmas this year had been more meaningful.  Christmas is not about giving.  It’s not about spending time with family even though that’s important.  Christmas is not just about the birth of the Savior.  Christmas is about the Savior, and the Savior’s gift to us is gift of the Atonement. He died for us that we might be able to live again.  Without that we could not be together again.  That brings so much peace to me to know that I can see my Mom again. I’m grateful for that knowledge.

My mom might not have been a scripture master.  She might not have been the person in Sunday School who answered all the questions.  She might not have bore her testimony very often.  But by her example she showed how to live the gospel:  How to love others, how to forgive, how to be compassionate and what was important in life.  I saw her on her knees every night before she got into bed.  I know she’s happy now.  What a wonderful reunion it must have been on Christmas Eve being reunited with my brother, Lynn.

Lastly there’s a song that I think has an awesome message.  It wasn’t a favorite of mom’s but it is a favorite of mine and the words go like this:

I’ve heard it said that people come into our lives for a reason

Bringing something we must learn

And we are led to those who’ll help us most to grow

If we let them, and we help them in return.

Well I don’t know if I believe that’s true,

But I know I’m who I am today because I knew you.

Because I knew you I have been changed for good.

Well it may be that we will never meet again in this lifetime

So let me say before we part

So much of me is made of what I learned from you

You’ll be with me like a handprint on my heart.

And now whatever way our stories end

I know you have rewritten mine by being my friend.

Because I knew you, because I knew you

I have been changed for good.

You Left in Autumn

You left in Autumn 

The leaves were turning 

I walked down roads of orange and gold. 

I saw your sweet smile 

I heard your laughter 

You're still here beside me every day. 

‘Cause I know you by heart.*

Dave Moss - October 29, 2001

Don Rosenberg - October 19, 2010

*Words from a song called "I Know You By Heart" by Eva Cassidy