Life History of Hilda Rhodes Forrest

I was born August 11, 1902 to Harriet Stewart and Alonzo D. Rhodes in Lehi, Utah. I remember my parents as being kind, loving and hard workers, and I loved them very much.

I was the twelfth and last child born in our family. At the time I was born my older brothers, Alva, John and Jasper were farmers and lived with their wives and families in northern Box Elder County (Garland) and my sister Julia Beck lived in San Diego, California (she also died there in later years). My oldest sister, Lydia Pryor and other sisters Prudence and Hattie and a brother Clifton, all passed away before my birth. I grew up in the family home with my sister Marvel and two brothers Hugh and Jesse.

My father’s family came from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and my mother’s family came from San Bernardino, California.

My father was a farmer who grew grain on a large dry farm and sugar beets on irrigated farms in the Lehi area. My two brothers, Hugh and Jesse, worked with our father. It was the custom to work with other neighbors in operating their farms and I remember very well, Jay Cox, Lee Stewart and Ben Lott who worked with my father. Ben and Abigail Lott were very dear to me — their daughter, Mary, had a small library in her home and she would loan books to me. I believe this started my great love for books and I have often been told that I would hide so I could enjoy reading.

My Lehi friends played an important part in my happy childhood. I remember spending a great deal of my time with Ernest and Annie Webb, the A. B. Anderson family whose daughter Mary was a close friend of mine and there were many others.

As a child I was interested in everything but I especially loved to study history. I would read everything I could find and all through my life I have been very careful with books and magazines to preserve them. My children grew up in our home knowing they could not tear any magazines or throw them away. My daughter, Barbara Jean, still recalls the cabinets and drawers filled with good magazines and books saved for the time when I might have an illness that would permit me to “catch up” on my reading. This time came when I was .about 71 years old and broke my leg and I was confined for many months cading and crocheting.

I played the cornet in our school band and also loved to play the family “pump organ”. I remember swimming in the millpond on my family’s farm. I also love to remember the large willow trees by our family home — I played in them when I was a child and my children played in them when we took them to visit Grandma and Grandpa Rhodes. These trees are still standing and I like to think of them as symbols of the great family heritage I have - strong and able to withstand the day by day struggle with life.

My brother Hugh took me on a horse to the tabernacle in Lehi to be baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon). I had turned eight in August but was not baptized until just a day or so before Christmas and I’ll never forget how cold it was.

I remember the kitchen in our family home with the large woodburning stove on which all our meals were cooked. We had a smaller room to the side of the kitchen and our refrigerator in there was a large “sink type” table that had running cold water in it to keep the food cold — it was a treat to go in there and take the cream from the pans of milk. Mother worked constantly trying to cook and sew for her family — our breakfasts were a special treat with large biscuits that were delicious. There was a wooden sofa in the kitchen and my father spent most of the time he was in the house sitting in that sofa whittling. Mother and Father were gentle and loving and had deep concern for their family. When Mother became quite old her eyesight failed and when we visited with our children she would always have to “feel” their legs to make cure they had on long stockings.

I met Robert Wilson Forrest during my senior year in high school. I was a receptionist for the city and we greeted and arranged the party for the 145th Field Artillery Band when they visited Lehi. Bill was on the band’s fund raising trip in Utah from Camp Kearney, California. We met in July, 1918 and then corresponded for about a year while Bill served in France during World War I. Bill proposed on our first date and we planned for marriage after the war was over. The war ended on November 11, 1918 and Bill came home in January 1919. We were married on November 5, 1919 in the Salt Lake Temple by Joseph Fielding Smith.

We first lived in an apartment in Brigham City. This was located on main street across from the Merrill Lumber Company — this company is still in business at this writing. We lived in this apartment for three months.

We purchased our first home for $1,100.00 and it was located between 5th and 6th South on 3rd West. We loved this home and our first two children, Bob and Lela, were born there. Our neighbors: The Walter Eliasons, James Stokes, Hyrum Mortensons, Ephraim Wights and Cliff Rogers were wonderful friends and we spent many happy times together. This home is still there and we love to drive by and show it to our children and grandchildren.

We built a home on 1st North and 3rd East in 1924 and our last three children, Barbara Jean and twins Dee and Don, were born there. Not one of our children w~5 born in a hospital. The three older children remember this family home with great love and pride. We were all active in the First Ward and had such wonderful friends and neighbors. Our next door neighbors, Cora and Ace Robinette and their children Shelley and Bruce, were especially close to us. Rhoda Nelson lived in their home as one of their family and when she was about 16 years old she was killed in an automobile accident —this was a tragedy deeply felt by our family as well as theirs. Other neighbors I remember with great affection are the families of Tom ~1athias (Sarah and Laura), John Reeves, Peter Baird, Moroni Jensen, Andy Pathakis, Mary Olson, Thomas Young, Grandma Jensen and her granddaughter Marie, and Zina and Ada Jensen.

I have often thought how wonderful it would be if we could go back to this time in our lives when our children were all with us. I remember the family going together to fish in the river and how excited our children were when they caught the large carp. We would sit for hours, eating black licorice sticks, and fishing even though we threw the fish back in because they weren’t good to eat. I recall the many times Lela and Barbara went shopping with me and the fun I had teaching them to cook and sew. I can still see Bill sitting at the piano with the children. Music was so important to him and he would tap out the rhythm to make sure they got it right. I remember Bob planning his many hunting trips and also how much he loved my family in Lehi and spending time during the summers working on their farm. I remember the mischief Dee and Don got into and the time Dee broke his arm on our swing set while I was at Primary.

We had family traditions that mean so much to all of us. When the children lost a tooth they would find “satin sticks” from the tooth fairy under their pillow in the morning. Bill and I bought these at the “Hollywood” — a restaurant in Brigham City —and we always had a good supply on hand. Santa Claus always stopped at our home on New Year’s Eve on his way back to the North Pole and left sacks of fruit, nuts and candy that he had left over. I would sew for months to get ready for Christmas and my girls always received a complete new wardrobe—I especially remember making pleated skirts for them because they took so much time. I sewed at night so everything would be a surprise.

Saturday was housecleaning day at our home. We really looked forward to this because we had treats as we worked — candy and cookies — and Lela and Barbara and I always worked together cleaning one room at a time and then moving together to the next room.

Our Heavenly Father didn’t plan for life to stand still. We have had many heartaches along with our great happiness and He prepared us for the events as they came along.

We lived in our home at 122 North 3rd East from 1924 to 1942. Our oldest daughter, Lela, became ill with leukemia in 1940 and during the two years she lived, our Bishop, Harold Nelson and his Counselor, Glen Bennion and our Stake President, John P. Lillywhite, were constant visitors to give us help and encouragement. Lela passed away on May 12, 1942.

We moved to our present home at 239 North 6th East in August 1942. Our oldest son, Bob, went into the service in 1942, leaving before we had moved from our home 1st North and 3rd East. He came home on furlough and saw his new family home before he left to go overseas. The family still remembers when he “buzzed” our home — coming from the mountains to the east of our home as he was headed for Salt Lake. 1-Ic was the pilot of a C—47 transport plane. Bob stayed home on this furlough with his family for just overnight on his way to the South Pacific. He left from Hill Air Force Base in Ogden for service in the battlezone during World War II. He was on his 43rd mission (having volunteered for ‘that many because a furlough was granted after 43 missions) when he was killed in Australia. He ~‘as buried in Brisbane at that time, but his body was brought home for burial in the family plot in 1947. Bob had met a lovely young lady, Pat Decker, ‘from Fort Wayne, Indiana and she visited often in our home after his death. Pat is married now and has children but she is very thoughtful to us and we hear from her at Christmas time.

Our new home at 239 North 6th East was a two family home. When we first bought it the Moskowitz family lived in the upstairs and our family lived in the basement apartment. We lived like this for about a year and then our family moved upstairs. During World War II there was a housing shortage in Brigham City and with Bushnell General Hospital being in our city many servicemen were looking for apartments. We rented the downstairs apartment during this time to help these servicemen. I worked in the PX in the hospital during the war and became very close to many of these servicemen and their wives and families.

We had a great deal more property in this new location and the entire family joined in as we planted gardens and raised livestock. It was may job to harvest the strawberries each year and I spent many hard hours working at this. Our home and property continued to grow more beautiful each year as the shrubbery and flowers grew — we are very proud of our place.

I have always loved working in the church auxiliaries. My first positions were in the Primary with my small children. I served as a Primary teacher for many years, was Primary President in our Ward for 5 years and then was Stake Primary President for 12 years. I had a continuous record of over 30 years service in the Primary Organization and I’m very proud of a certificate from the General Board recognizing this achievement. I served under the following General Church Presidents: Joseph Fielding Smith, Heber J. Grant and David 0. McKay. Sister LaVerne Parmley was General Primary President during part of this time. I was the first Stare Primary President in the Box Elder Stake when it was divided from the North Box Elder Stake. The places I directed were: Willard, Mantua, Harper Ward, Honeyville, Bear River City, Corinne, the Evans Branch and four Brigham City Wards. I still love to visit these areas and see friends made during this time. We enjoyed many Primary conventions held in Salt Lake City and also had many social events such as lawn parties at my home.

I was called along with Margaret Wilson, Anna Tingey, Pearl Arbon and Alda Call to start the Primary program at the Intermountain Indian School here in Brigham City. -Brother Boyd Packer, who is now an apostle, was our supervisor and this was truly a wonderful opportunity for me. The Primary started with just 11 children and built up to over 50 in just a very short time. This program was considered very successful and I am thankful to have had a part in it.

I was released from my Primary responsibilities and called to serve in the Relief Society. I taught the Social Relations classes in my Ward and was also Work Director, a position that took a great deal of my time but one I loved. I was Stake Magazine Director for about 12 years and our Stake was always on the General Board Honor roll for a high percentage of subscriptions. The magazine was discontinued in 1970 so I was released from that position. I have been a visiting teacher for most of my married life.

I was chosen by the American Legion Auxiliary to be a Counselor for “Girls State”. This was held at Utah State University in Logan, Utah end I did this for four years. I really enjoyed this opportunity to be with a select group of girls from our state chosen from their high schools and made lasting friendships with many of them.

I have always been active in the civic organizations of Brigham City. I served as President of the Civic Club and also President of the American ‘Legion Auxiliary as well as holding other offices in these clubs throughout the years. I was very active in the P.T.A. organization of the schools when our children were school age and was instrumental in helping the school lunch program get started in Brigham City. Our daughter, Barbara, still remembers how embarrassed she was when one off the cafeteria personnel called out to her in the cafeteria line and said she would have to phone me to see why the tomato soup curdled.

Our daughter, Barbara, was the first one of our children to marry and we had a beautiful reception for them in our home after their temple marriage. I traveled by bus to Fort Collins, Colorado to help when their first daughter was born - this was quite an experience for me because I had never traveled that far alone. I also went to Laramie, Wyoming and Phoenix, Arizona when their boys were born. Lynn and Barbara were very grateful for my help and I loved being with them.

Dee and Judy and Don and Cheryl have had their children in Utah and I have been privileged to be close to them when they have been born. Bill and I really love our 18 grandchildren and look with pride upon their accomplishments.

Bill and I celebrated our 50th Wedding Anniversary in November, 1969. We had a lovely open house in the Relief Society room of our Ward and it was attended by about 300 friends and family members. Dee and Judy, Don and Cheryl and Lynn and Barbara were there with their children and it was truly a memorable occasion. We’re now looking forward to our 60th anniversary in November, 1979.

I have been blessed with the ability and love for doing hand work of all kinds; crocheting, sewing, knitting, appliquéing, quilting, leather tooling, needlepoint, embroidery, etc. Our home and our children’s homes are filled with things I have made. Each one of my children and grandchildren has an afghan I have crocheted for them. am so grateful to have good eyesight that has permitted me to do this hand work and to be able to read for my own enjoyment and also to read to Bill whose eyesight is failing.

At the time of this writing — Summer 1976 — Bill and I are enjoying our home, children and grandchildren and our many wonderful friends. Bill just celebrated his 80th birthday with an open house in our backyard. Approximately 250 friends and family members attended and they were served cake and ice cream as they reminisced about the many happy times they had had together. He was proud to receive flowers, from both Brigham City banks and also the city florists. He also received a personal congratulatory letter from our congressman, Gunn McKay and others.

My family history would not be complete if I didn’t mention the friends who, through the years have been loyal and thoughtful in every way possible and I love them for this: Jane Clark and Mabel Christensen who have passed’ away, Birdie Smith, Leona Wright, Fern Brown, Alda Ferry and Esther Watkins.

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