(Before he was married) 

I, Mabel Marietta Hancock Hartley, wife of Ernest Hartley, am writing this short account of my husband’s life that I remember. I can’t seem to glean much from his two sisters and one brother that are still alive. 

Ernest was born in Rockland, Idaho, 13 May 1894. He was the tenth child of thirteen children. Richard, the oldest, is still living at this writing, January 1978 and is 93 years old. Olive and Amanda are also alive. Charles, Anna, Millie, Clarence, Elva, and a still-born baby named Kathryn, preceded him in death. 

His grandfather came from England, crossed the plains by ox team and settled in Bountiful. His grandfather was a stone cutter and for many years worked on the Salt Lake Temple. He died from inflammation of the lungs from the dust of stone cutting. Two of Ernest’s uncles and his father moved from their home in Bountiful as young men settling in Landing, Idaho, and later moved into the town of Rockland. They were among the first people to settle the valley. 

I cannot glean very much about Ernest’s childhood, only that he was such a tease that he always had the rest of the family in an uproar. So when his mother and father went to conference in Salt Lake, Ernest always got to go with them. They used to stay in Bountiful with Ernest’s aunt. She had a lot of white turkeys. So when she went to the outside “toilet” that they had in those days, Ernest always had to go with her and stand outside the door. 

Ernest graduated from the 8th grade in Rockland, Idaho. He and his brother, Clarence, bought a ranch in Malad while they were very young and moved there. Their father paid $1,000 as a down payment on the ranch. In as much as Clarence, Ernest, and Olive lived in Malad, their folks sold their home and farm in Rockland and bought a home in Malad. However, the buyer of their property in Rockland couldn’t meet the payments, so Ernest’s mother and father had to go back to Rockland and they remained there the rest of their lives. 

Ernest and Clarence lived in the little log cabin on the ranch, with the mice, doing their own cooking, washing, etc. Ernest was always a good cook. They rode horses to school. When Clarence got married, he sold his share of the ranch to Ernest. That ranch was not entirely paid for until after we got married. Being single, I guess the responsibility of getting it paid off wasn’t too important. He said, however, that for many years wheat was only 25 cents a bushel. He later moved in with Olive and Dewey on their ranch and when they moved to town. Olive became a second mother to him. 

After high school, Ernest attended BYU College in Logan for a short time. Ernest liked electrical work and at first it was a hobby, but later it grew into his life’s work. He wired many buildings in Malad and Samaria. He wired nearly every church in the Stake and the Stake Building and many more including our own home. In fact, he built our home with the exception of the brick laying. 

I had known who Ernest was most of my life, but as he was 12 years older than me, our paths didn’t cross until later. I always danced with him at the Saturday night dances. 

He worked some at Horsley’s store and as Ern Horsley had only one eye, Ernest drove the Horsley family back to the Chicago World’s Fair and other Eastern cities. The Horsleys bought a new car in Detroit, Michigan. This was in 1933, a year before we were married. Ernest had a “stud” English car. It had the steering wheel on the left side and he was quite the guy. It was a sports model, no top, and he was always taking the girls for rides. If we even had a fender of that car now, it would be worth a great deal of money. Our courtship is in “My Story”, also his Canadian romance. 

After marriage, paramount in Ernest’s life was his family. He loved little children and took full charge of them when our grandchildren came to visit. He loved to put them on his shoulder and “burp” them after feeding. 

He held many church positions including counselor in the MIA and Ward clerk for 14 years. He was set apart for Ward clerk the day Diane was born. He was a Sunday School teacher, Home teacher, and he and I served a Stake Mission. He was a member of the Lion’s Club and served as their secretary for a long time. He went to Sun Valley with the Lions many times. 

He had an ulcer all his life but cancer was the cause of his death after two long years of suffering and two operations. He died 20 September 1968. His funeral was a great source of comfort. Bishop Lon Corbridge officiated. Prelude and postlude by Trudy Ward. Invocation, Gordon Griffiths, obituary by Hartley Fredrickson. Speakers: Jess Hughes and LaMar Thomas. Organ melodies: Mrs. Dean Almond. Remarks: Lon Corbridge. Benediction, Joe Williams. Casket bearers: Dewey Fredrickson, Don Hancock, Kenneth Hartley, Carl Isaacson, Buster  

Thornhill, Ora Walker. Honorary pallbearers: Malad Stake High Priests. His son, Donald Ernest Hartley, dedicated the grave. 

Ernest was a good man who endured to the end. I am happy he is the father of our fine family. My greatest desire is that we will live to meet him when we are called to the “other side.”