This is just a little of my life being Maude G. Hancock at 80 years of age. I was born at Mendon, Cache County, Utah, April 1, 1881. My parents were Alfred Gardner and Mary Elizabeth Coon Gardner. I have 5 brothers and 6 sisters. My brothers were John, Irvin, Arthur, Arnold, Hugh. My sisters were Sarah Jane, myself Mabel, May, Josephine, Ione. I went to school at 6 years old. My first teacher was Mrs. Tachery. I enjoyed all my teachers. They were Mr. Olsen, Mr. Tibbets. He stayed at our home and gave my sister music lessons for his board. My last teacher was A.G. White. I enjoyed all of my teachers and my school. We used to go sleigh riding on Washington’s birthday and other holidays and every afternoon on Fridays. We had programs. Each one would do something. In the winter the snow was so deep we could walk on top of the snow as it was so cold, the snow was packed hard. We would take a short cut and walk on the snow through people’s lots. My brothers and sisters and the neighbor’s children sure had lots of fun. When I was 6 years old, my father bought a larger home, as we only had a 3 room home. The one he bought was a 7 room home, 4 rooms upstairs and 3 downstairs. We sure enjoyed it. My father used to work in the Co-op store for many years so he decided to take over our large front room and have a store. A mercantile store. He did very well for a number of years then John H. Anderson wanted my father to manage a store he would build in Mendon. So father sold his things to him. Before my father had his store he worked in H.T. Richards’ store and ran the Post Office as it was built in the store. He worked there for 10 years, then managed the store for John H. Anderson until he passed away.  

In the early days, I used to give recitation in school and other programs. A Scotchman who lived in Wellsville, came to Mendon and taught my chum and I the Highland Fling. We would go all over to many places and dance. In later years my brother, Jack, married by chum, Mamie Sorensen. When I was about 8 or 10 years old, Mendon organized a Dramatic Company. My father was elected as President. Mr. Johnson from Salt Lake gave a class of about 15 or 20 people Elocution lessons for 6 weeks. My father and I took the lessons and I started acting in the plays and also my father. Our first play was East Lyn. I took the part of the little boy named Lord Fauntleroy. We played in plays that winter such as the Golden Farmer, Ben Bolt, Rose of EctriseVeil (? sp.). I would go to rehearsals with my father. He would have felt boots on and go ahead of me, to make a path. I would follow behind with big woolen socks on over my shoes in the deep snow but we had lots of fun. We would go to Wellsville, Providence, Hyrum, Smithfield. Our band would go with us. I played with them for many years. My sister, Josephine, also played in the Dramatic Company for many years as she grew older. Also the younger people her age. They were very good. 

I took dressmaking from a lady, Mrs. Sorensen, who had a shop in Mendon, for 6 months, which helped me a lot in later years. 

I went to Provo and stayed with my brother, Irvin, and his wife and baby for 3 months. He was a station agent at Provo. When I came back from Provo, my brothers, my cousin Tillie May ( who stayed with us), and I went to McCammon to work for Mr. Harkness. He owned a hotel and store there. I had been going with Orson Hancock for some time. He lived in the north end of town and I lived in the south end. He worked on the Jensen ranch for a long time, which was about 4 miles below town. He also helped his father on the farm. I worked fro Harkness for about 2 years. My sister’s husband, Magnus, was foreman at Inkom on the Railroad. My cousin and I used to go up on weekends to see them. Orson came up to McCammon and worked for Harkness. He had a boyfriend, my cousin Andrew Cooley. We came home, my cousin and I, on the 24th of July. She brought Mrs. Harkness’ two little girls with her as that was what she worked at was taking care of Mrs. Harkness’ children. They had a celebration on the 24th of July. The Church had bought a new ice cream freezer and they were selling ice cream. Towards evening nearly everybody became sick, vomiting and cramps. We didn’t know what it was, only those that ate the ice cream were sick. We had all the doctors from Logan over. They didn’t know what it was unless it was the grease that collected around the handle got in the ice cream. The doctor said that was poison. Some people were awful sick but it was two or three days before they got over it. We had some good laughs after it was all over as you could hear the groans wherever you turned. When they were dancing, they would feel sick and excuse themselves and run. Mrs. Harkness heard about it as it was in all the papers. She came right down but my cousin and I and the children had not had any as it was all gone when we got there. Thank goodness for that.  

Orson, my boyfriend, was with us. We came from McCammon a week after that and never went back. We sure had some good times while we were there. Orson and I had been going together for 2 years. His folks bought a home in Farmington. His father sold his farm but not his home, so we were married a week after they moved away and lived in the house. We were married November 22, 1905, in the Logan Temple, by John H. Anderson. 

My life and my husband’s life after we were married. My husband, Orson Hancock, was born in Mendon, February 14, 1882. His parents were Joseph Hyrum Hancock, and his mother was Mary Ann Glover Hancock. Orson’s sister, Nellis, came up from Salt Lake and went through the temple with us. She stayed with us for a week. We papered one front room and painted the others. After we had bought what furniture we really had to have, we only had about 50 cents left. My father gave us $15.00 trade in the store and 5 gallons of coal oil as we used lamps in those days. Orson’s father left us a cow, a horse, a half pig, 1 sack of flour, and a bushel of potatoes. Orson’s brother, Ottie, was working in Salmon, Idaho. He sent us $5.00 for a wedding present and we sold our milk to the milkman every morning so we got along pretty good. My father had a horse and Grandpa Hancock also left his sleigh so we would go sleigh riding nearly every day and take our friends. So we had quite a happy winter. In March, my sister and husband moved to Mendon and Magnus was foreman of the railroad on the Logan Branch. Orson went to work for him the first of April. We were fortunate he worked for him for about a year and a half, then we went to Wellsville to be foreman of that branch. One morning we were both sick. I had tonsillitis and he had a cold. He had to go to the door and call the milkman to come and get a note and tell mother we were sick and to come up. I have often thought of that. She was always ready to do what she could do for any of us children. I had tonsillitis so much. 

We moved to Wellsville when Mabel was quite small. She was born in the house where her daddy was born August 3, 1906, in Mendon, Utah. 

I stayed with Mother for some time before we moved to Wellsville, as we could not get a house. The Railroad did not have a railroad house at that time. We liked Wellsville very much and had some very nice friends. They also had a nice church. 

Orson was sent to Cache Junction on a relief job for about 2 months. I stayed with Mother. We then moved to Portage. We lived with Aunt Jane Harris and Uncle Nick, as we always called them. We lived in one part of the house and had two rooms. Her daughter, Eliza, had two rooms in the other part. She had a little boy about Mabel’s age. The first winter we moved there, we lived in Aunt Jane’s front room and boarded with her. We sure enjoyed ourselves that winter. Eliza and I were sure good friends. Her husband, Dave, worked for Orson. I worked in the Primary and in the Sunday School. We lived with Sister Harris for about two years. She had boarders and people passing through so she needed the room. We moved into Sister Emma Hoskins house. We liked her very much. She was sure a nice woman and we had a good time. She had some very nice children. When Mabel was about four years old, my second baby was born. I went home to my mothers when she was born on January 3, 1911. We stayed with Mother until she was a month old. We called her Helen. There was a man and woman teacher in Portage at that time. They also stayed with Mrs. Hoskins. They used to take Mabel to school with them two or three times a week. She was with them nearly all the time, wherever they would go. Their names were Mr. and Mrs. Savage. Helen was born January 3, 1911 in Mendon, Utah. She was blessed at Portage by John F. Conley, April 2, 1911. We moved up to Malad when she was about 2 years old. The foreman, Mr. Winters retired and Orson took his place. We lived in the railroad house. The railroad was very good about taking care of the buildings. They would come and paper or paint the railroad houses every three years.  

Mabel, our oldest daughter, started school in Malad. She had to walk from the depot up to school, as there were no buses, only a few cars at that time. One year she never missed a day. Her daddy had to go to work at 7 o’clock so he could not take her. We sure liked Malad and we soon got acquainted. We were in the 2nd Ward. They were sure nice to us. It wasn’t long before we were working in the Church. I was a Beehive teacher in the Mutual for 4 years. Orson was a counselor in the Religion class for a long time. The Ladies Literary started a club with only 6 members. Josephine, my sister, was one of them. Each one was to vote for a member. She chose me. We kept on getting new members until they had 25 members. It was called the “Literary Club.” We had it on Thursdays every other week and once a year we had a party for our husbands. We sure had a lovely time and on our nights when we held club. We reviewed books that were very educational and refreshments were served. I was a member as long as I lived in Malad. We held our club at different homes. I worked in the Primary as a counselor for 2-3 years. Hazel was born in Malad, as well as Maxine and Don. I used to board the trainmen, they were the freight crew. I also had the conductor and engineer for lunch at noon, as they were on the car that used to come through at noon. We used to call it the Leaping Lena, for about 2 or 3 years. I also was the work and business teacher in Relief Society in the 2nd Ward for a long time and counselor in the Primary. I was the work and business director of the Stake when Sister Dredge and Reynolds and Josephine and others were there. Orson was a counselor in the Mutual with Dave Bowne and Brother McEntire.  

Helen was about six years old when she became very sick with heart and kidney trouble. She was sick off and on for nearly a year. The doctor in Malad had done everything he could for her. I took her to Brigham City to Cooley Hospital as my Aunt’s boys, Arthur Cooley and Walter Cooley, were the head of the hospital. They said there wasn’t much they could do as she was full of infection as in those days we had no penicillin to give out. We had the Elders come many times to administer to her. One morning we knew she was worse so we had Brother Woodland come in and pray for her to recover or go in peace and she passed away in Brother Woodland’s arms. The night before she died she wanted me to hold her. I sat on the bed and held her. She asked me if I could see that large white bird on her bed. She said, “Mama, I know you can see it.” I knew then the Lord had called her home. She passed away about 11 O’clock in the morning of March 1, 1911 and was buried in Mendon, Utah.  

This was about the time of WWI. At this time, there were a lot of boys who went. On the days that they went, the band would come down to the depot. The train would come and the men had flags waving in front of the engine. We were all very sad and before the war was over, we lost some of our boys.  

Rilla Thorpe stayed with me and went to school. About the time Rilla graduated, Sarah Jones stayed with me. She also was from Pleasantview. I had Minnie Jones from Cherry Creek stay with me and also Pearl Parkenson while they went to school. They helped me so much when my children were small and I was boarding the trainmen at that time.  

Maxine was born in Malad, Idaho, and so was my son, Don. He was born on March 5, 1922. Mabel and Hazel graduated from Malad High School. We had many wonderful friends in Malad. My sister, Josie, and her husband Chauncy, lived there for many years. About 1918, the war took many of our boys so the railroad had to double up on their section, so my husband had to go to Murray and take charge of that section. We soon made friends in Murray. There were some very nice people. The Church was only one block from us so we surely enjoyed living there. I was soon helping the Relief Society and Orson was doing Scout work. Orson’s mother and father lived in Salt Lake. Also his two sisters. We see each other quite often. Orson was ordained a High Priest in Murray by Brother Bringhurst who is now President of the Swiss Temple. 

We lived there for three years then he was transferred to Victor, Idaho, on the Yellowstone Branch. We moved there in June. We met dear friends there as we did wherever we went. Maxine and Don graduated from Victor. We had a lot of fun there as there was so much snow. I was a counselor in the Primary and a teacher while there. Orson was in charge of the missionaries, as in those days they called it Thursday night meeting. We would go in covered sleighs to different homes, maybe five or six miles and have our meeting. Then after the meeting we would have lunch as we would each take something. The boys that played basketball would go all around and play at different places. They would have covered sleighs and they would go to Jackson Hole. We mothers would sure worry until they were home. They sure had a good time and we always went when they played at home. Victor sure had a nice band. Don played the clarinet. Our President of the Stake was Brother Showles who is now President of the Idaho Falls Temple. Our Stakehouse was in Driggs. The Relief Society canned peas for the Church. They had a canning factory. They would take the culls and can them. Maxine and Don worked at the factory in the summer. 

We lived there four years. Then we moved to Blackfoot. We liked Blackfoot very much as it was a larger town and the people were so friendly. We lived in the 2nd Ward. We were soon working in the Church. Daddy was a Ward Teacher and I was a Ward Teacher. I also was in charge of the quilting in the Relief Society. Don went to Pocatello to school. Maxine took a beauty course and worked in Blackfoot for two years before going to Ogden. She was there for seven years. At the time we were in Blackfoot, World War II broke out. Don knew he would be drafted so he enlisted in the QuarterMaster Division as he had taken business courses in Pocatello for two years. He was in school nearly all the time he was in the Army, very fortunate as he wasn’t around where they were fighting at all. He was there 3 ½ years when peace was declared. He was in England at that time. When he came home he went to Ogden and started to work as a clerk at the Supply Depot. He has been there ever since, which is 20 years. At this time I am writing this, he is now manager of the Property Division. 

I forgot to say Maxine worked in the Emporium Beauty in Ogden and in San Francisco, San Mateo, California. I’ll have to go back some years as my memory isn’t so good. While we were in Murray my daughter Hazel went to Henninger’s School and took a business course. After she was through, she got a job in the State Capital. She met a boy at school there and about a year later, they were married by Bishop Nalder. They moved to San Francisco. Her husband’s name was Edwin McLeod. 

My daughter, Mabel, went to Weber College for a year, after she graduated from high school in Malad. Then she went to the University of Utah. She then taught school in Malad for 2 years and then went to Pocatello where she taught school for another two years. Then she went to Ogden and taught school until she married. She married in the Logan Temple to Ernest Hartley from Malad and is still living in Malad at the time I am writing this. We stayed in Blackfoot until Orson retired from the railroad. He was 65 years old.  

We moved back to Malad as that seemed more home to us than any place. Maxine, our other daughter, married while we were in Blackfoot. She married Carl Isaacson, from Hooper, Utah, on June 22, 1946, by Bishop Bower at Blackfoot. We moved into a house on Bush Ave. We stayed a year in my daughter Mabel’s home as my husband wasn’t feeling very well. Then we moved down on Bush Ave. My husband was very sick. We took him to the hospital in Ogden. He had an attack of Yellow Jaundice. He also had low blood. He regained his health and was working all the time but he had to have a shot of Vitamin B12 every two weeks to keep his blood up. We had a lovely garden every year and about 300 lovely gladiolas and other flowers. Everybody would stop and admire his flowers. We also had a few chickens. He enjoyed his work and was always busy. We enjoyed coming back to Malad. As we always enjoyed the 2nd Ward very much, we sure enjoyed our neighbors. He and Guy Benson would go fishing as they sure like to go very often. He was a Ward Teacher and served 2 years as a Stake Missionary. Then he was in charge of the Book of Mormon. He would leave so many at the hospital, drug stores, and service stations. He would leave tracts for them, free of charge and the Book of Mormon for 50 cents. We went to the Temple and did work when our Stake was to go. We always went with Rachel and Parley Sorensen, a cousin of my husband. They lived just through the lot from us. We rented the home from him that we lived in.  

My son, still working at the Supply Depot in Ogden, met a girl, Lorraine Perry, where he was working and about a year later they were married in Las Vegas, Nevada. They were married on January 14, 1950, by Bishop Thomas G. Myers.  

My daughter, Mabel, was married to Ernest Hartley, August 22, 1934, in the Salt Lake Temple.  

My memory isn’t very good so I will have to go back a few years if I forget some things that I would like to write down. We lived down on Bush Avenue for about nine years. The house we lived in was very small and we needed a larger house as the children were all married and they would come up often with their children. They couldn’t stay at night very well so we moved up in Mrs. Isabell Griffiths home. She had a place where Orson could plant flowers and also have his chickens. She was so good to us and she was a widow. Orson would try to help her so they both worked together. They kept their lawns and flowers so nice. My husband planted 13 hundred gladiolas and sold them to the floral shop. He would always give the neighbors a bouquet.  

We surely liked the First Ward, the people were so nice to us. In the winter we would go around to each other’s homes and play Rook and of course had refreshments, as we liked to eat, Ha! We were still Ward teachers and Daddy still sold the Books of Mormon. He would also go to the temple when the Stake went. My health wasn’t very good so I could never go very often. We went out to see our daughter and family in Los Altos, California, every year and they would come up here to see us every year. The other children lived close to us in Layton and Ogden so they would come up often. We would go see them and of course Mabel lived here. My husband would go fishing up here with our neighbors and he surely enjoyed it. 

Mabel’s daughter, Karen, went to B.Y.U. for two years. She married Lyle Almond from Downey. They were married in the Logan Temple. Diane, her other daughter, went two years to B.Y.U. and then she married Blair Gleed in the Logan Temple. 

My husband seemed so well all the time and always had the shovel in his hand doing something. On Saturday, the day before Mother’s Day 1960, my son came up to visit us as he was unable to come on Sunday. We had a good visit with him and about 3 o’clock he went home. Daddy was working in the garden and about 5 o’clock he came in and said he had a pain in his chest but didn’t seem too bad. About 6 o’clock he said he would go to bed. As it got worse, I helped him undress and when he went to lie down, he passed out. I called the doctor and Mabel came in just when I was calling the doctor. She said she felt like she should come over and see how he was. The doctor came and they took him to the hospital. He never regained consciousness until morning but felt better. He couldn’t keep anything on his stomach so they took him to the Dee Hospital in Ogden. The doctor said he had a heart attack. He kept getting weaker all the time and he kept wanting to come home. So, we brought him back to Malad to the hospital and he passed away the next day, May 27, 1960. Now I am alone and I miss him so much as I couldn’t think it would happen to him as he was so well and I had not been well for so long. But the Lord’s will will be done, not ours. The children have been so good to me and that has been a comfort to me. I know the Lord has blessed me since he passed away so I will try to live the best I can and try to help my children and advise them the best that I can. I have a girl who stays with me at nights and I am still doing my work, enjoying my work and friends and neighbors. I try to go to church as often as I can. 

I have a great-granddaughter now and she is so sweet. Her name is Machelle. Karen and her husband live in Salt Lake. I go see them when I can. My daughter, Maxine, has two lovely boys and Don, my son, has two boys and a girl. They live in Ogden, and Maxine lives in Layton. I went to see my daughter in Los Altos, California, on April 26, 1961 and stayed five weeks with her. Believe it or not I flew down on a jet. I said I’d never get on an airplane but one doesn’t know what they will do when they get to be 80 years old. My other granddaughter, Diane, has a lovely baby boy. She lives in Layton. My husband wanted to live to see his great-grandchildren but he passed away before they were born, but in my heart I believe he has seen them. Maybe he chose them to come to them. 

My son’s little boy was 40 percent deaf when he was born but he is getting better everyday. With the help of a hearing aid, we all have faith in our Heavenly Father that he will improve everyday. My daughter Maxine’s boy, when he was born, didn’t have the top part of his ear but the doctors are making a plastic ear and you wouldn’t believe the difference now. They are surely doing wonderful things with people in the field of plastic surgery. 

This year in April 1962, I went to California to see my daughter again. I enjoyed myself so much. I felt so much better out there as it is so much lower and my head felt so much better as I have high blood pressure so much. I stayed six weeks with her and we had such a good time. They took me all over. We went to Oakland and saw where they are building the temple. It is on a hill looking out all over the northern part of California as far as you can see. I returned home before Decoration Day. We went to Mendon where my little girl and my husband are buried. All my people are buried there as well as Orson’s father, mother and brother. The Gardners are my people. We all met at the home of my nephew, Orval Larsen. We had a lovely visit and returned to our homes in the evening.  

My daughter, Mabel, graduated from U.S.U. with a Bachelors of Science, at Logan, and her son-in-law, Blair Gleed, also graduated there. I wasn’t very well so I could not go, but her children were all there. They took some pictures which were very nice. My daughter Hazel’s girl, Suzanne, is going to tour Europe with some students from her school, San Jose State College. They will be gone for six weeks. Her parents will miss her, I know, as she has never been away from home very far. The college was only 20 miles from where they live but I know she will have a wonderful trip and it will help her so much in her education as she has one more year to go. She left Friday, July 13, for New York and will stay there for two days. They will visit the Capitol in Washington while there.  

My daughter and her husband and son, 13, were in a car accident. They were coming along the freeway when a woman who was drunk turned onto the freeway which she shouldn’t have done and ran right in front of my son-in-law’s car. Threw Hazel and Eddie through the windshield, cut their faces, and Eddie had six broken ribs and broke his knee and also had a cut above his eye. Hazel had a punctured lung and three ribs broken and cuts on her forehead, her eye and cheek. Their boy was asleep in the back seat but he was relaxed enough to only be shaken up with a few bruises. (This happened in July 1961). They knew where to get in touch with her daughter so the people phoned her, just before she had left for Europe and she flew home. With the doctor’s help and the faith they had along with the Ward they lived in at this time, they are coming along the best they can as there is nothing we can do. Suzanne is very good in the house and in taking care of them. Eddie came home first as Hazel was hurt more seriously. They had to drain her lung for some time, but they are both home now. I thank the Lord that he has helped them to recover. Faith and works go together and I know the faith they had and the faith their Ward had helped them to recover. It will take them a long time but they are so happy to be alive. They have a mission to do here, I know as the Lord has been with them all the time. It has been over three months now at the time I’m writing this and their daughter is going to B.Y.U. this winter. They are able to take care of themselves now. 

I am still living alone and taking care of my home. I have a girl staying with me at night. Bert Wight’s daughters, Betty and Dorothy, take turns. I go down to Ogden quite often to see my son and family, and to Layton to see my daughter and family. I am feeling pretty good. I am able to take care of my home and try to go to church as much as I can. I miss my husband so much as he always took me wherever I wanted to go. We would go to church and he would take me to Relief Society.  My dear friend, Mrs. Griffiths, has been so good to me since my husband passed away and also my neighbors across the street, Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Jones. They always take me to Sunday School and other meetings.  

My daughter’s girl, Suzanne, who is going to B.Y.U. is going to be married in January to a very nice boy, Rod Pulley, who has come home from his mission. They are going to be married in the Logan Temple as that is where his parents were married.  

Everything is going nicely although we haven’t had any snow as yet and it is the 3rd of January 1963, but it is very cold and unhealthy weather as everybody has colds. About three weeks ago we had fog so bad that you couldn’t see across the street. This lasted over three weeks. We had a very nice Christmas. The children all gave me some lovely presents along with the grandchildren and my son gave me $10 and the girls gave me with their husbands $5. The grandchildren gave me presents and I had Christmas dinner over to my daughter, Mabel’s. Her children were also Diane, Blair, Kevin, Lule, Machille and their son, Don, who is going to school in Logan. 

I have had Mrs. Bert Wight’s girls Betty and Dorothy take turns staying nights with me. They have been with me ever since my husband passed away and I love them very much. They also gave me a nice present for Christmas. 

Well the holidays are over and Diane and Blair have gone back to Duchene and Karen back to Salt Lake, and my grandson Don, back to school, so it is rather lonely but I go over to Mabel’s. After school she comes and gets me and I stay for a while then they bring me home. February 9, 1963 we had very little snow but it rained for three days and it is all gone. 

Well my granddaughter was married in the Logan Temple January 25, 1963. My daughter Mabel and Ernest went through with them, also his father and mother. They returned home about three days after and they had their reception in the Stanford College in Palo Alto. They had about 500 people. On account of my granddaughter’s parents (Hazel and Eddie) accident in July, they were not able to come because of her father’s leg. It was too far to drive. But they are coming to see us in June.  

On April 1, I turned 82. My children all came up and we had a lovely dinner. Our center piece for the table was a beautiful birthday cake, “With Love to Mother 82 Years.” We sure had a nice time. We were all there except my daughter, Hazel, and my granddaughter, Diane and her family, but they phoned us later that day. 

I am a little ahead of myself. On February 17th my brother Arnold and his wife Emma were called on a mission to Great Britain. They had their testimonial in Salt Lake on 17 February 1963. We all went down. It sure was a lovely meeting. I received a letter from him and he is Branch President and his wife is in charge of the Relief Society in that area. They are sure enjoying their work. 

My daughter, Mabel, on June 4, 1963, had her gall bladder operated on. She got along very well with the operation, but she had dysentery and had to go back to the hospital and be fed for four days. She is home now, but she doesn’t eat very well and she is so weak. She has lost a lot of weight but I guess it takes a long time to get your body adjusted to its normal self when one of your organs is taken from your body. But it is best to remove them when they get bad. I went down to Clearfield while she was in the hospital, with Maxine, as she worries about me when she is sick and can’t come to see me everyday. So, I go there. I don’t know what I would do without her. Hazel and Eddie’s Bruce came up from California to visit with me. They stayed a week and they looked so well. I was so glad to see them as I had not seen them since their accident. They looked so good. The scars on their faces are clearing up, the Lord has surely blessed them. Don and Maxine came up from Clearfield and Ogden and we were all together, had such a nice time. I hope we will be able to get together next year. 

August 1963. Mabel is coming along and will start back to school on September 6th. She teaches the 3rd grade. Her son, Don, was called on a mission to Argentina. He had his testimonial on October 13th and went to the Mission Home in Salt Lake that night. He was there for a week and then went to Provo to B.Y.U. for three months to learn the Spanish language. He will leave on January 16, 1964, for Argentina. We hope he will be able to learn the language. We can’t see him the three months he is there as that is part of his mission. He is thrilled about it and likes it so much and he is happy. It was a lovely testimonial meeting. Program:  Opening Song, The Spirit of God Like a Fire is Burning; Prayer, Lyle Almond; Speakers, M. Joe Davis, Jack Raymond; Vocal Duet, Blair and Diane; Remarks, Bishop Lon Corbridge; Closing Song, Karen Almond, “The Lord’s Prayer.” Ernest, Mabel and Don gave talks at the farewell. Don left that same evening for the Salt Lake Mission home.  

I went to California to stay with Hazel for a while and was there for about a week when I took sick. I guess I caught a virus as it was so cold, damp, and foggy. I should have gone in the spring since December and January are so cold and damp but I wanted to spend Christmas with the family. The first I have spent Christmas with Hazel  and celebrated her birthday which was on January 3rd, since she had been married. I stayed two months but didn’t get used to the climate so I came home 10 January and Don was there to meet me. He took me to Maxine’s in Roy. I went to the doctor and they gave me an x-ray. I have an ulcer. I stayed there until Mabel and Ernest went to see Don when he left for Argentina. Then I came home with them. I was so glad to be home again. I won’t go away in the winter again. I have to go on a diet. I hope to get better soon. We sure are having a lot of snow. We have had two or three letters from Don. He is enjoying his mission so much and he has baptized two investigators. He is so happy. 

Well, Isabell sold her house so I will have to move out by 15th of March. I couldn’t get a place to rent so I am going to live in Mabel’s basement. They have to put a floor board down and it is about two inches above the cement. They put this walnut boarding around the walls and it sure looks nice. There is a kitchen and a large front room with a nice bedroom and a bathroom. I am packing my things up now and Don, Carl, and Maxine are coming up this week to move me. Mabel has painted it all down there and varnished the walls. It will sure be nice. The only thing I hate is we have so much snow and it is so cold. I can’t do much but I guess I won’t have to as they are all so good to me. Mabel will be right there and she won’t have to keep running over here to see how I am. She is still teaching school. I hate to see her work so hard. 

Well April has gone and I haven’t written in here for some time.  Mabel has been awful sick. She first had the flu then and now she is in the hospital for a few days. They gave her eight tests. We were afraid it was her heart as it beat so fast but she has pus in her kidney. They are feeding her food through the veins and she also has her three meals besides, so I hope she will soon be better and stronger. She will be coming home about Thursday. I sure will be glad to see her well again. She won’t be able to go back to school this year. She feels bad about that. She has been sick for over a month. I am doing pretty good. I help Ernest and we get along fine. It was my birthday on the 1st of April. We always get together but everybody was sick with something so we will have it when warm weather is here. I am so glad I live here with Mabel, so near all the time and it is so cute and warm. I don’t know if I can write much more as my hands are so shaky. 

May 1964. Well, it’s been a long time since I wrote in my diary, but I will try again. So we are all well again and have enjoyed the summer. It is August now and Hazel and Eddie and Bruce came up. They bought them a lovely camper. So convenient. It has three beds, a gas stove, table, ice box and a cupboard. It’s just like a house. They stayed at Maxine’s and Don’s for two days, then came up here for two days, and then went to Yellowstone Park. They sure enjoyed it as it was the first time. They stayed three days then they stayed with me for four days. They then went back to Maxine’s for two, and then they went to Salt Lake. They sure had a nice trip. Their daughter, Suzanne, had a baby girl two months before they came. They sure were happy. They named her Jenifer. We enjoyed them so much. We wish they could live closer to us, but I go down every year and stay two or three months. 

We had a nice summer. Mabel’s girls, Karen and family live in Layton and Diane and family live in Lehi. We go down quite often. Don and Maxine live in Ogden so I get to visit them. I am going down to Maxine’s for Thanksgiving. She is going to give me a permanent as she works in a Beauty Shop. We went downtown Monday, and as we came in the house I missed a step and fell. I cracked a crouper (sp?) bone and fractured my pelvis. They took me to the hospital and of course had x-rays and that was what it was. I sure suffered a lot as then I was 84 years old. I stayed in the hospital for two weeks in Ogden. I wanted to go home to the hospital in Malad as that was my home, so they took me in an ambulance and I was there in Malad for six weeks. Then they took me to Ogden and I stayed with Maxine. She took good care of me and I stayed there until school was out. They fixed the basement at Mabel’s. I sure am getting along slowly but I am thankful to my Heavenly Father. He has blessed me each day. I had to walk around with a walker for a long time but slowly I am going without it a little at a time. 

1966. Well, I haven’t written for a long time. I hope I can write a little more while I can get around a little. I’m awfully weak but I thank my Heavenly Father I am this good. I hope you children will be able to read this. 

Well, Don is home from his mission and he sure is a wonderful missionary. I haven’t been out to church or anything since I fell but Sunday Don Hartley had to give a talk out to Samaria. They helped me in the car and helped me into their nice church they had just finished. I sure enjoyed it and was so proud of him. I had to let a few tears come. 

I (Mabel Hancock Hartley) will add a few finishing lines to Mother’s life. 

In October 1965, we took mother to a rest home in Ogden. She was weak and lonesome in the basement and needed care. She was happy there because Maxine and Don were with her a lot. Maxine went every day and Don every night. I went down about every other weekend. On April 1st (mother’s birthday), Hazel came from California to spend a week with her. We all met together for a big dinner at Harmon’s Cage in Ogden. We were all there, with the great grandchildren too, all with the exception of Hazel’s family. We had a wonderful time. That was on April 1st. On April 4th, Mother fell and broke her hip. We took her to the Dee Hospital in Ogden. She lived until the next day, April 5, 1966. She passed away very peacefully. Hazel had bathed her. I (Mabel) was feeding her when she died. Her funeral was in Malad, Idaho, and her burial in Mendon, Utah. This ended the life of a wonderful mother and we know the reunion in the spirit world with our father and sister and her many relatives was a happy one. 

Note: Mabel Hancock Hartley died in a nursing home in Ogden in December 1999 at the age of 93, after being in Ogden for about 10 years.