Shirleen's High School Years

      It was time for me to leave my familiar cozy nest at LaPoint Elementary and be bused to Union High School in Roosevelt, Utah. I was excited but a little apprehensive.

Union High School
South doors leading to the gym.

Shirleen

     

Nila Wooley

    My close friends, Nila Wooley and Adella Barney, were feeling the same. We felt like we were going to a foreign land. We had been together for seven years in school, church, camping trips, sports, at play, 4-H and 4-H camps. They (along with myself) had been taught the same values by the same teachers, and had parents well acquainted with one another. Our community being small meant we had many eyes open to our physical and spiritual progress. We couldn't do anything wrong without word flying faster than lightening right back to our parents.

Adella Barney

    LaPoint is located right smack dab in the middle of Vernal and Roosevelt, so attending Union High meant we would be rivals to those we would associate with in our Uintah Stake L.D.S activities. At a basketball game, for example, we were enemies, but at a stake function or summer camp we were forced to be cordial and in some cases became good friends. If you were a loyal Uintah Ute or a loyal Union Cougar then there could be a problem. There were some problems from time to time and LaPoint being middle ground would become the battlefield. In addition to Nila and Adella, my friends were Janeal Harrison, Theora Angus, Taline Nielson and Bonnie Schurz. I was friends with several of the boys. They were part of our ward family and we had a special friendship and loyalty with one another. Though, I felt that boys didn't know how to flirt correctly. I knew that these male friends would be there for me. But they also teased us to the point of being annoyances. Then there was my brother Raymond, his friends, and our male cousins. They could be a bit of a nuisance with their teasing and nonsense, too.
      Freshman year passed quickly with the following year bringing the rest of our friends to Union. Remember we went through LaPoint School with two grades in a classroom. 
     In January of that year Raymond and I had our first lesson in responsibility. Shiree was born as a stillborn, and as usual Mother was very ill in the hospital for several days. Dad had his job responsibilities plus he was spending as much time as possible at the hospital with Mother. The chores fell totally on the shoulder's of Raymond and I. Uncle Clyde Walquist (my dad's sister's husband) loaned us his truck. The reality was I had VERY little driving experience, and certainly no driver's license. I taught myself to drive. I'm still surprised I didn't ruin the gears, transmission or wreck Uncle Clyde's truck. It made bunny hops until I learned to shift correctly, and become a little more proficient.
    

Irene

      Irene Taylor lived nearby. We had many escapades together. I remember a couple of those heart pumping creative projects our bright minds came up with. The first escapade happened after mutual. Some of the boys had been out stealing watermelons instead of attending mutual. They came by the church to brag and laugh about their big steal. While they were distracted telling others, Irene and I stole their steal out of their car and disappear into the night. We went straight to her house and got a knife and cut that big beauty and had our own watermelon treat, with the lights off, of course, because by then they were driving up and down the street trying to find us. As we giggled, her father awoke and came into the kitchen and enjoyed watermelon with us. This still makes me smile! How better does a couple of females get even with boys that are always teasing and flirting in the wrong way. Another escapade, after leaving mutual, we decided to walk the long way home. Irene would be dropped off first, then Adella, and I would have the last lap by myself. As we passed by the pool hall, which was referred to as "2nd Ward" because some of the boys would go there to play pool pretty religiously. Our mischievousness saw the opportunity to strike again. We let the air out of a couple of their car tires then climbed on top of Winn's Mercantile/post office to watch their reaction. After their "2nd Ward mutual activity" was over, they needed to hurry home to meet their curfew. The clear moonlit night afforded us to see and hear the reaction that we hoped for. Oh boy, they performed well. They climbed into the car and drove passed the post office, turned the corner by the creamery, and stopped quickly just a few feet from our eagle's view. They all got out to see why the car wasn't driving well. As they begin their inspection, one of the guys said, "Good h*@#! You have a flat tire. By d#@! you have a flat on this side too.  You must have ran over a broken beer bottle." We were as still as mice trying with all our might not to giggle out loud. A silent giggle is painful! That has been a well kept secret all these years. One of the guys still lives in LaPoint, so I won't disclose their names. One has passed away, so he is probably standing at the judgement bar ready to pull our hair.

Carol

     Carol Rasmussen was a cousin, friend, and was probably meant to be my sister in the pre-mortal world, we just got sent to separate households. We started making mudpies together and became life long friends. Many of my sweet memories surround her. We had many honey candy pulls, sing-a-rees, homemade ice cream parties, weenie roasts and night games. When we could smell the wonderful aroma of homemade bread baking coming from Aunt Mamie's kitchen, we'd head to Carol's for hot bread, homemade butter and honey. Country kids were very creative at finding something to do. Aunt Mamie kept a pretty tight watch on Carol, so she missed some of our watermelon busts, chick-a-rees, and nonsense fun.
     Another pleasant memory happened during harvest time. Carol and I were assigned to help Aunt Mamie (Carol's mother) pick peas for canning. The garden was across the road from her home. The vegetable rows were long. The job looked huge, so we sat facing each other so we could gab. We had three or four rows to pick. No small task for a fairly warm to hot day. Suddenly, Grandma Norton (Aunt Mamie's mother) opened the door and came out on the porch. She said, "If you girls don't stop eating those GREEN peas, they are going to make you DEATHLY sick. Besides, there won't be enough left to can." We looked up the row, sure enough the stark evidence was there. The empty pods had condemned us! Carol broke the silence and said, "Just what color does Grandma Norton think peas are, RED? She is the one that has been trying to die for years!" That last statement was so true. Grandma was constantly saying something about herself dying. For instance, "I was so sick, I thought I was going to die." Grandma was partially correct. Carol and I nearly did die several times in our life...from laughing, not from eating green peas.
     Aunt Mamie raised chickens and sold eggs for an income. Her chicken coop was exceptionally large. It could house approximately 200-250 chickens. She would occasionally sell all of the chickens and start a new crop of chickens. It was at this time, that Carol, Doug (Carol's brother), Raymond, and I decided to play a game of baseball in Aunt Mamie's empty chicken coop. The chickens had just been sold and the coop had been mostly cleaned out but had not been washed with lye. We felt so clever coming up with a bright idea of taking advantage of the empty coop! We wouldn't have to chase the ball very far, because the ball would hit the walls and bounce back, right? We each had to crawl over or under the roosts several times to retrieve the ball. Suddenly we all begin to itch all over. After a quick examination of ourselves, we could see chicken lice crawling all over us. We took off for our homes at top speed, covered in chicken lice. Our mothers knew the right remedy which was an outdoor lye bath. It was miserable and we didn't get in the house until every last ugly little thing was gone.

Raymond

     Raymond, my only living brother, was always a good student and seemed to do it effortlessly. I always hated report card time because he would always out shine me. Raymond had a passion for gaining knowledge and did a lot of reading on his own. He and Mother shared the same interests and would have discussions on history and other deep subjects. Raymond was a key character in my life from the first day he was born. I will have more to say about him as my history unfolds.

Charlotte

     Charlotte Rich and her family moved across the street from our family sometime during my early high school years. Charlotte had Leukemia. Her doctors and parents were very careful about her contacting any viruses or such, which kept her from attending school, church, and many other things. I was asked if I'd come and visit with her as often as possible. She was starving for friendship with someone of her age. We became very close. She had a nice western style singing voice, and could yodel with the best of the celebrities of the time. I remember one very special day. We walked to the school grounds so we could be alone. We sat in the swings, while she shared her feelings about death and dying. With a beautiful smile, she told me of a boy in the ward that she had a crush on. With her pale beautiful face, she turned to me and told me I was lucky because I would some day marry and have children. I can recall her words as she opened up her very soul. "Shirleen I will never live long enough to marry and have a family. I know that! I do not tell my parents that I know, because they hope I will get well." What a sweet spirit she had that day, as we barely swung back and forth drinking in the peace that surrounded us. She passed away before I graduated.

    "I am a part of all I have met." 

-Alfred Lord Tennyson

I might add and all that I would meet.

Homer Cook

     Nila and I went together to the Sophomore Slide, which was a get acquainted dance. We met Homer Cook and Allen Todd. After the dance, they asked us if they could take us home. They had driven there in a topless jeep. The late September or early October air was quite nippy without something to wrap up in. We soon discovered a trip to LaPoint and back to Roosevelt for the boys seemed like a crazy idea. It was too cold for Nila and I also! We decided to go to Cleo's (Nila's sister) in Ballard to spend the night. Cleo, as I recall, took Nila and I home the next morning. We double dated a time or two afterward. Nila and Alan didn't continue to date, but I knew she liked him. Homer and I continued to date well into our Senior year. He asked me to go to California with him and his family the following summer. Which would have been between my Sophomore and Junior years. I didn't dare ask my parents, so I told him I couldn't go. I was afraid my dad would think that Homer and I were getting too serious, and I didn't want my parents to break up the relationship. He brought me back a ring with our initials engraved on it. I loved the ring. It stayed on my finger day and night.
     We had gone to Uintah Stake L.D.S. Conference in Vernal. At the end of the meeting, they announced that Uintah High Baccalaureate would be held afterward and asked that everyone clear the building as soon as possible. Dad drove downtown to go to the auto part store on main street. As we waited in the car for his return, two boys parked across the street. They got out of their car and went in a store. They were in a '56 plum and white Chev with chrome pipes on the side. I watched them with a catty thought running through my mind, "Those Seniors think they are so hot!" They soon returned to their car, and drove on down the street. I listened to the soft roar of their car until it could be heard no more. When Dale reminisces about this car that he loved, he says the pipes were not loud they were mel-l-o-w. I reply, "Okay!" That was the first time I saw Dale and wouldn't meet him for at least six more years. This day is still clear in my mind. As I look back to this experience, I have learned that the veil can be made thin and we can receive impressions of those who we knew and made promises with before we came to earth.
     The July before my junior year, Mother had another stillborn. Dad brought Glenn's body home in a shoe box, and put it in the refrigerator. Mother was very ill and remained in the hospital for quite a few days. Dad was quite concerned about her. Seeing he wasn't going to find time to bury the baby, he finally sent Raymond to do it. It was a good mile or more to the cemetery and he did not have his license to drive. Raymond taking a shovel and the shoe box and walked to the cemetery. He said he could feel a presence walking with him. He was not alone. After he buried Glenn by Val Dee and Shiree, he dedicated the spot the best he knew how and walked home alone. 
     In November, (1956) Carol and I got our patriarchal blessings. Mother and Aunt Mamie went with us. On the way home, Aunt Mamie commented that it sounded to her that Carol would marry before I would. Mother said she had gotten the same feeling, and Carol agreed. I remember thinking, how could that be? Carol hadn't started to date and I was going steady. I thought Homer would be in my life forever. 
     I feel much gratitude even today to Homer Cook for making my High School
years memorable. We attended all the special dances together. He was a good dancer, a gentleman, handsome, and there wasn't many weekends that I didn't have a date. We both loved to dance. The jitter-bug was popular. It was the age of Elvis Prestley, Doris Day, Jane Fonda, Johannie Cash, Patty Page etc. In my estimation the best of all times.
     Since my siblings and I walked home from mutual, our parents gave us a curfew. We liked to stand or sit in the middle of the road and just talk before Carol, and Doug begin their walk a half block south. Raymond, Jeanne and I went east a block. Adella and Deanna (Adella's sister) had another block east before we were all home. The group we walked home with varied from time to time. We occasionally would go beyond curfew. One such night, after constantly being late, Adella, Deanna and I leisurely meandered toward home under a full moon. The path by the creek on a darker night was always a little eerie, so we'd silently listen to the strange sounds with much caution. We crossed the narrow foot bridge single file. I was in the lead, Adella close behind me, and Deanna behind her. I'd just stepped off the bridge facing a patch of sagebrush ahead. Out from underneath the sagebrush came a white figure that arose and stood just ahead of me. It didn't make a sound but spread its arms outward. I froze for a brief second in complete horror. Adella now seeing the ghost before us in a soft shaky voice spoke my name, SHSH  IR IR LEEEEN. I bolted for home. Adella turned to save Deanna and they ran into each other, knocking each other down. I arrived home minutes before they burst through the door. I believe our faces succeeded the whiteness of the ghost. It was a little strange that Dad wasn't home and Mother had a slight smile on her face. Without my company, Mother walked Adella and Deanna home.

Velma and Leland Perry
(Mother and Dad)

     Over time, I came to better understand Mother and Dad's slight smiles and the twinkle in their eye when they were secretly involved in a successful lesson. I witnessed it one Halloween. Mother and Dad had the custodial responsibility at LaPoint School. Mrs. Thelma Lee (principal) wanted Dad to stay all night at the school to prevent the waxing of windows. It was a daring challenge for the teenagers that had out grown trick or treating to wax windows. Mother and Dad were not in agreement with Mrs.Lee because they needed to be home to greet the neighborhood spooks, and get their own little spooks around trick-or-treating. The wage less request put a major block in our family's Halloween activities every year. Not only that, it took at least two or three people to watch four sides of the building. Raymond and I, now high school age, were summoned to accompany Dad to stand guard. As we left the house, Dad got his shotgun. Sure enough, at about 10:30 or 11:00 p.m. one of us saw them as they came crawling across the huge lawn nearest the creek with their bellies on the ground. In the moonlight they looked like huge glow worms creeping closer and closer to the building. When they were nearly to the windows where we were standing in the unlit school, Dad quietly stepped out of the building and shot up into the air. The giant glow worms stood up and ran for their lives back toward the creek. Some leaped over the fence, and others found the gate opening passing into safety. One boy hit the fence and fell back into the muddy irrigation ditch. He frantically called, "Help, help I've been shot! I'm a dead man! Guys help me!" He continued to call for his buddies to return. Finally, two of his buddies came back to help their fallen comrade. One of them said, "Good h*@! Swain. It isn't blood. Its mud!" They left arm in arm.

LaPoint School westside view - Shirleen
The Halloweeners came from the eastside.

     These two experiences tell so much about my father's personality. He was calm, patient, and loved life. There was not too much that would get him upset. I did learn one negative button that he had which I only pushed once and that was, "You are NEVER to talk back or sass your mother! She is my sweetheart." A swift hand let me know he meant it.
     About February, of my Senior year, the Laurels (mutual girls), had the yearly So Dear to My Heart Night. It was held at the Uintah Stake Center, in Vernal. Sister Bryson (remember my dime experience) was the speaker. Her talk sunk deep into my heart! When the spirit is present it dwells in ones heart unless we ourselves cast it out. I still remember much of her words. She spoke on temple marriage, stressing its importance in our eternal progression, the relationship of the couple, and the eternal family. She commented that we should date more than one guy, because how else would we know if he was the right one. She compared it with buying fruit at the supermarket. You don't buy the first one you pick up, as you want the best fruit for your family. She had us close our eyes, and imagine that that we had been to a ball dressed in our very best formal attire. As she narrated the following scene. "You and your date have just spent a lovely evening together at a dance. You are dressed in your beautiful formal." Pausing, giving us time to get the image fixed in our mind.  Easy, I pictured myself in the baby blue dress Mother had made for me and I'd worn for all my high school formal dances. She continued, "Your pale yellow dress is adorned with the beautiful corsage that your date pinned on your dress at the beginning of your special evening." My image then switched to the pale yellow Cinderella dress I'd seen in story books. "Your date is handsome in his formal attire, with the boutonniere you have pinned on him, can you see him? The evening has been all that you've dreamed it might be. It finally is time to dance that last dance. You both walk toward the exit. You discover it has been raining, and there are mud-puddles that can soil your beautiful dress. You need to walk very carefully back to the car in order not to allow that too happen---" 
     Not experienced in the ways of our Heavenly Father, I did not know I'd just experienced a special spiritual feast narrated by a servant of our Heavenly Father through the power of the Holy Ghost. However, I did KNOW I'd NEVER felt like I felt at that moment. The intense feeling remained with me all the way 
home.

Top left to right - Shirleen, Edna Gagon,
Nila Wooley, Carol Rasmussen, Theora Angus,
Irene Taylor, Janeal Harrison
Bottom left to right - Elna Allred (leader),
Carol Rasmussen, Nila Wooley, Edna Gagon,
Aunt Mamie Rasmussen (leader), Irene Taylor,
Theora Angus, Janeal Harrison,
Shirleen, not sure yet

     I fell to my knees in complete humility and plead for a temple marriage. Homer and I had never discussed temple marriage! Yet, why should I doubt that he wouldn't want a temple marriage? My heart was still afire and troubled as I said my night prayer and crawled into bed. I don't know if I fell asleep or if a vision was opened before me. But I understood at the time I had experienced something extraordinary.
     I felt as if I was being carried through the bedroom window, and placed standing facing the LaPoint Hill, where I viewed the following spiritual motion picture. Soldiers appeared one by one coming from the right and worked their way toward the grassy knoll slightly to my left. Each one would fall dead on the battlefield. Their last breath varying from falling in a mud puddle, in the dirt, or fall, rise, and walk a few steps and fall again. A light would flash from behind the knoll (the drawing makes it look as if it is left of me), lighting the area surrounding it. A large clock was above the hills. I watched the hands of the clock as it ticked off the time until the hour hand neared the twelve. My attention focused on one soldier, not in uniform but dressed in a fine suit, walking toward the knoll from the opposite direction. He did not fall but remained standing. Then at last, one came from the east and walked among the dead and dying and walked straight to the knoll and climbed it without difficultly. The pockets of his uniform bulged with all that he'd need to make the climb to the top. Symbolically, those things in his pockets would be the Priesthood, obedience, worthiness, testimony, word of wisdom etc.

My answer came from the Lord as a dream or vision.
Soldiers depicted by stick figures, but were real soldiers. I did not recognize them. I did not yet know them. I didn't even recognize Homer I had to live the experience to learn.

     I had to live it to understand its full meaning, and I have pondered it many times throughout my life. 
     I laid in bed marveling at what had been shown me. I knew without a doubt that it was an answer to my much desired request. Fear then gripped me, as a thought entered my mind. Maybe it is telling of a war! Raymond may be drafted! Fear raked me over until I arose and went to my parents room and asked if I could spend the rest of the night with them. I had never in my memory slept with my parents until that night.
     My own war was nearer than I thought. It started with a sweet calm before the battle commenced. Homer and I went to see the movie production of Cecil B. DeMille's, "The Ten Commandments". Afterwards, while we were walking to his car, he suddenly said, "I had a dream. In the dream you were wearing a gold dress. Someday I'll buy you that gold dress." Then he started to tell me about a trip he once had taken to a foreign land with his grandmother and a cousin. He told about how poor and hungry the children were, and once we were married we'd go there together. Again, those things were recorded on my soul and remained. 
     I was not prepared for the battle that began in Uintah Stake Conference. Our stake conferences were held in the Uintah Stake Tabernacle (now the Vernal Temple). My friends and I had seated ourselves in the balcony. A half dozen boys we knew from Vernal sat themselves behind us. The ushers kept watching us with corrective nods and occasionally walked by us throughout the meeting. As conference closed and everyone begin to file slowly out, Wayne Hall grabbed my hand and forced my precious ring off of my finger then pushed through the crowd to get away. I went after him as fast as the crowd would allow. When we got to the steps he said, "here catch". I caught it, only to discover he'd tossed me his class ring instead. He then ran and was lost in the crowd. I could not find him anywhere. 
    The next weekend, Homer drove me to Vernal to get the ring back. He was upset! We stopped in front of Wayne's house, and Homer started to get out of the car. I was afraid of a fight between a Union Cougar and a Uintah Ute, so I promised I'd get the ring back during the week. Once the ring was finally returned things seemed to even out fine until the following weekend. We went to the dance at Liberty Park as we'd done many times during the last two and half years. After the dance, Homer started to talk about marriage. I don't remember the whole conversation except that he said, "I suppose you want a temple marriage." My reply was, "I will not consider doing it any other way." He then said, "I'm not worthy." I felt as if the whole world stopped on its axis. I began to cry! He knew he wasn't going to get me to discuss it any farther, so he finally said, "Let's think about it this week and then we'll talk about it next weekend." He had no idea, nor did I share with him, of my special spiritual experiences I'd had during the last couple of weeks.
     The weekend came and we waited until after the dance to discuss the delicate subject again. Nothing had changed! We decided to not date until one of us came up with a answer, or whatever. I cried myself to sleep. I felt that I was totally innocent. I was not to blame or guilty of anything that was causing the hurt both of us were feeling.

I begin to pull away from the familiar before graduation.
Class of 1958

     The battle only became a cold war and more intense. My friends and I went to a Roosevelt Stake dance. Homer was just escorting a girl back to her seat as we entered the cultural hall. I decided I could not stand the pain and turmoil that was pounding inside of me. My girlfriends, understanding my suffering, agreed to drive to Vernal to our own stake dance for the rest of the evening. We did our war dance with the Uintah Utes and ended our hunt in Cougar Territory for the remaining school year.

DeLyle

     The soldiers that the Lord showed me in my dream began to enter my dating battlefield and die. Only God knew what was ahead for me. I learned to depend more and more on Him. Every night, I prayed that he'd guide me to a worthy priesthood holder that would take me to the temple.
      A friend of mine from Vernal, Johnnie J., asked me if I'd date his friend. I agreed because if Homer was dancing with other girls then it was obvious to me that he had moved on. Emotionally, I wasn't ready to move on but the opportunity was placed before me. Johnnie's friend, DeLyle S. was the first to enter my battlefield and the first soldier to fall. DeLyle and Johnnie were a package, I could soon see DeLyle was as insecure as I felt. 
     About that same time Kent S. (a friend of Homer's) asked me to go to the Senior Prom and I accepted. On the night of the dance, he called and said his dad had called from Heber and would not get home with the car in time. Somewhat relieved, I removed my formal, said my prayers and went to bed. It always seemed to me that Kent and Homer had drummed up a scheme to keep me from going to the Prom. Especially when the following Christmas, Kent sent me a Christmas card. Was it a guilty conscious or another scheme from Kent and Homer to check up on me? I did not return the kind act. I hated boys! That soldier (Kent) was gone! I would not give him another kind thought!
     In my personal revelation Homer had remained standing, I hoped that it meant he would return. I tried with all my might to be strong and have faith.
     DeLyle was not where my heart really was anyway. I'd removed Homer's ring, but still hoped. Rejection was painful and I did not plan on allowing it to happen again. After a short few weeks of dating DeLyle, Johnnie warned me that DeLyle enjoyed dropping a girl after she started falling for him, and then have her pine over him. So my alarm was already set. 
     On March 15, 1958, Nila and I were to perform with the Cougarette drill team at a basketball game's half time. Toward the end of the game, DeLyle, Dale W. (his cousin) and a couple of other buddies came into the gym and found a seat below us somewhere. As soon as the game was over, Nila and I avoided DeLyle and his friends and headed straight home to meet our curfew. It was a pitch black night and Nila was driving. As we were going through Fort Duchesne on Highway 40, we narrowly missed hitting a drunk Native American man walking in the middle of the road. He seemed to be following the yellow line in order to see where he was going. The car's headlights shone on him just long enough for us to see that he was wearing very dark clothing. Nila said she felt that he was so close that he brushed the car as we went by him and she made eye contact with him. We looked back and could see him staggering in the middle of the highway. We shook violently all the way home. 
     Early the next morning, Johnnie came to my home in LaPoint to let me know that DeLyle had hit and killed an Indian on their way home from Roosevelt the night before. I went with Johnnie to see the car in Roosevelt. The boys were not hurt, but his car showed severe damage and indicated that they were driving over the speed limit. DeLyle spent the rest of the school year and the following summer in emotional recovery. DeLyle became one of the soldiers, as we did not date again that year. Graduation and this accident took us in separate directions. Johnnie and I, remained just good friends, danced the school year to the finish. He was a good dancer. 
      David P. asked me for a date to attend the activities after graduation. I didn't want to go with him, but I didn't know how to tell him no and so I accepted. He did not attend Union nor was he a graduate so he was sitting in the audience. After I received my diploma and walked into the hall, Johnnie was waiting to congratulate us. He'd received his diploma in Vernal an hour earlier and drove right to Roosevelt. Nila and I  left with him and I, knowingly, stood up my date. I shot him dead as dead squarely in the self-esteem. I was not an example of temple ready behavior, for sure!!! I had some things to learn about being kind, trustful and loyal. I'd also just graduated a few days ahead from seminary. I'm sure the heavens were shaking their heads and sighing "we knew she needed some preparation too".

Shirleen
High School Graduation

     Graduation was behind me and I did not know where or what I was going to do with my life. Adella had gotten married. Nila got a job in Salt Lake with the telephone company. Taline got a job at the bank and would soon marry. Theora was going to Utah State. Johnnie was leaving for Dixie College. Through the grapevine, I learned that Homer had been accepted at BYU. And the rest of my friends had another year of high school. I rambled aimlessly through most of the summer.

Janeal Harrison

     Around the first of September, Janeal Harrison came to my home and suggested that I go to Snow College with her. Even though, she had grown up in LaPoint along with the rest of us, she and I had not been real close friends and I was surprised she ask me. I told her I didn't think there was enough time to take the entrance exam and be accepted, but Mother and I drove to Ephriam, Utah to check out the possibility. Surprised again, we returned home with me having taken the entrance exam, passed it, and found one last room in the dorm right across the street from the campus. All I needed to do was pack.  Everything was perfect!

      

A family picture was taken about the time I left for school, September, 1958.
Left to right - Vonae, Jeanne (Mary Jean), Raymond, Shirleen, Lanette
Middle front - Leland (Dad) and Velma (Mother)

Dale's High School Years

        

Central Elementary School in Vernal

     I started high school as a seventh grader. Vernal did not have a middle or junior high in those days. So I went from Central Elementary into Uintah High School.

The old Uintah High School (north building)

    
     The school had a strange feature. It consisted of more than one building. There was a building on the south and one on the north. They were both really old. They looked shabby on the inside and outside. The halls were quite eerie because of the poor lighting. The auditorium likewise with dim lights and a slanting floor like a movie theater. One needed to watch their footing carefully as they entered the room. The building on the south had a ledge about 4 1/2 feet off the ground that ran around the outside of the building.  Above the ledge there were holes in the soft adobe brick which many boys over the years had whittled into the brick to make it possible to walk around the building. The holes were used as finger holds. They could nearly walk around the whole building before they would have to jump down. It became a challenge to do so, and also it took up some of the recess time. One had to stay alert to remain on the ledge.
     The building on the south is where the office was. It also contained the auditorium, gym, dressing rooms, showers, and some classrooms. The north building had classrooms.
     The lunchroom was in another building nearby. It was similar to a military mess hall. The lunches were excellent. In those days everything was prepared from scratch on site by accomplished cooks using well planned menus. 
     In my research, I learned that A. Alwyn Call was Assistant Principal and served as the Principal of the Junior High age students that was in the north building while the high school was mainly in the south building. I do remember going from building to building for some of my classes.
     The old buildings have been demolished many years ago. They were located where the old swimming pool building is and east across the parking lot from the middle school. The present School Board Offices are to the south. Central Elementary is located at 250 South Vernal Avenue and is still in use today. It is now known as Central Cove Pre-school and is still part of the Uintah School District.        
     Older students can easily intimidate a seventh grader. We had plenty of opportunity to be around older students. I learned quickly that I would need to defend myself; as some of the older boys would put a younger one in a large trash can or locker. I made sure I didn't get caught. It was a whole new experience for me, because sixth graders were the king pins in elementary. 
     I recall a time when some of the boys would put yeast in a bottle of apple cider then lock it up in a locker, and forget what locker they had put the bottle in. Over a matter of time one could expect it to blow and that is just what would happen! The custodians hated it when it happened. They complained long and loud when it would happen. Of course, NO ONE KNEW who did it. 
     I cannot remember how I got to school each day. I can recall one time walking through the fields toward home. If I walked, it would have been quite a distance, especially during winter months. Mother taught at Naples Elementary in Naples, and carpooled with others. She was unable to take me to school. Ray would have been in tenth grade when I was in seventh. One can only guess, but I really have blanked a lot of things out of my mind during those years.
     I don't ever remember seeing Ray at school. He would have had classes that I did not need at the time, and had his own circle of friends, and what older brother wants a younger brother tagging him around everywhere. We had separate interest also.
     I quit my paper route about the time I went into seventh grade. I didn't like their work policy. If a customer didn't pay for their newspaper then it came out of our own pocket. And they would take us as far as Ballard, Utah to get new subscribers for the Deseret News. That got old! 
     Ray joined F.F.A (Future Farmers of America), which was a class in high school. Its members wore a jacket with their name stitched in yellow lettering on the front. The jacket was blue with the F.F.A. patch on the back. Ray got a new jacket and wore it while he was at the high school. When I joined F.F.A. then I inherited his jacket. I cut the stitching off to remove his name, but the blue had faded some and his name still showed. I wore the jacket anyway. I tried not to stress Mother with anything extra, that could be accomplished in a minor way or sacrifice something that would be of worth for a short time.

Ray Van Leuven

     As I recall, Ray starting working at the Vernal Theater before he graduated from high school. He couldn't wait to leave Vernal. After graduation he begin working toward that goal. So about as soon as he had the opportunity he took it! Uncle Duayne, as I recall, was helping him to make that happen. It seems that he did leave for his mission from our ward in Vernal.

Vernal Theater

     I remember walking (we'd run though) with a friend to LDS Seminary. He wore biker boots. They were a fad! I liked racing him because his boots always lost. The building was across the road. The Seminary building is used today as the LDS Distribution Center next to the Uintah School District office building. I graduated from seminary my senior year. 
     I had normal crushes on girls but nothing serious. It cost money I didn't have and I didn't have a car. Except the summer before my junior year I got a job as a pearl diver (dishwasher) at Hotel Vernal. I bought my first car, a '47 Ford. Then I got laid off. I parked my car in the drive way and would go out and start it up once in awhile. I couldn't afford to drive. I paid two hundred dollars for it. It was a faded blue, and looked like it had never been washed, but it did run. 

1947 Ford two door coupe like my first car. That is not me behind the wheel.

     When I was about seventeen, Mother let me take her car to mutual. As I took a left turn at 5th West and 1st South a guy coming from the east ran the stop sign. He hit the car on the driver's side. I was not hurt, but it smashed in the door. I hated to borrow Mother's car after that. I was always careful not to bring added stress to Mother. I'm sure this was stress to her, as it was the only car she had.     
     In those days the snowplows would not often get the side roads cleared of snow, so the roads would get packed down. They would get really icy. We would take advantage of the slow moving vehicles on our way to mutual. We'd get a hold of their bumper and let them pull us to where we wanted to drop off. Also I remember tying a rope on a bumper and being pulled behind a car just for fun. Dangerous but fun!
     We'd wet our hair down to style it. During the winter when we'd go outside our hair would freeze. 

     Sometime later I don't remember when or how but I traded off my '47 for a black 1952 Ford, which I couldn't afford to drive very often either. 

1952 Ford

     My senior year the new high school was finished and along with it a new seminary building just across the street. The new school and seminary building were much closer to my home. I didn't have eight blocks to walk to school any more, only about five blocks. The new Uintah High School was like walking from darkness into light. 

Uintah High School, 1956

     My life begin to change also. Standard Stations were hiring. I applied and was sent to Provo for a week of schooling. Kenneth Hacking (a cousin) invited me to stay with his family during those training days. My job at the Chevron Station put me on a swing shift. Which meant I went to school and straight to work until about 10:00 p.m. Standard Stations were always good to me. My job allowed me to upgrade my mode of transportation to a two tone green and white 1955 Ford. My walking days were in the past. I was starting to live!
     A guy's car was a beautiful feather in a young MAN's cap. The '55 Ford was not keeping up with the GM cars. So I bought a plum and white '56 Chev, it was stick shift with a 283. The better souped up the better! It was a bit of a challenge to see who could have the hottest in looks, speed, and the most mellow sound in the Basin. The chrome pipes I had put along the side of my car really looked sharp. The car never got beat until I raced Pat Sutten's car (58 Pontiac Auto, tri-power). Each time I shifted, the Pontiac would move a head a couple of feet. We were on Vernal Avenue going north. In the rear view mirror, I could see a bright red light coming....??. Another story.

1955 Ford
Two doors were hip! Four doors not! Four doors were thought to be family sedans.

     

1956 Chev 

    Uintah High was the first in 'the basin' to add wrestling to the curriculum. I was interested, so I got into wrestling. Time now was the problem. When the the wrestling coach wanted me to stay after, my reply was I've got to go to work. There was NO time for girls!
    I got the nickname Louie when I was working at the Vernal Hotel. One of the other guys working there could not pronounce Van Leuven correctly, so once when he tried to say my last name and was having difficulty I said, "Can you say Louie?" His reply, "Yeah!" He started calling me Louie. It took, so I became Louie to many friends. Some still call me Louie. 

Physical Education- 'Louie', left front

Dale 'Louie' Van Leuven, senior year 1956

     Kent was growing and advancing along in the education program. The year I started seventh grade he would have been about seven years of age. He had been a stress to Mother as his health was not always good. He got colds and the flu easily. His eating habits were poor, until Uncle Duayne told Mother to take him over to Evelyn's with all her children during mealtimes and he'd learn to eat. She decided to try it and it worked, because when he saw others diving in to get their share he started doing the same. He could plainly see that one had to do something about surviving when there was a crowd.
     Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Owen Hacking lived west of us and had children near mine and Ray's ages. Mother and Evelyn were always real close. She was a lot of help and comfort to Mother. Of course, cousins were great to have close.