Somebody's Mother

Grandma Shirley (Margie) loved poetry. Many times she would recite poetry to me that she had memorized years ago. Her scrapbooks are filled with poetry she had collected over the years. She recited to me many lines from Poe's The Raven, and also The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. I spent the day with her today, Saturday, April 8, 2011. At the age of 89 she quoted the entire poem Somebody's Mother. When she finished her eyes were moist with teams and her voice slightly chocked with emotion. It was obvious how much feeling this poem held for her. Perhaps more than I can realize:

Somebody’s Mother, by Mary Dow Brine

The woman was old and ragged and gray

And bent with the chill of the winter's day.

The street was wet with the recent snow,

And the woman's feet were aged and slow.

Alone, uncared for, amid the throng

Of human beings who passed her by,

Nor heeded the glance of her anxious eye.

Down the street with laughter and shout.

Glad in the freedom of "school let out,

"Came the boys like a flock of sheep,

Hailing the snow piled white and deep.

Past the woman so old and gray

Hastened the children on their way,

Nor offered a helping hand to her,

So meek, so timid, afraid to stir,

Lest the carriage wheels or the horses' feet

Should crowd her down in the slippery street.

At last came one of the merry troop,

The gayest laddie of all the group;

He paused beside her and whispered low,

"I'll help you across if you wish to go."

Her aged hand on his strong young arm

She placed, and so, without hurt or harm,

He guided her trembling feet along,

Proud that his own were firm and strong.

Then back again to his friends he went,

His young heart happy and well content.

"She's somebody's mother, boys, you know,

For all she's aged and poor and slow;

"And I hope some fellow will lend a hand

To help my mother, you understand,

If ever she's poor and old and gray,

When her own dear boy is far away."

And "somebody's mother" bowed low her head

In her home that night, and the prayer she said

Was, "God be kind to the noble boy

Who is somebody's son and pride and joy."

Grandma Ward

Mina Ward was an identical twin. She married and had a daughter, Rayola. The man she married decided he would go to California and obtain work there. He would send for her later. My mother said, "I guess he forgot." Mina met and married Grandpa Ward and they started their family. Grandpa Ward was a "day-laborer, so he was always looking for work. Grandma did what she could to keep the family fed. Grandpa knew the scriptures well. He was also ward clerk for many years. At the same time he had a problem with tobacco. Mom said, "He never smoked in front of us kids." She said he would go outside into the outhouse for his "necessities." The first photo shows Grandma Ward. The caption on the back says, "Mina at Margie's place, 1950."

This is Margie.

This photo shows Grandma Ward holding Dale, at 7 weeks of age. Did you notice a third person in the photo? To their right and to the bottom of the photo is Neal, age 15 months.

This is Grandma holding Dale at 5 months of age.

This is Grandma holding me (Scott).

This is a five generation photo. It shows Phebe (Grandpa Ward's mother, who was a second wife), Art (Grandpa Eberhardt Ward), Rayola (Mom's older sister, known as Ray), her daughter Betty, and her son. The photo was taken in June, 1952.

To give an idea of Mina's personality, I am including some correspondence between her and Mom. I left as much of the spelling and punctuation as possible:

Dear Margie and Ross, I am taking a chance that you may be getting your mail. My thoughts are with you all the time since I heard of the awful flood. The pictures on the T.V. nearly makes a person sick and I guess to see the real things are still worse. I sure hope you can reach your home and find some things that you can redeem. It is tragic but I am so grateful that your family are all safe. The life of one member would be worse than it is now. I hope you are not making yourselves sick worrying. Just plan on coming out OK. I sure hope you are accepting aid from the church and red cross and in the end get some money from the government who seem to be to blame. They are such liars, there's no telling what they will do.

We have had a real hot day today. It keeps me busy running the hose on my garden and flowers. I haven't heard from any of the kids for a day or two and I am sure they are all thinking about you. If there is any thing I can do or any thing that I have that you may need please tell me. I forgot to give you your plum preserve also a bottle of dill pickles and rheubarb. I don't know how to spell it but you will know what I mean. Tuesday. I got this far last evening then decided to go to bed. I have been out this morning looking to see if my vegetables had grown another leaf. It is cloudy so we may get some rain to-day.

Max Anderson's wife called me Sunday to hear what I knew about you and the flood. I ask her if she was the lady that ask about you when she saw me in Tremonton and she said no, so I don't know who it was that talked to me and ask about you when I was in Tremonton so that shows that you have friends around our valley. I am fine I don't know just what I will do today but it will be some thing. By the looks of the T.V. pictures there is a lot of mud for some one to shovel out. I hope your house still stands and that I could help you clean up. I imagine some one will come to your aid.

The other day when Gwen called she said she was coming up one day this week and take me to a show then stay here over night. I hope I hear from you before she comes and besides I am not interested in night life. I would rather go to bed. It is real good of her to do it but young folks don't realize that old people have lost interest in such things. Maybe not all old folks but I sure am past enjoying such things especially a picture show. I never did care of them. I would rather lay on the bed and watch T.V. Well I guess this is all for now. I hope you two are taking care of yourselves. I need all my kids. Thanks for all the nice things you do for me. Love to all. Mom. Please excuse mistakes and read this as it should be. Wish I could help you.

New Letter: I got my new colored T.V. and love it but I am half afraid to use it because it has snow looking dots on it. I am waiting until Paul comes up some time and take care of it. I daresen't mess with it and I wouldn't let any one else. I put it on for one show and then use my radio. Margie after talking to you the other day nothing has happened around so this will sure be a short note. I will keep thinking until some one comes so I can mail this. Take care of yourselves. You sounded good the other day. Hope Ross is OK also all your kids and grand kids.

Military Service, 1943-1965

Entered Merchant Marines, Sept. 15, 1943, Stationed at Catalina Island until Dec. 25, 1943.

Enlisted in Army Transportation Corp., Dec. 25, 1943.

Stationed in St. Petersburg, Florida Dec. 25, 1943-March 1, 1944.

Transferred to New Orleans, LA., March 1, 1944-May 4, 1944.

Entered U.S. Army Transportation Corp, May 4, 1944.

Stationed at Fort Gordon Johnston, Florida, May 4, 1944.

Promoted to 2nd Lt., June 20, 1944.

Embarked for overseas duty December 16, 1944.

Arrived at Philippines Station, Feb. 1, 1945.

Promoted to 1st Lt., June 1, 1945.

Served in Layte, Luzon, Cebo, New Guinea, Japan and Okinawa from Feb 1, 1945 to Sept. 1946.

Promoted to rank of Captain, Feb. 25, 1947.

Promoted to rank of Major, May, 1958.

Commissioned Officer (Commanding Officer) of 449th Civil Affairs Co., 1962-1966.

Retired from military service with 23 years of active and retired duty, 1966.

I (Scott) had the privilege of taking Dad to the funeral services of one of his military buddies at the Archer Cemetery. It was about a year before he passed away. Because of Dad's health, we were able to attend the graveside services only. As we approached a group of his surviving friends, they greeted him with smiles and a salute. One of them shook his hand, smiled and said, "Well, Ross, the Boss." They all had a good chuckle. It was a rare privilege to watch this group of true heroes and see my father interact with them. I was enjoying the conversation when Dad told them that he wanted them to meet me. I felt somewhat unworthy to be noticed by this calibre of valiant men, but seeing the pride in Dad's eyes as he introduced me revealed how much he valued all his children and grandchildren. How could we ever disappoint someone who believed so much in us?

Marine Officer Cadet School - Feb. 12, 1944

Ross was selected for Marine Officer Cadet School in St. Petersburg, Florida. The group was known as "The Fighting 24th." It is difficult to read all the names, so I included an image of the reverse side. Anyone knowing of errors, please comment below:

1st Row, L-R

Russemetto, Boyle, Rogers, Roach

2nd Row,

Shoemaker, Houges, Pidgeon, Alovis, Peterson, Roberts, Renolds

3rd Row,

Daly, Peal, Cromly, Knudson, Clasley, Livjoy, Borsch

4th Row,

Beck, Kopetaki, Gray, Susa, Boyd, Shirley, Smith

Ross Shirley Home - Teton Flood Disaster

This is a visual story of our family homestead and the effects of the Teton Dam Disaster on June 5, 1976. This is the view of the house from the northwest looking toward the south east with Sugar City in the background. The flood came from the left. It caved in the east side of Dad’s shed and took out the doors on the west as the waters went down. This is the back side of the house showing all the fence posts laid flat. Water was still running by, which proved to be a great help in cleaning up.

This is the view a little more down the same road to the south, looking toward the northeast where the flood came from. It shows Dad’s shed.

This is the view of the house from the corner, showing approximately where the flood victim’s body was discovered.

The waves in the water were either the current, or the waves caused from the wind.

This is another view moving around the corner to the east. Again, this is the general area where the deceased victim was found.

The ditch and the bushes created a gathering place for many mailboxes. Dad found a rocking chair high in a tree in Wilford and retrieved it. He gave it to me (Scott) and I still have it.

This shows Dad and several of the family after they had shoveled the mud out of the house and hung the carpets out to dry.

This is Dad cleaning out his house. The carpet was from the front room. While many people stood in front of their homes crying, Dad was busy working.

This is the view from the helicopter as the family carried out the deceased victim. It says, “A family in Sugar City, Idaho, cleans up the home and yard as volunteers remove a flood victim’s body from the water. The Teton Dam which broke Saturday, flooding several Idaho towns, caused damage in the millions of dollars.” It should be noted the family was the volunteer group.

This picture was taken a bit further to the east, showing the leaning power poles on the west side of the house.

The trees on the east side of the house did much to protect the home from the big push of water, which was about five feet deep. They also collected a huge amount of additional debris.

Perhaps these trees kept the house from being flattened, who knows? This is another view of the east side of the house.

This is a bit further to the east of the house looking back to the northwest.

Still further to the east, looking back at the house and metal building.

Someone’s combine was deposited a little to the west of the house. It may have been Dalling’s. The field to the east of the house was full of water for several days.

The house was soon cleaned up. A bus full of Mennonites from Canada stopped by to ask if Dad wanted help. He put them to work. We were told from our Stake President not to turn volunteers away. We were told, “You will be held accountable for blessings others would have received, had they been allowed to help.” Later, it was determined the house could not be saved. Dad's name was painted on the front for the demolition team. There were too many structural problems. All the effort was not wasted, it only brought us closer together.

A H.U.D. hut was moved in just behind the house. Notice how everything was cleaned up and hauled away. We saw many truckloads of dead horses and cows being trucked away. Neal and Dad salvaged a lot of the brick, windows, and other building materials from the condemned house. After so many wonderful years of service, the day came for the home to be demolished. A home is more than bricks, mortar, and boards. It is the sum total of the people who lived and loved inside. Home is where the heart is. Our home is forever.

Teton Flood Story - By Scott Shirley

I had been working for Safeway in Idaho Falls and had requested and received a transfer to the Rexburg store. We were living in Idaho Falls and Jan was expecting our second child (Jeff), yet we decided to go ahead and move before the baby came. It was June 3, 1976. As we were driving north to Rexburg on our adventure, I remember thinking that life was going to change. I had no idea. (Note: Here are the "Flood Babies, Allison, Brian, Chris, Jeff, Amber and Jenna.)

We unloaded our things at our ground-floor apartment on main street in Sugar City, and spent the night with Jan's folks. The following morning, June 4, Jan went into labor. We went back down to Idaho Falls hospital, which was located near the temple, and were blessed with healthy baby boy, Jeff. We were so excited. I spent the day with Jan and Jeff, then went back to Kinghorn's. Jenna was 14 months old. The future was looking good.

The following morning was Saturday, June 5. I left Jenna with Grandma K and went to the apartment to get some things unpacked. I remember having a distinct feeling that I should just leave everything and go back to Kinghorn's. I tried to ignore the feeling, but it persisted, so I drove two blocks south back to Jenna and Grandma. As soon as I drove in the driveway Grandma K came out and told me the dam had broken. My thoughts went back to the floods of '62, so naturally I expected no more than a foot of water.

Earlier that morning, seepage was noticed on the north flank of the dam. It seems the water was leaking into the rock on the north side, gone around the grouted curtain of cement pumped into it, and was coming out on the west side. They brought some bulldozers to fill the hole, but the pressure on the other side was too much. Two dozers fell into the hole, later to be found a great distance downstream.

The water on the reservoir side had been rising at about three feet per day. This was a new dam that had never been filled. As it turned out, the spillway at the top never got a chance to be used. The photos here were taken by a lady who worked with my mother at the Forest Service. She gave Mom a complete set.

I hurried down to main street to see what people were saying and what was the plan. I remember thinking that things were going to change and wondered what would happen. Dorothy and I decided that we should stay together, so we left her car there, grabbed Jenna and headed for Brent's. We met Jean and the kids there and decided to ride together up to Rexburg Hill. We found a place in front of Lincoln Elementary. Dorothy and Jean stayed there with the kids while I walked north where I heard they needed help sandbagging the river bridge. When I got there I was told to go back up on the hill. They said that with the amount of water coming all the sandbags in the world would be of no use. I walked back up the hill wondering why I was not inspired enough to stay just one more day in Idaho Falls. As I sat on the hill with Baby Jenna and no diaper bag, bottle, or blankets, watching homes float away, I realized I was homeless. At the same time I was grateful that we had been spared. The wave came in from the north east direction. Huge columns of dust were being kicked up in front of the wave. At first we thought it was smoke. I thought there was no way Neal's house could be saved.

Dorothy and I were offered a place to stay at John and Shirleen Magleby's house. We were able to get some milk for Jenna. There was no way to call anywhere because phones were down. I walked to the National Guard station and talked to a State Trooper, telling him I needed to get word to Jan in the hospital that we were OK. He talked to some people and then made a radio call to Idaho Falls.

Jan had been sleeping that morning. When she awoke she was told the dam had broken. She turned on the TV. Reports were that hundreds were presumed dead, Teton and Sugar City were gone, and that Rexburg had been destroyed. When she got word from me she thought, "Scott would tell me that even if things were not good."

I looked out over the valley from Rexburg Hill with binoculars. As the sun was about to go down I could begin to see a few roads emerge as the waters receded. There were a few blinking rescue lights, but soon there were no lights at all to the north. It was surreal how dark and quiet things were.

I walked in the dark to the Manwaring Center to see what any news might be. As I walked across campus the screw in my glasses that kept the lens in place came out and my lens fell to the ground. What next! I entered the Manwaring and someone asked me what I might need. When I told him that I needed a paper clip he was puzzled. I used it to wire my glasses together so that I could see.

I went back to Magleby's who had prepared us a place in their basement. Grandma K suggested we have a prayer. I was wondering how I was going to get through the night with Jenna and no diaper bag and no binky. I thought I knew Grandma K, but I learned more about her through her heart-felt prayer than I had in all the time I had been associated with her. It was a prayer in which she genuinely talked to her Father in Heaven, pleading for help and protection for her family. I felt privileged to have heard such a prayer. When she finished, we settled down in bed. I held Jenna close to me. She had never gone a night without a pacifier, but that night was her first. We were blessed with peace in a most unpeaceful situation.

The following morning, Sunday, word came that we were to meet in the Hart Gymnasium. On the way there I saw Nile Shirley, my cousin. We were both concerned about Uncle Les. We found out later he had been in the tub when water crashed his house. He spent the night in a wet house with no electricity listening to distressed animals stuck in a tree.

When I got to the gym, someone had made signs for each ward in front of individual sections of the seats. The organization was calm and precise. I believe it was at this meeting (maybe a week later at a separate one) that President Kimball came to speak. First, Idaho Governor Andrus spoke. Then, President Kimball spoke. As he began, I was amazed at the true leadership he showed in comparison to elected government officials. I knew I was listening to a true prophet. He told us that he would weep for us if he thought it would do any good. He told us not to wait for the government to step in, rather pitch in and clean up. We were also told to document with photos, then go to work. He told us to do no more than a day's work at a time and not run faster than we were able. We were to be wise and maintain our health.

After the meeting, I snagged a ride in the back of a pickup that was going into Sugar. We went west along the hill to the Sugar cemetery at the foot of the hill. The bridge had been partially destroyed. There was a report that one of the new graves had been uprooted.

Huge sections of pavement were missing. There were no fence posts and few power poles. Army helicopters circled the area. Cylindrical granaries, still attached to their concrete foundations could be seen out in the middle of fields. The grain fields with stalks about six inches long, had been combed as if by a huge brush, all laid flat and pointing which way the water had gone.

I arrived at what was left of our apartment. The water had been about five and a half feet deep, but had now left about a foot of mud and straw on the floor. My belongings were there, but nothing was of use, except for my guitar, which had been on the couch, floated up to the ceiling, and did not have a drop of water on it. That is the same guitar Brandon now has.

I walked across what had been Sugar and headed for Mom and Dad's. The railroad tracks had been washed out. The rails had been bent around one of Dalling's big trees. When I got to the house it was locked, so I broke a window in the back door. I expected to find the parrot, Mrs. Bird, dead, but she just looked at me. The water had risen to the bottom of her cage and then gone down. I surveyed the situation and then wrote in the deep mud on the floor in front of the TV, "Scott was here, I have the bird." As I walked back into Sugar with the bird, I got some strange looks from people. I told them the bird had seen the entire thing, but wasn't saying much about it.

The following day I came in again by bumming rides here and there. There were people standing in the road with arms around each other crying and sobbing over their losses. Destruction was everywhere and the situation was grim, at least until I approached Mom and Dad's house. Carpets were drying in bushes and trees, furniture was moved outside. Instead of gloom and despair I saw family members joking while they worked. When I walked inside the house Dad said, "I heard you were missing." I said, "Yes, missing everything I have." We had a good laugh. Mom was in the kitchen making sandwiches out of the refrigerator which had been tipped over by the rising water. Their examples of optimism and good humor have always been an example to me.

I spotted Neal's trailer to the southwest, about half a mile away and decided to see what condition it was in. After I left Dale and Neal found the body of Mr. McCrae, one of the victims. Dale waded out in the water to see what it was as Neal watched. They told Dad they had found a body. There had been so much good joking going on that Dad did not take them seriously, but looking at their faces he knew it was real. He walked out to the man, turned him over and cleaned off his face with the water that was still running by a few inches deep. They did not know if they would recognize the man or not. I later asked Dad how he could so casually clean the mud from a victim's face with such tender care. He said, "If it were your body, wouldn't you want someone to treat it with respect?" Years earlier he and Rod had helped pick up the remains of a man hit by a train. Such stories helped me years later when I was trying to help a child struck by a car in front of Lyman Elementary. I thought, "I can't do this." The stories of Dad came to mind with the words, "If Dad can do that, I can do this."

I spent long hours working at Safeway, getting all the overtime we wanted. Safeway gave me a thousand dollars and the union gave me another eight-hundred. I had nowhere to cash my paychecks, but with so much help from the church and other volunteers we were OK. I went to the distribution center and reluctantly admitted I needed some clothes. They gave me a pair of boots and a few other things. All I owned I was wearing.

Shortly after the flood I was finally able to go and get Jan and Jeff. It was so good to see her again. Jan, Jenna, Jeff and I were together for the first time, homeless, but not hopeless. Magleby's helped so much until we were able to get a vacant student apartment on campus and later got a government HUD Hut. It was so good to spend some time with our new baby, Jeff. With all the chaos, he was a mild mannered, well-behaved baby. Jenna, who had been rather active and driving us nuts with her constant jabbering, suddenly became the ad-hoc mother. I really think she was under the impression that we had Jeff just to give her something to play with. We lived in the trailer court on Fifth West for about a year, then bought our home from John Magleby, across the road from Uncle Sterling.

It is not the things that happen to us in life, rather what we do with them. Our difficulties do not define us, rather they reveal our character. I will always remember the character of my family members during this very difficult situation, especially the leadership of Mom and Dad. They did not blink or falter, even in the face of great hardship. The Teton Dam fell apart, but our family did not. Each of our family members has had to go through very difficult trials, but never alone. All because of the quiet, calm, and humerous examples of Ross and Margie Shirley.

(Note: For a full list of those who died in the Teton Flood, as well as other information and photos, click on the link below. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~idfremon/flood.htm