Richard Burke Hafen

Richard Burke Hafen Born 3 Oct 1934 in St. George to Guy and Althea Rebecca Gregerson Hafen
Richard attended Elementary at the West Elementary.  Jr. High at Woodward and High School and Dixie College at the Dixie College/Rec center building on Main and 100 South

Richards parents

Guy and Althea Hafen at time of marriage

Richard's Family Home

Richard was the baby of the family of 9 kids. 

Elaine born 17 Nov 1918 died 18 Oct 2008, Earle Guy born 8 Jul 1920 died 2 Mar 1983, Reginald Gregerson born 29 Aug 1923 died 6 Dec 1926, Ralph James born 16 Feb 1925, Norman Eric born 3 Jul 1926 died 2 Jul 2001, Valrea Althea Hafen born 21 Jan 1929 died 8 Apr 2012, Gregerson Herbert born

1 May 1930, Gloria Maria born9 May 1932, Richard Burke 3 Oct 1934

Where Richard went to Elementary School at West Elementary

Richard with favorite Dog

Richard's first job was a paper boy he had 90 papers

Where Richard went to Jr. High at the Woodward

Richard on football team

Some of Richards friends. 

Jay Ence top left.

Richard went to College and High School here

Richard pumping gas at Bryce and Grand Canyon

Richard was Biology teacher and  drove a cattle, owned and managed the Jolly King Restaurant, Washington County Brand Inspector 

The Jolly King Restuarant

first row: Elaine, Erle, Ralph, Norman, Guy, Valeria, Greg, Gloria, Richard

This is not a good picture but Richard served active duty for 6 months

These paintings were painted my Richard's mother Althea

Richard Burke Hafen was born Oct 4^th 1934 in the McGregor Clinic building on 2^nd East 50 s.  At the time of his birth the family lived in the Hafen home on 100 East 200 North.  Grandpa Guy Hafen had built the home in the 1920’s. The foundation was made from the lava rocks on the black hill. 

Guy Hafen had Ivins property but Grandma Althea wanted to live in town. While Grandma Guy was in the army, Althea bought the St. George property. 

Guy Hafen also bought a lot by the college.  He sold that lot to a Bundy man.  One day Mr. Bundy came to pay on the lot and he was all beat up.  He had gotten the money to pay for the lot from fighting in the “Peach Day” fights.

Althea recognized it was hard to make money in the cattle business at their level of cattle raising so Althea encouraged her children to go to college.  One of Althea’s greatest treasures was the picture of her children in their cap and gowns. All of Althea’s living children received a college degree.

Life in St. George in the early days was hard. It was hard to just get the taxes paid. There was never any eating out, vacations, etc.

Richard walked to school every day and said Hello to everyone he met. The all said hello back, he knew everyone. There were no strangers. 

There were 9 children in the Guy and Althea Hafen home, 3 girls and 6 boys. 

Elaine was born 17 Nov 1918 and died 18 Oct 2008.  She was almost 90.  Earle Guy was born 8 July 1920.  Earle was a V.E.T. and a bombardier in the war. He flew 25 successful missions. He has a journal of his adventures in the war.  Earle died of cancer on March 2^nd 1983. Reginald Gregerson Hafen was born Aug 29^th 1923 and died 6 Dec 1926.  Ralph James was born 16 Feb 1925. He is a lawyer in Salt Lake. Norman Eric was born Jul 3^rd 1926 and died July 2^nd 2001.  He was a Veterinarian. Valrea Althea Jan 21^st 1929. Gregerson Herbert was born May 1 1930. Gloria Marie was born May 9^th 1932 and Richard Burke Oct 4^th 1934.  That is 9 children in 16years.

Richard says we worked hard but we still had fun. Summers were hot but we had a good time in Cox pond. We just skinny dipped there were no girls around. 

Richard’s favorite color is blue.  Richard got his nickname of “Blue Duck” from his brother Ralph.  Ralph had a biology teacher that taught Ralph much about the southwest birds.  Ralph took Richard to the river to show Richard the “Blue duck”

Richard really liked the blue duck so he always commented on it. Hey Ralph, look at that Blue Duck etc. So Richard got nick named “blue duck”.  Richard was never able to shake the nickname.  Many people do not even know Richard’s real name.  The nick name “Blue Duck” has followed Richard through life.  When Craig Hammer (son-in-law) built his subdivision he named a street “Blue Duck Lane”

Richard’s favorite food is “a nice fish dinner”. He loves crab legs. He likes to take the heart out of the big knuckles.

Richard’s favorite activities are the deer hunt, fishing and now traveling, picture taking and computers. Richard takes a computer and Photoshop class. 

Richard has a big cruise planned to Panama on April 15^th 2011. He has looked forward and planned for this trip for one year. It has all the whistles and bells.  

Some good ol stories written by Elaine

Summer Days

by Elaine Hafen Briggs

November 21, 2004

I recall the summer days in St. George during the 1920s and 1930s. In those days after school got over in the spring there was no summer school so we looked forward to a long summer vacation. But Mother was adamantly opposed to idleness in all its forms. So she had our summer days minutely planned with chores we were to do around the house. There were ordinary chores such as baking bread, cleaning, washing cloths, hanging them up to dry on the line, ironing and a dozen other things. Besides these routine chores there were the big summer projects. These revolved around canning the fruits and vegetables from the orchard and the garden. These canning projects came along in successive waves through the summer and fall as the crops ripened. So at different times during the summer and fall we canned peaches, apricots, pears, applesauce, tomatoes, beans, carrots and corn.

On those hot days I longed to be anywhere else besides canning or doing chores so I looked for any opportunity to escape the drudgery. One of our escapes was to steal away to the “Temple bumps.” We would ride down the hill on bicycles. We didn’t have bikes in our family so we had to rely on Rudger MacArthur or one of the other neighbor boy.  Usually I rode with one of my brothers or with a neighbor. There were usually two to a bike. There was the driver on the seat who pedaled and steered. I was always the rider, sitting side-saddle on the tube between the handle bars and seat and gripping the handlebars to hold myself on. Sometimes I rode with my brother Earl but I preferred not to. Earl liked to jump the curbs and ditch banks. I always worried about falling into the water that coursed down the ditch.

South of the temple toward the Virgin River was an open expanse of fields. From my earliest memory the townspeople rode their cars or bicycles through a portion of those fields creating tracks, paths and roadways. The fun was to ride over these bumpy tracks just for the thrill of it. This was the site of the Temple bumps. It was a thrill to ride over them on bikes. But not as fun as tackling them in a car.

Mother had heard us talk excitedly about the Temple bumps. One day Mother announced that she would like go over the Temple bumps. If the kids thought it was such fun, why then she’d like to enjoy it too. One of the neighbor boys was Grant Brooks whose father was the sheriff in town. That meant the Brooks family got a new car every year, quite unlike the rest of us who only got one every six to ten years. As Grant was about my same age it meant that I had to put up with him and his antics every year in school, in the neighborhood and in church. Grant would have been about 14 or 15, but it was common for young boys to drive at an early age. So Mother piled into a car full of kids and Grant drove us down the hill through town and to the Temple south of town where homes gave way to fields. We couldn’t pass up such a golden opportunity so Grant drove off the roadway and into the field. He announced that we were going to take the Temple bumps in stride. So he proceeded. We zoomed down the hill and then went bump-bump-bump over the bumps. On one occasion we hit the bumps so hard that we banged our heads, Mother’s included, on the roof of the car. Mother didn’t want to continue but we did: “Let’s do it again!” Later, recalling Grant and his driving, Mother declared, “Oh, that crazy lout!”

But those summer days were so hot that we longed for shade and cool water. The ditch banks served as irrigation for the garden plots and landscaping in town. Occasionally they were brimming with water. On hot summer afternoons this were especially inviting. During the summer we usually dressed in a light shirt, pants cut off at the knees and Keds tennis shoes. We would kick off our shoes and socks and wade in barefooted. Daddy didn’t see anything wrong with it as he thought it was good sport for us. This was very perplexing to Mother who could think of any number of objections. Actually, she didn’t mind if the boys engaged in it. But with me it was different. Mother didn’t want me making a “display” for the neighbors. Still the sun was blistering and I continued doing it.

But the best place to really have fun was at Dodge’s Pond. Dodge’s Pond was located several miles up Diagonal Street. Usually we had to walk and it was a long, hot, dusty walk. Occasionally we would stop along the way at one of the homes of Mother’s friends and plead for a glass of water. They always obliged us. Then on we trudged up Diagonal to the point of the mountain. That’s where Dodge’s Pond was.

It was a small pond surrounded by willows and a few cottonwood trees that provided precious shade. We were in the water as fast as we could kick off our shoes and socks. Then began the jumping, splashing and dunking, especially if there were older boys around. No one really knew how to swim but that didn’t matter at all. We splashed so much we thought we were swimming.

Meanwhile at home, Mother stewed. She always tried to discourage me from this sort of unsupervised activity. She had an active imagination and could always imagine the worst. It was okay for the boys but for Mother the world ceased to spin if I ever announced my intention to slink off to the pond. So usually I said nothing and simply slipped out the back door and along the side of the house and made my way to the street.

But the accidents at Dodge’s Pond were relatively few.  They were usually cut feet, stubbed toes or cracked noggens. It wasn’t uncommon for some of the boys to pass part of those summers with a large lump on their forehead.

So the best way we passed those hot afternoons was in the cool water of Dodge’s Pond where we whiled away the time and our skin baked to a golden brown. Today so much sun is considered unhealthy. But back then a golden brown tan was the envy of all.

“‘Wastey’ Beacham”

by Elaine H. Briggs

“‘Wastey’ Beacham”

In other communities across the country, I imagine that children were admonished to “Waste not, want not.”   But as children growing up in the small southern Utah town of St. George, we were always admonished not to be a “wasty Beacham.”   St. George had begun as a small Mormon community which had never known real prosperity.   Thus, frugality was not merely a virtue, it was a necessity.   This frugality was bred into all of us.   It was part of all of our lives.   It was the norm for the whole community.   So one of the stories that we were frequently told was about one of the “wasty” Beachams.   Why he was so “wasty” that he would threw away the flies that dropped into the sorghum without licking off their legs!   We were admonished never to be “a ‘wasty’ Beacham”!

Uncle Orval, the New Car and the Jury of Twelve Dutchmen

As a young man, my Uncle Orval had gone away to school, gotten his bachelor’s degree and later his law degree.   He had come home to St. George to start a new law practice.   (He was living at our home and told us that he’d had his name put on his office door.   We children decided to go and inspect it.   Standing before the office door, I could read that it said “Attorney at Law.”   But my younger brother Ralph, just learning to read, read it as, “Another Outlaw.”)   

Uncle Orval’s new practice was prospering and the time came for him to purchase a car.   The tradition in the family was always to pay cash and, when it came to cars, everyone always bought used rather than new.   But Uncle Orval had his eye on a bright shiny new model.   He had the money in savings, he knew he could afford it, yet he paused.   He thought about his Swiss relatives, the Santa Clara “Dutchmen” and what they would think.   He knew he’d face severe cross-examination from his Dutchmen relatives.   So as he considered the appropriateness of his purchase, his lawyer’s mind prepared his justification.   For as he said, “I knew I would have to convince a jury of twelve Dutchmen” 

Grandpa Johnny and the New Suit

Another family story is about Grandpa Johnny purchasing a new three-piece suit.   Since he probably only had three new suits in his lifetime, this was a rare expenditure.   I think it was Uncle Orval who purchased it for him.   On the Sunday after the purchase, he came out dressed for church in the new coat and trousers, but without the vest.   I’m sure it was because he didn’t want to be too flashy or else his frugal neighbors would think he was putting on airs.   But when someone inquired why he wasn’t wearing the full suit, he retorted, “Well, I don’t want to wear them all out at the same time!”   

Fruit from Grandpa Johnny’s Orchard

Grandpa Johnny had an orchard in the Santa Clara fields.   At different times of the year he had peaches, apricots, pears and a few cherries.   He was generous in making gifts of fruit to his children’s families.   I remember that he would pick the fruit and bring it over and present it as a gift to my mother.   But Mother wanted to be more “selective.”   She’d say that she liked the fruit picked first thing in the morning.   She liked the fresh fruit picked in the cool of the morning, before the hot sun had worked its way into the bruises.   She’d even be happy to come pick it herself.   The reason was that Grandpa Johnny would pick everything, from the tree and the ground.   Thus, his gift of fruit would contain a considerable amount of dropped, bruised and bird-picked fruit.   Mother, however, wanted to be more selective and thus volunteered to pick her own.

Home-made Clothing

Mother was a beautiful seamstress and Uncle Ras, who ran “Snow’s Furniture,” would give his old, worn suits to Mother.   The knees and seat of the pants were usually threadbare.   But from the knee’s down the material was like new.   So she would take these pieces and make clothes for the boys.   The other parts she cut into blocks and made into quilts.   On cold nights we slept under these quilts.   For us girls she would buy new material.   Or if Aunt Rose had a dress that wouldn’t sell in “Snow’s Dress Shop,” she would give it to Mother who would take it apart and make a new dresses for me or one of the other girls.   

But this frugality had its limits with Mother.   On more than one occasion she expressed that she would be glad when she could afford to buy new blankets for our beds.   As I heard her say once about the quilt she and Daddy slept under, “I’m so tired of sleeping under Uncle Ras’ old britches!”

Gwendoline Bushman wife of William Edward Rogers & Mother of Grandpa Will

Gwendoline as a young mother

Jeff with Grandma Gwendoline Rogers

William Edward and Gwendoline with family

Jon is the baby

With Doug, Jon and Bruce

Gwendoline just before wedding

Gwen was a teacher by profession. ( She actually taught Sheron Snow Hafen. She was her Kindergarten teacher) She taught school for 6 years at Joseph City, 2 years at Mt. Trumball , 3 years in St. George and 1 year at New Castle.

She was also a teacher in church. She taught the Gleaners in Joseph City and was in the MIA Presidency in Joseph City. She was the Stake Secretary of the Snowflake Geneological Committee. She was the secretery in the Relief Society in Tempe 1930. She was the Theology class leader in St. George South Ward in St. George. She was also in the primary. 1939-1943 she was the Social Science leader in the Stake Relief Society. Pres of R.S. in 1947 - 1950- New Castle. 1953 Councellor in R.S. in the 5th ward St. George, Utah

GWEN'S ILLNESS AND DEATH

In late 1954 or early 1955, Gwen developed a lump in her breast. Hard to believe today, the local doctor had her treat it by rubbing in salve. By spring, it was worse and Dad took her to Salt Lake City for treatment. Cancer was diagnosed and she had a mastectomy. Complications followed, a blood clot lodged in her leg causing swelling and weakness. In early summer, she returned to Salt Lake for a month of radiation treatments. The three youngest boys went with her. Bill and Clair were married in July and August of that year.

Things went well for about a year, but in mid 1956 signs of cancer re-appeared. Fluid was removed from her lungs and in November, in a last ditch effort, they went to the Hoxey Cancer Clinic in Texas. She passed away on Dec. 21, 1956 and was buried on Christmas Eve. Who of the family will ever forget that Christmas ? Family and friends brought gifts galore, but it didn't help much. One of the things I remember was Dad describing how his jaws ached for days afterward. He was gritting his teeth trying to keep himself together during the viewing, funeral, and burial.

The Elevator Story----J.C. Snow

By SHERON HAFEN



As youngsters, we always wanted Daddy to tell us "The Elevator Story".
It was always a favorite with all of us.
When Daddy was going to the University of Utah to school he worked at the Purity
Biscuit Company to support himself and even with that the wages were so meager
that he had a hard time keeping food in his tummy. Many a day, he said, all he had to eat would be a few cookies and crackers he could take home from Purity Biscuit. He lived with Frank Crosby who had a saxophone and when money was tight or non-
existent Frank would take this saxophone down and pawn it for a few dollars, daddy
would bring home a few cookies and usually in the end somehow Aunt Ann would be in
tune enough that a check from her would arrive to bail them out, one more time.
Anyway, Daddy tells of the night he was on shift at Purity Biscuit and he got on the
elevator to go up to the next floor. It was a freight elevator designed without a door so that they could load and unload without being hindered with a door.
He said the elevator didn't stop at the second floor when he pushed the button so he
rode it to the next floor and it didn't stop. He was concerned but rode to the next
floor still he couldn't get it to stop. I believe he said the building was six floors so when he got to the fifth floor he knew it was not going to stop so as it passed that floor he quickly jumped out, sprang to his feet and ran up the stairs to arrive at the sixth floor just as the elevator reached the top of the cable works, crashed into the pulleys that held the mechanism, broke free of the cables and crashed to the bottom of the elevator shaft.
He said he was horrified! His first thought was what was his boss going to do to him
when he found out the elevator was ruined ... then he thought what if he had stayed on it and been killed. When his boss came in the next morning, Daddy said he was anything but angry with him but greatly relieved that Daddy hadn't been killed ( and nowadays he would have been afraid of being sued).
Dad said that his job was to add up the invoices each night and prepare the paper work for all the orders for the previous day. This is where he learned to add a column of four numbers at one time in his head. He would place his four fingers across the column and add each four numbers to the next until he reached the end of the column then jot down the total. He was always suspect of my calculator when I added a column and would double check it, in his head, to be sure the answer was correct. He loved math and numbers and was truly proficient in this area.

Jeter Clinton Snow a Friend to All

FOLLOW_UP FROM GRANDMA HAFEN: The first picture of daddy is not at the time of his marriage but much earlier, probably a high school or earlier picture. The 8 x 10 pictures I have up to Pine Valley on the little table by the front door is what I considered the pictures of mother and daddy at the time of their marriage
The second picture, the formal photo, was not for the bank president. That picture was taken by Lynn Clark on the day that Richard and I got married, June 17, l967 and was taken in Brent's living room in their home when Lynn was taking our wedding pictures because we were married there. We asked Lynn if she would take a picture of daddy too, as he hadn't had a picture taken of him for years. I was always sorry he/we never had another formal picture taken of him.


Snow Family Reunion Short History
One year I was the left to close up our house for the winter and as I was driving the wagon up the ridge out of town, a still small voice kept telling me to go back to the house. I was loaded and so far out of town that I resisted the warning. But the feeling persisted so I turned the horses around and drove back into Pine Valley to find the wood box in the kitchen on fire. This was always a testimony to me that we need to heed the promptings of the spirit.
I loved my work running my grocery store all those years and I raised and sold herford cattle. I was Mayor of St. George and then later I found myself in a whole new career as a bank president. ( Dixie State Bank) This was a challenge which I enjoyed because it gave me a whole new lease on life after my heart surgery. I enjoyed helping people and this
was a new way to help them achieve their needs and hopes and dreams.

Quick of Wit, Nimble of Brain,
Mathamatics brought me fame.
A compassionate heart and listening ear
My hereford cows and horse were dear.
Stories galore, and plenty of hard work,
No chore on earth did I ever shirk.
written by Sheron and Alice




JETER CLINTON SNOW
By Alice Holland
My memories of Clint go back a long way. He was only a few years older than I and since the St. George summers were so hard on my mother, we spent every summer until I was 8 or 9 in Pine Valley. We'd go up the day after school was out and return the day before school started in the Fall. They were marvelous times. We had no TV. We did not even have electric lights. We "played out" in the street evenings; Run Sheepie Run, Kick the Can, or Prisoner's Base. Sometimes we'd have a potato or corn roast.
There was always plenty of work in the day. Mainly we helped the women in the kitchen, picking and shelling peas, shucking corn or digging and scrubbing new potatoes but now and then we'd tromp the hay. Clint or George would pitch the piles of hay up onto the hay wagon and we'd be up atop and lightly tromp it down so it would stay in place and not slide off. One time as they pitched up the hay pile a blow snake came wiggling down through the hay. We were all jumping to get out of the way!
One of my favorite memories of Pine Valley is seeing Clint and George taking the shiney copper buckets out to the barn and bringing them back full of milk which they separated in the separator which stood in the pantry.
I remember when Clint went off to the University of Utah. I know little of his experiences there, but I do know he was a very brilliant student. he never lost that, for in my student days at Dixie he used to help me. I was a fair math student but whenever I was stumped on a hard problem, he could always solve it for me. I never asked him a question he could not answer, nor gave him a problem he could not solve.
I remember when he was courting Wanda. She had another boy friend and was trying to decide between them. We so hoped she would choose Clinton for we knew no one could be better, or nicer or more good looking.
Then the boys started the 0. P. Skaggs Stores in St. George. William was running the one in Cedar City and Clint was to run the one in St. George. They came out with a 5 cent loaf of white bread. The store was excellent
competition to 0. K. Market across the street on the Boulevard ( then it was Highway 91) and to Mathis Market down on Tabernacle.
Clint was an excellent manager and hard worker with a pleasing personality. Everyone like him ... well almost everyone. Frank worked for him for a number of years driving the 0. P. Skaggs truck to Salt Lake. He had great admiration for Clint and considered him his best friend. Jeff worked for him for a time as a stock boy and bagger. Herb worked in the store and later when they had the lockers, he helped there with the deer. When they started the lockers, they took care of the hunter's deer, wrapped or waxed them and stored them in the lockers.
Clint was always especially thoughtful and generous. If he thought anyone needed a job or needed money, he always found a job for them. He was particularly but not exclusively generous that way with extended family members. I remember his worrying about some of his old friends who had fallen on hard times. He found work for them
He was generous with gifts from the store; produce, turkeys, meats at Thanksgiving, Christmas or anytime he thought there was a need. I doubt anyone has any idea how much of this he did ... but it was immense. He was always generous with our family and never failed to bring Mama, his second from the oldest sister, a gift from the store at Christmas. Sometimes it was a fancy tray of candied fruits and nuts, sometimes more practical gifts...apples or oranges or a turkey.
When B. Glenn Smith opted not to give Erma the scholarship she had earned to BYU, Clint offered to pay her way. She managed to get by with less than $100 from him, which Dad eventually paid back but at the time it was a great blessing to us.
She also tells, with much chagrin, of a time when Clint was at school and probably getting along on as little as she did when she wrote and asked him if he could find her a card with 6 jacks and a little ball like someone had brought her friend from Salt Lake. Soon she received a package from him full of jacks (she thinks there was at least 100) and a ball. He had taken time from his busy schedule and used his meager student funds to get her what she wanted.
He did so many things for so many people that no one ever knew about ... paying for operations for people who needed them but could not afford them; helping the handicapped. Phyllis Bracken sings his praises for all he did for Jim Bracken and she says Dex and Brent continued taking care of Jim after Clint was gone. He did scores of things that will never be known for he did not let "his right hand know what his left hand did."
Clint was totally honest. You could trust him with anything ...your last dime or your deepest secret. I think he has never cheated a living (or dead) soul in his lifetime. At one time an old couple came into the store to buy several hundred pounds of flour for their two year supply. Now Clint was there to sell flour and he was also a religious man and followed the prophets. He could not with clear conscience sell an old couple on limited income that much flour that would surely get weevils before they could use it up. He talked them out of it.
He was a hard worker and was never afraid of any task, however large or hard. Aunt LaRue says none of Grandpa Snow's children know how to play, they only know how to work. He was also a spiritual man and truly great Christian although there were times in his life when the "ox was in mire" and he may not have followed the traditional pattern for at times like inventory, he had to work on Sunday. The store was such a success not only because of his brilliant mind and good management, but also because of the extremely long hours he put in.
Clint was called to be financial clerk of the College Ward. My brother, Marion, was involved in the ward also. He says the good Clint and Wanda did at that time is unmeasurable, both financially and socially as well as spiritually. Clint, among other things, bought them a Sacrament Service including a beautiful table cloth. Wanda assisted greatly in the newly formed Relief Society. They spent time with the students, often having them in their home and did much to increase their faith and self-esteem as well as improving their organization abilities. They were a light to untold numbers of students.
A spiritual experience he had early in his life made a great impression on him. He cherished it and shared it in his talks especially when he was on the High Council. It happened when he was the last one to leave
Pine Valley. The folks had all moved down and he was left to shut everything up for the winter. As he was driving up the knoll leaving town, he kept getting the feeling he should go back. When the feeling continued and he could no longer ignore it, he returned to the house and found the woodbox on fire from a spark. He was able to quickly extinguish the blaze with little harm done but he was very aware of what could have happened had he not listened to the warning. With no one to note the blaze and no fire department to call, the house would have been totally gone.
Clint was never showy, never put himself forward. Everything he did he did quietly and because there was a need where he could help. It was never to advance himself in anyone's eyes. He was always thoughtful and generous to Frank and me and our family. When we were still on our mission but Jeff had returned from his and reported to the High Council, of which J. C. was a member, he wrote us a beautiful letter, saying he was not one to write but he was so impressed with what Jeff had learned and what he had done with what he'd learned, he could not help writing to tell us so. He said he had never heard such an excellent mission report and wanted us to know.
In my estimation Jeter Clinton Snow was one of the great men of all generations. His father, Jeter Snow, for whom he was named was a great man and Clint was very, very much like him. J. C. Snow was brilliant, totally honest, generous to a fault, had total integrity and great spirituality.
The world needs more Jeter Clinton Snows!
I have not mentioned his years as Mayor. He did his work as Mayor just as he did in managing the store or doing his work in the Church.. brilliant, organized, aware of needs and always putting the City, its citizens and needs above his own, again showing total integrity and absolute honesty. Clara Cottam, who worked with him at the City, says he was one of the greatest Mayors St. George ever had.

Origins of Jeter

Dr. Jeter Clinton born 1813 died 1892. He was a Doctor and married William Snow’s youngest sister.
William Snow named one of his son’s Jeter Snow born 1855 died 1936. Jeter Snow named his 11th child Jeter Clinton Snow born 1907 died 1976. Jeffrey G. Rogers’s grandson of J.C. Snow named his son Jeffrey Clinton Rogers b. 1978. Clint Rogers named his son Jeter Clinton Rogers born 2001.

Rogers' Family December Birthdays

Michelle Rogers North Dec.26th

December 2009 Post - Grandma Wanda Snow

Snippets from REMEMBRANCES OF WANDA ESPLIN SNOW
A GREAT LADY
By Sheron Snow Hafen
May 20, 2006
Wanda Esplin Snow born December 4, 1906 to David and Hannah Hopkins Esplin in Orderville, Kane, Utah. Married Jeter Clinton Snow June 18th 1930 in the St. George Temple. Died March 8 1989 St. George, Washington, Utah
Buried next to Jeter Clinton Snow in the St. George City Cemetery
Children: Dexter Clinton Snow, Sheron Snow Hafen, and Brent Esplin Snow.

Mother was indeed a “Great Lady”. That was a very vital part of her personality. She had inherited the qualities of graciousness, poise, discipline, hard work and thoroughness. She was a lover of beauty whether it be her garden of beautiful roses which she loved and worked hard at maintaining, her home which she kept immaculate or her person which she carefully groomed perfectly for every occasion. She claimed she had inherited these qualities from her mother Hannah.
Mother was a disciple of Jesus Christ with a full knowledge and testimony of the gospel, a love for the gospel that she demonstrated in her everyday life. Mother loved to read and was a disciplined reader and had a great desire to learn the gospel to be capable of sharing with others. Her mother set this example for her and she followed her mother’s example in incorporating these traits into her own life.
When we were little youngsters we always wanted to get in bed with Mama and Daddy and listen to her tell of her childhood days in Orderville. She was a good story teller. She made the most mundane incidents sound so enchanting and we never tired of listening to them over and over.
She told us the “Bunny Brown Squirrel” story a million times I bet. Mother was the youngest of the eight children. Her eldest sister Hannah Irene died the same day she was born,so Grandpa and Grandma Esplin raised seven children. Her father was David Webster Esplin and Mary Hannah Hopkins. Her brothers and sisters were; Raymond David, Hannah Irene deceased, Ward Hopkins, Fernard Merle, Leprelete Joseph, Julia Ann, Grace and Wanda. Wanda was born 4 Dec 1906 in Orderville, Kane, Utah.
Mother told us the story about Grandpa Esplin having the first automobile in Orderville and not have Drivers Ed in those days he knew nothing about how to drive a car and promptly drove it off the Orderville bridge into the wash below. This created some mighty big excitement for all the townspeople to see Dave Esplin and his new car tipped off the bridge. Some of the fellows lifted it back upon the road and he did better after that.
She could tell us stories with morals that she hoped would help us to make better decisions and be better kids. One was about her sister Grace. When Grace was about seven years old she wanted to go down and play under the Orderville bridge with some other kids and Grandma Esplin didn’t want her to go. She begged and pleaded and begged and pleaded and kept it up until Grandma was finally worn down and against her better judgment she let her go. While they were playing in the willows and weeds she fell on a stick, lodging in her left eye causing her to lose the sight in that eye. Grandma was always sorry she had relented and let her go. Mother always used this story when she needed to make a point about us minding her and being obedient youngsters.
Mother loved to play dress up and loved to write and act in her own plays. They had a closet under the staircase and she created a theater there and would make all the family come in and attend her newest theatrical fantasy. She said they were very good!
In the summer time Grandpa and Grandma Esplin moved to their ranch at Yellow Jacket north of Kanab on the sand dunes. Mother said he ran cattle there in the summers and Grandma came to be with him. They had a nice stone house which was comfortable for them. Grandpa also had a ranch at Duck Creek on Cedar Mountain where he ran sheep and cattle and the family spent a lot of time at the ranch there.
There wasn’t a high school in Orderville, so when it came time for her to go beyond grade school she came to St. George and lived with Uncle Ward and Aunt Violet (Janice Ence’s mother and father). She and her sister Grace attended high school at Dixie and their pictures appear in the l924 yearbook along with Uncle Bill Snow, Aunt LaRue Snow Carter and Dr. Spencer Snow. The picture taken of her for the yearbook is a side view. I don’t know if she attended Dixie two years or just one. Elgin Morris had come to Orderville a few years earlier and taught school and married Aunt Julia when she was 16 years old. They went to Logan for him to continue his education and to teach and Mother went to Logan to live with them and go to high school. She could have attended two years there and only one at Dixie but she did graduate from Logan High School probably in 1926 but I’m not sure of this date.
Following her graduation from high school, she attended BYU, probably one year and received her teaching certificate. She said when she went to BYU her English teacher thought her handwriting was so deplorable she made her fill the blackboards on all four walls of a small room practicing until she could write respectfully. She always appreciated this teacher making her learn penmanship and she did indeed have beautiful penmanship ever after. While at BYU she lived with a group of girls that became her lifelong friends. Two that I can name were Clara Bentley (Knell) and Wavie Williams (Peterson). From time to time through the years they came to St. George to see Mother and she was always so happy to visit with each one of them.
When she finished at BYU she accepted a teaching job at the Parowan, Utah elementary school and roomed with Clara’s parents, the Bentleys in Parowan.( The Bentley’s were Laurene Brown’s parents.) I figure she taught there the winters of l927 and 1928. In the meantime her sister Grace had married William Snow of Pine Valley, Utah (16 May, 1928) and they were living in Cedar City, Utah where Bill and his brother Jeter Clinton Snow ran a grocery store called O. P. Skaggs System. While living in Parowan mother would go to Cedar City to stay with Grace and Bill, do her laundry and visit her family. It was during this time that she met Clint and she fell in love with him.
Grandma Esplin took ill in Orderville and was taken to the Cedar City Hospital. She had diabetics but she died of cancer of the liver on March 3, 1929. After her death Mother felt she needed to go home to Orderville and be with her father to help him with the house and his work so she took a job teaching at the Orderville one room school.
Mother took her school class to Zion National Park on a field trip. The kids were all excited to go to Zion, some had never been away from Orderville. She was always rather sorry she had taken them because while they were there a very tragic accident occurred. They had a tram that was bringing logs down off the mountain to the valley floor and as her little group of youngsters was watching this operation a cable broke sending a log flying down into the canyon killing a fellow right before their eyes. None of them were hurt but it was a terrible accident that really upset them.
While living in Orderville, Mother worked for Hans Chamberlain in his store which was just next door to their home. It was during the construction of the Zion mile long tunnel and the men doing the construction would come into Orderville for food and supplies. She worked nights as they worked around the clock on the tunnel so Hans’s store was busy all the time. She said she would fix big orders, give the men a shave, sell them food and the other supplies they needed. It was a busy time for the people in Orderville and economically a good time for business.
On October 5, 1929 Daddy opened his own O. P. Skaggs System store in St. George, Utah and continued his courtship of Mother in Orderville. On a trip to Grafton they were in the old Grafton Church when he proposed to her and she agreed to marry him. She always liked to see a picture of the little church as it stirred sentimental feelings and remembrances of their courtship days.
They were married in the St. George Temple on June 18, 1930. She always loved to show us the picture of the Nash convertible that Grandpa Esplin let them use to go on their honeymoon to the canyons. As I remember the story she and Grace and Bill drove down from Orderville for the wedding and Grace came down with the measles and was very sick, almost ruining the wedding for her. They honeymooned at the canyons, camping in a tent as accommodations would have been few and far between and probably more expensive than they could afford. Mother said Daddy only had one change of clothes as Daddy had invested all he had to get his store in operation and during those depression years’ cash was hard to come by.
They rented the south half of what she called Uncle Tom Gardner’s house for their first apartment. Grant and Eileen Harris lived in the north half of the house at the same time they were there. This is the house that Wayne and Bessie Gardner raised their family in at 165 North 100 West. Later they lived in the South couple of rooms of Grandma and Grandpa Snow’s home on 2nd West just straight West through the block. They were living there when Dex was born in 1932.
Sometime in 1933 Cal Dalton approached Mother and asked if he could build them a house as he needed work for his men and he felt they might be interested in building a house. Grandpa Esplin loaned them some money and work proceeded on the lovely home they built at 248 East St. George Boulevard. She told me the cost of the home was $6000 at the time it was built.
In December, l934 Mother and Daddy hosted Grandma and Grandpa Snow’s Golden Wedding party and pictures were taken then with all the Snow family on the front porch and a picture of Grandma and Grandpa Snow and their children was taken in the living room. Mother and Daddy lived together in this home the rest of their lives. It was a wonderful home holding lots of memories for all of us and was a great contributor to the security and stability Mother and Daddy were able to provide for us. It wasn’t just a house but a home, a special place made warm, and loving and secure for our family by our parents, a place we loved to bring our own children home to.
Brent and I have compared memories of our home and one we remember vividly is how many hours we spent playing in our large hallway. The hallway must have been a good four feet wide and very long and at the end of it were built-in drawers and a cupboard, Mother’s linen closet. We would pull the second drawer from the bottom out and take out some of the sheets and it would make a dandy receptacle to pitch a basketball in pretending we were making shots from the foul line. We got pretty good at it we though and Brent was especially good! We played dodge ball, imagine in those tight quarters, but when your small it can be done. On the west side of the hall near the kitchen was a cedar lined closet with large shelves. Mother stored bedding there and things she didn’t want moth eaten. We would take out the blankets and get up on the shelves and it became a wonderful hideout. Mother must have been a very patient woman to let us play in her house so much.
Another fun place to play in our house was the laundry chute. In the bathroom, (and there was only one in that big house ) Mother had designed a cupboard with a door that opened revealing a square hole in the floor that dropped into the laundry room in the basement. A slatted wooden cage downstairs enclosed the dirty clothes that were dropped from the bathroom above and contained them there until wash day. At one time we were small enough to get through the hole in the floor and loved to drop down through it into the cage. Mother also had a small chute in the kitchen that dropped into a closet in the furnace room and that was for the trash. In those days you had to take care of your own trash. Mother would drop her trash down the chute, into a large box and once a week she would haul the box out to the back yard and burn its contents.
Mother had an 8mm movie camera and took lots of pictures. She purchased some “Our Gang” comedies and a few Disney comedies and we loved to watch them as long as she would show them. She would set the projector up at the top of the hall way and we would all, including our friends, sit on the floor or on a pillow and watch home movies for as long as she would show them and beg for more. She had learned how to splice the film together onto large rolls so that the movie would last longer without having to stop and start so often. It was a great history.
When Daddy was a youngster growing up in Pine Valley he had Scarlet Fever which left him with a rheumatic heart. Many times through the years when we were little he would be sick for six weeks or more at a time and have to stay in bed. When they got married Daddy had an attack soon after and Mother was left to run the store alone as best she could. Grandpa Esplin came from Orderville to help her so she could work at the store and still take care of Daddy. It was during this time that Grandpa Esplin met Daddy’s oldest sister Ann Snow who had never married and they were married March 25, 1931. So Mother’s sister-in-law became her step-mother and Daddy’s sister became his mother-in-law. Grandpa Esplin and Aunt Ann lived with Grandma Snow in her home on 2nd West after Grandpa Snow died in 1936. Before that time they were living in Orderville or at one of his ranches. Sometime in the l940's Grandpa Esplin built a home for he and Aunt Ann around the corner from us on 3rd East. Grandma Snow lived with them also so all of our grandparents were in the same house and very close by. We had many
happy times visiting them, playing games and eating supper with them. Aunt Ann was a great
quilter and often Mother would join Grandma Snow and her in her basement to work on a beautiful quilt while we children played underfoot, or even under the quilt which served as a great hideout. Aunt Ann gave all the granddaughters a beautiful navy & white star quilt.
During the times Daddy was sick and had to be in bed, Mother ran the store. They bought a hospital bed and set it up in the Den by the living room so she could care for him easier and he could also receive visitors. He did the book work from the store there, figuring invoices, paying his bills and doing the other necessary things he could do from home to help her keep the operation going. The year Brent was born Daddy was sick in bed and Aunt Grace had Mother bring us all up to Cedar to stay with them so she could help with Daddy and the baby . Because the store demanded so much time there wasn’t time for vacations, trips or a lot of traveling therefore July 4th and July 24th were the highlights of the year when Daddy and Mother would take us to Pine Valley and sometimes we even spent the night at Uncle Levi’s house which was always such fun.
Later, when we were all in Salt Lake going to school, Daddy was on the Utah Grocers Board and began attending their monthly meetings in Salt Lake City, Utah. Mother kept her suitcase partially packed so it wasn’t hard for her to get ready to go with him. This made for a nice little get-a-way for Mother as she could shop and enjoy herself while he was in his meetings. They would call us to come in to Little America where they always stayed and take us all to Covey’s for dinner. What a treat that was for us. When the kids were small, Mother would arrange for us girls to join her for shopping down town and we’d get the baby strollers loaded up with bottles and diapers and make a full day and night of it.
Mother was always good to send us care packages via Daddy’s grocery truck which made a weekly run for groceries to stock his store. She would put together a box with things she thought we needed whether it was canned goods or clothes or toys for the kids and the truck driver would make a stop at our house and drop it off sometime during his run in Salt Lake.
Mother always cooked a lovely dinner on Sunday. Usually it was a cross-cut rib roast or a chuck roast. Mother always used her china and crystal for Sunday dinner and for as long as they were alive and could come she had our grandparents, Grandpa Esplin, Aunt Ann and Grandma Snow eat with us and most of the time when he was in town Daddy’s brother, Uncle Levi joined us also.
Mother was a good cook. Cinnamon rolls was a specialty that she was good at making.
Of the many behind the scenes responsibilities of Mothers that came from having the store, three I remember well. One was the roasting of pine nuts. I remember that wonderful smell of pine nuts that came from our ovens in the fall. Daddy would bring home 100# sacks of pine nuts that he had purchased from the pine nut pickers and then Mother would put them in #10 gallon cans and roast them in the oven so that he could sack them and sell them. Oh how good they were hot and salted right out of the oven. Another chore that wasn’t so hot and smelled worse was the store laundry. How I hated to sort through all those bloody meat rags, aprons and get them into piles for Mother to wash. There would be sawdust and bugs and the smell would sometimes be unbearable. But she did the laundry for Daddy, probably every week then we would iron the aprons on her “mangle” ( a machine that ironed flat pieces) and fold up all the cleaning cloths and rags to return to the store to have it repeated the next time. Mother saved the fat from the store and from the cooking at the house until she had enough to make homemade soap. She would get a large kettle and build a fire in the backyard and using lye and water and the fat that she had rendered, make a large batch of soap, putting it in a square mold to make bars which she stored to use for the store laundry. To use it she would put a couple of bars or more in a large kettle with a bit of water and melt it down then pour it in the washing machine. It did a great job on those bloody, greasy aprons and cleaning rags but what a lot of hard work went in to both the making of the soap and the laundry she used it on. It was a great day for her when Daddy finally took the store laundry to a commercial laundry. She didn’t make any more soap after that. The third responsibility that fell to Mother was taking a big supper into the store once every quarter when Daddy inventoried. That was a big event! Every item in the store had to be inventoried so all the employees were required to remain after work on that day to count every last item on the shelves and everywhere else. Because they needed supper before they started the huge task, Mother would prepare food and bring it to the store, setting up a buffet of sorts on the meat table just behind the blue doors. And oh! how good it was! She made a delicious macaroni and shrimp salad, had cold cuts and all the trimmings and cold pop and sometimes melon if it were the season. We loved the food if not the work of the evening. And that routine went on all the years we had the store downtown.
Mother served in many church callings, and paid her tithing and always had a temple recommend.
Mother liked to crochet and do handwork. I love the delicate little baby clothes she had saved that she made for Dex and Brent and I. Lace trimmed collars with rolled roses embroidered on them, table cloths and covers with beautiful embroidery, She could also sew clothing
Mother had a mechanical ability that amazes me. She was able to repair, fix, and keep running many appliances around the house. She could fix an electrical cord, she was knowledgeable about the old coal stoker and furnace and the vacuum was not a mystery to her. Daddy worked such long days that she couldn’t always rely on him to keep things in good shape so she got her own tool box and rolled up her sleeves and figured out how to make the needed repairs. She loved yard work or at least if she didn’t love it she worked in the yard anyway. She spent lots of time grooming her large rose bed, planting bulbs and other flowers, making sure the lawns were mowed and everything was fertilized and looking good.
Mother was right by Daddy’s side all the way through his surgery for a heart valve in 1965 which was still in the experimental stages. The Doctors felt he would survive two years and he lived eleven so we were all grateful for the extension of his life. Mother was lost and lonely after Daddy passed away December 1, 1976. She continued to live in her home, drive her car and carry on but she would say, “I never thought I would live this long without Daddy.” We are all grateful to Brent and D’On that when the time came and she could no longer stay alone they took her to their home to be with them and she was spared the dreaded “rest home” syndrome. We all took turns in helping to make life enjoyable for her but we thank Brent and D’On for they were truly angels in providing her this daily care. She died in the Dixie Regional Hospital on March 8, 1989 following less than a week in the hospital and was buried beside Daddy in the St. George Cemetery. Grandma Snow lived 13 years as a widow.
Mother was a genuine person, a caring and loving individual. She loved her children dearly and loved her grandchildren very much. As is always the case, each of them thought she loved them the most and what a great attribute to make people feel they are the most special person in their life. She wrote letters to her grandchildren with great interest in the things they were doing and always offered encouragement and love for them while they were away at school, on missions or newlyweds away from home for the first time, and they wrote to her, letters she always looked forward to receiving and that were dearly treasured.
Fall 1983
Closing of a letter from Grandma Snow.
I pray for each of you each day that you will have good health, be happy, have sound wisdom in solving all your problems. Be faithful Latter Day Saints and find success in your work. Be honorable people. I am especially proud of each one of you.
I hope and pray that the Lord will guide and direct each of us daily, that we might be able to do our best at what ever task comes our way. May we all live each day that we will be worthy of his blessings. It is the constant wish of your Mother, Grandmother and great grandmother. I love you dearly. Love Wanda E. Snow.