I was born January 6, 1911 at Cedar
City, Utah, the second son of Joseph Benjamin Bess and Agnes Webster. I
have four brothers, George, Willard, Ambrose and Claude. I was named after
my Uncle Johnny Williams, by Grandmother Webster. My parents and family
called me Jack but most of my friends called me "Chick".
When I was two years old, we moved
into Uncle Jode Webster's home. He never married so he lived with us. My
brothers and I learned to love him like a father.
While we were young, we spent or
summers at our ranch on Cedar mountain. Uncle Laurence and Aunt Maude were
there with us too. We made cheese and butter and sold it in Cedar. I learned
to love the ranch very much and still love to go there. It was sold years
ago, but some day I would like to buy it back.
When I was six years old, World War
I came along and Uncle Jode had to go. We all missed him very much. We were
all so very happy when the war was over and he came home to us safe.
It was just a few months after he
came home that my brother Claude was born. He only lived a short time; he
was a blue baby.
A week after Claude died, my dear
mother passed away. This was the greatest tragedy of my life. This left dad
with four young boys, George, the oldest, was only 9 years old. Dad had no
way of taking care of us alone, so we went to live with our aunts and
uncles. George went with Aunt Em and Uncle Joe Smith. I went with Aunt
France and Uncle Dave Lister. Willard went to Aunt Sade and Uncle Owen
Mattheson. Aunt Maude and Uncle Laurence Bess took Brose to raise. We lived
this way for over a year. Then dad married Elsie Mosdell Clark. We all,
except Brose, went back home to live with them.
I entered school when I was six
years old at the Cedar elementary. As the time went on, we seemed to sort of
drift away from the Webster side of the family, except for Uncle Jode and
Aunt France.
I missed my mother very much. She
was a sweet and wonderful person, and I can remember her being very clean
and neat. She was always kind and considerate of everyone.
I went through elementary and Jr.
High. My closest friends were Cleve Gregory, Warren Mumford, and Rex Hunter.
We used to spend a lot of time in the summer at Uncle Tom Mumfords ranch. I
entered high school when I was 16 years old. I graduated from Seminary, a
course I enjoyed very much. It has helped me to have a better understanding
of the Gospel.
In my last year of high school, two
days after Christmas, I was operated on for appendicitis, but I recovered
fast and was still able to graduate with my class. I was very happy to
graduate and very proud of my diploma.
It was during my last year in high
school that my brother George got pneumonia and died. This left me the
oldest and a great responsibility of taking care of Willard. We were very
close and did everything together.
Dad took us hunting and fishing. I
learned to love this very much. I still love to go hunting and fishing. This
is my favorite sport.
I worked for Uncle Jode and Don
Urie a lot with the sheep. I worked for Uncle Laurence with the sheep too.
When I was twenty years old, I met
Ramona Bacon, the girl I later married. We had lived only a couple of blocks
from each other all our lives, but I just hadn't noticed her before. She was
4 1/2 years younger than I was, and I suppose that was the reason.
But after we started going
together, I often wondered how I could have missed such a wonderful person.
She was everything I had not found in any other girl. She had a wonderful
personality and disposition. She made me the happiest man in the world when
she promised to be my wife. We were married two years later on April 28,
1933 in Beaver, Utah by Bishop White. I was 22 and Mona was 18 years old.
We were very happy even if it was
in the depression. Work was very hard to find. The more we had to sacrifice,
the stronger our love became. Two months after we were married, I went into
the Civilian Conservation Corps, and this took me away from home, which was
very hard on us.
On January 10, 1934, our first
child was born, in the Iron County Hospital at Cedar City. We named him
Richard George Bess. We were parents and so proud of our little son.
By this time I had been transferred
to Zions Canyon. I rented a cabin and moved Mona and the baby down there
with me. This made us both very happy to be together again.
Just 19 months later on September
25, our baby girl was born. This made me very happy, because I had wanted a
baby girl so bad. Be she wasn't for this world, and she only lived
overnight. During the night after she was born, we called the Bishop and had
her blessed and given a name. The name we gave her was Betty Ramona. We
buried her at Cedar City. The Lord had a greater mission for her to perform.
The depression was still going
strong, so we sold our building lot and furniture and moved to Salinas,
California. This was in March of 1937. I found work there as a carpenter. We
stayed there for a while living in a house trailer. The work slacked off
again, so we sold the trailer and moved to Roosevelt, Utah. We bought a
small place north of Roosevelt where we tried to farm, but I had to get work
on the outside to make a living.
Then on June 15th, Fathers Day, our
second son was born. We named him Larry. Just after he was born, we moved
back to Roosevelt, and I went back to my old trade as a carpenter and
plumber. I worked for this for about 2 years. During this time, we bought 80
acres of land north of Roosevelt.
On May 22, 1941, our third son was
born. He was premature and very delicate. Mona and the baby both almost lost
their lives. We called the Elders in to bless them. They both recovered.
Then World War II came along. We
left Roosevelt and moved to Salt Lake City. I went to work for Jacobson
Construction Company. Later I worked for Remington Arms. From Remington I
went to Hill Air Force Base.
While at Hill, our fourth son was
born on February 13, 1945. We called him Michael Terry.
In the fall of 1946, we moved back
out to Roosevelt on our place. We put up three tents and lived in them until
we built our house. It was very hard work, and it seemed like we were
working day and night.
It was while living in Roosevelt
that our life took a big change. Our Bishop's name was Joel Parry, the
finest man I ever knew. He invited me to go to church. I felt like I
couldn't refuse, he was so sincere about everything. Every one was so nice
to us. We continued to go every Sunday. Mona joined the Relief Society and
taught Primary. She had taught Primary before when Larry was a baby. They
asked me to be an Assistant Scoutmaster. I was ordained a Teacher and then a
Priest.
Mona was put in as Second Counselor
in the Primary. I started teaching Sunday School. On May 18, 1947, I
was ordained an Elder. We were very happy now that we could go to the Temple
and be married for time and eternity. Then just one week later we went to
the Temple. Mona and I will always be grateful to Bishop Parry for the
influence he had on me to get me to come to church that Sunday.
We got a government load and bought
some dairy cows. But it seems like every thing was against us. We had only
had the cows for a month or two when a disease got into our cow herd. The
ones it didn't kill it ruined until I had to go to work in town again. I
worked for Hugh Gagan installing furnaces and plumbing. Then I had a chance
to go into the Buick garage for Hollis Hullinger. While here our 5th son was
born. We named him Johnny after myself. I couldn't find enough steady work
to keep my family, so we sold our place and moved to Murray. This was
October 20, 1950. I went back to Hill Air Force Base as an Aircraft
Mechanic.
In January of 1951, our 6th son was
born, and we named him David Lee. We finally got settled in our new home. It
is on Wilson Avenue. Our ward was the Murray 5th in the Murray Stake. Mona
went back into the Primary again and the Relief Society. I was working
overtime and doing shift work, so I couldn't accept a church position. Mona
and I were asked to take a den of Cub Scouts.
In 1956 Mona had to give up all of
her church work. The doctor says she has chronic anemia. she went to
Patriarch Evans and received a patriarchal blessing. She was ill for quite
some time but finally started feeling better. I am sure it was her faith
that made her well; she has a very strong testimony of the Gospel.
They made me chairman of the
Explorer Scout Committee. I also am a Ward Teacher. They put Mona in as
President of the Relief Society. She held this position for 14 months but
had to be released because of her health. She is now Social Science class
leader in Relief Society.
I am secretary of the Elders
Quorum. I enjoy this work very much. I am very interested in Genealogy, and
I hope to some day soon get into it and start working on it.
Ramona Bacon Bess wrote the following information about herself.
