Rulon Ruben Romrell

Anna Jane Romrell Hafen, daughter

History taken from excerpts from Rulon and his wife Myrtle’s Journals.

Italics…Anna Jane’s comments

Rulon Ruben Romrell was born August 14, 1907 Wilford, Fremont County, Idaho. The son of Joseph Edwin Romrell and Esther Lindsay Burbank. Rulon had one older sister Nina Trisha and three older brothers, Joseph Marcus, Clarence Legrand, George LeRoy, and one younger brother Rollo Sanford.

I have been told by older members of my family that I was born in a log two-room house which stood just behind the home I was raised in. This was a large frame house, considered large in those days. It had a large kitchen, which was used for dinning and family room. Every one stayed in this room because the other rooms were for bedrooms. In those days we had no central heat, the kitchen range was used to keep warm by. In the cold part of winter it would freeze ice inside the house during the night. Mother could not keep plants over the winter as they would freeze and die. Sometimes mother would plant the top of a carrot in a glass bowl so she or we could see something green. Dad usually got up early and started a fire in the kitchen range and went back to bed until the room warmed up a bit. This I did myself sometimes. I have seen the top of the stove red hot on the top many times. We would let the oven door down to let out more heat.

When I was a young boy it was my job to get firewood and coal into the house or to fill the wood box full of fuel for morning. The older ones doing the chores like milking and feed the stock. The canal was froze over so a hole had to be chopped open for the stock to drink. This is where we got water for the house. That was often my job, something I would put a copper boiler on the stove to heat to wash clothes with, the stove had a reservoir, which was filled also. Saturday night was bath night a blanket or quilt was hung up for privacy by the kitchen stove and we bathed in a washtub. That would make it so we could go to Sunday School clean, then Monday was considered the day the washing must be done. Many of the heavy clothes were hung out side to dry even in the winter. The clothes would freeze stiff in a few minutes but in a day or so they would nearly dry, then brought in the house a finished drying. It seemed like there was almost always some clothes hanging around to dry in the house during the winter. In these days a bob sleigh and team of horses was the only way of transportation in the winter. I entered district school at Wilford when I was 6 years of age and graduated at the age of 14 (1921). We went to school in a sleigh during a bad part of the winter in a covered sleigh a man was hired to drive the school sleigh, during good weather we walked which was a mile and ½., The school was a three room school with two grades to a room with one teacher. The rooms were heated with a large pot bellied heater in each room. Sometimes the fire in the stove did not put out much heat so the teacher would have us do exercises and march in the room to keep warm until the room warmed up. There was no plumbing in the schoolhouse; there was a pump where you could get a drink of water.

I graduated from the eighth grade, and received a diploma, all the students dressed up in their best clothes. Many had new suits and dresses and went to the church house and had a special program for the occasion we thought we had become really grown up by now. I went to high school in St Anthony. In those days it was only about half of the students went on to high school. We had to get there on our own, riding a horse, sometimes catching a ride, something walking home after school. One winter I stayed with Mark and Beth during the winter. One winter I started driving a team a sleigh Ray & Ruth Pocock to school, the team was tied up to the sleigh and eat out of the sleigh box during the day. One year or fall I drove mother to work and went to school with the team during the winter and the car in spring. I remember the roads were very muddy and didn’t know if we would make it. I didn’t know anything about basketball or football until I started to high school. I carried a lunch in a paper sack in my coat pocket, or good heavy over coat, which I wore in the cold weather. Lunch could be eaten in the assembly hall as I remember it was all girls so I walked the streets at first. Happened one day down to the gym and found boys playing basketball and was invited to join them. They were eating lunch in the furnace room then played around with the basketball during lunch hour. Most of the boys were from Teton, Don Sidway is one name I remember, he had a friend that traveled with him. I got so I could handle the ball fair enough to get on the class teams. When I was a junior we walloped the senior team. I also learned to play football.

There is one other thing that must be mentioned which occurred during my freshman year and my wife’s eight grade school year. My wife would stand out in the hallway and talk with her first sweetheart; being at a right angle with the door I could see them talking and she could see me and we often passed glances at each other as we passed. The next school year came and by the time it was half through we became good friends and the new year came which was Leap Year and on a Friday evening leaving the school Myrtle said that she would like to go out to Wilford to the Leap Year dance and I said that I would take her and we made arrangements to met at the school house but Myrtle’s old sweetheart came and got her and after the basketball game she tried to slip away from him but they met at the door (the basketball game was at the school house) so she had to go home with him and I was left A few days later she saw me in a picture show and explained why she did not go with me to the dance and asked if I would forgive her (which I did) and if I would take her out some other time so I said that I would next Friday night and walked home with her so I would know where she lived. During this school year or winter a pal of mine and his sister and myself fixed up a covered sleigh and put a stove in it. This made traveling comfortable. When Friday night came Ray (my pal) came along with me. I called for Myrtle and she was surprised to see a covered sleigh. Myrtle and I tried to get a partner for Ray but didn’t succeed.

Dad writes about his teasing Myrtle while driving the sleigh, but Myrtle continues to go with him. He also writes about teasing the girls when he is driving the school sleigh.

The next dance was a character ball. I didn’t take any part but Myrtle took the part of the rising sun. We both had a good time. I believe she said that it was the best time she had ever had to a dance.

During my third year in high school I played football. Playing as quarter back this year the team made a good record. We also had a good track team. There were four from the school who went to the State meet none of us placed. I high jumped 5’3”, ran the 440 in 56 sec., pole vaulted 9’6”, ran the half mile 2 min 20 sec.

The next year I played as half back and during the game with Firth I broke my collarbone, or dislocated it at the left shoulder. A few days before the Firth game I had a tooth knocked out. With my arm in a sling a tooth minus I was a sad sight.

By this time Myrtle and I were looking forward to the day of our wedding. I stayed at Myrtles place while my arm was in the sling because I could not drive the car back and forth to school.

It was a hard thing for us to separate when I went home.

We went to school the last year and we finished high school but there was an important thing that happened before school closed and that was I and Myrtle was married on February 20,1927,Sunday afternoon at 5:o’clock.

I only went six weeks afterwards because I had studies ahead and passed the subjects off six weeks early. But Myrtle stayed through the school year. We stayed at my wife’s home while we were going on to school or should say with her mother, which we did that summer I had saved $85 from a pea crop a year back and bought seed potatoes which I farmed and worked out during the summer.

In June, about the 10th we got ready to go to Salt Lake, and there we were sealed in the temple on the 14th of June 1928.

Per writings, Rulon and Myrtle went to Sale Lake to look for work. Dad worked at Garfield in the copper smelter for about six weeks, got a position as coach cleaner of the Denver Rio Grand Railway Co. after enrolling in the telegraph school and had given $45 of $180 tuition. Dad was let go before the school training was finished so went back to Idaho.

When we got home we stayed with Mother Harder and we were only home two weeks and two days when the Lord sent us a baby boy to love and work for as our parents has done for us, we named the child Dean Rulen, the date of his birth is August 12, 1928 just two days before his father’s birthday. Dean was born on Sunday at 10 to 4 o’clock.

In May 1929 we moved out to Wilford and put in three acres of beets, which gave us $180 clear in the fall, we bought a Ford for $75.

In April 1930 we bought a three roomed home (I was told this was a grainery) and moved it to the corner of Father Romrell’s ranch. Burton our 2nd son was born April 30, 1930 in our new home.

Crops harvested again and we got $350 for our beet crop, $250 went for our home and $60 for crop rent and $40 to do us the year until another crop pay day.

The Family Notebook written by Dad and Mother continues about the hard work on the farm and little money. Entries were about sickness, mumps, measles, chicken pox, flu, pink eye, etc that would start with one child and makes its way through the entire family. Dad would save to buy wood or something special to upgrade their home. Mother would knit, crochet or wall paper to make the inside nice. Dad built a room on the house, installs a front door, enlarged the living room, dug a basement for food storage and built new bedroom on top of the basement. They bought a new range in 1934 for mother, built on a back porch with laundry facilities, an indoor bathroom. YEAH! Dad at times building while mother was away on a trip so he could surprise her when she returned Mother worked in the seed house in St Anthony during the winter to help with expenses.

Jan 7,1936 Rulen started to build a cabinet in the kitchen for me, it was done by the 20 of Feb, our wedding day.

We put down inlaid linoleum in the kitchen this spring 1939.

Thanksgiving 1940 Burton complained of his leg hurting and was finally diagnosis with La Perthes. Burton enters Primary Children’s Hospital February 10, 1941

When we took Burton into the hospital we had to fill out a form as to his condition and give up all right to him in regards to treatment he would receive that wasn’t so bad for we knew he would get the care he should have in order to get better but to leave him there in bed crying was almost more than we could stand both Rulen and I cried and cried it was so hard to go off and leave him. We started for home that afternoon.

The last of March 1941 Rulen was asked by the Stake Presidency to be Bishop of Wilford Ward. I will never forget how frightened and humble it made us both feel. Are we big enough for the job? Can the people of the ward support Rulen as Bishop? And a hundred other questions came before us to make us afraid yet President Hess explained to us how Rulen was chosen because of his faith, good works, and a willingness to do what he could, that the First Presidency of the Church Heber J. Grant, J. Reuben Clark Jr., and David O McKay had selected Rulen from the ward as being worthy of such an important office. 30 March 1941 President Hess presented Rulen’s name to the ward as being worthy to become their new Bishop and asked for their sustaining vote. I’ll never forget how humble we both felt.

April 5th, 1941 found us in Salt Lake for General Conference. Rulen went to the meetings I went to the Primary Children’s Hospital to be with Burton who had a 12 lb weight on his leg.

8th July 1941 Anna Jane was born about 5 o’clock in the afternoon and we were glad that at last we were blessed with a daughter Rulen had a meeting that evening so everyone knew about our girl.

24th July we got word that Burton could come home so on the 8th of August we took him out of the Primary Children’s hospital and he entered school that fall going on crutches but the summer vacation and too much freedom was not good for him and in August when he had his check over the doctor ordered him back in the hospital and momma Rose put him to bed again.

March, (1943) Burton again comes home from the hospital in Salt Lake.

August 8th, 1943 Rulon is released as Bishop of Wilford Ward.

Jan 1944 things were rather tight for us and we decided that Rulen would go to Utah where his brothers are working and see if he could get a job, the boys and myself doing the chores.

February 12, 1944 Paul was playing with Layne Dayton at the Dayton home the kids went inside to get warm, parents were both in town, Layne brought out some guns one went off and shot Paul in the face he lost a lot of blood and ran all the way home a distance of a big city block. Our car was in town with Dean, Burton, and Jay. Somehow Mother got Paul to the doctor and with x-rays found fragments of 22-rifle hollow point throughout his head including a large fragment next to his brain. Paul was rushed to L.D.S. Hospital in Salt Lake because the explosion within caused an opening into the brain and Paul was loosing a lot of fluid. They were told that as long as there was drainage from the brain there was danger of spinal meningitis setting in. Paul’s right eye was cut loose and floating. It was very wrinkled and soft which was all bad. Dr Smith chose not to operate fearing more damage would result. Paul was released 2 weeks later with partial side vision of the right eye, glasses to help with the strain on his good eye. He stayed in Salt Lake with Rulen to be close to the doctor. The doctor states that it was a marvelous recovery Paul made.