by
Glendon Gee
(August 12, 2000)
Our lives are constantly shaped by the examples of others.
Great examples to me have been my parents, Ivin and Pearl Gee.
This reunion gives me a chance to reflect on the lives of my parents, two
pioneers of the 20th Century, who have blazed the trail for all of us
with integrity and excellence and optimism.
They have left us with a roadmap to the 21st Century (and
beyond), on how to prioritize, how to serve, how to love, how to be happy and
how to endure. The following short
stories illustrate some of the mileposts of the Ivin and Pearl Gee roadmap to
the 21st Century.
Milepost 1. Choose
to Serve the Lord.
As Joshua of old, my parents, hearkened to the council “
Choose ye the day whom ye will serve, . . . but as for me and my house, we will
serve the Lord”. We learned that
service to God and fellow beings was not hollow rhetoric, but a way of life for
Ivin and Pearl Gee.
One of the early recollections I have of my parents was
during our days in Denver, Colorado (1945-1949). While in Denver, Father was a Seventy and served a Stake
Mission (and later was called into the Bishopric) while Mother worked in the
Primary. We did not own a car (that
worked), so we often walked the nearly 2-mile roundtrip, twice a day on Sundays
(for Sunday School and Sacrament Meeting), and once during the week for Primary.
Occasionally, we got the luxury of riding a few blocks on the trolley.
Father and Mother expected us to be active in spite of the
inconveniences, so we were. They
did not send us to church, they brought us -rain or shine-, teaching us that it
was the place to be on Sunday. I
think at times we complained about having to get up early and put on our suits
(twice-a-day no less) and having to take those long walks to church.
But they endured our childish ways and led us with love and patience.
It had its rewards. I recall
as a seven-year-old, sitting in church with Father and putting my small hand
into his giant hand and feeling warm and loved and cared for.
I also felt the great bonding of the members of the church, how they
loved and cared for each other. I
still recall with some awe, the missionary farewell for Stanley Kimball (who
later in life became a well-known history professor with special interests in
Mormon Trail history). All the
young boys really liked him. He was
sent to Czechoslovakia (which at that time was in the throws of becoming an Iron
Curtain country). We all seemed to
sense that this was a special calling, and that we were truly in the latter
days, when the Gospel would be preached to all the world.
Church experience was not without its humor.
I recall that one spring day after church, while Father was still in
meetings (Mother was ill and at home that day), Laurence, Martell and I, in
brand new suits raced outside of the church and across the street to the
adjacent vacant lot. (The lot was
actually a small “nob” hill and we often played there after church).
On this particular Sunday, there was still snow on the ground, so we
found a milk crate, proceeded to use it as a sled, and with great fun and
exhilaration, rode the milk crate down the hill.
The only problem was that the snow had partly melted and when we got
down, after about three or four rides, our new suits were covered in mud.
When Father saw us, he did not laugh.
We had a long, wet, walk home. When we got home, Mother was horrified.
It was much later, after suits were cleaned and boys were washed up that
we could all see the humor of the Sunday crate ride.
Milepost 2. Learn
to Give Generously.
My parents learned from their parents and then taught us
that, "when ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the
service of your God" [Mosiah 2:18]. While
in Denver, I recall that Father and Mother took us to the Stake Welfare Farm and
Cannery, where we helped pick corn and then can it.
I recall feeling important, that I was helping provide food for someone
that did not have as much as I had. I
also recall that Father worked long hours.
He would bike about 10 miles each way to Stapleton Field (airport).
When he got home in the summers he would take us as a family over to a
vacant lot, about 2 blocks away, where we had a Victory Garden (a patriotic
thing in the days following WWII). We
were assigned to pull weeds and then later we got to harvest the produce and
sell it to the neighbors. With the
money we earned from the produce we learned to pay our tithing.
Milepost 3. Learn
to Have Fun.
Father took us three boys on a Father and Sons Outing while
we were in Denver. I remember this
as one of those “true bonding” times. I
found out just how down to earth and fun my Father really was.
We stayed in a rustic cabin, near a beautiful lake high in the Rockies.
It got very cold at night. We
could not afford sleeping bags so army blankets had to do.
The blankets doubled as props at the evening fireside as Father used his
singing abilities and his thespian skills to lead us in songs and an award
winning skit about a huge worm that ate things, producing silly consequences.
I recall also that we had prayer together and that it was always a treat
to hear my Father pray.
Milepost 4. Learn
to Act Quickly.
Father was quietly ambitious and anxious to advance in his
work. While still in Denver, he
took an assignment to Grand Junction, Colorado, that offered special training in
high altitude weather observations. This training subsequently led to his
appointment as meteorologist-in-charge in Lander, Wyoming.
In December of 1948, he was home for the Christmas season for just a day
or so. During his absence, the
Christmas tree (a small but beautiful, long-needle pine tree) was left up until
after the New Year was over. We
boys helped Mother take the tree down. The
small tree was on a table next to a window.
As we were taking down the decorations, one of the icicles fell across
the electrical connection causing a spark.
In an instant, the underlying cotton went up in flames.
The flames leaped to the dry needles and the entire tree was quickly
engulfed in flames. Mother, knowing
the imminent danger, that the curtains and the house would catch fire, told us
boys to get out of the way and to open the back door. We ran and she grabbed the flaming tree and carried it out
the back door and threw it into a snow bank.
The next door neighbor, seeing us boys and the flaming tree, but not
Mother, said, “What are you boys trying to do burn down your house?”
We did not have time to explain. Mother
had saved the house and our lives but paid for it by having second and third
degree burns on her arms. She
taught us an unforgettable lesson in selflessness that night.
She acted quickly and instinctively and we were spared grave harm.
Milepost 5. Learn
to Have a Goal in Mind.
It was not surprising that as soon as we moved to Lander,
Wyoming, that church service continued at an accelerated pace.
Father became Branch President and set about to build a chapel in Lander.
In those days local participation was required (30% of the funds for the
building was required from branch members). In addition, the branch had to have
a certain level of activity (number of members attending church).
In almost every conceivable way, funds were raised (bake sales, dinners,
donated work projects, etc.). The
building fund projects helped get people active so it was mutually beneficial.
Father took on a project rototilling gardens in the spring for hire.
He donated all of the money to the building fund.
He worked tirelessly in fundraising and in shepherding members.
The necessary start money was obtained, and activity was increased so
that they could build a chapel in Lander. In the meantime, as we were growing
up, we did not skip a beat at full participation. I recall that each month we attended District meetings in
Casper, a 300 mile roundtrip. Father
later served in the District Presidency and did even more traveling, all on a
very limited budget, but with a lot of faith.
Laurence, Martell, and I were all in college and subsequently on missions
before the chapel was built. It
stands today as a living tribute to the faith and dedication of my parents and
other faithful Lander saints who put service before self and had a worthy goal
in mind.
Milepost 6.
Learn to be on Time.
My
parents taught us that being on time was a virtue.
Both Father and Mother hated to be late to anything.
They made an effort to see to it that we were always early to whatever we
planned to do. With that sense of
timing came other responsibilities and opportunities.
For example, in Lander, during the years that we did not have our own
chapel, we would go with Father about an hour early to the American Legion Hall
(and later the National Guard Armory) to get the rooms ready for church
services. Every week we would have
to sweep up beer bottles and cigarette butts and air out the rooms. Then, we would set up chairs and tables and when we were old
enough we would prepare the sacrament. (Often
the only Aaronic Priesthood at church consisted of three Gee boys).
These early moments prepared us for our missions and later for my days in
New Hampshire. I do recall on a few
occasions, we were not as prompt as we should have been.
One day, (after we were in Lander for some time and owned a car), we boys
were lagging behind a bit and after some urging Mother finally got us to the
door and urged us to get in the car and hurry on to our meeting.
As she was getting in the car. Laurence, having been taught gallantry,
came over to shut her door. As he
was about to do the gallant deed, Mother, in exasperation for our tardiness,
very uncharacteristically said, “And just what do you think you’re going to
do?” That of course, wilted
Laurence. Mother immediately
apologized for the rash comment and we laughed together about the moment, but
learned an important lesson. Do not
push the tardy button too far.
Milepost
7. Learn to Turn the Other Cheek
and to Bury the Hatchet.
I
do not recall my Father or Mother ever holding grudges.
As with all of us, they were hurt by the offenses of others, but were
ready to forgive and forget and to love people that despitefully used them.
I recall that when Father was Branch President, shortly after the chapel
was built, there was a member of the branch that was constantly causing trouble.
The member apparently called the District President and complained about
something that they thought Father was doing wrong and told some stories that
were just plain falsehoods. The
District President, without consulting Father, came to the Branch and released
everyone. Father was shocked and deeply hurt. A lesser man would have become bitter, turned inward and gone
inactive. Father, in contrast, knew
that the Church was true in spite of its members (and in some cases, misinformed
leaders), and stayed the course. He
later served as a counselor to the same man that released him.
Mother also showed us great capacity to forgive.
To illustrate, she loved a set of sterling silverware that she owned
(some of which were gifts from Grandmother Gee) and was very proud to display it
whenever she had the chance. It was
her pride and joy, one of her very valuable earthly possessions.
A grandson of one of her dear friends came one night and stole the
silverware (apparently for drug money). Mother
knew who did it but was determined that such an act would not lessen her
friendship and never let it interfere with her acts of kindness toward the
friend and her family.
Milepost
8. Learn to Honor the Past.
Family
history is an important part of our religion.
My parents set a great example for us in keeping and preserving family
histories. My Grandmother Stucki
spent a good part of her later years working full time on genealogical records
and family histories. I recall as a little boy going with Mother to Salt Lake City
to Grandmother’s apartment (where she would spend most of the year so she
could do genealogical research at the nearby Church Genealogical Library).
The new Church Conference Center now stands where her small apartment was
located. The apartment is gone and
Grandmother is dead, but her efforts are preserved in the books and records that
Mother and Father laboriously copied for each of us boys.
Evidence of record keeping and honoring the past abound at the Paris
House. There you can find books
about our progenitors and their families (e.g., “History of Bear Lake
Pioneers” and “John Ulrich Stucki and his Posterity”, etc).
You will also find wonderful pictures of our family (a 1977 mint edition
of the Ivin L Gee family), my parents (at the Washington DC Temple), my
grandparents (Joseph Smith Stucki and Mary Ann Price Stucki), and great grand
parents (John Ulrich Stucki and Jane Butler Stucki). If you look in the drawers of the yellow desk, in the living
room of the Paris House, you will find stacks of computer cards that are blank
on one side but have genealogical notes on the other. These are a memento of past efforts by my Father’s to do
genealogical research (and also evidence that long before the “Green
Movement” Father knew the virtues of recycling —that to waste not is to want
not). I think that Father and
Mother spent their money and time in fixing up the Paris House so that their
children and their families could live a bit of Family History and the “hearts
of the children would be turned to the fathers”.
Milepost
9. Learn to Seek Things Virtuous,
Lovely, of Good Report and Praiseworthy.
While
in Denver, I recall going with my parents and brothers to the Opera,
“Carmen”. We sat in the highest
seats in the concert hall to hear the beautiful voice of world-famous Risa
Stevens as she sang the great songs of that Spanish tragedy.
It was one of many musical and cultural experiences that our parents
shared with us. In Lander, Father
would listen faithfully each Saturday to the “Texaco Hour” as the
Metropolitan Opera was brought to us by radio.
We were regulars at the community concerts, which Father promoted in
Lander for years. We accumulated a
substantial collection of 45 rpm records of classical and semi-classical music.
I had many favorites, but still recall the pleasure of putting on a stack
of records and listening, from beginning to end, to the “Grand Canyon
Suite”, and to Mario Lanza sing the great tenor classics of Caruso and the
sound track of the musical, “The Student Prince”.
Father even tolerated a little bit of Spike Jones with such favorites as
“Goofus” and “Wild Bill Hiccup”. Some
of the musical experience rubbed of on us and at one time, when I was a freshman
in High School, all three of us boys played in the band (Laurence, clarinet;
Martell, bass horn; Glendon, baritone horn).
As I recall we also sang in the choir together.
Laurence had a great bass voice and got a 1+ (highest rating) for his
solo at the State Music Festival that year.
In 1954, between my junior and senior year, Martell and I went with the
other youth of the Wyoming District to the Cardston Temple to do baptisms for
the dead. The trip to Canada was
exciting and the temple experience memorable.
Great friendships were established, and two of the youth that were on the
temple trip later served in the same mission with me.
It took almost a week to go and come. Father took time off of his busy
schedule to make that happen for us.
Milepost
10. Learn to Endure to the End.
Mother
and Father typify what I think of when I think of endurance.
Mother has battled health problems for more that 40 years.
While I was on my mission in 1957 (43 years ago) I was one day called by
President Casper Merrill and told that I needed to go home, that my mother was
seriously ill and was not expected to live.
The doctors had diagnosed stomach cancer and they thought it had spread
too far to save her. I went home on
the bus and got there in time to join Father and give her a priesthood blessing.
I could not tell from the blessing if she would live or die but I prayed
fervently, pleading with the Lord to spare her life.
She barely survived surgery. They removed most of her stomach but also
got the cancer. Her health has never been the same since, but she did
eventually recover and has spent many years blessing the lives of all of us with
her testimony and her great spirit. She
is a living witness of the power of priesthood and the influence of the Hand of
God in our lives. Both Mother and
Father have had serious injuries and health conditions that would have totally
incapacitated others (two serious car accidents, a bike accident, broken legs,
hip replacements, loss of a gall bladder.), yet they have done it with grace and
dignity. I am amazed that as I call
in to check on them that they are still getting around and about so well.
They are still doing productive things.
Father has given over 1000 patriarchal blessings and continues this duty
as emeritus Stake Patriarch for his immediate family.
He is scheduled to give a patriarchal blessing to Kristen Thomas, my
oldest granddaughter this week. Mother
still is working on quilts to give grandchildren.
Almost every week they seem more renewed in spirit and body.
They go to church weekly and are still asked to speak or pray.
I hope that I can grow old as gracefully, and be as productive and
maintain a sense of humor and exhibit the mantle goodness that typifies their
lives.
I am
grateful that Ivin and Pearl Gee have followed the Gospel of Jesus Christ and
have walked in the footsteps of the Savior.
Their lives provide us with a clear roadmap to the 21st
Century and beyond.