Oral Interviews of Francis M. Gibbons (1921-2016)—Part 10

 (From an Interview of Francis Marion Gibbons conducted by Daniel Bay Gibbons September 26, 2001 in Salt Lake City, Utah)

My Brothers and Sisters

The Children of Adeline Christensen and Andrew Smith Gibbons
Taken at a final family reunion, April 1, 1961, before the death of Ruth Gibbons Elliott
Standing: Andrew Smith Gibbons, Jr. and Francis Marion Gibbons
Seated: LeVon Gibbons Thurber, Pauline Gibbons Clarke and Ruth Naomi Gibbons Elliott

Andrew’s Education and Attempts to Pass the Bar

My brother Andrew had a scholarship to the University of Arizona.  And he went down to Tucson, and perhaps got in with the wrong crowd and was very indifferent towards his schooling – wasn’t taking a real interest in it.  That really hit my father, because he made such a sacrifice to get his education and here was an education handed to his son, who had good possibilities, good mentality.  Here the education was handed to him and he frittered it away.  And so that was always a point of conflict between my father and Andrew.  Because of the natural sense of inferiority my brother had toward my father intellectually, this was the thing that really drove a wedge between them.  I remember one interchange between them one morning.  We all used to sleep up on this open porch in the Summertime so we could get every breath of air, and we’d have this oscillating fan that was on all night.  Early one morning my father and my brother were having some kind of a conversation.  And my father had apparently been very critical of Andrew because he wasn’t buckling down and wasn’t doing what my father thought he ought to do.  I could tell my brother was really agitated when he left and went downstairs.  

 

This relationship was further cankered by the fact that Andrew studied law for several years there in Phoenix after my father was a partner in Cunningham, Carson & Gibbons.  They had a library in their suite of offices and Andrew would go down and study there in the suite. I think he failed two or three times taking the Bar.  And so I think that really hit Andrew hard that he couldn’t cut the mustard.  And in our eyes that added to the status of my father and all of his accomplishments scholastically and on the bench and practicing law. 

Andrew Smith Gibbons, Jr. in about 1943

   

Andrew’s Later Success in Other Endeavors

Of course Andrew shouldn’t have felt that way because he was highly intelligent and did well professionally.  He went with the telephone company and he absolutely excelled there.  He went right up the ladder and he finally became kind of a spot shooter for them.  He would handle matters before the legislature and he had an executive position, and did very well.  But I think the fact that he did not become a lawyer just stuck to him like a burr.  So that created somewhat of an estrangement between my brother and my Dad.  

 

Andrew Takes Charge in Camp on Paradise Creek

Now, I’ve told you about this camping trip that we took together for two weeks.  We went up on the Paradise Creek in the White Mountains, which was really a wonderful thing.  When we went up there my brother really took charge.  He’s the one that set up the camp.  He’s the one that did all of the cooking.  He just had that ability to do things like that.  At night he would put a pot of beans cooking and bury them in the ashes and by morning the beans were cooked.  And he would make sour dough biscuits.  He’s the one who built this garage in the back of our house with this sleeping porch above it.  He was a good carpenter.  So he was handy with his hands.  And he idolized my father.  So it was a rather unfortunate situation that developed between Andrew and my father.  

 

My Father’s Views on My Future Education

Because of Andrew’s experience in Tucson I think my father was converted to the idea that I shouldn’t go to the University.  And I remember that one weekend I went down to Tucson with a friend Larry Anderson.  He was a cheerleader at the high school and also was in the business college at the time I was there in Phoenix.  So he had a brother in Tucson who had one of these – it would be similar to a Big Mac – McDonalds – although he had a franchise and he had his own shop.  So Larry and I went down to Tucson one weekend and stayed with him.  My mother told me later that when I went down, my father was really negative about it, and he made the comment, “He’ll go down there to the University and he’ll get the desire to go to the University like Andrew.”  And he didn’t want me to go. So when I got back – I could tell when he was displeased, he was kind of withdrawn and negative.  So he was very satisfied that I went to Business College and that was enough.  (Laughter).  So its interesting to see how a family turns out.

Four older siblings of Francis M. Gibbons in about 1920
Rear: Andrew and LeVon
Front: Ruth and Pauline

 

DBG:    Tell me about your sisters.

 

My Sister LeVon Gibbons Thurber’s Interest in My Writing

FMG:    LeVon, the oldest, was to me a very beautiful girl.  She was always good to me. She, more than any other member of the family took a real interest in my writing.  When I started writing and publishing I would always send her a copy.  She’d read every book I wrote, and then she would critique it for me.  She was very encouraging to me, more so than any other member of my family, including your mother.  Now your mother’s been supportive, and I think that she may have read some of my books, but never with the intensity that my sister LeVon did.

 

LeVon’s Education and First Marriage

My sister LeVon was a good student and she attended the Northern Arizona State Teachers College in Flagstaff, which is now the Northern University of Arizona.  She did very well there, and that’s where she met Bob Garlow, her first husband, who was the son of a newspaper man in Globe, Arizona.  Bob Garlow was a spoiled kid.  Bob Garlow was a brilliant guy.  They fell in love and were married and it was a disaster from the beginning.  They didn’t stay together very long.  He never really took an interest in his son, Reed.  They were soon divorced and Reed lived with us for a year in Phoenix while LeVon taught school in Concho.  Then LeVon later got a master’s degree and she had a fine career as a teacher there in St. Johns.  She was very well thought of.  She did very well as a teacher.  I think she was in the system for maybe thirty years and retired as one of the teachers in the St. Johns High School.  

LeVon’s Divinity Candy

LeVon was a fine cook.  Her speciality was divinity candy.  I always loved to go visit her because she’d always make me a batch of divinity candy.  So I had a very good relationship with LeVon.  

The five children of Andy and Addie Gibbons
Rear: Andrew, Jr.
Middle: Ruth, Pauline and LeVon
Front: Frank

 

My One Conflict with LeVon Involving Her Son, Reed Thurber

There’s only one incident that ever arose between us.  Thank the Lord that it was settled as it was.  Her son Reed was a Bishop in Tucson.  He came to General Conference and stayed with us.  The Church, of course, paid his way and brought him up to Salt Lake for instruction.  Saturday night of General Conference the University of Arizona was playing football at Utah.  And Reed skipped the General Priesthood Meeting and went to that football game.  I always looked upon him as a little brother.  So I read the riot act to him.  I said, “Reed.  What are you doing?  The Church has brought you up here to give you instruction as a Bishop and you skip the main Priesthood Meeting and go to a ball game!”  I admit it, I was tough on him.  And I felt that I was entitled to do that because he was staying in my home, he was like my little brother, and I was with the First Presidency at that time.  I was really irked with him.  Well, Reed blabbed to his wife, about how I had read the riot act to him, and his wife blabbed to LeVon (laughing), and she sent me really a scorching letter.  I think it started out, “FRANK! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?” (Laughter).  And that was just the beginning.  I mean, she really took the hide off of me.  So, fortunately I didn’t answer in kind.  I wrote her just a little short letter. I said, “LeVon.  I must tell you about this some time when we can sit down together and I can explain what happened.”  That’s about all I said.  She never responded to my answer.  So after a while she cooled down and nothing ever came of it.  But that’s the only time there was ever any real conflict between me and my sister LeVon.  

 

DBG:    Hang on one second here. [Tape change]

 

LeVon’s Happy Marriage to Ez Thurber

FMG:    She later married Ez Thurber.  They had dated as young people, so they had known each other for a long time.  Ez Thurber was a good man.  They had a very happy marriage.  He adopted Reed, so he changed his name from Garlow to Thurber.  Then LeVon bore two other children, Vance and Sue.  So she bore three children.  So that was my sister LeVon.

 

My Father’s Opinion of the Intellect of My Sister, Pauline Gibbons Clarke

My sister Pauline.  I heard my father say once that of all of his children he felt that Pauline had more mentality than anybody else.  Its interesting.  That never affected me because I knew he was wrong. (Laughter) So Pauline was a very bright girl.  She also went to Flagstaff.  Then she went to a business college in Phoenix and was a very skilled secretary.  

 

Pauline’s Marriage to Eddie Clarke

She married Eddie Clarke – Eston Clarke.  He was not a member of the Church when they married.  They lived there in Phoenix for many years.  I remember I used to go to there little apartment quite often to have meals with them.  They were very kind to me.

 

Hearing of My Father’s Accident and Seeing Him in the Hospital

When my father was hit by the car I’d been having my meals regularly with them because it had been arranged that I would eat with them all the while my parents were in Yuma.  So Pauline called me in a very agitated state to say that Dad had been in this terrible accident.  I went immediately to the hospital and saw him as they were working on him.  Apparently he had suffered several broken ribs in addition to multiple fractures in his leg.  The were working on him when I saw him.  He obviously in great pain.  In any event it was Pauline who called to tell me that my father had been struck by the car.  

 

Incidental Relationship with Pauline

So my relationship with Pauline was only incidental.  She was pretty much up and out of the house by the time I was conscious what was going on.  So I was never really close to her as I grew up.  And that, of course, applied to LeVon and Andrew.  Ruth was the only child who really had any impact upon me as I was growing up in St. Johns.  Later Pauline and Eddie moved to California and it was there Pauline bore her only child, Joe.  Joe Clarke.  He is their natural child.  And then she adopted a child named Teddy.  But in any event, Pauline and Eddy did well in Los Angeles.  Eddy had his own station.  They had a nice house in a nice neighborhood and did very well.  

 

Visiting Pauline While I was in the Navy and Later at Stanford

When I was at Stanford we drove down through Los Angeles on our way to Yuma before we headed over to Phoenix and we stayed with Pauline and Eddy one night there and attended Church with them.  Eddie later joined the Church and was a member of the Bishopric and did very well.  When I was in the Navy Pauline and Eddy were living in the California city north of Los Angeles called Santa Maria and a time or two I hitchhiked up to Santa Maria to visit them and stayed with them and they were always very kind to me.  So we visited off and on at different times.  

 

Persuading Joe Clarke to Dedicate His Parents’ Graves

I was never really close to Pauline but I always loved her and admired her and she was really a wonderful person.  I was privileged to speak at her funeral and at Eddy’s funeral.  I went down to Los Angeles for that purpose.  I was especially interested in Eddy’s funeral.  He died first.  Joe had never been active.  Joe came up to BYU and he got into some trouble down there.  Pauline called all agitated and so I went down and served as Joe’s attorney in one court proceeding down there.  That was always a very difficult thing for Pauline to take.  Joe finally straightened up and graduated and got a degree in Spanish.  Joe is a fine linguist.  Because of the large Mexican population in Los Angeles a guy who is bilingual is really in a strong position.  And so Joe for years worked with a company that hired a lot of Mexicans, and because of his ability to communicate with them, why he was one of their key employees.  He later married a Mexican girl.  What I began to tell you was that, because of this background and the fact that Joe never filled a mission, and really was never gung ho in the Church, when his father died I was visiting with Joe and Pauline one night before the funeral, and I said to Joe, “Joe.  Why don’t you dedicate your father’s grave?”  He’s an Elder.  And later Pauline said, “He’ll never do it.”  But he did do it.  And he was very pleased to do it.  So Joe dedicated his father’s grave.  He’s buried there in a lovely cemetery, kind of on the side of a hill with a lot of beautiful trees, and Pauline is buried right beside him.  So when I went down for Pauline’s funeral later, why Joe dedicated Pauline’s grave.  So he dedicated the graves of his parents.  Unfortunately I’ve never had the occasion to be close to Joe.  I’ve regretted that.  I kind of think that if I’d have been near at hand I might have helped to bring him along.  So that was Pauline, and as I say, my father thought she had more brain power than any of his children.  

 

California Vacations with My Parents and Ruthie

Ruthie was just three years older than me and we were always very close, both in St. Johns and later in Phoenix.  Ruthie went with me and our parents in 1937 on a vacation in Long Beach.  It was the first time either of us had seen the ocean.  We really had a wonderful time.  We had an apartment not far from the beach.  So there were the four of us.  It was a lovely, lovely vacation for us.  There was a midway there and of course swimming in the surf.  It was really exciting.  And then later, after she was married, in 1939, she joined us – (Laughing) she left her husband at home – and she went with us to the Worlds Fair in San Francisco.  We spent one or two weeks up in the Bay area.  

Ruth and Frank in about 1944

Birth of My Desire to Attend Stanford University

That’s where was born my desire to go to Stanford.  One day while we were there we took a drive down the peninsula to Palo Alto.  My father showed us around the campus and around Menlo Park.  There’s a very pleasant odor down in that area.  It comes from the foliage.  And my father commented on the fact that he remembered it distinctly how he enjoyed being in that area when he was a young student down there.  So we had a good time.  We visited all of the pavilions of the worlds fair which was held on the island that they had built up there in the middle of the Bay.  We had a great time.  

 

Visit to My Father’s Birthplace in Glendale

Then, on the way home was the occasion when we stopped in Glendale and we went into the home there where my father was born.  Unannounced we stopped at that home and my father said to the woman who answered, “I’m Andrew Gibbons.  I was born in this house.  Would you mind if I looked in the bedroom to see where I was born?”  (Laughing).  So we all went in and saw the place where my father was born.

Birthplace of Andrew Smith Gibbons in Glendale,  Utah
This house, no longer standing in 2020, was located on the west side of Highway 89 

“How could a fine Irish girl like you be a Mormon?”

Well getting back to Ruthie.  Ruthie was a bright girl.  She graduated from the Phoenix Union High School.  Then she trained as a nurse in the Catholic Hospital there in Phoenix.  The St. Joseph’s Hospital.  She became the president of the student body and was very much admired by the Sisters there.  Because of the name “Gibbons”, which to many people is an Irish name, there was this one Sister who used to say to Ruthie, “How could a fine Irish girl like you be a Mormon?” (Laughing).  But she had a good relationship there and the fact that she was the student body president would indicate the stature she had.  So she became a registered nurse.  She worked for the State of Arizona Department of Health.  She was a health nurse and was moved to Yuma.  That’s where she met Howard Elliott and she married him.  He was not a member of the Church.  

A Big Sister's Tribute

In 2003 my late mother, Helen Bay Gibbons (1921-2015), wrote this sweet tribute to her younger brother, Earl Maxwell Bay (1927-2018):

"Uncle Bud"
Earl Maxwell Bay (1927-2018)

April 13, 2003
Dearest  Bud:

Your most generous tribute and expressions of love in your letter of March 23 touched me deeply.  What a  very special man you are!  I am highly  honored to be your sister.   Your entire life has been one of thoughtfulness and kindness to others.  Thank you for all you have done for me, and now for this appreciated but not truly deserved letter.  Frank was touched by it also, and said, “Be sure that letter is preserved.  Why don’t you include it in your personal journal which is a bound book each year, so it won’t be lost.”   It is a treasure!

I have long recognized that putting ideas and events in written form gives them an increased power and permanence lacking in spoken form.  Your example of writing such messages to each of your children and grandchildren has got me thinking that I ought to do the same thing in our family, to let each loved one know how precious they are to me and to Frank.

My memories of you from your birth are sweet and warm.  Bernice could not pronounce the word “brother,” so called you “Little Budda”, and in spite of Mama’s urgent efforts to insist that we call you Maxwell,  you became known as “Budda” and then as Bud.  You far outshone me in courage, even though you were more than five years younger.  We  were trying to handle a feisty cow who didn’t like our leading her new calf away from the corral to the window of our house to show it to Bernice who was quarantined with scarlet fever.  You were only about five years old, but I turned the rope over to you.

When Dad had to leave town to find cash-paying work, you were the one to milk the cows, and do other manly chores for Mother when you were in your early teens.  You were so willing and so dependable.  You moved to the big West High School  as a senior, I believe.  What a change from Piute High!  What an adjustment being the new kid, having to defend yourself from bigger bullies.  One night  you and other teens were milling around in front of our house late one night, and the neighbors complained about the noise.  You were the one who went to apologize to the neighbors.  

You got a job working for peanuts, washing windows at a downtown store, and ushering in a theater.  When I told you goodbye at the train station, you whispered to me, “Don’t worry about money.”   I exhausted my limited cash while coming home from my mission on a bus (in order to stop in Phoenix and meet Frank’s mother en route).  So when my  friend and I stopped in Flagstaff to see you while you were there in officer training in the Navy, I soaked you for my share of the hotel room.  You never complained, although  you were hardly rolling in dough.

You worked your way through the university and became an engineer, while you and  your beautiful Betty were young, struggling  parents.  You saved and worked and bought your home at 4629 South 1130 East.  You were always there for your brothers and sisters.   

When Elvon suffered an accident out in the boonies somewhere, you did not hesitate but drove directly there to bring him back to the hospital in your station wagon.  Years later,  he tried to start a business as a building contractor, and was stiffed by  a company for whom he had built a big store.  He did not have sufficient capital to manage such a delay, as he had planned to pay for materials for other projects from the payment of the completed project.  He was in serious financial difficulty, and he told me that you  had gone to him and offered to borrow money on your own home to bail him out.  He knew that even that was not enough, so refused your offer.   I think it was a source of pride to  him that he gave up his own new home, his business, and worked to pay off all his debts without cheating his creditors.  But he was touched, and so was I,  by your loving generosity, so typical of you. 

When Dad was critically ill in the VA Hospital, and we were called to his bedside in the middle of the night, we all gathered to be near him.  Charlotte came with her son James Hill, his wife, and their son who was ready to enter the mission field.  The nurses and doctors were worried because there were so many of us.  (Usually, they had patients  with no one who came to visit.  The medical staff decreed that to protect our father,  we could not enter his hospital room until he fell asleep. Then, quietly, two at a time, could slip into the room for a minute or two without disturbing him. Charlotte announced, “The  out-of-town people go first.” Elvon was irate. “I will see my father before any out-of- towners.” Charlotte backed down, and we all got to see him briefly. Finally, he passed the  critical stage, and one by one everyone went home to bed except you and Mary and me.  I sat by his bedside for an hour, and then you said you would stay the rest of the night.  So  you got in your car, followed me home and then followed Mary to see that she made it OK, and then returned to sit with Dad the rest of the night.

After his death, you reluctantly assumed the duty of executor of his estate.  The attorney who was helping us was concerned that there would be a family struggle, with all the Bay children and all of Charlotte’s children who had been sealed to Dad in their adulthood.  Because of your diplomatic approach, Charlotte’s children told you, “We don’t want your father’s money.  All we want is his good name.”  You, however, insisted that they receive what he had specified in his will.  Dad had specified that Charlotte could remain  in the home until her death.   However, she did not want to remain in the home, so  you added her name to the list of the seven of us, handled the sale of the home and split the money eight ways.  There was absolutely no squabbling in our own family over who got what piece of furniture or other assets.  It was because we all had perfect trust in you, and valued our relationship with one another far above any physical legacy. The lawyer was amazed at the lack of ill feelings in the disposition of the matter.

For years, you were always on hand to help Uncle France.  No natural son could have been more kind to him.  You again reluctantly assumed the heavy duty of managing his estate, paying his bills, dealing with the accountants and legal matters.  (I was going through a time of physical anxiety and pain and did not think I could handle it.  Instead, you and Betty helped me , gave me encouragement that my pain was not going to be permanent.   Betty taught me some helpful exercises, how to “crawl like a dog” to get up from the floor.  She did me more good than the doctors).   

Even after your near-fatal heart attack, you were doing things for Uncle France and for Florence, taking them to the doctor, picking up medicine, etc., at the risk of your  own health.  After her death, you often spent the night on  Uncle France’s couch to be there to help him get safely to the bathroom.  You supervised his treatment in the hospital and his move to St.  Joseph’s Villa, and we promised him that he would not have to die alone.   I was so grateful that the Lord enabled us to keep that promise.

Then came the very difficult task for you as administrator of his estate, following his wishes as to the generous disposition of his property and money.  What a headache!   It took a  year.   Again, your natural talents of honorable kindness, diplomacy, and tactful confidentiality, assisted by Betty through the whole process, enabled you to conclude the  settling of the estate.   I never could have done what you did, and did so well.

Since receiving your wonderful letter, I have reread your Personal Statement of Faith.   What a treasure that is!   Your powerful witness of the truth, your honest and effective descriptions of your values and your faith will have greater influence that you can now know in the lives of your descendants for many generations.  Those written words of testimony along with your personal written tributes to each of your children and grandchildren will live through the generations to strengthen your family.  It has far more value than any monetary or physical treasure you could ever bestow.  I value your words and so will my descendants.  You have set a high bar for all of us to achieve.

What you have done for me, has been repeated over and over for other members of the family—Mary, JaNel, Paul, and Phil—and their offspring.  You have blessed us all in  ways too numerous to recount.   We are all honored to have such a man as you—a true Saint, a true Christian gentleman—as our brother.   God bless you always—you and Betty and your beautiful family. 

Much love, 

Helen

Homes We Lived In, by Helen Bay Gibbons

Ruth, Suzanne and Mark Gibbons in the backyard
of the Yale Avenue House, about 1957

I found this little document, written by my late mother, Helen Bay Gibbons (1921-2015). It was in her computer files and is entitled: "Homes We Lived In." Using Google's "Streetview" application, I've added contemporary (2019) photos of these ten homes, as well as the eleventh (and final) home of my late parents, at Canyon Road Towers, 123 East Second Avenue in Salt Lake City.

"Homes We Lived In: The Francis M. Gibbons Family: Ten Moves in the First Ten Years"

by Helen Bay Gibbons

140 West North Temple, Salt Lake City

1.   Frank and Helen. Small rented apartment at 140 West North Temple, Salt Lake City, Utah, during World War II  - June to December 1945.   Now part of a  Church parking lot. 

666 East Second Avenue, Salt Lake City

2.   Frank and Helen. 666 Second Avenue, SLC, another small apartment:  kitchen, bathroom, and living room with a fold-down wall-bed we called “the Cave.”    Now part of an LDS chapel parking lot. January to April 1946. 

1334 East Fifth South, Salt Lake City
This property is immediately adjacent to Mt. Olivet Cemetery where
Frank and Helen Gibbons are buried. Their grave is about a hundred yards
Southeast of the gated entryway visible on the far left.

3.   Frank and Helen. Small house that we bought at 1334 East Fifth South, SLC. 

April 1946 to December 1947.  When Grandpa Earl Bay had a severe coronary heart attack and almost died, we sold the house to invest the money in Grandpa’s business, Bay-Way Venetian Blind Company to help him. The parking lot of Friendship Manor now located where our little house stood. 

23 West 400 North, Salt Lake City

4.    Frank and Helen. Rented basement apartment across the street from the Capitol Hill Ward at 23 West Third North (now 400 North) in Salt Lake City.  One room with kitchen. Bath across a public hall outside the apartment.  Pretty awful, January to September, 1948, but with good landlord, Brother Willard Jones who served in the Salt Lake Temple Presidency. 

160 Kellogg Avenue, Palo Alto, California.
This house is in a highly desirable neighborhood near Stanford University
and is now worth well above seven figures.

5.     Frank and Helen. Our own small home at 160 Kellogg Avenue, Palo Alto, California, September 1948 to September 1950, when we sold the home in preparation for the birth of our first child. The home we loved was later razed and replaced with a larger, fancier home. 

6.    Frank, Helen, and SUZANNE. SUZI’S first home was in Stanford Village, a former World War II Army Barracks remodeled into apartments for married Stanford students. Much less expensive living.  We lived there from September to Christmas 1950, when lack of funds forced Frank’s withdrawal in his last year of law school in  Stanford University and transfer into University of Utah Law School. 

1210 East First South, Salt Lake City

7.  Frank, Helen and SUZANNE. Rented basement apartment, 1210 East First South, Salt Lake City, a fine old Holy Cross Nurses’ Home remodeled into separate apartments, ours probably the laundry room in the past –- very damp.  We lived there from January 1951 until Frank graduated from law school in August, 1951.  Then, the Bishop of University Ward called him as a missionary, with the  student Seventies Quorum in the ward agreeing to support him in the mission field, as recommended in April Conference. We accepted the call, but I felt sad, knowing I would have to leave my baby and go back to work to support myself and Suzi. 

8.   Frank, Helen, Suzi and MARK. MARK’S FIRST HOME:  23 West 3rd North (400 No.) upstairs apartment.  Frank wanted Helen and Suzi to be safe while he filled his mission, and he trusted Brother and Sister Willard Jones, our former landlords.  Also, it was near Grandpa and Grandma Bay and Mary and Bob Ellis.  Then, in October General Conference, the Brethren rescinded the request for Seventies Quorums to support and send married men into the mission field.  Frank began studying for the Utah State Bar exam, so I went back to work for a couple of months so he could spend full time preparing.  Mary Ellis took care of Suzanne while I worked.  As soon as Frank took the bar exam in December, he went back to work and I quit my government job.  Besides, I was pregnant again.  Mark was born in June and came home to that upstairs apartment.  We lived there from August, 1951 until about January 1954. 

72a West 200 North, Salt Lake City--Ruth's first home
This house is directly across the street north from the Conference Center,
which is fitting, since Ruthie sang in the Tabernacle Choir for many years.

9.    Frank, Helen, Suzi, Mark and RUTH. RUTHIE’S FIRST HOME: 72a West First North (200 No.) We were the first tenants in a new apartment building which had more room for the four of us, and where we were more comfortable.  Frank by now was working with the law firm of Senior & Senior and we had a more comfortable income. 

1784 Yale Avenue, Salt Lake City

10.   Frank, Helen, Suzi, Mark, Ruth, and DANIEL. DAN’S   FIRST HOME:  1784 Yale Avenue, a dream come true!   Frank’s client kept asking us to took at the home, and even though we still had a very small income, when we first saw the house, we both KNEW it was OUR HOME. It was a true miracle, a perfect haven of peace and love and beauty, where we lived happily ever after until our children grew up and moved away. 

Canyon Road Towers at 123 East Second Avenue, Salt Lake City

Helen Bay Gibbons in South America, 1978

Helen Bay Gibbons, who served on the General Boards
of the Relief Society, Sunday School, Young Women, and
Melchizedek Priesthood MIA 

The following are two accounts, written by my late parents, Helen Bay Gibbons and Francis M. Gibbons, about my late mother's General Board assignment in South America in 1978:

Our First Visit to South America 

by Francis M. Gibbons

Several months after the revelation on priesthood was announced [in 1978], Helen received an assignment from the presidency of the Relief Society to visit sisters in several countries in South America. It was decided I would accompany her at our own expense. Sister Roy Hatch of Mexico, a member of the Young Women General Board, was assigned to accompany Helen, and her husband, Dr. Roy Hatch, had decided to accompany his wife. We teamed up with the Hatches at Rio de Janeiro. There we learned a quirky truth about Brazilian politics. Although Sao Paulo is by far the largest city in Brazil and its airport at Guarulhos is the busiest of all, all flights into Brazil must land at Rio, and the Sao Paulo passengers must then take a short flight into Sao Paulo. This oddity is the result of the international popularity of Rio as a vacation mecca for today’s jet set. In Sao Paulo, Helen and I were the guests of the newly appointed president of the Sao Paulo Temple and his wife who lived in an apartment in the Vertentes. Years before, Helen had worked with the temple president on one of the general boards. While Helen and Sister Hatch did their work with the local sisters, Dr. Hatch and I attended a session in the temple and also served as the witnesses of the temple sealing of a young couple from Uruguay. There was an interesting and unforeseen consequence of this sealing when we reached Montevideo later in the tour.

In Montevideo we stayed in the mission home, which was known far and wide as Tuttle’s palace. It had been built while Ted Tuttle resided there. Its popular name derived from the fact it was larger than most mission homes and had more amenities than the others. The mission president at the time was a man named Robinson who came from the Mormon colonies in Mexico. Thus he was well acquainted with the Hatches. We enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner with the Robinsons, sans turkey. However, they were able to rustle up some chickens.

We attended a sacrament meeting in Montevideo, where we were all called on to speak. Both of the Hatches spoke Spanish fluently, but both Helen and I needed translators. During my remarks, I noticed several sisters in the audience were weeping. I learned later the young bride whose sealing Dr. Hatch and I had witnessed in Sao Paulo was the daughter of the bishop in Montevideo. Neither of the parents had the resources to attend the services in Sao Paulo, so my mentioning it evoked the tears I mentioned.

Following the meetings in Montevideo, we were driven the length of Uruguay to the city Rivera, on its northern border. There was a light drizzle over part of our route, which brought out the ponchos on the cowboys we saw along the way. It was a delightful sight.

The streets of Rivera were crowded with ancient American cars. This was a condition we found in many South American countries. The city of Rivera is on the border separating Uruguay and Brazil. For most of the leaders here, Spanish was a second language for them, which was a blessing for us since they spoke Spanish haltingly, enabling us to understand easily.

When the sisters had finished their work in Uruguay, we flew to Buenos Aires, where Helen and I were accommodated in the mission home of Elder Robert Wells, the mission president. The Wells took us on a tour of places in the city that were especially interesting to Latter-day Saints. This included the place where Melvin J. Ballard dedicated South America for the preaching of the gospel. His dedicatory prayer included language that indicated the work there would begin slowly like the growth of an oak tree. This is exactly what happened. The Wells had a young daughter with them named Sharlene, who played the Paraguayan harp for us and who later became Miss America. Had we known this was the real Sharlene Wells, we would have given her more coverage in our diaries.

During our stay in Buenos Aires, the king of Spain was in Argentina on a diplomatic visit. Our visit to a notable restaurant coincided with the visit of the king and his party, so that we accidentally became part of the festivities honoring the king. Never again would we be that close to royalty.

Our flight over the Andes to Chile was memorable, as I was absolutely certain our plane wouldn’t make it. These mountains are HUGE. Eight years later when I was assigned to labor in South America as a member of the Seventy, we would learn much more about them. Here I renewed acquaintances with boyhood friend, Bruce Gibson, who was serving as a mission president. Later we traveled to southern Chile, where we visited with one of the daughters of Mary and Bob Ellis, who, it turned out, was the troubleshooter for the mission president. [This is Chris Ellis Quincy, who in 2019 is serving her third mission, and still "troubleshooting" wherever she goes!]

We parted company with the Hatches in Chile and found our way home separately. It was a joyous introduction for us to this fabled land and its wonderful people.

Source: From, "Francis M. Gibbons--Prepared to Serve" by Daniel Bay Gibbons, unpublished manuscript.

The Gift of Tongues

by Helen Bay Gibbons

In the latter part of 1978, The Relief Society General Presidency assigned me as an emergency substitute for another board member. I was to fulfill an assignment in South America even though my Spanish was extremely limited. Nearing the end of our tour of five countries, I participated in Regional Conferences with my companion, Jean Hatch, a member of the Primary General Board.

On Friday, December 1, 1978, we arrived in the city of Concepcion, Chile. On the following day we were to meet with members of three Stakes. Jean went to plan with the Primary leaders. I was ushered into a small classroom in the Stake Center where I would meet with a dear sister, Sofia de Arias, the host Stake Relief Society President. Hermana Arias spoke absolutely no English, and her Spanish issued forth in such a rapid-fire stream of words, I was unable to follow her. The American wife of a Church employee, Sandy Holland, who had served a mission in Chile, was there to serve as translator. There were five of us in the room: Sandy, Sister Arias, her secretary, one of her counselors, and I.

Sister Arias began explaining in her “machine-gun Spanish”, at first nervously, and finally with growing confidence, her plan for conducting the Relief Society session the following day. We were concentrating on communicating with each other, while Sandy repeated her Spanish into English, and my English into Spanish. We spoke to each other almost without thinking of language differences, intent on the content of our discussion.

As we were talking together, a special sweet feeling pervaded the small room. Then I noticed that Sandy and the other sisters were crying. It was then I realized Sister Arias and I were understanding each other in our own language before Sandy could interpret for us. “Lo entiendo," Sister Arias would say, (“I understand it.”)

An inexpressible spirit of love filled the room. When the planning session was over, all of us embraced each other as sisters who knew we had shared a miracle.

Source: Computer files of Helen Bay Gibbons (1921-2015) 

Marinus Christensen and "Climax Jim"

Rufus Nephews, known as "Climax Jim," was one of the most
notorious criminals of the Southwest in the 1890's and early 1900's. 

My great-grandfather, Marinus Christensen (1863-1927, was a truly fascinating man: Born, orphaned and adopted in Denmark, crossed the Atlantic as a small child; was orphaned again on the pioneer trail in America; raised as an Overson by his older sister (and perhaps birth mother) and her husband in St. Johns, Arizona; learned the blacksmith trade from his Welsh father-in-law; ran the town's only blacksmith shop for thirty years; became a pillar of the community, the leader of the town band and orchestra, frequent actor on the stage, the sergeant in the town militia and the Sunday School superintendent in the large latter-day saint ward; elected multiple times as St. Johns Justice of the Peace; and became universally beloved for his good humor and pleasant manner. I'll post a much more detailed biography of his life later, but for now I offer this fascinating detail:

On April 21, 1900 this item appeared in the St. Johns Herald: "Marinus Christensen arrived Saturday night from Solomonville bringing with him "Climax Jim," who is having his preliminary trial today, charged with breaking some of the territory's ten commandments."

Starting in about 1894 the St. Johns newspapers--and every other Arizona newspaper--were seemingly filled with stories about "Climax Jim," who was a notorious criminal, cattle rustler and jail escape artist. His real name was Rufus Nephews, but he picked up the nickname "Climax Jim" because his favorite chewing tobacco was the popular "Climax" brand. Over a period of a decade he was arrested and charged dozens of times in Arizona and New Mexico, but never convicted.

Late nineteenth and early twentieth century advertisements
for "Climax" brand plug tobacco. "Climax Jim" got his nickname
because he refused to use any other brand.

Climax Jim at Fort Apache

Climax Jim was first indicted for stealing cattle in Graham County, Arizona in 1894. When his case came up for trial, Climax's attorney produced witnesses who swore that the crime had actually been committed in neighboring Apache County. St. Johns was the county seat in Apache County. So Climax Jim was acquitted in Graham County, and charges refiled in St. Johns. When that case came up for trial, he produced other witnesses who claimed that the crime had been committed in Graham County, and he was acquitted again.

A few years later, his local reputation became Western legend, when he was charged with altering a check and then trying to cash it. At the trial, the check in question was placed on one of the counsel tables in the courtroom as Exhibit "A" for the prosecution. Then, before the exhibit was introduced, the prosecutor and defense attorneys got into a heated argument and were called to the bench to confer with the judge. During the discussion, Climax Jim, who of course had a chew of "Climax" tobacco bulging in his cheek, stood up calmly and ambled over to the counsel table, where he picked up the check and stuffed it into his mouth.

The judge finally calmed the two attorneys down and told them to proceed. When the prosecutor reached down to find his Exhibit "A," it was nowhere to be seen. A few feet away, behind the defendant's counsel table, Climax Jim sat calmly, chewing his tobacco with an air of utter innocence. The case was dismissed for lack of evidence. In a final gesture of bravado, as Jim departed the courtroom following his acquittal, he passed by the bench, and spit the remains of Exhibit "A" into judge's brass spittoon.

Climax Jim

Over the years, Climax Jim became a legend for his numerous successful jailbreaks. In 1894 he was arrested at age 17 for stealing a dozen steers in Winslow, Arizona. He was arrested and taken to jail. That night, Climax Jim used a hidden pocketknife to cut a hole in the adobe walls of the jail. Several months later, on July 4, 1894, he stole a horse in Gila County. The sheriff caught him in Pleasant Valley, and took in custody to Globe. Along the way they had to camp out in the wild, so the sheriff chained Climax Jim to a post. During the night, Jim succeeded in breaking a link in the chain with a rock, and fled on foot. Several months later, he was arrested for another crime, and placed behind bars. He was given a hot meal for dinner, but kept the spoon in his cell when the tray was taken away. That night he used the spoon to scrape away the mortar around the bricks in the wall and created a hole large enough to climb through. He then stole a horse and headed south toward Mammoth, where he was arrested for stealing another horse.

Climax Jim also was an expert lock picker and safe cracker. After being locked in a securely-locked cell one night in another jail, he boasted to the sheriff that he would break out that night. The Sheriff laughed at him, but the next morning when the Sheriff returned to the office, there was Jim sitting at the Sheriff's desk with a big smile on his face. Later, in Clifton, Arizona, a storekeeper ordered the latest safe from back east, advertised as burglar proof. Climax Jim was at the depot, waiting for a train, the day the safe arrived. He started playing with the dial, and within 30 minutes, to the astonishment of a crowd of onlookers, succeeded in opening the door.

Marinus Christensen

Now back to St. Johns, where my great grandfather, Marinus Christensen, was the town blacksmith and St. Johns Justice of the Peace. In June of 1898 Climax Jim was captured for cattle rustling at the Hash Knife Ranch. Burt Mossman, the ranch foreman (who later became the first captain of the Arizona Rangers) took Climax down the mountain to St. Johns. He was locked in the jail and an arraignment was set in Superior Court (where my grandfather later presided as judge).

During the night, Climax Jim sprang the lock and escaped into the darkness. He was at large for several months thereafter, but was a busy man. He became part of what was called the "Red Pipkin Gang," and participated in attempts to rob two trains in Arizona and one in New Mexico. He was finally arrested on New Years Eve, 1899 in Graham County. By New Years Day, 1900, he had escaped, but was recaptured along Eagle Creek in February, and returned to jail. On the morning of March 6, 1899, Graham County Sheriff Ben Clark fitted Climax with a new pair of heavy leg irons, which were riveted shut by the local blacksmith. Two days later, Climax Jim broke out of the shackles and ran for freedom.

At this point, enter Marinus Christensen, who traveled down to Graham County to transport the prisoner back up to St. Johns to face numerous charges, including the charges dating back to 1898. I suppose Marinus was sent for various reasons--he was a big man, the Sergeant of Company K, the St. Johns militia, and a blacksmith, so he could secure his own handcuffs and leg irons. In any event, Climax Jim was brought back to Apache County, and placed in heavily guarded custody. He was placed in a cell and shackled 24 hours a day with heavy leg irons, probably made by Marinus Christensen.

The sequel is as follows. On the night of July 7, 1899, Climax Jim escaped from his leg shackles in the Apache County jail, removed his clothes and waited for his jailer to enter the cell to check the shackles. When the jailer came into the cell, Climax Jim threw his clothes into the jailer's face, and after a vicious fight inside the cell, made his escape out through the open door on foot--without a stitch of clothing on. Jumping on a horse, he rode out of town like Lady Godiva, and escaped into the mountains.

For more information, see Karen Holliday and John D. Tanner, Jr., Climax Jim: the Tumultuous Tale of Arizona's Rustling Cowboy (Arizona Lithographers, 2005). See also, Marshall Trimble, "The Outrageous Climax Jim," True West Magazine, November 5, 2012.

Gila Valley, Globe & Northern Railway station in Solomonville, east of Safford.
Marinus Christensen traveled here in April 1900 to retrieve the prisoner, "Climax Jim."

Oral Interviews of Francis M. Gibbons (1921-2016)—Part 9

(From an Interview of Francis Marion Gibbons conducted by Daniel Bay Gibbons September 26, 2001 in Salt Lake City, Utah)

Family and Church

St. Johns Stake Academy
The center of spiritual life for the Latter-day Saints in St. Johns

My Father’s Church Service in St. Johns

DBG:    Dad, let me ask about Grandpa’s Church service both in St. Johns and Phoenix.
FMG:    In St. Johns I really have no recollection of his service.  He was on the High Council.  Levi Udall was the Stake President.  As a member of the High Council he would go with the Stake family to the various Wards in the Stake or Ward conferences.  The Stake1 would have included Springerville, Eagar, a little community up on the New Mexico Border, Alpine, Concho, then over on the Railroad there were a couple of little branches over there.  So his role as a member of the High Council would have involved attending, as I have stated, the Stake functions held in these various units.  They would travel around as a group, the Stake Presidency and members of the High Council.  I don’t remember how they had divided their responsibilities.  Maybe one of the Counselors would take two or three members of the High Council and they’d go to this unit and then the President and other High Councillors would take other units.  I don’t know how they did it.  But you would know from your service on the High Council how that would happen.  So he would participate and would be called on to speak.  I’m sure that they used him heavily in giving instructions on teaching and what not.   So that was his role in St. Johns.

Aunts and Uncles of Judge Andrew Smith Gibbons on his father's side
Standing: Uncles Bill, Dick, Josh and Roy
Seated: Aunt Eliza, father Andrew Vinson, and Aunt Martha

Long Service of Extended Family in the St. Johns Stake

Its interesting that the Pioneer was the senior member of the High Council in the St. Johns Stake, and A.V. was a member of the High Council of that Stake, as was my father.  So there were three generations in our family who were members of that High Council.  And of course there were the other Gibbons boys, Uncle Bill, Uncle Dick, Uncle Roy and Uncle Josh.  I’m sure that the various organizations of the Ward and of the Stake were peopled with a lot of Gibbons.  So our family was very prominent in that part of the State.

Bishop John H. Udall of the Phoenix First Ward

My Father’s Church Service in Phoenix

Then when he went to Phoenix, he was on the Stake Sunday School Board, and in that capacity I guess they used him chiefly, because of his ability as a teacher, to train other teachers.  That would have applied to the whole Maricopa Stake.2  When we went down into the valley there was only one Stake there in the whole valley.  It was called the Maricopa Stake.  That’s the name of the County.  The headquarters were in Mesa.  Prior to the time I went on my mission there was still just the one Stake there and we held all of the Stake conferences over in Mesa in a building called “The Mezona Hall” that the Church had built.  That’s where the Stake conferences were held.  And we traveled from Phoenix the eighteen miles over to Mesa to hold the Stake conferences.  And so my father’s role in the Stake Sunday School Superintendency would be to participate in the various activities of these Wards in connection with their Sunday Schools.  

Mezona Hall in Mesa, Arizona, purchased by the Church in 1919 and expanded in 1926.
The name "Mezona" is combination of Mesa and Arizona.

The Phoenix First and Second Wards

In Phoenix, when we first went there, there was just the one Ward.3  There was a Phoenix First Ward which was just a block from the Phoenix Union High School.  So we would travel clear across town to go to the Phoenix First Ward.  And when we moved there the Bishop was John H. Udall, the brother of Levi and Jesse and the son of D.K.  Because he had been raised in St. Johns there was a very close tie with our family.  When they built the Second Ward we didn’t move our membership at first.  I think maybe the reason was because of John H.  There was a very close relationship there.  But later we moved our recommends from the First to the Second Ward.  Our Bishop in the Second Ward was George M. Price.  George’s brother, J.R. Price, was the Stake President.  J.R. Price had been a missionary under Heber J. Grant in England.  So there was a close relationship between J.R. Price and President Grant.

July 16, 1915 article in the Holbrook News
Mentioning the teaching of Andrew Smith Gibbons in
the Holbrook Stake

My Father as a Gospel Teacher

After we moved into the Second Ward my father became the teacher in the High Priests Quorum and also taught the Sunday School class.  So he was very heavily called upon because of his teaching ability.  But he never occupied a position of principal administrative responsibility in the Church.  His whole Church career was in the judicial system, the High Council, or in teaching.  He seemed very comfortable with that and he did well at it.  His ability was recognized throughout the Mormon community in the Salt River Valley.  So that was the extent of my father’s connection with the Church.  I’m satisfied that he was handicapped because of his failure fully to live the Word of Wisdom.  I can’t help but think that the leaders of the Church knew that he wasn’t a gung-ho thousand percent latter-day saint.  In a sense he was kind of on the fringe.  He would have been well known in the professional community there because of his role with that firm, which was one of the finest firms in town, and his connection with the Arizona Club, and what not.  But I’ve told you before many times I’m sure, that at one point – and I don’t know what prompted it – but he finally came to the point where he decided, “I’m not going to do this any more.”  He gave up his tobacco and he gave up his social drinking and became a really converted latter-day saint except for coffee (laughing) and tea.  He couldn’t quite make the complete break  (Laughing) but he did well.  He did very, very well.

Fannie Christensen and her daughters,
Jessie Christensen Morgan and Adeline Christensen Gibbons
After her husband's death, Addie served in many church callings

My Mother’s Church Service in St. Johns and Phoenix

DBG:    What about Nana’s Church service during your growing up years?

FMG:    In St. Johns my mother was a counselor in the Stake Primary Presidency.  So in that position she would travel to these different units of the Church in the St. Johns area and give instructions in the Primary.  She was always active in the Relief Society.  I can remember going to Relief Society meetings with her as a little kid.  They did a lot of quilting.  They had bazaars and things of that kind.  Of course with her singing ability and her association with this guitar group, she was very active in musical circles in St. Johns. My parents had a group of special friends that they used to socialize with a lot, in addition to the regular socials for the Church.  They would get together and have socials in their homes and what not.  So they had a very full life.  When she went to Phoenix, she became a counselor in the Stake Young Women’s Association at a time when Delbert Stapley was the Superintendent of the Young Men.  So, because of that my mother and Delbert Stapley became very well acquainted.  So my mother always called him, “Dell.”  Never Brother Stapley or President Stapley or Elder Stapley, she just called him “Dell.” And he called her Addie. So she was very active in the Young Women’s program in Phoenix for many years.  I never really saw her perform because of the fact that it was the Young Women’s organization, but I knew that she was active.  She became active in the Relief Society in Phoenix also.  

So my parents were really active latter-day saints.  If the truth were known, I suppose a large majority of the people in the Church at that time had their coffee, had their tea.  It was just not a big deal back in those days.  It became a big deal with the emphasis Brother Grant gave to it.  So they enjoyed the Church and they enjoyed the members of the Church and they were always very supportive.

Children of Adeline and Andrew Smith Gibbons
Standing: Andrew Smith Gibbons, Jr., and Francis M. Gibbons
Seated: La Von Gibbons Thurber, Pauline Gibbons Clarke, and Ruth Gibbons Elliott
Judge Andrew Smith Gibbons vetoed the idea of missions for both of his sons

My Father Vetoes a Full Time Mission for Me

In that respect, I heard later that when I turned nineteen, Bishop Price went to my father to talk about sending me on a mission, and my father vetoed it.  My suspicion is that my father felt that I would be better off not going on a mission and that I would do better to concentrate on my business activities, saving my money, building up my financial status so that I could go into the grocery business on my own.  He just couldn’t see the value of it.  They never had a missionary in the family.  My father wasn’t missionary minded.  I guess it was a judgment he made that it was not worthwhile.  It’s unfortunate that he never really saw that side of the Church, nor did he understand the impact that a mission could have on a young man.

My Father’s Regrets About Not Sending Andrew on a Mission

I did hear him say later that he regretted that he didn’t send Andrew on a mission. I think that a mission would have been the making of my brother Andrew because he later became a very diligent Stake Missionary.  He was the Stake Mission President in Phoenix and they were really doing a lot of missionary work.  Then he became a member of a Bishopric and was a counselor in the Presidency of the London Temple when he was a mature man.  But what a blessing it would have been for my brother Andrew to have gone on a mission.  Especially at a time when he was at that age.  He was born in 1907 so that he would have been 19 years old in 1926 or so.  That would have been the ideal time for my brother to go on his mission.  

Notes

1 The St. Johns Arizona Stake was created 23 July 1887 with David K. Udall as Stake President. Deseret News 2001-2002 Church Almanac , page 172.  ASG’s uncle William H. Gibbons served as a counselor to D.K. Udall.  D.K. served until April 30, 1922, when he was succeeded by his son, Levi S. Udall.  Levi served as Stake President from 1922 to 1945.  Levi was an attorney who had been coached through the Bar by ASG, and who would defeat ASG for the judgeship in the election of 1930.  ASG’s service on the St. Johns Stake High Council was likely under President Levi S. Udall.

2 The Maricopa Stake (later renamed the Mesa Arizona Maricopa Stake) was created 10 December 1882 with Alexander F. MacDonald as Stake President.

3 The Phoenix ward split had actually occurred 20 February 1928.  Church historical records contain the following information regarding the Phoenix First and Second Wards as of December 31, 1930, the very month that ASG and his family arrived in Phoenix:

“PHOENIX 1ST WARD consists of Latter-day Saints residing in the east part of the city of Phoenix, or in that section lying east of Central Avenue. The ward was organized Feb. 20, 1928, when the Phoenix Ward was divided, and John H. Udall, who still presides (1930), was chosen as Bishop. The Phoenix Ward chapel, to which an amusement hall was added in 1922, became the meeting house for the Phoenix 1st Ward. On Dec. 31, 1930, the Phoenix 1st Ward had 690 members, including 172 children.  PHOENIX 2ND WARD, Maricopa Stake, consists of Latter-day Saints residing in the west part of the city of Phoenix, or in that section lying west of Central Avenue. The ward was organized Feb. 20, 1928, when the Phoenix Ward was divided. George F. Price, who had acted as Bishop of the Phoenix Ward, was chosen as Bishop of the newly organized Phoenix 2nd Ward, and he still acts in that position. A fine modern chapel, built in Spanish style at a cost of $80,000, has been erected in the ward since its organization. It is of interest to note that many non-Mormons donated generously towards the erection of this chapel, and a certain member who does not desire his name to be disclosed, donated a pipe organ costing $4,000. The membership of the Phoenix 2nd Ward Dec. 31, 1930, was 680, including 151 children.”

Andrew Jenson, Encyclopedic History of the Church , pages 653 to 654.  Because the ASG home in Phoenix was “west of Central Avenue”, the Gibbons family was technically in the Phoenix Second Ward from the time they moved to Phoenix in December of 1930.