Tag Archives: richard e carruth

My first experience with work outside of that done at home and in Dad’s store was with my brothers Frank and Russell.  Our Aunt May Lund who used to sell Christmas cards knew a lady that had some work to be done on her yard and asked us to help her.  We worked for three days sorting, sawing, and stacking some wood that she had in her backyard.  We felt that we had done a pretty good job.  Our pay for the three days was a quarter, total.  It didn’t give each of us much after we paid our tithing.

One summer the farmers in Willard, Utah needed some help in harvesting their crop of string beans.  Through the church a group of the young members of the ward were recruited and I went to pick beans.  This was a job of crawling along the ground with a gunny sack and picking the beans.  The first day it was so hot I took off my shirt.  I burned my back and didn’t go for about 2 days.  After working the week I was paid a bit over $3.00 and that week end I went to the carnival down town and spent the whole week’s salary in about 3 hours.  I believe I learned a valuable lesson for since that time I have always tried to save something from each bit of money I have earned, even now in my retirement money.

I don’t remember how old I was at the time, but I tried at one time to sell magazines door to door.  I sold the Saturday Evening Post, a weekly magazine, at $.05 a copy, the Ladies Home Journal, a monthly magazine, at $.10 a copy and The Country Gentleman.  Because of the depression nobody had any money so I didn’t make much at this project.  In fact it was a most discouraging experience.  Later in life I found out that I had sold a magazine to Mrs. Rose Powell once, who is my wife’s aunt.

During the summer months beginning with 1937 and through 1941, I worked at the California Packing Corporation.  I was known as one of “Herb’s Deacons”.  A counselor in the bishopric, Herbert Woods, was the warehouse foreman and used to hire the boys from our ward during the summer.  So those he hired from the ward were known as “Herb’s Deacons”.  I worked during the canning of peas and tomatoes.  It was usually the month of July for the peas and August until school started for the tomatoes.  It was every day work during the peas including sundays, but only 6 days a week during the tomatoes.

My pay for this work was .40 cents an hour when we worked by the hour, but during the peas I worked piece work.  I was paid .08 cents for stacking a crate of cans totaling about 560 cans.  The pay increased as the number of cans increased in the crates, according to the size of the cans.  This was bending over and picking up 4 cans at a time and placing them in the stack to be cooled, dried and waiting for labeling.  If the stack fell over we had to re-stack without any pay.  Our labeling work was done by the hour.  Our day started about 7 o’clock and lasted until all of the peas that had been harvested that day were canned.  It was sometimes after 7 o’clock in the evening when we finished.  I sometimes had to walk both to and from work as the bicycle wasn’t always in working order.  This took me a good hour each trip.

I remember one day word came that we would be through about 5 o’clock and we all ran into the office and made dates for the evening.  But later we had to cancel as we received 5 big truck loads of peas from Smithfield because they couldn’t handle that at their own plant.

The tomato season was different.  I worked on what was known as the “Sauce Line”.  We labeled the little picnic size cans of tomato sauce standing in one place all day.  Luckily we didn’t start work quite so early, but we were later finishing as we had to label all of the sauce made that day.

In 1941 I was kept on during the sauerkraut run as Brother Woods knew that I would need all of the money I could earn to help me with my mission.  This work consisted of stacking, labeling and filling railroad cars with produce to be shipped, besides the stacking of cans with the sauerkraut.  From this work I really learned how to work and always do a good job.

In September 1940 while going to school I was offered a job working part time for Boyles Furniture.  I was a sales and inventory control clerk.  My boss was Milton Rawson and this time I was paid .75 cents an hour.  I worked with Reed Anderson and this was evening work.  We started about 5 o’clock and processed all of the sales tickets and adjusted the inventory records for items sold that day.  After our work was over we used to sit in the front windows and model the furniture on display and watch the expressions on the faces of people who were coming home from the movies.  This was usually around 10 or 11 o’clock.  I kept this job until June 1941 when I returned to California Packing Corporation for the summer’s work as I could make more piece work than I could at .75 cents an hour.

After coming home from my mission I went to work at J. G. Read and Bros.  I started in February 1944 with a salary of $120.00 per month.  My boss was H. Russell Pulsipher who lived in the same ward and knew me.  Here I did some of the finance work as their bookkeeper and also delivered items and worked both physically and financially with their inventory as the shipping clerk.  I enjoyed my association with everyone here.  I only stayed her until May 1944 when I moved on to working for Continental Baking Company.

I continued as shipping clerk for the bakery with Lyle Palmer as my boss.  Bob Van Dyke, my brother-in-law, was here and I believe that he was instrumental in my getting the job.  I started at $1.00 per hour and later received a raise to $1.25 an hour.  This was during the war and because of sugar rationing our out-put of Twinkies and other cakes was limited.  It was my job to allocate to the various salesmen the amount and kinds of cakes they would receive.  It was interesting to see how they would help me so that I would give them all of the Twinkies they wanted, as that was their best seller and they could make a better commission on them than on any other cakes or bread.

I had planned on going to B.Y.U. with West Belnap starting the first of January 1945, but my replacement at the bakery was slow in learning the job so I didn’t feel that I could quit before he knew the job because the bakery had been so good to me while I worked there.  I therefore had no job for about 6 months.

I started working for Maid O’ Clover Dairy in June 1945 with Eugene W. Robinson as my boss.  Here I was an assistant office manager.  I spent most of my time writing milk checks for the producers.  I also spent a little time in working in the production of cottage cheese.  My salary here was about $140.00 per month.  The company changed their name to Mutual Creamery and later were bought out by Arden-Sunfreze and I quit because of the change.  This was September 1945 when I returned to Weber College.

January 2, 1946 I started working for First Security Bank in Ogden, Utah.  Getting this job was rather interesting.  I filled out an application and was interviewed by J. Maiben Squires.  He suggested that I talk to some of my references about this type of work.  I talked with H. Aldous Dixon who was President of Weber College and I had a pretty good relationship with him through the last quarter I had spent at the school.  He had also been in the banking field.  He suggested that maybe Mr. Squires was a little concerned with my staying at the bank for some time as I had held a number of positions for such short periods of time.  He also suggested that if I took this job I should stay at least for two years so that I would really know if I was interested in this type of work.  I followed his ideas and ended up with the position.  I started out as a trainee and moved through many different positions and experiences.  My beginning salary was $135.00 per month and was later moved to $150.00 after my period of training was finished.

Because of my willingness to learn all that I could I was trained in every phase of bank operations.  I became Chief Clerk and was used to fill in for vacations, sickness and any other reason for absence, in the operations of the bank.  I enjoyed this very much even though as I went to work each day, I was never sure what I would be doing that day until I reported for work.

In this assignment I also made the quarterly and year end reports to be sent to the Corporation.  As this was essential to the reports from all of the branches at the year end I was at the bank on the last day of the year where I spent celebrating the new year.  But it was quiet and satisfying to walk home in the snow after knowing you had fulfilled your assignment and the Ogden Branch’s report was on the president’s desk for the next day.

In 1952 I was given the assignment of Bank Auditor and was paid through the First Security Corporation, as this position was not a bank function.  This also was a very good experience.  I was happy with this type of work and had opportunities of going to other First Security Branches to help the auditing crew from the Corporation.  I was also used to help in the merging of other banks into the First Security System.  I also spent time at the Magna and Bingham Canyon Branches as a replacement while the branch managers went on vacation.

One interesting sidelight of my bank work in Ogden came as about that time microfilm was beginning to be used to help with the recording keeping.  Along with Robert T. Heiner, who later became the president of the bank, we microfilmed all of the old customers ledgers since the beginning of the bank.  This we did at the drive-in branch in Ogden every night after our regular work schedule.  When it was completed and verified we then had the job of destroying all of those ledgers.  We used the brickyard kiln at a company in Harrisville, Utah.  We used it while they were curing bricks and they told us that we could not hurt the bricks as they could stand a lot of heat.  We threw the bundles of ledgers through a small whole just in front of a forced gas flame.  When the foreman came in to see how we were doing we had raised the temperature so high that the front stack of bricks had begun to melt.  We had to slow down a bit and just keep the bricks a pink color instead of the red we had generated.  We saw the results after they had emptied the kiln.  We hauled a 3 ton truck load of ledgers to be destroyed and after the work we saw about 3 bushels of ashes.  We were not allowed to use the kiln after that, but we had the job of destroying old records for the next two years.  We did this on the outside in the fields where they piled the clay.  This proved rather interesting because of the wind that was created by burning such large amounts of paper and being blown all over the place.  You should have seen us chasing bits of confidential papers that had not been burned.  We would dump the papers on the ground and light them and then we had to keep stirring them up so they were all destroyed.  We would run up and stir real fast and run to get away from the heat that was created.

Here one year the bank sponsored a softball team to play in the summer league.  I played 3rd base and although we didn’t win the championship it was a lot of fun.  In fact at the half of the season I was the leading hitter in the league as reported in the Ogden Standard Examiner.

Although I liked my job very much, my wife was disappointed that Bob Heiner seemed to be advancing faster that I was even though I had been hired before him.  So one day I waited after work and went in to see Mr. George Eccles about my chances for advancements.  This resulted in my being given the opportunity to transfer to the Provo, Utah Branch.  In April 1956 I transferred to Provo as an assistant vice-president in charge of operations, taking the place of Kenneth Weaver who had quit to go to St. George to work there.

This was my first job in hiring and I had quite an experience for the first hiring.  I had two different girls, both named Joyce, submit applications and I felt that one would fill the position that was open.  I told one to report to work the next monday and felt that everything was fine.  A little later the other girl came in and as they were both about the same build and looks, I assumed that it was the girl I had hired.  I again told her to report for work on monday.  To my surprise on monday they both came in and I was in quite a quandary as what I should do then.  Well I kept both of them and filled the position with one and began training the other for any other opening that might occur.

I also while in Provo had the opportunity of bringing in the Heber City Branch of Commercial Bank of Utah to the First Security System.  I was assigned with Nathaniel Clark, Jr. (he was from Ogden and was the son of Nathaniel Clark who used to be on the High Council in the Ogden Stake) and one day we drove up to make the transfer.  We did all of the necessary balancing and transferring and finished about nine o’clock in the evening.  We were to wait there in Heber until the bank in Vernal had been completed and their papers were taken down to Roosevelt where other men were transferring that office, and then the papers from both branches were to be brought to Heber where we would take them all down to Spanish Fork, Utah where Vern Ingebretsen would make the necessary transfers and paper work for the whole system.  Well we waited in Heber and as the time dragged on we walked the main street and looked in all of the windows of the stores and the window of the bank.  We would sit in the car for a while and then get out again and take another tour around main street and then get back in the car and talk some more and then make another trip around just to keep from getting bored.  This went on until about midnight when as we sat in the car all of the lights in Heber went out and the street was very dark.  Well there was a police car pull up and park in front of us and another one pulled up behind us and another one stopped in front of the bank across from where we were parked.  Boy we didn’t know what was going on and we sat very, very still.  In a little while the lights came back on and the cars moved away over a long period of time leaving us alone.  We got to figuring that because of the frequent trips we made around town looking like we were casing the joint they thought we were going to rob the bank and when the lights went out they really put a watch on us.  Too bad we had to disappoint them.  It was still an hour before the men came from Roosevelt and we had a good laugh when we reported to them our experience.  We then took the papers and headed for Spanish Fork, but by the time we got there everyone had gone home and after calling Vern we were told to bring the papers back the next morning to complete the merger.  In Spanish Fork we drove around the bank to see if anyone was there and then we went over to a public phone and guess what.  There was another police car parked right where we had to make our call.  It gave us a funny feeling and we quietly finished our call and got out of Spanish Fork.

After working at the Provo Branch for about three years I was promoted to Manager of the Orem-Geneva Branch to take the place of Joseph Smith who had resigned and gone to work for a bank in California.  I didn’t get much training for this position and found that I was not qualified to handle loans as I was trying too hard to help any person who applied.   I enjoyed working here, though and had some very interesting times.  A very bad decision forced my termination here.  So for the next two years I did a lot of looking and working at anything that came along.

I worked for a Mr. Grow in helping him in some of his businesses.  I traveled to  Burley, Idaho and worked at a savings and loan just to have some male employee there as Mr. Grow felt that was needed.  This was a very discouraging time for me and I remember one time on the way home the old car I was driving gave out on the road between Snowville, Utah and Tremonton, Utah.  A man on a motorcycle stopped to see if he could help and I asked him to call my brother, Russell, to come and rescue me.  After he had gone I felt like it would be better for me if I would just walk out into the hills and lay down and give up.  But not knowing if he had contacted Russell I remained with the car.  Russell finally came and did he give me  a ride as he towed me to Ogden.  I borrowed Dad’s old Buick the next day and drove to Orem.  This also proved very exciting as the brakes gave out about at Pleasant Grove and I drove home very gingerly.  Monday when I went back to Ogden I had a real exciting ride.  I had to watch for red lights a long way ahead and try to be able to stop when I got there or hopefully arrive as the lights were green.  I did make it safely to Ogden and took a bus from there to Burley that week.  I guess the good Lord was watching over me although I had very serious doubts that He even cared for me.

Mr. Grow and associates decided that a new bank was needed in the Provo area and they were kind enough to ask me to serve as the Cashier.  I help organize and put in practice the policies and procedures of accounting.  This was the Utah National Bank of Prove.  When it came time for the final approval from the Comptroller of the Currency to grant the license to operate, he refused until I was replaced as he was given some bad information about me and the problems I had at First Security Bank.  To try to get everything straightened out I made a bus ride to Washington, D. C. to see if I could get him to change his mind.  He refused to see me personally, but had an assistant talk to me.  I was unable to get any change made so returned home very discouraged.  It has been hard for me to forgive him and those who spoke against me and in the way I was treated.  This whole situation gave me much experience in how government and those who have authority operate.  Although I found some very uncooperative persons, there were also some who after hearing the whole story felt that I should have been given a personal hearing.  I guess what I learned has helped me in my work ethics ever since.

I finally got a job at Ahlanders Hardware as a finance man.  This lasted for about five months when I went to work for S. Arvid Dodge who was a CPA and hired me for some of the most interesting work I have ever done.  I got acquainted with him during my stay at Utah National Bank.  I helped keep books for various companies including Scera Theater where I was asked to be their financial secretary as a volunteer.  I did the work for Scera up until David’s death.  This was a total of 12 years and a very fine experience with some of the finest men I have ever had the opportunity of working with.  The best part of working with Mr. Dodge was in doing income taxes.  I learned a great deal while working for him.  In fact after I left to go to BYU he called me and asked me to continue doing income tax returns for him.  This I did beginning the last of January and working nights until the 15th of April from 1971 until 1975.  I thoroughly enjoyed this work even though the hours were hard.  I did my 8 hours at BYU and then started about 6 o’clock on tax work at Mr. Dodge’s office and worked anywhere from 11 pm to 2 or 3 am each monday through friday and then spent the whole day on Saturdays.  In the five years I worked 1,389.75 hours.

I decided that if I was going to be good for Mr. Dodge and his company I should try to get my own CPA license.  I started to take some courses at BYU and while I was doing that I was asked to apply for a position with Extension Services on campus by my teacher, Lyman Durfee, who was in the financial department at the Y.  This eventually brought me to work at Brigham Young University.

I was interviewed for work at BYU by Harold Glen Clark, who later was the first president of the Provo Temple.  He wasn’t sure that he should hire me as I had no degree.  It was reported to me after being hired, that he continually asked to see my resume and then would return it to the file.  I was interviewed in April 1964 and even though it was a long time before being hired I wasn’t too concerned as the job I had with Mr. Dodge was one that I liked very much.  I don’t know what made him decide to hire me, but I am grateful for whose ever support worked on him as I have been very happy in my association with Brigham Young University.  I started on August 1, 1964 with a salary of $500.00 which equals the amount I received after 16 years at First Security Bank.  I was first hired as a staff person and later on September 1, 1968 I was promoted to administrative.  As the Division continued to grow I had my office in about 8 different locations in the old Herald R. Clark building.  I was instrumental in developing the central cashier position and policies.

I remember hiring Doreen Thompson as cashier in a very informal way.  We broke all of the rules in interviewing and when she returned to Richfield at the school she was attending she was informed that she certainly would not get the position.  She had come with her friend and I was in the process of balancing the work for the day and the only question she can remember that I asked her was ‘was she a good cook’.  That was important for we used to have a staff dinner each month and everyone got involved with the food.

I will report all of the schooling and education I have had in this one section of my story.

I started school in Coalville, Utah at the age of 6 and spent the first two grades there.  Don’t remember much that went on there only that I learned at an early age that I am no artist.  I tried to draw a horse’s head and thought I had done a pretty good job, but was told by one of my school chums who had worked with horses all of his life that I sure didn’t know what a head looked like.

On moving to Ogden I attended Lorin Farr Elementary School beginning with the 3rd grade and going to the 7th grade there.  Here again I found out I wasn’t an artist.  We were painting with water colors and in painting a tree, I didn’t want colors to run together so I left a small space between the trunk and the leaves.  So much for art.  Interestingly enough the teacher’s name was Miss Violet.  We used to move from room to room depending on the subject we were studying so had more than 1 teacher for each grade.  And I don’t remember all of the teachers I had.

I loved music and had the great opportunity to learn much about it.  We were taught to know the keys and tempos of the numbers of songs that we used to sing.  We were taught to sight read which has been very helpful in all of the music classes I have had, along with all of the other singing that I have done.

I remember in an arithmetic class once we were asked to make the proper change from a supposed purchase, using the proper coins.  Because I had worked in Dad’s store this was very easy for me and I was the first to come up with the correct answer.  Figures and math have always been one of my best liked courses and I have excelled in that subject.

We were taught to dance in grade school and this has been a most enjoyable activity.  I reported in another place that Lois Belnap and I were the winners of a waltz in this kind of an activity.

We were taught all kinds of sports which I also enjoyed very much and was looking forward to being able to play football when I got to Junior High.

Because of the problem I had with my leg I only attended the seventh grade until the first of December, 1932, when I was put in the hospital.  I remember one time that some of the teachers came up to see me and I had a hard time recognizing them as they had put on make-up which was not quite the way they looked in school.  I missed going to school the rest of that school year, but it was decided that because I seemed to be smart enough that I could go on to the 8th grade.

So, in the fall of 1933 I started at Central Junior High School.  This only lasted until the end of 1933 when the Doctor put me back in bed with the hot-pack treatment.  As a result I felt that it would not be wise to try to go on to the 9th grade so took the 8th grade over again.  This was a very wise decision as now I had a real school chum in the same grade with me–my brother Frank.

Again my math performance was outstanding.  I remember that in my algebra class I used to write the tests on the board and the rest of the class could start immediately to work on the problems, but I was able to finish writing the work on the board and then complete the test before anyone else in the class finished.  I had straight A’s including A+’s in this class.  Because of being pretty good in algebra I was told that geometry would really be a challenge to me.  But I had watched both Louise and Edna work geometry problems and that had fascinated me and so I was looking forward to the challenge.  This proved to be almost an easier class than algebra.  In fact when the teacher had a difficult problem he used to ask me to work it out before the class.  With a little cheating going on I am sure that I helped about half the students pass the class.  If you want to know more about this cheating I refer you to Frank who was in the class with me.

I have stated that I love music and it was here in one of the music classes that my voice changed.  We were singing a number one day when Mr. Hinchcliff, the teacher, stopped us and said that something was wrong.  We started again and he again stopped us with the same problem.  So, I decided that I wouldn’t sing and the song went along great.  I raised my hand and told him what had happened, and as soon as I talked he knew what the problem was.

I took French, History, Biology and all the classes that were required, but didn’t do as well as in music and math.  I also took woodworking and enjoyed that very much.  I made a turtle footstool that was used by all of the nephews and nieces until it was broken.  In fact, one year I was able to take two sessions of that class.  This was because I couldn’t take gym as the Doctor felt it wasn’t worth it to take a chance on getting my leg broken.

We, Frank & I, wouldn’t have made it through French without the help of Arlene Jensen.  Our History teacher was something else, as she would ask a question and as Louis Austad would raise his hand she would call on him and then she would look out of the window and really be out of touch with what was going on.  Louis would ask anyone in the class to help him and the answers he got were anything but correct.  The class would laugh and the teacher would return and thank him for his answer.  In fact because of a joke Frank & I lost our history book and went almost the entire year without one.  We both passed.

I remember trying to run for a position as a student body officer, but I couldn’t get Frank to nominate me, even though I said I would do his dishes for a couple of months.  I guess he knew me better than I knew myself.

On to the New Ogden High School in the year of 1937.  This school consisted of the 11th and 12th grades, and it was a brand new building.  Here I began my education for the business world.  I took two years of bookkeeping and the second year I was lucky to be chosen to represent the school at the BYU annual business competition.  I didn’t win anything, but it was a great privilege.  I also studied typing (the teacher told me he would pass me that year if I promised not to take the next year from him) and shorthand (this was for only a half year) and took a class in commercial law.  As usual I also took music classes the second year, but not the first.  Just my luck, the first year the music department was privileged to go to St. Louis for a special concert and I didn’t make it.  Here I took a course in auto mechanics, but was not very good at it.  I do believe that the low grade I got was because the teacher found me asleep under one of the cars I was supposed to be working on.

I served as the President of the Stagecraft Guild my senior year.  Our job was to help with the stage productions, usher at various events held at the school, and show the films that teachers were using in various classes.  I certainly was glad to do this as at sometimes it got me out of classes that I wasn’t too prepared for.  This also allowed me to be present at various functions of ballet, symphonies, and stage presentations.  I gained a great respect of the arts as I watched and listened to various performers.

I was next privileged to go to Weber College 1939 through 1941.  This was made possible because I received a scholarship the first year and was helped the second year in getting a job at Boyle Furniture.  Because of not knowing how much schooling I would be able to get either at Weber or elsewhere I took all of the business courses they offered.  In fact, a group of us petitioned for a special accounting class that was given to us.  Again I enjoyed all of my classes even though I got the lowest grade (D) I have ever received, in a class of Salesmanship.  I had the feeling that the instructor was unhappy with me and I never knew the reason, but that accounted for the low grade.

This part of my life story will be concerned with my activities in the church, including dates for ordinances and blessings.

As written, I was born April 27, 1920 and according to my memory Mother told me that I was sort of sickly and so my first blessing was given to me 9 May 1920 by my Father at home.  I was officially named and blessed 6 June 1920 by Charles R. Jones who was the bishop of the Coalville Ward.

I was baptized 10 June 1928 by Charles Rippon, a Priest, and confirmed by my Father John Ellwood Carruth the same day. I don’t remember much about that day only that I was baptized in the old Coalville Tabernacle.  We had to go around to the back of the building and down a flight of stairs to the font.  That’s about all I remember of that day.

My next item of importance would be when I was ordained a Deacon and given the Aaronic Priesthood.  This was 5 June 1932 by Brother Herbert Woods who was a member of the bishopric of the Ogden 20th Ward.  I have a certificate showing my graduation from Primary issued 23 October 1932.  Either I was slow or else the ward was slow in issuing this certificate.  I served as 1st counselor in the 1st Quorum of Deacons.

I was ordained a Teacher on 17 February 1935 by J. Bennett Moore, a Seventy, and Ward Clerk also in the Ogden 20th Ward.  Here I served as a 1st counselor and also as President of the Quorum.

I was ordained a Priest in 1937 by Bishop Arias G. Belnap also of the Ogden 20th Ward, Ogden Stake.  I have lost my certificate so do not know the actual date.  Here I served as 2nd and also as 1st Assistant in the Quorum.

I was ordained an Elder 3 March 1940 by my Father John Ellwood Carruth.

I served as Stake M Men secretary 1939-1940 for the four stakes that were then in existence in Ogden, Utah.

I was ordained a Seventy 15 December 1941 by Richard L. Evans, one of the Presidents of the First Quorum of Seventy.  This was while I was in the mission home in Salt Lake City, Utah.

I was set apart as a missionary to the Northwestern States Mission by Richard R. Lyman, an Apostle, 17 December 1941. I have a separate record of my mission activities.

I was ordained a High Priest 10 January 1967 by Stake President Alma P. Burton of the Sharon Stake in Orem, Utah.  And as such I served both as High Priest Group Leader with Brothers James Ott and Alan Chambers as my assistants and then as an assistant to Brother Delynn Hirsche.

My Patriarchal Blessing was given to me by Miles L. Jones 7 September 1939.  I remember when this blessing was given that one specific blessing gave me a most pleasant feeling.  It was about a problem that I was concerned with.  Only during my life this blessing didn’t seem to be realized and it left me with bad feelings about my whole patriarchal blessing.  It has not been much of a help to me during my life because I have felt that I was not worthy of any of the blessings and so have refrained from reading it very often.  I remember one of the General Authorities saying that those were ‘iffy’ blessings and as such I just haven’t been worthy of them.

I was called as a Stake Missionary to the Ogden Stake 29 August 1945 and served until 31 October 1946.  My companion was Ray Taylor who lived in the same ward as I did – Ogden 20th Ward.

I was married to Ruth Danese Davis 23 June 1948 in the Salt Lake Temple by Charles R. Jones, the same person who blessed and named me.

After my mission I was called and set apart to serve in 3 different Seventy Presidencies until I was ordained a High Priest.  The first one was to the 225th Quorum of Seventy which was in the 20th Ward of the Ogden Stake.  This was done by Elder S. Dilworth Young of the First Council of Seventy on 5 February 1953.  The meeting was held at the 4th Ward of the Ogden Stake.  The second one was to the 216th Quorum of Seventy which was in the 8th Ward of the Lorin Farr Stake.  This was done by Elder Marion G. Romney of the Council of the Twelve 23 May 1954.  The meeting was held in the Old Ogden Tabernacle.  The third time was to the 123rd Quorum of Seventy of the Sharon Stake.  This was done by Elder S. Dilworth Young of the First Council of Seventy 19 March 1963.  The meeting was held in the 11th Ward of the Sharon Stake, Orem, Utah.

One of my most enjoyable callings was a Gospel Doctrine Teacher in the 32nd Ward of the Sharon Stake in Orem, Utah.  This lasted for 5 years and I gained a great knowledge of the gospel especially because of the help of the Spirit in my preparation for the classes.  I used to start reading the lesson for the next week on Sunday.  I spent my lunch hours in the BYU library reading all of the information I could get from various sources.  I also spent one night at the temple for further inspiration and guidance.  I must say that I received some wonderful insights from the temple, but didn’t think it should be taught to the class.  I started teaching the class that had an attendance of about 20 people and when I was released there were about 100 or more people regularly attending.  We had to move the class from the Relief Society room to the Cultural Hall.

I also had the opportunity to teach the combined stake M Men and Gleaners class with Grace Allphin for one year.  This was also a very challenging assignment, but one which I also enjoyed.

I was called and set apart as 1st counselor to Bishop Richard C. Cook in the Sharon 32nd Ward 10 September 1976 by J. Vern Dunn, Stake President of the Sharon Stake.  I remember when he talked to us he said we were not called because of what we were, but what we may be come.  When we were released I asked him if I had become what I should have, but got no answer from him.  I only hope that my service was satisfactory to not only him, but to the Lord.  I served for over 6 years until being released 7 November 1982.

My wife and I served a mission to the Akron Ohio Mission from 1 August 1984 through July 31, 1985.  I have a separate Journal for this activity.  Here I also served as 2nd Counselor to Bishop Thomas McKibben.  I was set apart by President ________ Williams of the Akron Ohio Stake.

I was called to serve as a member of the high council when our new Sharon South Stake was organized in the fall of 1985 by President Wynn H. Hemmert and served for 3 1/2 years.  This was a very interesting calling and I learned much about the workings of the church.   The biggest worry I had in this position was when we had to hold a court and I had to make very difficult decisions.  But I enjoyed the entire experience.  After being released from that calling I was called as financial clerk for the Hillcrest 3rd ward under Bishop Richard Kendall.  I also served for a couple of years under Bishop Craig Palmer before being released to become the Stake financial clerk which is my position at this present time. (10 July 1996)

From October 1941 to July 1984 I have been active as the chorister in Mutual, Sunday School, and Sacrament meetings serving almost continuously during that time in the various wards in which I have lived..  I also have been the conductor for choirs and youth choruses in the various wards and stakes I have lived in.  In all of these callings I have had many wonderful experiences and blessings.  Also many experiences that were just plain funny and enjoyable.

My name is Richard Ellwood Carruth.  I was born on April 27, 1920, which day was a Tuesday.  My father was John Ellwood Carruth and my mother was Eliza Jane Branch Carruth.  I am the fifth child in a family of eight, being the first son after mother had four daughters.  I was born in Coalville, Summit County, Utah where I lived until 1928 when we moved to Ogden, Weber County, Utah.

Some of my earliest recollections of life are the good times we have always had as a family.  The sleigh riding we did on the old school hill and Black’s Hill, where we could coast down the hill and through a field and if the conditions were right we could go out on Chalk Creek when it was frozen over.  Of course, the only problem for having such a long ride was the long walk back to do it over again, but in the excitement of the good times we didn’t seem to worry about the little inconveniences.  I guess this has been the foundation for part of my philosophy of life. That life would be full of happiness even though there are inconveniences or troubles along the way.  If one can keep their eyes on the good time, and the Lord provides many of these through obedience to His will, the sorrows and trials of life will soon pass and the happy memories of life will remain as a guide to even greater happiness.

I remember one time when along with some of my cousins we caught a dead mouse and chased Louise (my sister) until Aunt Maude Carruth made us throw it away on the ash pile, and then when Aunt Maude went back into the house we couldn’t find it again in the ashes.

I recall going to church in the old Coalville Stake Tabernacle and in Primary and Sunday School having classes by pulling curtains together to form the classroom, but it was always noisy and hard to hear.  I remember one time when I received a very fine compliment.  At one of the meetings I had to sit by myself as there weren’t any seats left to sit with the family.  In that Tabernacle there were no benches, but individual seats on the main floor so we couldn’t bunch up as we do now on the church benches.  After the meeting my mother told me that one of the Sisters had told her how proud she should be because of the reverent way I had been during the entire meeting.  It was always fun to sit in the balcony and watch the people down below.  The ceiling in the Tabernacle had paintings of some of the leaders of the church and their eyes followed you wherever you went.  It was a good way of being reminded to keep quiet as eyes were watching you.

I remember going there for our Christmas party when Santa would come and give bags of candy and nuts to the kids.  I recall when my uncle Ray took the part of Santa that when they turned out the lights and he came from up behind the organ that he fell down the stairs and scared a lot of kids that Santa had been hurt.

One time in my life Mother and Dad and the girls went on a vacation to Yellowstone Park and left me and Frank with Aunt Corneel and Uncle Dave Barber.  When the folks came home we weren’t there as we had been taken to Salt Lake for a trip of our own.

I had a lot of good times there in Coalville.  There were plenty of friends and relatives and always seemed there was plenty to do.  We used to hike to the caves on the north side of town and make stews while there.  Dad used to take us out hunting squirrels and fishing.  Mother wasn’t too pleased about the hunting, but we enjoyed it in just shooting Dad’s 22.  I remember that one night while we were on Chalk Creek fishing Edna caught a fish, but mother wasn’t sure that it was long enough and had her throw it back in the creek before Dad could come and measure it.  We were always going to minstrel shows and musical productions as that is one thing Dad enjoyed doing, especially singing.  I remember going to the old Opera house in Coalville where they held their performances that after one performance when Dad came out Frank and I wouldn’t have anything to do with him because he had not removed his black face and we didn’t recognize him.  The old Opera House was unique in its own way.  The floor could be tilted so that each one could see the stage and then when dances were held there the floor was leveled.  It may be from watching Dad and knowing the good times he had while performing that I found so much enjoyment in performing myself.

We lived in two different houses in Coalville.  And old one in which I was born and then Dad built a new one.  I remember the tall pine trees that were around the old one and the picket fence in front.  The new one seemed kind of bare as there was no grass or trees.  I spent some time raking the yard around the new house and from then on have had a great desire to keep the area around my houses neat and clean.  And so have spent a great deal of time planting, watering and mowing the lawns around the different houses I have lived in.  Some people have thought that I should work my children harder and make them do the yard work, but I have enjoyed it too much and have replied that they can work on the yard around their own homes.

While living in the new house, Frank had the Scarlet Fever and we were summoned home from school and spent the next 6 weeks in being quarantined at home.  Dad spent that time with Grandmother Carruth and mother had to put up with the children.  Dad used to come to the corner of the lot so we could see him, but we were not permitted to leave the house.  I was a little jealous of Frank for he was given a new set of play things consisting of a shovel, rake and hoe.  After the time of quarantine was over we had to fumigate the entire house and each of us had to take a bath and leave our old clothes in the house.  It was interesting when Frank came in the room where the others of us were, we wouldn’t dare to even go towards him in case he was still contagious.   The house was then sealed shut and some powder was burned to cleanse the air and belongings in the house.  In those days when anyone had the measles, mumps, chicken pox or any other contagious disease there was a sign put on the house warning all people to stay away until the situation was cleared up.  I remember one summer it seemed like we were kept in the house all of the time as each disease went from one to another of us children.

On July 31, 1928 our family consisting of Louise, Edna, myself, Frank and Russell moved from Coalville, Utah to Ogden, Utah.  It was a hot day and we were all crowded into the old Buick we had.  I remember Mother tried to bring the butter that was left on a plate and it melted and left a stain on the carpet on the back floor of the car.  In those days it took about two hours to drive from Coalville to Ogden, but this day it sure seemed a lot longer.  What with all of the family and things that mother wouldn’t let the movers handle.  We had Slade Transfer and Storage from Ogden come up and move our belongings.  Mother had a real new electric stove in the new house, but Dad sold it with the house and so for the next long number of years we used a combination wood and gas stove for our cooking and heating part of the house.  We lived at 2140 Monroe Boulevard where Dad bought a house with a store in front which provided us our livelihood.

To be sure that we would have time to get to school on time, Frank and I took a trip to the top then of 22nd street to the Lorin Farr School and timed ourselves.  We found we could make it just fine.  I remember the winds that used to blow out of Ogden Canyon and how hard it was to walk to school with the wind blowing from the East.  Of course, it was easy when school was over and we had the wind at our backs to blow us home as we spread out our coats and caught the wind.  We also used to catch trucks and cars as they left the Mckay Market and hang on behind to have them pull us through the snow during the winter.  I remember one wild ride that Kellers Meat truck gave me.  It was going so fast I thought I was a goner.  I finally let go about Quincy Avenue and headed right into a snow bank and was almost buried.

The snow we used to have during these winters was very deep.  I recall shoveling the snow from our sidewalk and piling it on the parking until it was so high we couldn’t see the cars driving down the street.  Then one time we piled the snow beside the store and to the west of the house and made us an igloo.  I was working on my stomach on the ground digging out the middle when somebody called my name and as I turned around to see who it was a snowball hit me directly in the face.  Boy, I came out of the igloo really sputtering and spitting.  I never did find out who threw it.  We used to shovel the snow off of the garage to keep it from caving in and then we would jump from the roof to the snow and see how deep we could fall.  One time we shoveled the snow from the Condie’s house (they lived next door to the south of us) and then we were able to slide from the top of their roof which was a two story house, clear down to the ground as the snow was packed to the edge of the roof.  There haven’t been many winters since that have give us as much snow as I remember then.  Maybe it was because I was small and it towered over us so much.  But I have always liked the snow and have enjoyed shoveling the paths and sidewalks wherever I have lived.

The depression of 1929 really put us in a tight spot.  Dad had plenty of money owing him on credit from the grocery store that he was running, but no one could pay him and he then could not pay those he owed.  It is interesting to know that Dad repaid everyone of the creditors that he had and would not take out bankruptcy as many suggested that he should.  It took him a long time, but I can’t help but be very proud of Dad for his honesty and integrity.  I remeber reading a letter from Shupe-Williams Candy Company congratulating Dad for paying off his debt to them.  I hope that I can keep the name of Carruth as clean and known for honesty as he has.  I recall the times that we used to cut cardboard out to fit in our shoes when they wore out and we couldn’t afford new ones or to have them fixed by the shoemaker.  I still remember the fixings we used to do with the rubber soles that we used to glue on, only that when they got wet the glue dissolved and the sole used to flap like a dog’s tongue.  It was real interesting to run along and have the soles of our shoes going flap, flap.  Mother used to take the grocery ads and find where the various items she needed could be bought the cheapest and then we would walk all over town to buy them.  Dad took a job in Evanston, Wyoming with his cousins in the construction business and he lived in a tar papered shack as they built bridges over the Bear River north of Evanston.  He also worked in the Becker Brewery in Evanston for some time.  We used to sit out on the gutter and watch each Friday or Saturday for him to come home.  He used to ride the rails from Evanston and walk up from the railroad yards.  Or when he had a car we used to guess which lights were his as each car turned the corner where we could see.  He always made us happy and I can only remember one time that I felt that he was ever discouraged.  I owe an awful lot to both my Dad and Mother for the teachings they gave me.  Not only the teachings by word of mouth, but by the way they lived and how they tried to always live by what the gospel taught.

In April of 1932 my sister, Edna, caught pneumonia and died.  At that time death meant nothing to me and it was just fun to be out of school and have so many friends and relatives come to the house.  I remember a little about the funeral in the Ogden 20th Ward recreational hall as the chapel was not completed.   Edna was always one member of the family who used to take my side when there was any argument or fight between any of us.  She was a great one for sports and loved to play ball, especially with the girls’ team during the summer in the recreation program that was carried out in the city and especially in Liberty Park.

As I have recorded the 20th Ward chapel was not completed by Edna’s funeral, but I remember the baseball banks that were passed around each sunday and we would put in pennies and nickels that we had earned and been given to help pay for our church.  It was finally dedicated by President Heber J. Grant.  We were all privileged to stand in line and each got to shake his hand.  This building has always held a very wonderful place in my memory for the wonderful times that I have spent there.  There was an original art piece of the Savior and his twelve apostles at the last supper that was on the front wall of the chapel.

The years from December 1932 through August of 1939 are called my patience years.  On Thanksgiving of 1932 our family was invited over to Uncle Albert and Aunt Nell Becker’s for dinner and during the day I played a bit of football with her four boys and my brothers.  When they brought us home that night as I stepped from the car I felt a pain in my left ankle and thought I must have twisted it a bit playing football.  I felt it again that night as I walked from the house to the street.  The next morning when I awoke the leg from knee to ankle was swollen and very painful.  I couldn’t walk on it because of the pain.  We were going to have a neighborhood football game on saturday with the 13th ward boys and I hobbled around trying to watch practice for that game and hoping that my leg would be okay so that I could play.  But the next day (saturday) it was no better.  Mother called the doctor (Henry W. Nelson) and he came to the house (regular procedure in those days) and gave me some of the worst tasting medicine I have ever had to take.  No sooner did it go down but it came right back up.  I used to kid Dad and tell him he had better back away before he had me take the medicine.  The doctor told us that he wasn’t sure what had happened, but felt that it would take a long time to cure.

For a whole week I stayed down and it seemed that it only increased in pain.  So on December 1, 1932, Thursday, just a week after I felt the first pain I was taken to the Thomas D. Dee Hospital.  I didn’t know then that I would be there for 5 months and that I had Osteomyelitis (bone infection).  I  was operated on the next day and for the first time in a week there was no pain in my leg.  The doctor told me that when they cut into the leg that pus spurted about 2 feet in the air and this released the pressure that had been causing most of the pain.  I remained in the hospital and after the first release of pain the leg didn’t seem to get any better.  I had x-rays taken and nothing showed up.  Because of the pain the doctors decided to take me back to the operating room and take a personal look.  So about the next week I was operated on for the second time.  This time they cut clear to the bone and found it diseased.

They kept me there for over two hours while they cut and chipped out the diseased bone.  Dad tells me that he could hear that activity outside of the operating room where he was waiting.  After that operation the pain seemed to leave me.  I have felt that this problem I had was much like the experience that Joseph Smith had when he also had the bone in his leg cut out.  I can really appreciate what he went through without the aid of anesthesia.  I know that I wouldn’t have liked to even try it.

The normal procedure from then on was to use a salt solution to clean out the wound every day when the doctor came to check my leg.  This did not seem to produce the results that the doctor wanted.  He told Dad that the infection was getting ahead of the treatment and they couldn’t seem to clean it all up.  I didn’t realize how serious it was.  I could have very easily lost my leg.

The doctor asked me if I would let them use maggots on my leg.  It was a procedure that was discovered during World War I when the soldiers that were wounded and left on the battlefield had wounds that healed faster and cleaner than those that were immediately brought in and cleaned up.  It seems that the maggots will only live on diseased flesh and not touch that which is good.  So on Easter Sunday of 1933 they placed regular fly-blown maggots in the wound.  They were about the size of a dot from the point of a pencil.  They claimed there were about 1,000 in each batch that they put in my leg.  They were shipped to us from the Mayo Clinic. After placing them in the wound there was a screen placed over the wound so that we could watch them.  By Tuesday night I had had enough of them for they crawled out under the screen and I found them all over my body.  They had grown to a size about an inch long and as round as a match stick or larger.  As we tried to wash them out of the wound they just didn’t want to leave such a feast and so we had to pick them out with tweezers and discard them.  We placed three more batches in the wound during the next couple of weeks and there wasn’t enough diseased flesh for the last batch to survive.  The doctor told me that they were the only thing that saved my leg.

This was the first time this procedure had been used at the Dee Hospital and I had visits from doctors all around the area to see it.  I called the maggots my pets, but some people believe that some of them must have gone to my head as they think I have been a bit ‘buggy’ during my life.

I stayed in the hospital until monday May 8, 1933.  There were plenty of interesting things happen while I was there.  Dad visited me at least twice a day for the full five months.  I figure that for the 158 days at 3.5 miles a day he walked about 553 miles.  A fact that I greatly appreciate.  There were well over 100 patients in the children’s ward come and go while I was there.  I got acquainted with all of the doctors and nurses in the hospital and even went to the graduation services for the nurses after I left for about three years.  I spent Christmas, New Years, Easter, my birthday all in the hospital and had very many wonderful people come and visit with me.  It used to be the rule when I first went there that you could only have two visitors at one time and then they each had to wear a white robe during the visit.  I used to have so many people come to see me that I used to get in my wheel chair and ride up and down the hall outside the ward and visit those who came.

There used to be an old phonograph to entertain the kids but because I liked music so much and it kept the nurses busy changing the records that the hospital bought a radio for the ward and I got to have it over by my bed because of seniority rights, I suppose.  We always had fish on friday and chicken on sunday for our meals and because I got acquainted with the cooking area they occasionally sent me a double helping because I liked both so well.  They also used to send me a piece of pie for desert which was not allowed for the rest of the patients in the ward.

After I was released on May 8, 1933 I used to have to go down town to see the doctor at least twice a week for the rest of the time until my leg was completely healed.  The doctor used to shoot a colored solution in the various holes in my leg and from this could tell how it was healing.  I called it my subway system.  He wanted to make sure that it healed from the bone out and didn’t leave any poison under the skin.

I had to return to the hospital in July 1933 for a small operation to cut one piece of bone that had splintered and the doctor felt it would be better to do it in the hospital than at his office.  I remember going to the doctor’s office every day for a week as there was a bone specialist in town and the doctor wanted him to see my leg.  But he was too busy to ever get to the office and the only thing I did was read about every book that the doctor had in his office.

I had to use crutches for one full year after coming home and this proved interesting.  I got so I could walk faster than anyone on two good legs.  And it was interesting to see me play a little softball in the park on crutches.  After I got rid of the crutches the doctor wouldn’t let me play sports, but he would let me hike and dance.  And so as a scout I used to climb on the mountains east of Ogden and have always liked being in the outdoors although I never took up the sport of hunting or fishing.  I loved to dance and even remember the fun of learning while I was at Lorin Farr School.  In fact at our christmas dance one year, Lois Belnap and I won a prize for the best waltz.  Most of my dancing was at our church socials we had and I was always the first on the floor and the last to get off.  I remember watching when I was on crutches and vowing as soon as I could, I would dance all I could.

During the summers when the rest of the kids were out playing, the doctor had me in the house with my leg wrapped up with hot packs.  I used to watch from the window and laugh with them.  But then I would think “why am I laughing” and found it was very easy to get discouraged and wonder why all of this trouble had to be mine.  I have wondered many times just what a hard time I would have had in this life without this experience of learning patience.

Just a word about those hot packs.  Mother would take a piece of toweling and soak it in boiling epsom salt water and wrap this in a piece of flannel and place this over the wound.  This was then covered with a piece of oil cloth, then another small blanket wrapped around with a hot water bottle placed above the wound and this was followed with another larger blanket wrapped around the whole leg.  It used to keep warm for over an hour.  I had to use them both day and night and Frank used to say that when we slept together I used to kick them off and he received them.  To be able to maneuver and not have to sit in one place all day I used to place my drum strap around my neck and fasten it to a belt that I wrapped around the big blanket and with my crutches I could walk around the house.  To entertain myself I learned to play the piano and through my life have had some very interesting experiences playing for church, in the mission field, and for my own amazement.