I and a twin brother, Alfred, who died at birth, were born of goodly parents to James Laycock Clark, and Sarah Isabelle Smith Clark, on October 3, 1912 South on 300 East in Cedar City, Utah. The house was small, 2 rooms or so and two families lived in it. My Father and Mother and mother's sister Aunt Lila and her family. There was an outside toilet. A two holler it was called. Back in those days it was a hard struggle to just survive. Mother's family was polygamy and was scattered about. She had come to live with her sister Caroline who was married to my father at this time. Aunt Caroline passed away, then my father married her sister Sarah Isabelle Smith who was to become my mother.

Mother was younger than some of Aunt Caroline's children, Milton and John, I believe it was, so when my mother tried to boss them around tempers kind of flared.

I guess my first recollection of anything was moving to Culver's Farm in Parowan Valley. I don't remember very much about this time. I was 4 or 5 years old. Then we moved to Bulloch's Farm. A few miles North of Cedar. The farm house was large. Now days it would be called a mansion. Several families lived in it as a lot of people worked on the farm. I remember several incidents happening here. I had heard a lot about Santa Claus and thought "Wow" what a person. One Christmas morning I got a tricycle. Boy this was the only thing. My sister Vera's husband, Jess Rowley, fixed a little side car on it to haul the wood and chips in. This was my job. Then another time I thought I was quite a smartie. Jess bet me I couldn't roll up a snow ball, put salt on it, hold it in my hand tight and run around the house 5 times. I made about 2 turns. Try it some time. It gets mighty cold. I thought it funny to flatten a can and sail it at the roosting Turkeys and Chickens and knock them off their perch.

There was Father's first family, Milton, John, Graveled, Vera, Ern, and Almary, and my Mother, me and sister Caroline, living together at this time. Of course when a child was big enough to work, he was expected to do just that, so Father and Mother had a job to keep us all surviving. I can kind of remember Milt and John going to World War I. I remember how sad it was when we heard John had died of the Flu while in Training Camp.

We moved to Cedar when I was school age. None of us school kids wore expensive shoes and clothes like now. I remember Father using the old shoe stand to put half soles on shoes when he could afford shoe leather. I remember putting cardboard in my shoes to cover up the holes.

I used to watch my Father do his work. He was so big and strong. He was a good man. I wished many times I could grow up and be like him. My Mother never knew the conveniences of many good things in life. In later years when Father passed away I sure hoped that me, Harold and Dan could make things better for her.

I liked school quite well. I guess you would say I was about average in smartness and sports. I liked baseball real well. Anyway a great baseball player and champion Fighter, Boxer, were the King of the day. I was quite bashful when I first started school.

One time I had to go to the toilet and was afraid to ask the Teacher. If you had to go bad you held up two fingers, but if not too bad, then just one finger. As I said I was afraid to raise my hand so I messed my pants, then had to go out. I always liked to read. I read all of James Oliver Curwood's books, call of the wild and such. All of Zane gray's books, about Indians and Cowboys and Edgar Rice Burroughs book, Tarzan.

When a kid was Indian or part Indian he was kind of shunned in those days. We didn't get invited to Birthday Parties and such. I didn't mind though. My friends liked me. You see Grandmother Janet Coleman Clark was a Paiute Indian, according to the history of her. I am mighty proud of my heritage.

We moved about several times in Cedar. Father worked most of the time on farms, so I learned to farm quite well, I enjoyed all the work but tromping hay on the wagon. When alfalfa was cut it was raked by a one or two horse high wheeled rake. I remember how sleepy I would get while mowing and raking hay. The hay was raked into bunches about 8 ft. long then the worker would come along with a pitch fork and pile it into neat piles with an isle way between the piles for the wagon to go. So there were piles of hay for 2 hay pitchers on each side putting the hay up on the wagon, then I would straighten it around and tromp it down. The dust would get up my legs and make them itch and itch. We took pride in bringing in a large neat load of hay. Then it was brought in by the hay stack where it was unloaded by a large 4 tined hay fork hooked to a cable on a hay frame, and pulled off by a derrick horse. I had to ride the horse to do this. I was glad when it rained or the wind blew so we couldn't haul hay. It took several men to stack hay. It was quite a few years later when I saw my first Hay Baler. The Baler was set up by the hay stack and a team of horses traveled around in a circle around the baler, and the men pitched the hay into it and tromped it down into the baler. It was quite a dusty job.

Farming didn't pat too much so father took other jobs, building mountain roads, log fences and such. I went with him a lot, so I learned to love the outdoors, especially the mountains.

Sometimes Father would take a job building zig zag log fences. The Quaken Aspen trees were cut six ax handles long. when we cut them I would say to myself I'll cut as many as Dad today, but in a little while he would be way ahead of me. I made me a sling shot and became pretty good shooting it. When ever I hit something like a squirrel or something, I would whittle a nick in the handle. Didn't have very many nicks though.

I have worked on several jobs in my life. My first job was helping father. When he would drag the roads, they were all dirt then, I would follow the grader and throw the loose rocks off.

I made a $1 dollar a day at this. I remember I got $14 dollars from this job and thought I was a rich feller.

I consider myself quite lucky as I didn't ever have to draw unemployment funds. I always seemed to find work. I worked most of my younger years with my father.

When I was 15, I joined the Utah National Guard, Battery F. 222nd Field Artillery. I spent about 15 years in this. When WW II started we were inducted into the regular Army, and was sent to San Luis Obispo, California. While here my father passed away and I was given a dependency discharge. It was about the saddest part of my life when father passed away.

I had met this pretty, cute, little and wonderful girl working at the Cedar Laundry. I didn't think anyone so pretty and everything nice would go for an ugly old guy like me. Well, anyway I had my sister Georgia, or Todd, as everyone calls her, to ask this wonderful person, Dorothy Prisbrey for a date. I guess she wasn't very particular, so she went with me. We went, walked that is, to the two show houses. Do you know I was brave enough to sit next to her during the movies. We were married in the St. George Temple May 10, 1941. We have been married 45 years to date, so you see I'm just 45 yrs old, as I didn't start living until I met my sweetheart. Heavenly Father sent us a little son December 8, 1943. We named him Albert Leon. He brought much joy and happiness to us and our families.

I had been home from the National Guard just a few months and was drafted into the military, as the war was going on. I had a choice, so I took the Navy. I went to boot camp at Farragut, Idaho. Then to Radio School at the University of Idaho at Moscow. I was able to have Dorothy and Leon brought up here. Dorothy's father, Heber Prisbrey, brought them up here in our old 1928 Chevy. These days were so hectic and difficult. I could only see them once in a while. Finally I was to be sent over seas so I drove them home. I only had 3 days to make the round trip so we traveled day and night. It was around 1000 mile to Cedar.

I was sent to Guam. I sure was a home sick sailor. I worked at the Naval Supply Depot here.

After the war, I came back to work at the Cedar Laundry. I spent 15 years here. During this time two beautiful daughters and another son were sent to us. They are Trudie, Paula, and Brent. During these years I was on the volunteer Fire Department and had

quite a few experiences here. We lost two family members while I was in the Department. They died in home fires, brother Ern and a little nephew lucky, brother Harold's boy.

The laundry business kind of went away when Mr. and Mrs. Ewing, the owners passed away, so I went to work at the Hunter Hardware, then back to the Laundry, then to the Iron Co. Hospital as custodian, then to the US Postal Service. I stayed here for 20 years. Then retired. In my retirement I have taken on several jobs; School Bus Driver, Senior Citizen Bus Driver, but my most happy job is working around home helping my sweetheart.

Life has been very good to me. I live for my sweetheart, my four children; Leon, Trudie, Paula and Brent, also my 5 Grandchildren. A new one will be here some time in July or August of this year. They are; Timmy, Anjeanette, Lerin, Nathan and Bre Ann, or Charlee as she is called.

A man can have a wonderful happy life if he has a wonderful Wife, like mine, his Children, Grandchildren, two Sons-in-law, and one Daughter-in-law. They are just my life and I love them so very much.

A wise man said "They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel".

We will never forget how Dad makes us feel and how his life has been and is with us, his kids. He has:

Patience, taking all his kids fishing (even on the first day) knowing that he would probably never be able to throw his line out once for putting on our bait, releasing snags, taking off fish, changing bubbles and everything else that goes with a "fun" fishing trip.

Like trying to get to a fire with one kid starting the car and honking the horn, one trying to help him on with his boots, one getting his hat and one holding the door open yelling for him to hurry and then when he returns home, asking if he beat everyone else to the fire station.

Like knowing he has a half-days work to do Sunday afternoon when he worked at the laundry, going to all the motels gathering bundles of sheets, and all the kids want to go. We helped him by running up and down the stairs at the old Lunt Hotel and

begging him to let us ride one of the bundles of sheets down the stairs; by coaxing him to let us ride in the golf cart at the El Rey Motel; and by every time he put a bundle of sheets in the truck, fighting over whose turn it was to play turtle, which meant we lay on the floor of the truck and he would put the bundle on our back and we would crawl to the front of the truck, and by trying to persuade him that we wouldn't spill our ice cream all over the sheets, if he would buy us a cone.

Patriotism, Teaching us respect for the flag every time it came down the street in a parade, because he knew what sacrifices it took to have the privilege to fly it. Waking up to Sousa's marches every 4th of July, which taught all of us, including his Grandchildren to love patriotic music. He taught us to love our country and our heritage. When people are talking about their ancestors and what country they came from, Dad always likes to tell them that his were already here waiting for theirs.

Love, Love for his family and we never doubted it. He even loved us kids so much that he left all the spanking up to Mom. His and Mom's love is eternal. Even now after being married 45 years, they still hold hands everywhere they go and we can honestly say that we have never heard them argue or say one unkind word to or about each other. Because of their love and example, our family is still very close. Even now we plan our family vacations together. When anyone goes on a trip, we contact everyone, especially Mom and Dad to see if they can go. They never criticize any family member and all of our spouses feel loved as much as us kids do. Dad loves his Grandchildren very much and they do him. He plays with them just like he played with us 30 years ago.

His love for life is exemplified through his actions. Everyone who knows him knows how many jokes he can tell. A day doesn't go by that he doesn't have a joke or a funny story to tell. We now wish we had written them all down, because we would have volumes. He loves to visit. He would walk back and forth to work while at the Post Office and loved to stop along the way to chat with a friend.

He loves the mountains and our family spends our best times camping. Dad is a fine example to us kids. Most of us got our first job just because we were "Albert' kid". He and Mom sacrificed much so we could have a happy life. Even though he is now 73 years of age, he looks like he is about 50 and we expect him to act 30, and he tries his best. We are so very proud that we were born to Dad and Mom (also known as Albert and Bobbie). We love them very much and feel they are the best parents ever.