Merl Smith is being remembered today by his wife and children, by his brothers and sisters and their families in a family reunion held August 21, 1993 in Cedar City, Utah.

Merl was born March 4, 1917 in Torquerville, Utah. He was the first child of Mitchell Monroe Smith and Iva Eleanor SlackSlack, Iva Eleanor.

Merl's father, Mitch, came from "over the mountains" in Henrieville, to visit his sister, Delilah Bringhurst who lived in Torquerville. He rode that full distance on horseback. Here he met and courted Iva Slack. This accounts for the Smith family connections in two small Southern Utah towns.

Iva and Mitch were married, they lived in Torquerville for two or three years. The home they lived in later burned down and the Andrew Olds home was built on this property. During the summer months the new family traveled to the Woolsey Ranch area west of Cedar City to work on their homestead and to grow a vegetable garden and do the other ranch work. Several other family members on the Slack side worked together in the area on their homesteads. Grandfather Slack and his family had a house across the road from the present Woolsey Ranch house.

As Merl was growing up and the other five children joined the family he was learning many valuable lessons from his father. At first the chores were small but his responsibilities grew with him. The work ethic his father taught him stayed through out his life. His reputation as a good, honest, hard worker always landed him the job he needed to care for his family.

In 1923, the family moved to Cedar City where there were more employment opportunities and to be near the many Slack relatives. Mitch first worked on the Lunt's farm. Merl was old enough to help with the hay. Hay was stacked by using a horse drawn derrick that lifted the hay to the top of a stack and young boys could manage the horses as the older men did the heavier work. Merl could soon do all of the farm chores.

It wasn't all work however -- even on a farm. Merl was a tease and also got teased. He would chase Ione because she teased him about rocking him and changing his diaper. Ione says one time Merl got angry at her and threw a shovel at her, it hit her on the head and left an imprint where it struck. She said she deserved it and forgave him.

Life in the homes of those days was very different from today. Baths were taken in a tin tub. The water was heated in a boiler on a wood burning stove. All the water was carried into the house from an outside tap. Once the water was heated and the tub filled, the bathing began with the youngest child first. As each ones turn came a little more hot water was added. Merl being the oldest child was probably the last one to have his bath. And of course there was the outhouse to contend with -- winter and summer. No indoor plumbing here.

After working on Lunt's farm the family moved to town and rented Lemon's home on 400 West, near Aunt Isabell Clark, Mitch's sister. Merl went to school in Cedar City. He was a good student but sometimes caused some mischief.

One time the boys in the neighborhood decided to build a wagon that they could take up the mountain by hitching onto the coal wagons going to the mine near Green's Lake, then coasting back down. Merl, Max Green and others made the wagon box but needed some wheels and axles, so they "found" some wheels on someone else's property. Merl's mother answered a knock on her door one day to find the Sheriff there and he told her about the stolen wheels. The wheels were recovered from their hiding place in the hay stack and returned to the rightful owners.

One time Pratt had a car windshield frame with no glass and Merl took it away from him and ran around the house. When Merl peaked around the corner of the house, Pratt let fly with a rock from his sling shot and hit Merl in the head just above the eyebrow. A few inches lower and he could have had a very serious eye injury.

One time when their father worked Warren Bullock's farm some Gypsy's came by the farm and wanted to read Merl's and Pratt's palms for 25 cents. They did not have 25 cents between them. Money was hard to come by for boys in those days, but they were impressed with these wandering people who were so different from the town's people.

In Junior High it was required to be in Mr. Manning's chorus. Merl took the part of a bad, bold robber in one of the plays. He got the part because of his low voice and because he acted the part of the boldest robber.

In Merl's day most young men were very lucky if they had their own football. Coach Tuff Linford was going to give one away to whomever could catch it. A long line of eager kids were lined up on the field to try and catch a ball kicked by Red Osborn (a big college student). Burnus Barlow and Merl had a close race to the ball but Burnus got it and Merl wasn't able to take it from him. Must have been a disappointing day.

One winter Merl and George decided to learn to ski, but they couldn't afford to buy ski's, so they made some. The lumber slats were soaked and heated until they turned up at the end.

Some grooves were put in them also. They did ski with them but never became professional. Making the ski's took longer than the skiing did.

These two friends, Merl and George, had a teacher named Berl Froyd. In her class they sat together in a double desk. They needed to change sides of the desk so George got up and walked around. As he passed the teacher she slapped him on the side of the head for being out of his seat. George then hit her back on the chin. Merl laughed so hard that both of them were sent to the Principles office. This poor teacher was further harassed by the boys, including Merl and George, as they would pelt her with snowballs in the winter time. Her father who was with the police had to come to school to take care of his daughters problems.

One time Merl took Pratt to the mountains to help him get a load of wood. They loaded the wagon with their wood and then spent the night at the camp of Uncle Fred Slack. The next morning they started down the mountain with their load. Near the Hanging Rock, a steep part of the canyon, the brake rope broke and there was nothing to hold the loaded wagon back. Pratt was frightened and was hanging on for dear life as Merl guided the horses down the canyon at a lope whooping and hollering and generally enjoying the fast ride. They did get the wood home safely.

One summer the family spent on the mountain while Mitch worked at the Ashdown sawmill. They lived in a tent with a wooden floor. The older children would walk through the forest over a hill and down to Wood's Ranch. At that time the ranch was not a county recreation area as we know it today. Brother Wood and his family spent their summers at their ranch milking the cows and growing a huge vegetable garden. The Smith children purchased fresh vegetables to carry home to their summer sawmill home.

One of the highlights of this families life was when Merl's father bought their first automobile. He purchased this STAR from Miller's and Arns for $500.00. It had a windshield and a rear window, a fabric top, but no side windows. It was the first car made with hydraulic brakes (we may not have the name of the car right, the point is debatable). Mitch, Merl's father, could not learn to drive it. He would practice in the yard driving around the water trough only when he would say "whoa" the darn thing wouldn't stop and he ran over the trough and had to repair it three times. So Merl at age 12 became the family driver. He was propped up on pillows so he could see over the steering wheel and so he could barely reach the pedals. He'd drive the family where they needed to go. His mother, Iva, said it was the only car she ever rode in that she didn't get car sick in.

One time a flood had come down the creek and Merl with some family members were driving to town. He drove into the middle of the stream and couldn't get the car the rest of the way across. Les Hahne came by in a Power Co. truck and drove the car out of the creek.

In 1929 Mitch and Iva completed the home on 200 East. They'd taken two or three years to complete it. It is the same home Mckay and Norene live in and have raised their family in. Grandfather Slack bought a large parcel of property and sub-divided it among family members. He built a nice block house with a big family size porch on it on his lot. Mitch and Iva were three doors up the street, Hannah and Delbert on one side, Vern and Verda Slack on the other side, Fred and Marcella Slack on the next street west, Oliver and Fae Slack on the next street East and across the street from them to the west was Ada and Arthur. Vi and Earn lived close. A real family neighborhood. All of these families went to Grandpa Slacks to read the paper and the comics on Sunday as he was the only one who took the paper. They all gathered there to listen to the gramophone which when cranked up would play music from big thick records.

On Summer evenings the grown-ups would gather on Grandpa and Grandma's porch to talk over events and to visit. The children would be in the yard and on the street playing games together. They played games like "Run-Sheep-Run", "Hide-N-Seek", "Kick-the-Can". A close, loving relationship was built within this family that lasts to this day. It is one we all need to follow as an example of how families should live today.

Thinking back at some of Merl's friends brings many other stories to mind. Some of his friends were: Chet Smith, Max Green, Verg Smith, Keith Nielsen, Frank Ashdown, Woodrow Watson. Merl had good honest ideals and principles: you did not run away from a fight. When Pratt was in the 6th grade and Merl in the 9th grade, they were walking home from school, as they reached the area where Worth Bullock's parents lived they confronted Vernal Haslam, Pratt was afraid to fight him. Merl said to Pratt, "You either fight him or you fight me". Merl watched the fight for an hour or less, it probably was a draw as both fighters were too tired to go on.

In 1930 Merl's father became seriously ill and after a long struggle he died of cancer. Merl was 13 years old and being a serious young man went to work to help his mother. His first job was for the Sevy's herding sheep in the area of New Castle, west of Cedar City. In the winter the herder had to hook a log with a chain on each end to a horse and drag it through the area to clear a path for the animals to find feed. This shows us today the kind of work Merl was capable of at a very young age. Merl also worked for Liston's on their farm. He worked for Warren Bullock on his farm during haying season. By the time Merl finished the 9th grade he gave up school and went to work full time.

Charles Esplin and Merl were good friends and they had enjoyable times on the mountain at the Esplin ranch riding their horses and taking care of the ranch and the animals.

All through this narrative we've learned of Merl's skill with horses. He learned to handle and care for horses from his father. He knew about their disposition and could make them work. He loved being in the mountains especially if horses were involved. One time he brought Harry C. Lunt's horse home to put some new shoes on it. This horse had a bad reputation for kicking. So Merl tied a rope around its body and down to the leg he was going to shoe and pulled it up tight. When the horse tried to kick with only three legs it fell over. It took only two falls to convince the horse kicking would not work. Merl always had his own horse when ever it was possible and when he died his horses were on the mountain at the Esplin ranch.

Now it wasn't all work. Merl went out with the boys, he went to dances and local events and he chased the girls and enjoyed life. Once he came home and had one boot off -- he appeared to limp, his mother was concerned that he had been injured. But Merl went to bed. The next morning his mother went to investigate and in the boot he carried into the house she found a partly finished whiskey bottle. He'd smuggled the bottle in, in the boot. Iva confiscated the bottle and added it to her medicine cupboard.

As times changed Merl graduated from horse drawn work to running large motorized equipment. For Henry and Orton Nelson he ran a grader. For Cedar City Corporation he worked on the streets building and repairing them. Merl learned on his own to drive a Caterpillar, a large and complicated machine. He taught himself how to weld and was an excellent mechanic. He was never afraid to tackle and learn a new skill. One saying of Merl's that the men in the family remember and one that typifies Merl and his work is when he was sent to weld a pipe in the round house of the Union Pacific Railroad yards in Las Vegas. To get the weld to hold he built the weld up to an excess thickness. He said, " Its hell for looks but hell for stout".

Of course there are many other events that are not included here but we do know that in Parowan, Merl found Hazel Ruth Sattley and after their courtship, that Hazel will have to write about and share with us, they were married on June 11, 1939 in Parowan at her mother's home.

This is not a complete history of our brother, husband and father but one that needs to be added to by Mckay, Phyllis, Glen and by his wife and children. All of this should be done so that his Grandchildren and great-grandchildren will know what a wonderful legacy he has left them.

Hazel has added this brief summary.

Merl was a good husband, father, and friend. He was honest with his fellow men, dedicated to hard work and believed in giving a man a good days work for his pay. He was a great mechanic, while he was alive we never had a garage bill. He loved the mountains and camping, but he didn't like to fish, thought it was a waste of time. He was always busy, even at home he found things to do.

He loved dogs, horses and babies. He was never happier than when he was in the mountains on a horse. He looked forward to deer season every year. Merl was a man's man, he liked to visit with men, if he wasn't home when I knew he should be, I knew he was at the Miller's visiting, because sometimes he had to go in for parts. Most of the time I could set my clock and new just the time he would come in the door.

He felt that a women's place was in the home. I complained once that money was lacking, I should look for a job and he said when you find one let me know and I will quit mine and stay home with the kids. He felt that one parent should be in the home. So that was the end of that.

In the month that he died, a rancher was in trouble, some of his cows had broke through the ice. Merl was on a cat at Iron Mountains, he walked the cat 15 miles to help him out, and then walked the cat 15 miles back and it was bitter cold. I said what will your boss say and he said a guy has to do for someone in trouble and if he wants to fire me he can and I would still do it again.

Merl would be hard to sum up in a few words: He was faithful, dedicated to his wife and children and friends. His passing was a great loss to his family, his brothers and sisters. I felt like I had lost a friend as well as a husband. But thanks to the gospel, I know me and the children can be with him again, not ever to be separated.