Mom and Dad

It is sad that I don't know more about my parents than I do. Sure, I have many memories from my own life but my Dad was already thirty three years old when I was born so there is a large part of his life that I don't know and being the self centered kid I was growing up I asked few questions about my parents lives. There are a few things that I do remember hearing and a few things that were written so I'll do my best.

Arlen Quinton Leavitt was born on June 4, 1925 and I presume he was born in Cardston but I think they lived on the farm in Leavitt. He is the third child and the third boy. A little sister came five years later on April 25, 1932. Dad's oldest brother was LaMont and the second boy was Dahl. From the farm into the Leavitt school was about two and a half miles and Dad traveled this distance every day to go to school and back again. I do know that he rode a horse to school at least some of the time.

Dixie was able to spend a few weeks with Dad before he passed away. He told her several stories about his life that she has promised to share with me. We all knew Dad to be very mild mannered and even tempered. I can scarcely imagine him losing his temper. I guess he wasn't always this way. I will use Dixie's words to tell the story.

One thing about dad that I know I haven’t written yet is He was not always the even tempered kind to everyone person that we knew and loved. And I guess now that he is gone I can tell the story. He wrote it in a letter to our Arlen when he was going through a particularly rough period of teenage years. I don’t know if you remember the furious temper that Arlen had for most of his growing up life. It was legendary. I think Arlen was about 16 or 17 when dad wrote him. He told about how he loved all his grandchildren but he had a special relationship with Arlen because he was so much like the kid that he had been growing up. He told how his temper ran his life and he would lash out at anybody that made him mad and it didn’t take much to make him mad. One time he nearly killed a kid in a fight. As he was contemplating the trouble he was in he got to thinking that the person being hurt the most by his temper was himself and he decided he would start right then and change. I gather from what he said that it was cold turkey. He just did it. I think it is very interesting that we named our second son Arlen and he is so much like dad.

When Dad was in high school world war II was in full swing and he felt it was his duty to go and join the army. Because they were farmers they were exempt from military duty but in the end Dad dropped out of school and joined the army. He had to lie about his age in order to do it. Dad was good friends with a girl from Leavitt named Nola Cahoon. When he was off to war he corresponded with Nola.

When Dad had his physical the doctor took one look at his feet and told him that he had high arch's and that he would never be a foot soldier. He ended up becoming a mechanic for the tanks. Some of the tanks that he worked on had radial air craft engines. Apparently with a radial engine the fuel can drip into the cylinders on the lower side of the engine and accumulate there. If you happen to start an engine that has fuel accumulated in the cylinder it can sometimes explode. I remember Dad telling me about a mechanic who was working on just such an engine and it did explode killing him. I'm quite sure that Dad was very meticulous in draining the cylinders before he ever started a radial engine. While Dad was in training he ended up in the hospital with some ailment but I can't remember what it was. Dixie thinks it was the measles and Dad was quite humiliated that this childhood disease delayed his departure overseas to join the war. He ended up in the bed next to a boy from Glenwood named Merlin Lybbert. Merlin was in the hospital with pink eye and so he could not see very well. They were two Mormon boys from southern Alberta and so they became pretty good friends. Because Merlin couldn't see he would have Dad read his mail for him. One day Merlin received a letter from his girl friend named Nola Cahoon. It turns out that Nola was writing both of them. As most of you know Merlin ended up with the girl. When I asked Aunt Nola about this story she told me that she was just doing her civic duty by boosting the moral of the troops.

Dad trained in eastern Canada and just as they were getting ready to send him over to Europe to fight the Germans, they surrendered. He always used to tell us that Hitler saw him coming and was scared so he gave up. I could tell that he was a bit bummed that he missed all the action but to tell you the truth, I'm glad he did. I know people who have seen the nasty side of war and they're never the same afterward. My Dad was always a very kind and gentle man and I liked him that way.

Following the war Dad returned home and was promptly called to go on a mission. Back in those days the overseas missions were two and a half years because they lost several months on the ship. Dad spent almost all of his mission on the North Island but that is about all I know. I do know that they used to swim in the ocean because that was the only way they could bathe. That was very different than missions now days. I wasn't even allowed near the beach but if you've looked at Alycia's blog you'll know why. The women in Europe don't worry too much about wearing the tops of their swimming suits and that can be a bit distracting for a nineteen year old missionary. To be honest, it can be a bit distracting for a 75 year old missionary.

I was reading in one of Dads old scriptures one time and I found this huge old piece of skin. I asked Dad about it and he told me that on his mission he got a real bad sunburn and that skin is what peeled off. That must have been one bad burn. On Dad's mission, one of the biggest things he had to do was to re-teach the Maori people the gospel. With the war on, the church was not able to visit some of the far off countries as often so without being in touch with the church some of the doctrine would become distorted. There wasn't any serious problems but several small things. The one thing I remember Dad telling me is that several of the wards were using cake in the sacrament. Personally I kind of like that idea. Those Maori's do like their food and from what Dad tells me they really know how to prepare it. I think he enjoyed some very good luau's. Dad had forgotten most of his Maori language by the time I came along but one of his favorite sayings translated into English went something like, "my belly is full and now I'm going to go sleep like a pig". It sound real cool in Maori when he would say it. There was one food that Dad didn't ever quite get used to. They would put cobs of corn in a gunny sack and go dangle it in the stream. It stayed there for days but when you could smell it from the house then it was ready to eat.

Following his mission Dad returned to Leavitt. One day he was in Cardston and he walked into the Royal Bank. He immediately fell in love with this beautiful woman with long black hair.

My mother was born in Cardston, Alberta on December 9, 1927. Her family lived in Glenwood until 1933 when her family and several others decided to move up to Cold Lake and homestead. They lived in Beaver Crossing which is close by Cherry Grove. They would walk about three miles to the Woodbine School. They went to church in Cherry Grove which was even further. When Mom was nine years old they decided to move back to Glenwood. She was baptised in the Cardston temple. That is something they do not do anymore. I think it would be pretty cool to be baptised in the Temple. Mom took piano lessons and she became quite proficient on the piano. It was important to her family that all the kids learn an instrument so Mom and Aunt Orva played the piano, Uncle Tom played the tuba, Uncle Dwain played the saxaphone and Uncle Merlin the trumpet. I guess they had some pretty loud partys when everyone got going on their instruments. Growing up Mom earned money babysitting. She also worked at her Uncle Van and Uncle Dan's general store. Oddly enough the name of the store was Van-Dan's General Store. I remember that store quite well. They even had the famous peanut barrel in the middle of the store.

During the war Mom's older brother Dwain was a pilot in the war. He was killed in a training accident. I believe he hit a power line in the fog.

After Mom graduated from high school her and grandma moved to Cardston where they both worked in the hospital. Grandpa was trying to get work visa so they could move to Moses Lake Washington. Later Mom got a job at the Royal bank. One day this good looking return missionary walked into her bank and the rest is history. I actually know nothing about what went on in the Royal Bank that day but I just imagine it as love at first sight. All I do know is that they met there in September 1948 and they were engaged during Christmas and married April 6, 1949. Grandpa and Grandma Leavitt moved into Cardston and Mom and Dad took over the farm in Leavitt.

If anyone reading this could contribute any stories about Mom and Dad growing up I would sure appreciate it. Add it as a comment and I will add it to the history. Emails would also be welcome. Send emails to fredleavitt@gmail.com