I came home in 1954 a different person with different goals. I planned on going to school and trying to better my education, which I did. I went to Weber State in Ogden, Utah. I lived there with David's mom, a great lady, just like a second mother to me. I went to Weber College in Ogden and attended winter semester. I was determined that I was going to become a mechanical engineer. I studied hard, but had to take Algebra and I didn't have any basic knowledge of Algebra. It was really frustrating to me, and I worked so hard. I got a C in the class. I talked to the instructor and he said, "I know how hard you've worked in the class and I'm sure whatever you do, you'll be successful, but I don't think this is the right major for you." It was not a good experience for me. I spent all winter there and my funds were running out and my savings getting low. So, I went back to Gazelle, CA. Mom and Dad were still there and they were going through hard times, barely making a living.
Nes had come out of the army and he'd had a mental breakdown. He was in a psychiatric ward in Roseburg, OR. Mom was taking it very hard. As I look back, I wonder if there was ever a woman that had more sorrow than my mother.
It was then I decided I'd go back to sea. That was where I could make the best money the quickest. I still had good seniority because of my service in the Army. I got on a ship called SS Mormacland. At that time you could stay on a ship a whole year before you had to get off for your vacation. So I spent a whole year on that ship. It went up and down the west coast of the Americas, Canada, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, through the Panama Canal, down past Rio, Beuenos Aires, around the horn, up past Chile, Peru, Equador and back up to Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle. I made three trips on that ship. I worked a lot and saved quite a bit of money. When I got off that ship I went up to see Mom and Dad. Mom's health was starting to fail. She had high blood pressure. She had to take medication for it. I decided to take what money I'd saved and buy a house in Stockton. Colleen, my sister, lived there at the time so she looked around and got a house in Stockton, CA. I had it fully furnished with new carpets, living room sets, bedroom sets, refrigerator, and washing machine. Everything you needed, and I paid for it. In December of 1957 they moved to Stockton. My dad didn't want to move down into town because he was more of a mountain man. But with the circumstances of Mom's health, he had to come. I remember moving into the house in the middle of the night. We just kinda slipped in and unloaded what little bit they had. I remember taking Mom into the bathroom...tiled flooring. She just couldn't believe that she was going to live there. Well, she did and she lived there for over 25 years, until the age of 93. My dad also lived until the age of 93, passing away three years before my mother. My brother, Nes, also left at that time too, by his own hand. There is not a woman that had more faith, patience, and long-suffering than my mother, bless her heart.
Dad became active in the church while I was in the army. I remember writing a letter home asking him to take Mom to church. He wrote back and said he didn't have any clothes to be taking anybody to church. I remember sending him some money and he did buy himself a suit and they started going to church while they were living in the mountains up in Northern California. It was 40 miles to church one way. They'd go to church in the morning and they'd spend the whole day at church. It was a little branch at the time and I think it still is. They were a pretty close bunch. Dad was active in the church from then on until his hearing failed. He didn't attend after that. He served well and was a High Priest Group Leader for a time.
I worked seven months out of the year at sea. One was required to work seven months in order for it to qualify for a year's worth of retirement.
In 1958 I sailed on the SS Mariposa. It ran San Francisco, Los Angeles, Tahiti, New Zealand, Sydney, Austrailia, Samoa, Honolulu, and back to San Francisco. I got to church when I could but I spent a lot of time at sea. At that time the missionaries took this ship when they got their call to the islands or Sydney, Austrailia. On that ship they had church services, since usually there were half a dozen missionaries going to different areas in that part of the world. It was on this ship during one of the services that I met my wife, Lorna. After she returned home in 1958, we continued to correspond through mail and eventually after much persuasion (it took a lot) we were married in July of 1960.
I decided to quit going to sea after I was married. I took a job with Mar-Val Food Stores and we set up housekeeping in Stockton. I had ownership in a two-story apartment and we moved into the upper unit while I worked for Mar-Val. I worked for about six months. It was very plain to see that I wasn't going to excel in this trade. I noticed that they were promoting people over me. It was difficult for me to be around people. I guess I'm just not a people person. Anyway, I packed it in after I worked there for a year and decided it wasn't for me. We decided it was best for Lorna to go back to Craig where her widowed mother was a teacher. She was expecting Helen at the time.
I went back to sea and worked pretty steady during '62 and '63. I put my seven months on the ships and spent the other five months at home. We usually spent our summers in Montana on my brother-in-law's cattle ranch, helping him as needed.
One summer we lived in Petaluma, and were in the janitorial business with David Phelps, my friend from childhood. It was a good experience...never made any money on it, but David and I got to know each other a lot better.
Lorna went back to Colorado, expecting our second daughter, Ruth, at the time. I continued going to sea and in the summer, we'd go up to Montana to help her brother on his ranch and the hay. I'd go to sea in the winter, but usually came home at Christmas time. That continued until 1971. I had my 20 years in the Merchant Marines and I retired June 1, 1972. That was the end of my sea-going career.
The sea was good to me. It provided shelter for my mom and dad. It provided a wife for me. It provided enough assets that we've been able to have a home, send our children on missions, and provide the with the educations they've desired until they've gotten married and lived on their own.
The home that we purchased in 1966 was the home where we raised our 4 children. All of them have turned out to be good citizens and a great comfort to me.
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