Monthly Archives: August 2009

10 Thoughts While Driving Back and Forth

General, TripleT

1. The construction between Pocatello and Soda Springs helps make the drive interesting. The work they are doing changes the landscape each trip. This is a huge project and won’t be done this year. That’s good as we’ll be making this trip often to go spend time with mother.

2. The pageant in Clarkston, UT “Martin Harris: The Man Who Knew” is held on odd-numbered years. The Ward I am assigned to ordered a bunch of tickets, so Nina and I went last Friday, Aug. 21st. The pageant itself was nice, but the lecture before was excellent. I learned a couple of things, such as that he was never divorced from his first wife and was never excommunicated.

3. The Church building in Clarkston was built in 1919 and has real character. There are too few Church buildings left that have a unique character to them. The chapel is in a semi-circle with an alcove to the right for the choir and a balcony. Off from the chapel is a “Prayer Room” where prayer circles were held until 1978. I had thought that practice has been discontinued much earlier than that.

4. Now that I have to get up at 3 a.m. each Friday morning to go to the Temple, I’ve been trying different sleep schedules for Thursday night. So far, nothing is working very well. One of the fellows working this same schedule remarked, “I can sleep anywhere, anytime, under any circumstances, except on a Thursday night.” I echo that sentiment.

5. I’ve been working on the motor home fixing some things. I’m sometimes surprised at the amount of maintenance needed. A motor home combines all the maintenance of a house with all the maintenance of a truck. Then, added to that, is the maintenance that comes because I drove too close to the barriers on road construction….

6. Dad and mother set up a trust and associated wills back in 2002. It turns out that everything was done correctly and the estate does not have to go through probate. I’m still frustrated that we had to spend time with a lawyer to make that determination. Mother hasn’t gotten the bill, yet, but I expect it will be several hundred dollars.

7. I’m excited that we’re going to Yellowstone next week for a few days. The summer seems to have come and gone very quickly. School started here today, both public schools and Idaho State University. That means the snow can’t be far behind.

8. There will be an election this November in Pocatello and many surrounding communities as seats on the City Council come up for election. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of interest this election brings out in people.

9. The local newspaper, the Idaho State Journal, has finally gotten onto Twitter, but they definitely Don’t Get It. They’ll send out the occasional news bit, but with no link back to the expanded information (which can be displayed with advertisements) on their website.

10. I went through my pictures and collected together a set of all the pictures I have of dad over the past couple of years. There’s still some more to add to the collection and then I’ll make a slide show out of them. The decline in his health is quite obvious in the pictures.

And that’s all for today.

Fish Stories

Ancient History
Blackfoot River Fishing
Blackfoot River Fishing

This picture was published in the Caribou County Sun on August 13, 2009, the same day as dad’s obituary was printed in the paper. The caption underneath the picture (clicking on the picture brings up a full-sized view) reads:

WORKING THE WATER — While fishing has slowed down on the Blackfoot River, a fly fisher worked the deeper holes above the narrows over the weekend. A week before he said he landed a 20-inch native cuthroat. The river has special restrictions and is catch and release water.

Dad is probably rolling over in his grave. The Blackfoot River is catch-and-release? When he was able to fish, he seldom fished anywhere else besides the Blackfoot River. He knew every hole and nook and cranny in the river from the mine down to the paved road and patiently and intently fished every one of them. We had trout often for dinner as I was growing up and all of it most likely came out of the Blackfoot River.

In addition to the river above the reservoir, he also liked to fish below the dam and had one specific place he would fish. He delighted to tell the story about the Monsanto man from St. Louis who loved to fish. He came out on business and dad was delegated to show him a good fishing experience. Dad and another man from the plant took him out to that special place below the dam and set him up. He apparently knew a bit about fishing as he quickly caught his first rainbow trout. Dad had provided him with an ice chest to keep his fish. Within a couple of hours, the St. Louis fisherman had caught his limit. Dad and his helper cleaned the fish, took them home, and put them in the freezer leaving the fisherman to continue fishing.

They returned and he’d caught another limit’s worth of fish. Over the next couple of days dad and his friend cleaned and froze a lot of fish which were then packed in dry ice and shipped to the man’s home.

Catch-and-release wasn’t in dad’s vocabulary, nor was it in his father’s lexicon, either.

Grandfather Smith lost the sight in one eye in the late 1950’s when a metal splinter lodged in his eye. In his older age he lost most of the sight in the other eye through macular degeneration. His son (and my uncle) Ross had a stocked pond up on the Williams Creek Road in Cleveland. The fish were regularly fed and there were some pretty big brown trout in that pond. Grandfather Smith wanted to go fishing. As he was now in his 90’s, my uncle sat him in a chair at the edge of the pond and explained catch-and-release. Uncle Ross returned a bit later to find Grandfather had caught and set aside a nice mess of fish that he expected Uncle Ross to clean so they could be eaten for dinner!

It definitely ran in the family for a couple of generations.

Roland B. Smith Obituary In the Caribou County Sun

General
Roland Burton Smith Obituary
Roland Burton Smith Obituary

Dad passed away on Monday, August 3rd at 5:55 p.m. The deadline for getting an obituary into the local newspaper was Monday at 4:00 p.m. … when he was still alive. So instead, the Caribou County Sun published a notice on Thursday, August 6th that dad had died along with the information about the funeral and the viewings. A full obituary was then printed the following week on August 13th. Since the funeral had already been held when the obituary was published, the funeral service information is written in the past tense.

I’ve scanned the obituary which is displayed on the left. Clicking on the obituary will open a full-sized image in a new window (or tab) and will print nicely on a normal piece of paper.

We had notices printed in the Pocatello paper on Wednesday and Friday with a full obituary on Thursday before the funeral. Their price was $90. We had a notice printed on Thursday before the funeral in both Salt Lake Papers and the price was $185. Printing the full obituary would have been prohibitively expensive.

The price to print the notices and obituaries in the Caribou County Sun? $0.00. That’s right, nada. I like that price a whole lot.

Thursday … Must Be Time For a Post!

General
Sharing Popcorn
Sharing Popcorn

I spent much of the day today in the yard. It’s been several weeks since I’ve done anything in the yard, so I started by using the weed-whacker to trim all around. When that was finished, I started up the lawn tractor to mow. I started out front and got to the point furthest from the house and the mower made a big bang in the engine and died. The starter would turn, but nothing seemed to be happening. I fear the only fix is overhauling the engine. The yard did not get mowed today. I’m definitely not looking forward to doing the job with the walk-behind mower!

There is no option in Idaho to work through probate without a lawyer. The forms can only be filed by an appropriately Idaho-licensed lawyer. Next Tuesday mother and I will go see the (expensive) lawyer in Soda Springs. I’m told that simple probate costs about $700. The court assistance person told me that probate in Idaho is “extremely complicated” and that only trained legal professionals can understand the law. There’s definitely something wrong with this picture.

Dad’s death certificates came in today and mother has been able to file on one of the insurance policies. The local agent handled all the paperwork for her. That was goodness! The final bill at the nursing home has been paid. Mother’s life is beginning to settle down. She’s in good spirits and faring well. Major goodness!!

The Aftermath … and Links to Pictures and Movies

General

Saturday was a very nice day. Even though it rained (everywhere except at the cemetery) and stayed quite cloudy the entire day, everything associated with dad’s funeral went very well.

  1. I put my pictures from Saturday onto a slideshow. Clicking on the link should cause the slideshow to open in your movie application.
  2. I took some video at the cemetery with my little point-and-shoot camera. The video includes the bugler playing taps. Very touching.
  3. Lots and lots of family came to the funeral and most went to the cemetery and to the luncheon afterwards. I really appreciated getting to see many relatives I haven’t seen in a long time.
  4. While funerals like this are also kind of family reunions, there is never enough time available to chat with people in attendance. There were many people there I would have liked to have visited with, but there was no time.
  5. The sun did shine briefly, just as Uncle Nate was saying the dedicatory prayer. I was standing outside of the canopy that the funeral home had set up and could feel the sun on my head. It made me cry (again).
  6. The Sims Funeral Home provided for us outstanding service. They are very professional and kind and courteous. Darren and his father Duane are great people.
  7. The Soda Springs 8th Ward Relief Society raised the bar with this funeral. From Monday evening when dad died through Saturday evening after everything was pretty much finished, food showed up regularly. There was quite a houseful of people at mother’s and no need to do any cooking. If anyone went hungry, it was definitely their own fault.
  8. Mother is doing very well. She’s gotten a couple of good nights’ sleep since the funeral and is busy wrapping everything up. She’s still got a lot of stress in her life, but as the new “normal” settles in and she gets her new routines set, that stress will dissipate.
  9. I’ve started the process of figuring out probate in the State of Idaho. The court house in Soda Springs was not helpful (all they would say was, “hire a lawyer”). There should be no reason for simple, straight-forward estates with the appropriate paperwork such as wills and trusts already completed to have to hire a lawyer in order to gain access to the forms and paperwork needed to file with the magistrate court. Soda Springs is part of Idaho’s Sixth Judicial District and it looks like there is a Court Assistance Office open in Pocatello each day from 9-10 am and 2-3 pm. I think I’ll go there tomorrow to see if they can give me any assistance. My hopes are not very high.
  10. I’ve started putting together a SmugMug website where the slideshow and video will eventually be stored. I’ve gotten very tired of Flickr and it’s lame capability. SmugMug has significantly more capability, including being able to be linked directly to my blog.

Ten Things for Today

TripleT
  1. We’ve gotten to know the road between our house and Soda Springs very well. We’re actually quite entertained by the road construction between McCammon and Lava and between Fish Creek Pass and Soda Springs. It’s interesting to see what has changed since we were through there last. Last usually means yesterday.
  2. Life insurance companies definitely aren’t interested in talking to you. I’m sure it’s because they will have to pay out money. In every case they send a claim form in the mail, which we should receive in seven to ten business days. After verifying the claim, they’ll make a payout in six to eight weeks.
  3. Of all the agencies and companies I’ve talked with in the last several days, the most helpful, courteous, and quick was the Veterans Administration. They had the shortest wait time before answering the phone, and were very quick and efficient. Kudos to the VA!
  4. Social Security was an interesting phone call. I was put on hold six times during the conversation so the guy on the other end could enter some information in the computer. While on hold, music would play for about ten seconds followed by an announcement that they’re sorry I’m having to wait so long, but stay on the line and I’ll surely get helped. However, maybe I could do whatever it was I was doing using the internet. Then ten seconds or so of music and a repeat of the announcement. Each of the holds was fairly long, six to ten minutes, and it didn’t seem like it should take the guy that long to do something. I got very tired very quickly of the announcement.
  5. A Power of Attorney isn’t much help if it doesn’t have language that provides for survivor rights. Otherwise, the power of attorney becomes immediately null and void when the principle dies. The lawyer in town is doing up some new power of attorney forms for mother on an emergency basis. We need them right now.
  6. Funerals, particularly those for people who have lived long, good lives, are great family reunions as well. It looks like sixty or seventy relatives will show up for the funeral and burial on Saturday.
  7. Dad’s absolute favorite beverage was Caffeine Free Diet Coke (and his most disliked beverage was plain old water). Mother, being the frugal and prepared person she is, has six cases of Caffeine Free Diet Coke in the hallway. No one else there drinks the stuff (who wants water that has been artificially carbonated and then laced with chemicals to make it taste sweet with a Coca Cola flavor?). The suggestion on the table is to take it down to the nursing home so they can have a party….
  8. It’s impossible, I think, to write an obituary that is absolutely correct. Errors of omission are much more difficult to spot than mistakes in what is written. I got a phone call from someone in Blackfoot, Idaho this morning. Dad’s obituary was printed in today’s Idaho State Journal where that person had read it. They called with condolences and to point out two errors of omission. The obituary is posted in this blog … but I’ve already corrected it so you’ll not know what I left out.
  9. My sister Eileen suggests that proof reading has to be done by the most obnoxious person associated with whatever is being printed. They’ll be sure to ridicule every mistake. On the other hand, close friends / relatives don’t make good proof readers. They assume I know what I’m doing.
  10. Nina and I have been called as Ordinance Workers at the Idaho Falls Temple. On Friday mornings, starting tomorrow, we need to be in the Temple, dressed in our white clothes, and in the chapel ready for prayer meeting at 5:00 a.m. That means getting up at 3 a.m. and driving away from the house at 3:45 a.m. I’m not looking forward to the early mornings, but I am really looking forward to working in the Temple once again.

Planned Funeral Service for Dad

General

Roland Burton Smith

Birth: April 9, 1921, Cleveland Idaho
Death: August 3, 2009, Soda Springs, Idaho

Funeral Services

Saturday, August 8, 2009, 11:00 AM
Soda Springs Hooper LDS Church

Family Prayer: Ross Smith (brother)

Prelude & Postlude: Jan Mumford
Chorister: Heather Brown (granddaughter)

Officiating: Bishop Alan Skinner

Opening Song: #292 O My Father

Invocation: Christine Smith (daughter in-law)

Speaker: Perry LeRoy Smith (son)
Musical Number: A Brown Bird Singing
Dave Summers
Acc: Jan Mumford

Life Sketch: Eileen Bell (daughter)
Terry Rich (daughter)

Musical Number: O Divine Redeemer
Kim Mumford
Acc: Jan Mumford

Speaker: Roland K. Smith (son)

Remarks: Bishop Alan Skinner

Closing Song: #152 God Be With You Till We Meet Again

Benediction: Nina Smith (daughter in-law)

Interment: Cleveland, Idaho Cemetery

Dedication of Grave: Nathan Smith (brother)

Pallbearers

Christopher Brown
Bryan Harris
Adam Longaker
Allan Rich
Jared Smith
Clifford Walgren

Roland Burton Smith, 1921 – 2009

General
Roland Burton Smith, 1921 - 2009
Roland Burton Smith, 1921 - 2009

Roland Burton Smith, age 88, died on August 3, 2009 at the Caribou Memorial Living Center in Soda Springs, Idaho.

Roland was born on Saturday, April 9, 1921 in Preston, Idaho, the oldest child of Nathan LeRoy and Mary Ransom Burton Smith. He grew up on a farm in Cleveland, Idaho and graduated from Thatcher High School in 1939. He served as a missionary from 1941 to 1943 for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Southern States Mission. He was inducted into the army in 1944 and served in the 28th Infantry Division in France and Germany during World War II.

Roland married Minnie Arlene Gillette of Tooele, Utah on June 7, 1944 in the Salt Lake Temple where their union was sealed for eternity. They celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary this year. Roland graduated from Utah State University and moved to Soda Springs in 1952 where he taught English at Soda Springs High School for several years. He retired from Monsanto in 1983.

Roland and Arlene served a mission for the LDS Church in Hawaii from 1984-1986, then at the London Temple from 1989-1990, and finally at the Manila, Philippines Temple from 1994-1995. They then served in the Logan Temple for many years.

Roland is survived by his wife Arlene, two brothers Nathan (Sharon) Smith of Yuma, Arizona and Ross (Leone) Smith of Thatcher, ID and a sister LaRella (Ted) Larsen of Las Cruces, NM. He was preceded in death by his parents and his younger brother Delon (Nelma) Smith of Las Cruces, NM. Roland and Arlene have four children, Roland K. (Nina) Smith of Pocatello, ID, Eileen (Phil) Bell of Sandy, UT, Terry (Allan) Rich of Farr West, UT and Perry LeRoy (Christine) Smith of Green River, WY, 27 grandchildren and 60 great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, August 8, 2009 at the Hooper LDS Church in Soda Springs at 11:00 a.m. The family will receive friends and relatives at a viewing on Friday evening, August 7, 2009 from 7-8 p.m. at the Sims Funeral Home, 139 East 2nd South, Soda Springs, ID 83276 and before the funeral on Saturday morning from 9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. at the Hooper LDS Church. Interment will follow the funeral at the cemetery in Cleveland, Idaho.

Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Sims Funeral Home. Condolences may be sent to the family at http://www.simsfh.com. The family wishes to extend their grateful appreciation to the Caribou Memorial Living Center staff for the care and love they provided to Roland while he was a resident there.