Rose Hutchison’s memories of Bea and
Dave
Personal intro........
My grandfather Evans once said,
"One's story is...what
one thinks and believes and
writes..." I hope you can
know my grandparents better through
me....
Beatrice Cannon Evans
Born: May 18, 1894
Died: August, 1985
Grandma Evans was the 1st of 11
children and
reared (not "raised" she
always said that one
raised crops not children) in a well
to do
family. Her father was a successful
attorney
and her mother was a wonderful
homemaker
who was widely read and loved and knew
the
scriptures well. Her father died in
1917 and the
family lost everything except their
home on 7th
East in Salt Lake City. She knew hard
times in
her young womanhood and again during
the
Great Depression while rearing her own
family.
My father Ted remembers, "we were
pretty poor but
Mother never dwelled on that.”
Grandma was a good student and
completed
her education through high school but
became
ill with thyroid disease and was too
sick to
continue on to college. This did not stop
her
love for learning and literature. She
continued
reading and broadening her mind well
into her
later years. An eye condition
inhibited her
reading, but she didn't let that stop
her, as she
would listen to books on tape to
satiate her
literary appetite. As mentioned in
today's
program, Grandma was an historian and
was
the family genealogist and historian
for both the
Cannon and Bennion lines.
As a youth, Grandmother won prizes for
her equestrian
skills and continued riding as long as
she could. When I
was a child, I remember her riding
horses at the cabin
on the Weber River. She was in her
70's.
Grandma became very active in the
Republican
Party and was President of the Utah
Women's
Republican Group. She was a member of
the
Daughters of the Utah Pioneers and, as
the avid
historian that she was, had many
pioneer
stories to tell. She also loved music
and theatre
and did a lot of traveling.
Her greatest accomplishment was in
rearing
their 5 boys. Much of which was done
alone due
to Grandpa's 17 years of service in an
LDS
Bishopric and his running his
advertising
agency. My father remembered her
mothering
as "fair with a good sense of
humor, (she)
laughed but kept us in line (and)
liked (our)
curiosity and ingenuity. (She was)
positive,
encouraging and (told us we were) good
and
could succeed." Most of all she
instilled in her
sons faith in God and in good works.
Examples:(Wayne breaking his dinner
plate
over Ted's head and of natural
consequence
and financial necessity was destined
to eat out
of a pie tin. Having inquisitive and
active boys,
she put up with dismantled clocks and
biology
experiments using a pressure cooker
and a cat
that was on its ninth life.)
Since Grandpa had a slogan given him I
felt it only
fitting that Grandma be given one too.
I drew on the
remembrance of the feeling I always
had when I was
with her..."Be at ease with
Beatrice".
My fond memories of her are mostly
from my
early years...playing in her kitchen
with the
toys she had in drawers especially put
there for
the grandchildren. The smell of her
special
green onion salad dressing, little
talks in her
laundry room just outside the kitchen.
Knocking on
her door to get the key to their
enclosed patio that so
my brothers, cousins, and I could play
on the wonderful
wicker birdcage shaped swing that was
there.
I have memories of Grandma in her
cabin kitchen and
always visiting her to get a treat.
And the grandest of
all treats...being invited to sleep in
their cabin loft (with
the reminder that Peter fell over the
edge so be
careful!)
In my teen years I remember going to
her home
after Grandpa died and as her health
failed to
stay with her a while so my cousin
Lark, who so
lovingly cared for her, could have a
little time
to herself and young family. Grandma
was
upstairs in her bed asleep and I was
down in the
living room playing her piano hoping
it would give her
comfort and enjoyment. I was always at
ease with her.
A gift she had that balanced Grandpa's
energy.
(I was 18 when she died)
David Woolley Evans
Born: March 5, 1894
Died: August 1982
Grandpa Evans was the 4th of 9
children born
into a faithful and hardworking
family. His
father started working for the Deseret
News
(which was owned by the LDS Church) as
an
errand boy and worked his way up the
ladder to
become the general manager during a
very
difficult time in LDS history. Much of
the time
his father was not paid for his work,
but
Grandpa said of him "... Father
was the kind of
person who would have given his all to
the
church if he had been asked to do
so." And
such was the family of faith in which
he was
reared. Grandpa's mother was loved by
all who
met her and was a retainer of friends.
Many of
her friendships lasted her whole
lifetime and on
into the remembrance of the next
generation.
It was said, "Friendship was
(her) special talent
and gift." A gift my Grandfather
also possessed. His
father was killed in 1906 in a
streetcar accident, which
sent the children off to work to
support the household.
Grandpa was able to work and go to
college
and even graduate in 3 years with a
bank
account of $700.00. He served a 2 1/2
year
mission in the Northwestern States
Mission and
also served in the Military before he
married
Grandma. He was a great lover of
literature,
music, theatre, and history, hence
this gathering today
to award prizes for biography, which
he loved.
Of course, Grandpa is best known for
founding
the Evans Advertising Agency, which
did much
public relations work, and the many
successes
of his career. I had opportunity to
read a thesis
written by John C. Speer about Grandpa
and
his career and gravitated to the
topics that
interested me... Turkey, Water,
Symphony and the
popular "Slave with Dave"
slogan affixed to Grandpa
from the Agency.
Turkey story--post W.W.II
slump..."Eat More Turkey"
1945-1955 increased consumption 400%.
It would be
safe to say that Evans Advertising and
Grandpa are the
reason this country eats turkey daily
rather than just at
Thanksgiving and Christmas.
The Upper Colorado River Storage Project-grass
roots
system, congressional support, and
Navajo tribal
involvement.
Saving the Utah Symphony-- "pack
the house" by giving
away tickets, Mr. Abravanel gave free
workshops--
people began buying tickets
"Slave With Dave" -- a
colleague Robert Ruff said of
Grandpa he, "would never ask
anyone to do what he
was not willing to do himself."
It takes an
extraordinary man to elicit such
loyalty and hard work
from employees and posterity.
My memories of Grandpa are all attached
to
working in one way or another. I don't
know
that he ever retired totally from
Evans
Advertising. All my memories of him
are
performing some kind of work,
gardening,
fixing fences, digging irrigation
ditches,
building ponds, etc.
My only recollections of him not
working are
the annual family Christmas party
where I
remember the highlight of the night
was
Grandpa passing out Christmas
envelopes with
crisp never been used paper money
inside. I
don't even remember the denomination
of the
gift just Grandpa saying "HO HO
HO" as he
passed them out. The next is of him at
the cabin
on the Weber headed out around 4 or 5
in the
afternoon to go fishing. And finally,
of he and
Grandma out walking their evening
constitutional and the visits to our
home along
their route.
(I was 15 when he died)
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