John Olaf Gunderson
John
Olaf Gunderson was born August 20, 1875 in Mount Pleasant
(Sanpete County ),
Utah to Erick
and Carolina Cecilia Johnson Gunderson. He was the tenth child born to
them, out of eleven. Both his mother and father were born in Risor , Norway ,
where his father was a carpenter and shipbuilder. Caroline, his mother,
crossed the plains to settle in Utah .
She was Erick’s second wife and they were married on October 12, 1857 about
five weeks after she’d arrived in Utah .
His
siblings included:
Mary,
born February 17, 1860. She died in April of 1861.
Erick
was born February 18, 1861,
Johann
Henry, born April 15, 1863
Gunder
Anthon, born October 15, 1865
Caroline,
born December 5, 1867. She died in October of 1868
Andreas
Lauritz, born November 4, 1869
Jens
(James), born September 26, 1871
Carlos,
born July 5, 1873
Nephi,
born November 1878
John
Olaf married Marie (Rhea) Brotherson on September 18, 1898 in Mt. Pleasant , Utah .
They were the parents of six sons and one daughter: John Douglas, Shirley Hans,
Glen B., Reed, Shila Rhea, Ivan Anthon, and Keith Henry.
Grandpa
Gunderson was quite a prominent man and rated a full-page mention in Volume 3
of UTAH
SINCE STATEHOOD. Based on information in this write-up, we know that
this book was published sometime between 1917 and 1920. In it is included
quite a bit of his genealogy:
“John
Gunderson, residing in Mount Pleasant, is interested in farming, in the sheep
industry and in stock raising and he has wisely and carefully conducted his
affairs, so that he has won a substantial measure of success. He was born
in Mount Pleasant August 20, 1875, a son of Erick and Caroline (Olsen)
Gunderson, both of who were natives of Norway, the father having been born on
the 27th of August 1830, while the mother’s birth occurred June 3,
1837. Each crossed the Atlantic in early life and came to Utah in
different immigration companies. In 1855 Erick Gunderson crossed the
plains in the Canute Peterson wagon company. After Orson Hyde was released, Kanute
Peterson, became the president of the Sanpete Stake. Erick first settled in Salt Lake
but soon moved to Spanish Fork to join
his family and in 1859 was called upon to assist in settling Mount Pleasant .
He was therefore one of the pioneers, his name being engraved on the monument
which was erected in 1909 in honor of the first settlers. He also
participated in the Indian wars, aiding in defending the white people against
the attacks of the red men (sic). He was a carpenter by trade and was in
charge of the erection of the Mormon church buildings in Mount Pleasant,
together with public buildings, and as a finisher did special work on all of the
four early Utah temples, However, he worked mostly on the Salt Lake,
Manti and St. George Temples. It was in 1857 that
Mrs. Caroline Gunderson came to Utah .
She was then a girl of twenty three years and she, crossed the plains in the 7th
handcart company which was led by
Christian Christiansen. She pulled a handcart and her mother, who
was blind, aided by pushing the cart. The trip was a very trying one and
she, as well as her husband, experienced all of the hardships and privations of
pioneer life. She was married in Salt Lake City in 1857 by President
Young and by her marriage she became mother of the following named: Lurine, who
was born September 6, 1858, and died December 28, 1861, at Spanish Fork; Marie
Elizabeth, who was born February 17, 1861, and died April 21, 1862; Erick, who
was born September 18, 1862, and married Cecilia Francen, by whom he has five
children; Henry Olaf, who was born April 25, 1863, and died in Aspen, Colorado,
November 23, 1885; Gunner Antone, who was born October 15, 1865, and wedded
Amanda Beckstrom, by whom he had four children, two of who are deceased;
Caroline Cecelia, who was born November 5, 1867, and died October 12, 1868;
Andreas Lars, who was born November 4, 1869, and married Sadie Nelson, their
children being seven in number; J. E., who was born September 26, 1871, and
married Clara Gee, who died leaving five children; Carlos, who was born July
15, 1873, and married Capitola Groesbeck, by whom he had
eight children, of whom one is deceased; John, of this review; and Nephi, who
was born November 23, 1888, and married Marie Hanson. They are parents of
six children who are living and have also lost one child.
“Reared
under the parental roof, John Gunderson pursued his education in the public
schools of Mount Pleasant
and after his textbooks were put aside took up the occupation of farming, which
he followed for several years. He then extended the scope of his
activities to include sheep raising and stock raising and has remained active
along those lines to the present time. He is today one of the successful
agriculturists and sheep and stock raisers of this section of the state.
He specializes in sheep and he has several ranges, affording valuable pasturage
for his flocks. He is also the owner of several good farms and he has
made investment in stock in the Peoples Sugar Company of Moroni , Utah
and various other safe investments. He is a man of sound business
judgment and enterprise and his success is the direct result of well-defined
labor, intelligently directed.
“On the
18th of October, 1898, in Mount Pleasant ,
Mr. Gunderson was married to Rhea Brotherson, a daughter of Hans and Rakie
(Jensen) Brotherson, who were natives of Denmark
and at an early age came to Utah ,
crossing the plains with ox teams. The father followed farming and stock
raising until his death, which occurred in Mount Pleasant in 1900. The mother is
still living. They had fourteen children who survive and one who died at
the age of forty-three years. Twelve of the fourteen children are
married. To Mr. and Mrs. John Gunderson of this review have been born six
children, namely: John Douglas, who was born January 18, 1899; Shirley Hans,
born May 8, 1901; Glen B., March 21, 1903; Reed, February 18, 1908; Shila B,
April 12, 1910; and Ivan A., January 27, 1912. The children are all natives
of Mount Pleasant .
“Mr.
Gunderson and his family are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. In politics he is a republican, interested in the
success of the party and doing all in his power to promote its growth and
secure the adoption of its principles. In the fall of 1916 he was elected
a member of the city council and entered upon the duties of his office January
1, 1917, for a four years’ term. He is a very progressive man, but modest
and unassuming, his well spent life, however finding expression in his valuable
property and good investments.”
Grandpa
was not too active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but in
November 1937, he was asked to be on the building committee and he supervised
the entire construction of the beautiful edifice, the Mount Pleasant South Ward
Chapel.
Dave tells the story of working
construction in Ogden
when he was still in school. He was working with an older guy, who asked
him where he came from. He told him he was from Ogden . The guy asked, “Where’s your
family from?” Dave said his Dad’s family was from Mount Pleasant . The guy said, “Are you
related to that S.O.B. John Gunderson? He was just incorrigible!”
He went on to tell the story of going into the local pool hall in Mount Pleasant on a hot
day to play pool and have a beer or two. Grandpa Gunderson would come in
and ask, “Any of you guys got jobs?” Of course, they didn’t, so he would
commandeer them into working on the new church building. He recalled
putting insulation in the attic for three days. Grandpa came around and
supervised. “You’d think he was paying you!” When Dave questioned
him about how he felt about doing the work and if he was sorry about doing it, and asked
if he wasn’t just a little proud of his
work? He responded, “You’re
just like him.”
Even though it was the custom
in those days to irrigate the lawns, Grandpa felt they ought to have a
sprinkling system at the church, but there was no money for it. So he got
the men who were working in the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) to dig the
trenches for the sprinkling system pipes. When they finished digging, he
said, “Didn’t you bring the pipe?” So they went back to the CCC camp and
got pipe and installed it. They may have even provided the sprinklers.
Grandpa
brought a new level of awareness in the community. He built a youth room
in the chapel where kids could go to hang out, rather than hang out at the pool
hall. Grandpa didn’t like sitting on pews when he attended church, so he
arranged for the chapel to be fitted with theater-style, cushioned seats.
Bishop LeGrande Richards (later an Apostle) of Salt Lake
City told Grandpa, “We don’t build churches like that in Salt Lake City .”
Grandpa said, “Neither do we; we build them in Mount Pleasant .”
He did
the groundwork for the building of the swimming pool near North Sanpete
High School . He was
instrumental in securing the new hospital for Mount
Pleasant and North Sanpete .
He was active in civic affairs, serving as a City Councilman, County Commissioner ,
and District Republican Chairman. He was mayor of Mount Pleasant for three consecutive
terms.
Grandpa
resigned as Mayor in April of 1947, due to some disagreements with others in
the community regarding obtaining a hospital for Mount. Pleasant. As
there was some discussion as to his service as Mayor, he wrote an open letter
to the community that appeared in the local paper on April 18, 1947 outlining
some of his accomplishments. He explained that upon his election he had
the satisfaction of bringing the City’s financial difficulties out of an
extremely bad situation. He secured money to pay the debt on the
Armory.
During
that period he completed the purchase from the U. S. Forest Service of a
mountain lodge formerly used as a recreation center for a CCC camp. He
made arrangements to lease surrounding area from the forest service to be used
for city recreational purposes and Boy Scout activities. This lodge was
located eight miles east of Fairview on the Cottonwood Canyon road near the Beaver dams and
Gooseberry reservoir. He said, “Among other things I had pleasure in
doing was to get the Boy Scout Cabin in Gooseberry for a song, and I sang it
myself. Then I gave it to the City of Mount Pleasant .”
In his
open letter, he outlined the number of places the City had rented at very low
rates, and how he had raised those rents to more realistic rates so that there
was good revenue coming to the City for those offices. He managed to get
roadwork completed at very low prices.
When Mount Pleasant was
flooded, he was able to obtain assistance immediately to dig the town
out. The cost of the cleanup work amounted to $62,000, and he was able to
obtain that work without cost to Mount
Pleasant City .
He then entered into an agreement with both federal and state governments to
protect Mount Pleasant
from future disasters of this kind, which included a flood dam as well as a
change in control of grazing for future protection.
He felt
that one of his fondest hopes, the securing of a hospital for Mount Pleasant , had been accomplished.
He concluded the letter by saying, “I am pleased to have done so much for Mount Pleasant in spite
of the efforts of my enemies to hinder me.”
The
granddaughter of one of Grandpa’s brothers (Gunder Anthon Gunderson) wrote a
story about him in 1947. Her name is Lois Gunderson Porter. Her
view of Grandpa is quite interesting. Here is her story on The Mayor
of the Town” – John Gunderson:
“The mayor of the small town in
which we lived, is a congenial, stout, jolly fellow who has made a hit with
almost everyone. His hobby is being Mayor, and he devotes all his time to
doing a good job of it. He will especially be remembered by the crowd of
kids who are my age because one of the first community projects he completed after
taking office as mayor was building a beautiful swimming pool. The east
windows of our high school building looked out over the recreation grounds
where the pool was being built. Each day the students watched its
progress, from the time the digging began until the last day of school, when it
was nearly completed. The dedication was a day of celebration, and from
then until the pool closed in the fall some of the youngsters did not miss a
day in the cool water.
“The
Mayor’s business connections and many friends, together with his own initiative
and persistence, have made it possible for him to accomplish many of his aims
for the benefit of the citizens. Through his efforts a beautiful county
hospital is to be built in the town, where people from surrounding communities
may use its services. The Mayor’s father and six brothers were all
carpenters; consequently he takes great pride in supervising all building
work. He is also my father’s uncle – so we called him ‘Uncle John.’
“Several years ago when the
South Ward chapel was destroyed by fire, this energetic man who was later
appointed Mayor, was chosen to take charge of building a new church. It
took a great deal of work selling ‘Sunday eggs’ and much sacrifice by the whole
community to build the beautiful building they now have, but it is one of the
most attractive in the state. He insisted on soft movie-theater type
seats because he wanted everyone to be comfortable as well as himself.
This was something that was very new.
“The
Mayor is especially enthusiastic about the out-of-doors and takes a great pride
in his own yard and garden spot. In the flower boxes of the church and
city hall he plants beautiful double flowering petunias, which bloom all summer
and until the frost takes them in the fall. His family lot in the
cemetery shows that it has special care, and on Decoration Day it is always a
mass of blooming perennials. He is also interested in animals and
birds. Last summer he told us he had a nest of woodpeckers in a tree
outside his kitchen window and he wanted my sister and me to come up and see
them. We found a pair of woodpeckers flying here and there gathering food
for their young, but were in no mood to receive guests. The nest was a
hole in a tree with the entrance about two and one-half inches wide. The
Mayor’s wife said they had watched the birds every morning making their next
and preparing for the young.
“Occasionally
Uncle John came to see us and usually accepted our invitation to stay for
dinner. We like to joke with him about his telling us there was nothing
he could not eat, but we soon found out he ate everything he liked, but there
were a lot of things he did not like. I will never forget the
philosophy he often used, ‘Eat the best first and you will always have the best
left.’ This bit of humor has stayed with me and I have found it to be
true.”
He was
chairman of the Second World War
Bond Drive —being the first one to buy a
bond. He won national and state recognition for Mount Pleasant being the first city to reach
its goal in the nation. He won a trip to Washington , DC
and received a certificate from the United States Treasury Department which
read: “For patriotic cooperation rendered on behalf of the War Finance
Program this citation is awarded to John Gunderson. Given under my hand
and seal on June 30, 1945.” It was signed by Henry Morgenthau, Jr.,
Secretary of the Treasury, and Chas. L. Smith, State Chairman.
He was
active in the Municipal League for many years and served as Vice President. He
was also a member of the Sons of the Utah Pioneers and accompanied them on
their centennial trek from Nauvoo to Salt
Lake City when he was 71 years of age. He wrote
this about his trip:
“I have
been grateful and thankful for every minute I spent on the recent trek to
Nauvoo and intermediate points. As we journeyed across the great plains
my mind went back to my parents who crossed those wide stretches in that early
day. It renewed my faith to visit all the old landmarks of Mormonism, so
I am thankful that I have lived to have that experience.
“My
mind also turned to the pioneers and my feelings are expressed in the
following:
“Since first the pioneers began
To make and build the West for man,
We
count the years, one hundred o’er,
And ask
where folks have given more,
Where
standards have been higher set,
Where
truth more earnest welcome met.
Where
we find we men and mates who wrought
For
grander prizes than they sought?
Let’s
doff our hats and bow the head
To
those who still life’s pathways tread,
And bless
the souls who paved the way
For
what is ours this happy day,
And
keep in memory fore’er
The
meaning of their coming here.”
John
Olaf was engaged in the sheep business and served as the State Sheep
Inspector. He ran the sheep on the deserts of Western Utah and Eastern Nevada in the winters and on the public domain in
the mountains by Scofield and Price in the summers.
There are a lot of stories
about old Jeff – a one-man mule that Grandpa had. He was sure-footed and
loyal to Grandpa. At night the herders would put hobbles on the horses
and mules, and bells so they could hear them. Grandpa was afraid
that a mountain lion might come during the night and get a hobbled horse,
although Jeff could run with the hobbles on. The drovers would hear the
bells and get up to protect them.
Then
Jeff would go up into the trees and hide from the drovers; he knew the bell
sound would lead them to him, so he would stand perfectly still. The
drovers would come back and tell Grandpa that they couldn’t find Jeff.
Grandpa would go out and
holler, “Jeff, time to come in now.” Jeff would come for Grandpa, but not
the drovers.
Grandpa
Gunderson used to tell his kids about Indians coming to kidnap the white kids
and they all had quite a fear of being kidnapped by the local Indians. In
order to get the kids up in the morning, he would come running up the stairs,
shouting, "The Indians are coming, the Indians are coming."
They’re at Charlie’s house now.” Naturally, the kids were up and out of bed
in a hurry.
One
memory of Grandpa Gunderson was that, among other much more lovable traits, he
was a vain man – although he didn’t seem like that when we were children.
We suppose it’s the stories that we’ve heard over the years that make us
realize how he was. He always wore shoes that were the latest style, but he
always complained about his feet hurting. When he went to get a new pair
of shoes at the store that our Uncle Shy worked at, he insisted on a size
7. Uncle Shy realized, of course, that the reason Grandpa’s feet hurt so
much was that he was wearing the wrong size shoe. He didn’t tell Grandpa,
but he sold him a larger size. For days Grandpa went on about how great
these shoes were and how his feet didn’t hurt. When Uncle Shy admitted
that the shoes were the right size, instead of the size 7’s Grandpa thought
they were, Grandpa had a fit and refused to wear them. “I wear a size 7!”
Because
of that story, it is even funnier to hear this one. Doug told us that
once he needed some new shoes, but the size they had were not his size.
Grandpa let him get the shoes, knowing that Doug’s feet would hurt, but also
that Shy could wear the shoes. Doug wore them until he could hardly walk
because his feet hurt so badly. Grandpa said, “Fit your feet, even if you
have to wait for the right fit.” What a hoot!
We
remember another time when some of the Gunderson relatives were at Doug’s home
for Thanksgiving dinner; Grandpa was taking a nap on the couch. His
snoring was the subject of much snickering among the children. Our Aunt
Peggy, who was very talented musically, was playing the piano and made up a
song about Grandpa’s snoring. He was furious when he found out we’d been
laughing about his snoring; and insisted that he did not snore.
Another
time when Grandpa was visiting Doug’s family, they lost John, who was probably
about two. Everyone was hunting for him, sick with worry. He was
asleep with Grandpa out in Doug’s car in the carport. Grandpa just
radiated that sense of comfort and security that goes with being a grandpa.
Dave
tells us this story that his father, Reed, told about Grandpa Gunderson.
He went to the hardware store and got some good flooring boards, pointed the
ends, put them in a steam bath and turned up the ends. They would bind
these "skis" to their shoes and ski down the hill to the other side
of town. Grandpa would tie a rope on the car and pull them up to the high
part of town, and off they would go. An early ski lift!
Grandpa
was baptized into the LDS
Church August 20, 1883,
and at the time of his death held the office of a Priest. His wife
preceded him in death on November 24, 1926, at the age of 48.
After
Grandma Gunderson died, Grandpa Gunderson married again. His second wife,
Effie R. Larsen, had three daughters Vannetta, Beth and Thelma. They later
divorced, and Grandpa moved to Salt
Lake City to live.
John
Olaf died May 31, 1949 in Salt Lake
City at the age of 74. His funeral was in the Mount
Pleasant South Chapel on Friday, June 3, conducted by Bishop Leo Larsen.
He was buried in the Mount
Pleasant Cemetery .
A very
sweet note was received by the family following his death:
Letter from The
Presiding Bishop of the LDS
Church , LeGrand Richards:
In the
letter which was read at the funeral of John Gunderson, Bishop Richards stated
that, “In the death of Bro. Gunderson I have lost a good friend, but Mt.
Pleasant has lost its ambassador of ‘Good Will’ “. “Bro. Gunderson has
ceaselessly sought to make good things happen for Mt. Pleasant
and its citizens.” “We will all miss him, but the good people of Mt. Pleasant
will miss him the most because he served them the most”.
“The Mayor is especially enthusiastic about the out-of-doors and takes
a great pride in his own yard and garden spot.
In the flower boxes of the church and city hall he plants beautiful
double flowering petunias, which bloom all summer and until the frost takes
them in the fall. His family lot in the
cemetery shows that it has special care, and on Decoration Day it is always a
mass of blooming perennials. He is also
interested in animals and birds. Last
summer he told us he had a nest of woodpeckers in a tree outside his kitchen
window and he wanted my sister and me to come up and see them. We found a pair of woodpeckers flying here
and there gathering food for their young, but were in no mood to receive
guests. The nest was a hole in a tree
with the entrance about two and one-half inches wide. The Mayor’s wife said they had watched the
birds every morning making their next and preparing for the young.
“Occasionally Uncle John came to see us and usually accepted our
invitation to stay for dinner. We like
to joke with him about his telling us there was nothing he could not eat, but
we soon found out he ate everything he liked, but there were a lot of things he
did not like. I will never forget the
philosophy he often used, ‘Eat the best first and you will always have the best
left.’ This bit of humor has stayed with
me and I have found it to be true.”
He was chairman of the Second World War Bond Drive —being
the first one to buy a bond. He won
national and state recognition for Mount
Pleasant being the first city to reach its goal in the
nation. He won a trip to Washington , DC
and received a certificate from the United States Treasury Department which
read: “For patriotic cooperation
rendered on behalf of the War Finance Program this citation is awarded to John
Gunderson. Given under my hand and seal
on June 30, 1945.” It was signed by
Henry Morgenthau, Jr., Secretary of the Treasury, and Chas. L. Smith, State
Chairman.
He was active in the Municipal
League for many years and served as Vice President. He was also a member of the
Sons of the Utah Pioneers and accompanied them on their centennial trek from
Nauvoo to Salt Lake City
when he was 71 years of age. He wrote
this about his trip:
“I have been grateful and thankful for every minute I spent on the
recent trek to Nauvoo and intermediate points.
As we journeyed across the great plains my mind went back to my parents
who crossed those wide stretches in that early day. It renewed my faith to visit all the old
landmarks of Mormonism, so I am thankful that I have lived to have that
experience.
“My mind also turned to the pioneers and my feelings are expressed in
the following:
“Since first the pioneers began
To make and build the
West for man,
We count the years, one hundred o’er,
And ask where folks have given more,
Where standards have been higher set,
Where truth more earnest welcome met.
Where we find we men and mates who wrought
For grander prizes than they sought?
Let’s doff our hats and bow the head
To those who still life’s pathways tread,
And bless the souls who paved the way
For what is ours this happy day,
And keep in memory fore’er
The meaning of their coming here.”
John Olaf was engaged in the
sheep business and served as the State Sheep Inspector. He ran the sheep on the deserts of Western
Utah and Eastern Nevada in the winters and on
the public domain in the mountains by Scofield and Price in the summers.
There are a lot of stories about old Jeff – a one-man mule
that Grandpa had. He was sure-footed and
loyal to Grandpa. At night the herders
would put hobbles on the horses and mules, and bells so they could hear
them. Grandpa was afraid that a
mountain lion might come during the night and get a hobbled horse, although
Jeff could run with the hobbles on. The
drovers would hear the bells and get up to protect them.
Then Jeff would go up into the
trees and hide from the drovers; he knew the bell sound would lead them to him,
so he would stand perfectly still. The
drovers would come back and tell Grandpa that they couldn’t find Jeff.
Grandpa would go out and holler, “Jeff, time to come in
now.” Jeff would come for Grandpa, but
not the drovers.
Grandpa Gunderson used to tell
his kids about Indians coming to kidnap the white kids and they all had quite a
fear of being kidnapped by the local Indians.
In order to get the kids up in the morning, he would come running up the
stairs, shouting, "The Indians are coming, the Indians are coming." They’re at Charlie’s house now.” Naturally, the kids were up and out of bed in
a hurry.
One memory of Grandpa Gunderson
was that, among other much more lovable traits, he was a vain man – although he
didn’t seem like that when we were children.
We suppose it’s the stories that we’ve heard over the years that make us
realize how he was. He always wore shoes that were the latest style, but he
always complained about his feet hurting.
When he went to get a new pair of shoes at the store that our Uncle Shy
worked at, he insisted on a size 7.
Uncle Shy realized, of course, that the reason Grandpa’s feet hurt so
much was that he was wearing the wrong size shoe. He didn’t tell Grandpa, but he sold him a
larger size. For days Grandpa went on
about how great these shoes were and how his feet didn’t hurt. When Uncle Shy admitted that the shoes were
the right size, instead of the size 7’s Grandpa thought they were, Grandpa had
a fit and refused to wear them. “I wear
a size 7!”
Because of that story, it is even
funnier to hear this one. Doug told us
that once he needed some new shoes, but the size they had were not his
size. Grandpa let him get the shoes,
knowing that Doug’s feet would hurt, but also that Shy could wear the
shoes. Doug wore them until he could
hardly walk because his feet hurt so badly.
Grandpa said, “Fit your feet, even if you have to wait for the right
fit.” What a hoot!
We remember another time when
some of the Gunderson relatives were at Doug’s home for Thanksgiving dinner;
Grandpa was taking a nap on the couch.
His snoring was the subject of much snickering among the children. Our Aunt Peggy, who was very talented
musically, was playing the piano and made up a song about Grandpa’s
snoring. He was furious when he found out
we’d been laughing about his snoring; and insisted that he did not snore.
Another time when Grandpa was
visiting Doug’s family, they lost John, who was probably about two. Everyone was hunting for him, sick with
worry. He was asleep with Grandpa out in
Doug’s car in the carport. Grandpa just
radiated that sense of comfort and security that goes with being a grandpa.
Dave tells us this story that his
father, Reed, told about Grandpa Gunderson.
He went to the hardware store and got some good flooring boards, pointed
the ends, put them in a steam bath and turned up the ends. They would bind these "skis" to
their shoes and ski down the hill to the other side of town. Grandpa would tie a rope on the car and pull
them up to the high part of town, and off they would go. An early ski lift!
Grandpa was baptized into the LDS Church
August 20, 1883, and at the time of his death held the office of a Priest. His wife preceded him in death on November
24, 1926, at the age of 48.
After Grandma Gunderson died,
Grandpa Gunderson married again. His
second wife, Effie R. Larsen, had three daughters Vannetta, Beth and Thelma.
They later divorced, and Grandpa moved to Salt
Lake City to live.
John Olaf died May 31, 1949 in Salt Lake City at the age
of 74. His funeral was in the Mount Pleasant South Chapel on Friday, June 3,
conducted by Bishop Leo Larsen. He was
buried in the Mount Pleasant
Cemetery .
A very sweet note was received by
the family following his death:
Progressive Opinion
. . . For
Everything Progressive . . .
A PAPER WITH
SPIRIT AND VISION
C. N. LUND,
Editor
Keith Bldg. Salt
Lake City, Utah
TO THE
FAMILY OF JOHN GUNDERSON:
John
Gunderson was a friend to me and he never did me anything but
good. He was a frequent visitor to my place of
business and I shall miss him. Our
relations
were always most friendly and were I to put down every kindness and every
good
he extended to me it would make a long list indeed.
In
his public career he made a record that will long stand to his credit. His
six
sons and one daughter were his pride and the objects of his love and esteem. It has
been fine indeed to see their loyalty to him. He will live in their memory as long as their
been fine indeed to see their loyalty to him. He will live in their memory as long as their
lives
shall last. They will remember all his
goodness and kindness to them. He will
anxiously
wait on the other shore to greet each one of them as they shall cross to the
life
eternal.
I
hereby extend my sincere sympathy to each and every one of his posterity
and
hope that the light of their father’s devotion will ever cheer them along the
paths
they
shall follow.
Death
is not so sad, for when one dies
We
know that the fine light within his eyes
Would
shine out still if he could see us near
And
he would comfort tenderly our tear.
Yours
and John’s friend, C. N. Lund
Letter from The Presiding Bishop of the LDS Church ,
LeGrand Richards:
In the letter which was read at
the funeral of John Gunderson, Bishop Richards stated that, “In the death of
Bro. Gunderson I have lost a good friend, but Mt. Pleasant
has lost its ambassador of ‘Good Will’ “.
“Bro. Gunderson has ceaselessly sought to make good things happen for Mt. Pleasant
and its citizens.” “We will all miss
him, but the good people of Mt.
Pleasant will miss him
the most because he served them the most”.
1942
“Crossing the Bar”
Twilight and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning
of the bar,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning
of the bar,
When I put out to sea.
For though from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crossed the bar.
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crossed the bar.
---Tennyson
Funeral Services for
JOHN OLOF GUNDERSON
Born August 20,
1875 Died May 31, 1949
Mt. Pleasant South
Ward Chapel
Friday, June 3, 1:00 P. M.
Prayer
at the home H. C. Jacobs
Song, Quartet .. "Though Deepening
Trials"
Opal
Scovil, Alta Jensen,
George Squires, A. L. Peterson
Opening Prayer.... A. H.
Anderson
Speaker…………. Bishop A. L.
Peterson
Organ Solos, "0 My Father,"
Vocal Solo: "In The Garden"
Florence Bagnall
Speaker………… Presiding
Bishop J. L. Wirthlin
Remarks…………Bishop Leo
Larsen
Song, Quartet "Come Unto Me"
Closing Prayer….. O. M. Aldrich
Prelude and Postlude Music
Ethel L.Erickson
Dedication of the
grave.. J.
Leo Seely
Pallbearers:
Emil Rutishauser, Gibbs
Monsen, Hyrum Merz,
McKay
Zabriskie, Billy Jones, Abe Burton
Burial in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
Services under
direction of Jacobs Mortuary
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