DFJ Family Blog: Melba Lee Simmons Johnson's Memorial in Florence, Arizona

Melba Lee Simmons Johnson's Memorial in Florence, Arizona

At the Cemetery

We woke up at 6 am with a temperature of 98degrees and traveled to the Florence, AZ, cemetery on June 25th 2016.

The graveside service began at 9 with two army officers in a very solemn and serious manner playing the best taps I have every heard. Then they folded the flag and presented it to Becky. There was a short program with the grave dedication and song. Then pictures were taken. Shade and water were coveted everywhere we went. At least ten Simmons' relatives were there. Her only Brother is still living, but is in a nursing home.

Side note: Dad said he would like Taps and then he would like to have the Thunderbirds do a fly by, low and inverted.

Woodrow is buried in the Florence cemetery but not next to his headstone, because there was someone already there. They went to bury another Simmon’s relative, Benny, and Woodrow was in his spot and the headstone was a few feet away. Melba tells of paying for the burial plots several times but the cemetery would loose record of it and she paid again several times. Melbas grave is also offset from her and Woodrow’s headstone because there is someone else there. We don’t know who. She is on the opposite side than Woodrow. The Florence cemetery is all dirt, with some plots piled above the ground with prairie dog holes. Most spaces are fenced with chairs and even tables for gatherings. There are lots of fake flowers and solar lights.

Memories from the memorial service at the LDS church in Florence

Things you may not know from reading her biography

Melba was born in Rufe, Oklahoma in 1919. The Simmon’s moved to AZ to farm cotton and has a large cotton farm here.

Melba wasn’t afraid of people, or speaking. She wasn’t a complainer. She was a happy person all of the time. She loved travel and even went to Vietnam, Italy, Guatemala, and China mostly in her 80’s. She loved the Simmons family quail hunt on the second weekend of Oct. every year.

Woodrow and Melba moved to Oregon after being enchanted by the region during a trip to the Seattle’s World Fair. Upon their return drive to AZ it got hotter and hotter and soon they pulled over and called the realtor to buy 40 acres.

In 1985 she and Woodrow moved to live with Jamis and Danelle in Salt Lake City while Woodrow needed more help. After Woodrow’s passing she lived in a condo and in another apartment of Jamis and Danelle’s. Then moved to California to live near Billy and Lois. When she was 89, in 2009, she moved to Boise with Becky and Bill. The first 5 years she wanted to go back to California. She spent 1 year in a care facility. Bill was so good to go to the care facility daily give her a kiss on the forehead, hold her hand and watch a sports game, and give her another kiss on the forehead before he left. Bill said his mom died suddenly, and “I think I feel like I am honoring my mother by taking care of Melba.”

Lauren spoke. Her dad was on speaker-phone from the Utah Prison and inserted his thoughts periodically. He was on speaker-phone most of the morning. He had bartered with other inmates for phone time. She gave a talk on the “Melba Gene” which I hope to pass on because it was spot on.

Grandchildren memories

· When they were traveling on a long car trip, Melba quickly pulled out string and entertained the kids with cat’s cradle and other string games for hours.

· Jeffry always remembers running to grandma’s house for candy and soda after school. He often dug up her newly sprouted garden, but she never got angry. He said she was a refuge from his problems.

· At one time there was a jar of peanut butter thrown in the garbage that she quickly retrieved to scrape out every last bit.

· Jeffry also remembers almond rocca, her broken leg, and undaunted friendliness to strangers.

· Adrien loved road trips with Melba to Florida in an RV. She would stop and look at Indian jewelry.

· She would light up when ever she saw Adrien and say, “You are so good looking!”

· Adrien thought she would never die.

· She was so proud of her teeth. They were all real, and she continually ate hard candy with them, immediately crunching Worther’s right to pieces.

· “Goodness sakes, man alive, I’m going to live to 105!” She made it to 97 and when Mabry’s child heard of her passing, they said, “But she’s not 105 yet.”

· She is remembered as a committed caregiver to Woodrow.

· She is determined, curious, frank and honest, kind and attentive.

· She is a pioneer in her times. She is assertive, loyal, and raised strong children.

· She loved Worther’s candy, eat peanut brittle and crossword puzzles.

· “She was just out there.” , from Jamis

· She held your hand strongly, even till the very end.

· “It’s a wonderful, wonderful world.”, she would always say.

· She loved to go to restaurants.

· She so proud of her koi fish pond at Billy’s home. She often snatched away the friends of the Johnson kids to show them.

· She was intelligent, curious and loved learning. She never watched TV except for one show on Sunday night: College Bowl and later Jeopardy. She could answer all the quiz show questions fast. She was a genius and so smart. She asked Jana what she thought about when she fell asleep the night before. Jana was at a blank and then Melba told her that last night she made sentences out of the ABCs , for example, Aunt Betty’s car does …….

· Marybeth hoped that Grandma Melba would go onto the Wheel of Fortune TV show because she knew if she did, she would win a car.

· For 3 years running Melba swore that Marybeth was the reincarnated Nephratiti….so embarrassing. Melba would send her cards of Nephratiti and other memorabilia.

· On trips Melba was always adventurous. In Vietnam, at age 83, she crossed a narrow bridge of logs and planks, screaming the whole way. On a trip to the Guatemala Mayan ruins she was determined to walk the steps to the top. She was in her mid 80’s and got to the point that she couldn’t go any farther up or down. Ever determined and adventurous she called Becky and asked if Becky would take her to China to visit Marybeth and her sister while teaching English. Becky wasn’t going to, until her mother talked her into it. Melba met the girls in China with a huge black eye she recieved when she tripped over a threshold. It didn’t stop her or slow her down.

· Melba was great at laughing at herself.

· She never missed a chance to ask other old ladies how old they were and if they had their own teeth. While in Descance Gardens later in life, she was in a wheel chair with Billy and there was a sprite older woman walking past them. Melba shouted out, “How old are you?” The lady replied that she was in her 90’s, which was older than Melba. Melba replied, “Are you on medcation? I’m not!”

· Melba worked for Dr. Stafford Warren during the Manhattan Project. Warren also, prior, invented the mammogram machine. After the work with the Manhattan Project, Melba helped Dr. Warren set up the UCLA Medical School.

· Melba loved to collect, dolls, namely cabbage patch, and bottles.

· Melba is known for her frugality. When Billy was building his house on the hill, she cleaned up aluminum cans from the construction workers and recycled them.

· Melba was gracious. When given the assignment to write a Stake history, she accepted. Later the assignment was given to a new sister in the ward. Melba graciously passed it on.

· Melba read every road sign when traveling in a car.

· During the time Melba worked for Indian Affairs, the family which included Woodrow, Jamis and Becky, lived within a few hundred yards of the Casa Grande National Monument in apartments sitting next to the now visitors center.

· Another residence was in Coolidge next to her parent’s, the Simmons. One Christmas they received a motorized go-cart and they had a go-cart track next door.

· At the Coolidge residence Woodrow planted fruit trees and when cement was poured, had the kids put their feet and hands in.

Dad’s life story tidbits

Dad was born in Miami, AZ, which is about 1 hr east of Coolidge, in the mountains. Dad was recorded on the 1940 census with his mother and father in Miami. Silver mining probably brought them here. Woodrow was working as a welder in the mine.

Dad started 1^st grade in Bremerton, Washington. He remembers taking the bus to cross a very big bridge. It was wartime and all the kids talked about it being illegal to use binoculars on the bridge. Mid 1^st grade he moved to Thatcher and stayed with his Johnson grandparents. His parents were gone, but he doesn’t know for how long or why. He remembers waiting for a special day, like a birthday or mother’s day, and while he was in the drugstore he eyed a box of chocolates that he convinced his grandpa to buy so he would have a present for his mom. By the time she returned dad had eaten all the chocolates one a day.

Irene was upset when she came back because she discovered Dad had been put in a Hispanic class. They had seen his darker skin and assumed he was Hispanic. By 2^nd and 3^rd grad he was in Coolidge, which is about 3 hours east of Thatcher. He lived in a small house in town. This is where he learned to ride a bike. His dad started a machine shop on the corner of Arizona and Lincoln, doing work for the many cotton farmers in the area. He had a talent for being able to make things out of metal, like a wood smith out of wood. The shop is still there. A few blocks from the shop was the school dad went to. The school was built with a courtyard in the middle that was shady and nice to play in. It is no longer there. Irene worked as an accountant at the shop.

Dad lived in Coolidge during WWII. Coolidge was the location of a POW camp for German and Italian and other German sympathizers at the time.

Dad was climbing up a mesquite tree, which has spines in it, and fell into a prickly pear cactus, which had a rattle snake slither out of it. The dog barked at it, and dad thinks he killed the snake. He got home ok, and his mother had to throw away the clothes because they had so many spines in them.

Dad’s parents would put him on the bus, by himself, and send him to his grandparent’s in Thatcher.

Dad didn’t meet Melba until after he returned from his mission. Dad lived in Texas by the time Melba and Woodrow lived in AZ. When Woodrow died Dad was working on a project in California and drove down with Billy to the funeral in AZ.

Dad remembers being invited on a scout camp with his dad in the White Mountains, north of the Gila Valley in the Apache Indian Reservation. He went and Grandpa Johnson was impressed with his outdoor camping skills, which were much better than the scouts of the ward.

Dad heard that Grandpa was always so pleased and impressed with Denny, but he never heard this from Grandpa Johnson, it was always through Melba that he heard these things.

He got two letters from his Dad during his mission and doesn’t remember any other letters or cards at other times.

Melba and Woodrow visited our family in Salt Lake after Kirsten was born, again in Colorado, and in Kaysville where we had a Johnson family reunion.

When visiting Colorado, Woodrow recounted remorsefully when he was sent out to take water to the members of the family in the cotton fields. His little brother followed him and drowned in a canal that day.

General Arizona Fun

While on our trip we saw small donkeys grazing on the lawns like a goat or sheep would.

Cows were getting misted with water before eating at a dairy we passed.

The irrigations pipes were different in that their sprinklers hung down low off of the main line, to prevent water loss. Water is very scarce here.

Dad’s notice on his phone is a whistle, which reminded me of granny’s whistle.

The United States was playing soccer in Pheonix on Saturday.

The natural landscape has lots of saguaro cacti. They are blooming right now. Both Dad and Becky say that the dessert used to be greener with more brush and higher cacti. They are wondering if is due to increased farming, decreasing the water table or if they are personally just taller now.

On the road to Miami- Century Plants only blossom every century. They were along the way to Miami in the mountains. We traveled up a rocky canyon and through Queen Creek tunnel that is about a ½ mile long. The old road can be seen winding below the new road. There are a couple of fun big bridges, but don’t plan on stopping until they build a new road. There are very few pullouts. It would be fun to visit the Boyce Thompson Arboretum, hike the Picketpost trail, or shop at the antique stores. Oak Flat Campground is near Miami. Miami has lots of antique stores. Small rundown houses dot the hills with little windy roads leading to them. It is a mining area that truly has seen hard days for a long time. Everything is run down.

There are long bridges to cross the Gila River, which is absolutely dry as a bone. When the Coolidge Dam was built the river stopped running. It may be wet from flooding in the Monsoon season.

The gas stations and dollar stores have the best Mexican ice cream bars for $1. Coconut and pecan flavors are especially delicious.

The Florence Chamber of Commerce houses a gift store of items that nearby inmates at the Arizona penitentiary have made. This is touted as a must see for visitors in the brochures.

We all visited the Casa Grande National Monument which once was the home of over 2000 native americans. They survived so successfully there because of a series of almost 300 miles of irrigation canals. An unexpected aspect of the many ruins was a ball court that could accommodate 300-600 spectators and looked much like a skate park. There are ruins of over 50 of these in the area. Some bigger and some smaller. The Casa Grande main structure also had sun and moon holes used at solstice and lunar events.

All the cousins ate at the "kids" table at the Mexican restaurant after the services. We were all without our children and felt soo young again. In the afternoon we all went swimming at the hotel while our parents sat in the shade. We laughed a lot and can't wait to have a Johnson cousin reunion. We realized that none of us really knew Woodrow before he had his strokes and brain tumor. We all felt that Melba was such a happy wonderful influence in our life.

Family Updates

Billy is down sizing his business. He is getting ready to retire. He came in the restaurant the first night with a cowboy hat similar to his father's. He had a stack of hats in his car for everyone else. He says that when kids come to his California house for summer camp he gives them a hat and a pocket knife. Billy is really good to lead Lois around and tell here what she can't see. Lois is blind. She can see light and dark, but has to be guided where ever she goes. She is really attentive at asking about others. She has a business where assisted living homes and nursing homes hire musicians to go in a play for the residents. She also plays for weddings, luncheons and other events. She is taking a quilting class at the Braille Center and has also learned Braille. All of Lois and Billy’s kids are still single. Jeralee is living in Boston and teaching music lessons and performing. William is working for Hewlett Packard in Houston with the supply chain. Jeffery is in medical school in Michigan?? Clara is at BYU and loves hiking. Billy has several extra books of Melba's biography for any grandchildren.

Bill and Becky are selling their house and putting their papers in to go on a mission. When they return they will build a smaller house near Mabry in the Boise area. Leisha is living in the Washington DC area and is having her husband’s family reunion at the South Sawmill the first weekend in August. She has 7 kids the same ages as Karie with one on a mission in Houston. Karine has left the church and also has removed herself from family contact. Jana has a house in the Seattle area, but her husband is on an 18 month assignment to teach at the FBI training center in Virginia. He is a CPA that works for the FBI in white collar crime. She is training for a triathlon. Mabry lives in the Boise area and is building a new home. Marybeth is not married and lives in Redmond Washington and works for the school district who just passed a bond to build 6 or more schools. She manages part of that project. Amberly was at a family wedding in Denver and couldn’t come.

Adrien came from London. He missed the graveside service, but made it to the funeral at the church. He caught us all up on the Brexit news.

Jamis was with us most the day via speaker phone. Adrien and Lauren said his prison nicknames are “Scratch and Sniff” because he has to hold something so close to his nose to read it. Another one is “O 3 G”…. something, something old geezer. He is protected by the Tongan gang. He has made friends with them. They like lawyers because they know the law system, which is helpful when you are in jail. Danelle moved to the family home in Salt Lake 4 months ago, is renting it out and will move into a condo. Pace and his wife are expecting a baby any day. Lauren was there with her fiancé, Jon, and is living in St. George. They will get married in October. Jon reminded us a lot of Chris. Jami is in New York. Clark and family are in Salt Lake.

Here are some pictures, but I have some more fun ones on my camera to add when I get home.