Beach Haven

Week of 30 April 1984

Hans left for home in Germany this week. Mom notes “He’s a good boy and we’ll miss him.” She had a department meeting that week in Ogden Canyon. “Had a lot of ordourves (sic) and steak and too much to eat. Enjoyed the seminar.” Michelle and I joined Mom at the German Club farewell at the school and had a visit with family friends Don and Alma Thrash. They were sort of like church grandparents to us.

Week of 7 May 1984

Doing a bunch of home improvement projects in Crystal’s room the weeks before didn’t seem to be enough, so this week she painted her and Dad’s bedroom. They also completed Crystal’s room by laying carpet. The car started acting up. Dad took a day off to figure it out. It turned out to be watery gas.

Our two sets of church grandparents visited, Don and Alma Thrash along with Newell Barlow. Newell’s wife Ruby had passed away years before. They came to attend the re-baptism of Dad. He had a long and challenging repentance process. “Dan baptized, Mike confirmed. Should have taken pictures but forgot. Beautiful service.” She then gives a rather long list of people who attended. She was clearly happy. She wrote “Fred Re-baptized” in large letters and circled the words.
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Week of 2 January 1984

Mom was back to some specifics of logistics for the week. Added me to the car insurance. Added Jessie to their health insurance. Visited Francis Hunsaker in the hospital. Lisa’s picture was in the local paper for her work in dancing instruction. “Gave Mike money for skiing, Dan money for haircut, Lisa money for butter and eggs”. Shows where our various priorities were at the time. “No jobs for Mike or Lisa yet.” Dan introduced the family to some girl he began to date. Mom didn't know this yet, but it was not destined to work out. 

She notes how she and I worked on some genealogy. “Dan broke the truck steering.” Dan, do we see a pattern here?

Week of 9 January 1984

They called for truck parts, but the parts turned out to be for a different year truck. Dad gave the agent of the company supplying the parts an earful. He managed to get the right parts and fix the truck that same week. I’m not sure exactly what this means, but in her entry for this Monday she notes “6 baby puppies today.” They bought a family annual pool pass at the local natatorium in Brigham City and we took advantage of it that week.

I took a sales job and got some training that week. Side note: the job didn’t last long. I’m not a salesperson. Mom was kind enough to buy a $500 stoneware set she didn’t need. Crystal started clogging classes at Lisa’s dance studio.

She notes the passing of Elder Mark E. Peterson this week. He was an Apostle of our church. He held a special place in our family. When I was 10 and we were still living in PA, we went to Palmyra, NY to see some of the church historical sites and attend the pageant that happened there in those days. While we visited the sacred grove of trees where Joseph Smith received a vision of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, there was an outdoor church meeting held. Elder Peterson was the main speaker. We met him after and talked for a moment or two. Since then we tended to follow his talks as a general authority.

Aside from fixing the truck, Dad put in some overtime at work this week. The result was he became tired, didn’t feel very good and became “grumpy and miserable.” Crystal spent some time with family friend Heather Hoffmeister. Mom visited Heather’s grandmother Alma Thrash. That Sunday was the baby blessing for Jessica. I performed the blessing. Mom notes with some sadness that Dad couldn’t be in the circle for the blessing. He was still working through whatever he needed to with the bishop and stake president but was not ready to receive some of the blessings of the gospel in his life personally. 

Week of 7 November 1983

This week is just a list of shopping that happened, and tasks Mom set up for herself. There were some visits going on. For example, Lisa took baby Jessica to visit family friends Don and Alma Thrash, and picked Crystal up from visiting the Hoffmeister family. She got a letter from me while on my church mission in Spain, fixed a jacket, and did some crocheting.

Week of 14 November 1983

Unlike the previous week, Mom wrote more specifics this week. She didn’t just talk about shopping, she included items bought for specific people. She and Lisa both got perms. “It sure feels great to look better” she notes. After a long list of chores, and extra expenses helping Lisa get back on her feet, she mentions they had their second snow storm of the year. Dan was at work with their old car. She hoped he didn’t get into an accident coming down the canyon on his commute home. As it turned out, Dan called that the canyon had been closed and he would be stay all night at ‘Sherwood Hills’. Dad managed to make it home in the Datsun truck that was not running well. He didn’t have to navigate any canyons on his route. Dan finally got home by 2p the next day (Sunday). It snowed all that day as well.
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Week of 10 October 1983

That Tuesday she writes “FIRST GRANDCHILD”. She gives a number of details about Jessica that one normally does about a newborn such as time, weight, length. Then she talks about Jessie’s eyes and hair. On Thursday she brought mother and daughter back to Honeyville. That weekend family friend Alma Thrash and our sister Vangee Nez came to visit and see the newest family member. Vange made fry bread for tacos. Mom lists a bunch of others who came by over the weekend to visit and check out the baby. Sunday was another day of receiving attention while at church. Everyone wanted to hold Jessica.

She heard from me this week while I was still on a church mission in Spain. International snail mail was not as reliable as it is today, not that it’s much better these days. 
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Week of 5 September 1983

Don and Alma Thrash joined Mom, Dan and Crystal to the park for a picnic. Dad had to get three teeth filled that week. Dan applied for a social security number this week. There was a good harvest of tomatoes so plenty of canning to do (53 quarts of juice to be precise). Mom notes “ordered a helmet from Sears” but never mentions what sort of helmet or who it was for.

There was a Friday night trip to Salt Lake to see the Ice Capades. It was ‘Smurfs’ oriented. Saturday was filled with annual Peach Days activities. Lisa got sick and was not able to drive back to Salt Lake on Sunday.
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Week of 1 Aug 1983

At this early point in the year, Mom already started making Christmas plans.

Dad, Mom and Crystal went fishing. Not something I would picture her doing. On the way home the truck died. It’s not clear where they were, but she said they tried to push the truck to no avail. Brother Argyl came and pulled them home with his vehicle. Turns out an alternator wire had become disconnected and drained the battery power.

That Saturday she went to yard sales with Alma Thrash and Crystal. It was a hot day. She said it was 115 degrees that day. On Sunday she went to the Honeyville 2nd Ward “to see Jesse blessed.” There is no note about who Jesse is.
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Week of 25 July 1983

There was a Primary Pioneer Picnic that Monday in Honeyville. Lisa was visiting that weekend and Mom took her back to Salt Lake City after the picnic. It must have been picnic week, because the next day was a softball league picnic. She was in a cleaning up mode. After listing a bunch of tasks knocked out, as usual, she mentions going through some of Crystal’s clothes and a box of letters from Mike.

Lisa got word that her soon-to-be ex was in a ‘mental institution’ for three weeks. She, Lisa, was torn on what to do.

​Mom was looking ahead to Christmas already, because that’s just how she would think. She reached out to friends Don and Alma Thrash to start building a dollhouse for Crystal. She went to help Lisa in SLC and while there “bought a small family” for the dollhouse. On Saturday she bought some contact paper for the dollhouse walls, then found some material for bedspreads, curtains, and rugs.
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Beach Family Conversion to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
By Paulene Beach
Document Shared by Crystal Dunn

My daughter, Crystal Lee Dunn, has asked me to write the story of our conversion to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I will record this to the bet of my ability from my memory.

One day in late 1970, I went to my friend’s house to visit her. It seemed to be every Saturday we visited. Her name was Dorothy Fairchild Mowery. Her husband was the most evil person that I had ever met. Dot was a great person and I don’t know how she put up with him. He was a drunk and he beat her all the time. He even made her lose a baby because she wouldn’t come downstairs and make food for him and his buddy and two women in the middle of the night. He threw her down the stairs and she miscarried. I met her when I was 18 and we worked in the sewing factory together.

Anyway, while I was visiting (and her husband was out) the doorbell rang and there were two young missionaries there. They asked if they could talk to us. They explained they were from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and had a message for us. I had been raised Evangelical (Methodist now) but they could never answer my questions so I quit going in my teenage years. I had been thinking about looking for God in my life, but didn’t know where to look.

The missionaries taught us the first discussion and I knew IMMEDIATELY that this is what I believed also was looking for. They asked if they could come back next week but Dot was afraid her husband might be there and hurt them. My husband, Fred, had just thrown the Jehovah Witnesses out of our house the week before, but I decided I needed to hear them. They asked if I wanted to go to church next week. Fred was going to be gone with the military, so I decided to try it. The closest branch was 35 miles away (in Sunbury, PA). A lady from the branch picked me up (Louise Bredbender). It was really impressive.

When the missionaries came the next week to our house, I explained to Fred about them. He listened and so did the kids. We started to study with the missionaries and decided to join the church. I was so happy that the family chose to follow me into the church. Lisa and I were baptized in January 1971. Fred said he had to be able to quit drinking coffee and smoking before he would join. He became the longest investigator, but went to church every week.

In 1972, Fred decided he was ready. I was upstairs and picked up the hall phone to call someone and I heard Fred on the downstairs phone talking to the missionaries. He told them he wanted to be baptized. I was so excited that I started to cry and ran downstairs. He was baptized right after that. When Mike was eight, he was baptized also and the others followed when they turned eight.

We drove to Sunbury every week. It was before the block. We went down in the morning and took our lunch and then went back in the evening. We did that for about a year. Our town, Berwick, PA, was central to several towns around us. We were the only members in our town except Don and Alma Thrash, who moved to Utah not too long after. They followed their married kids out there. They were our parents in the branch.

After about a year, some of the members and us, asked if we could start a branch in Berwick, since it was central to the towns that members lived in. We were told to find a location for a building we could rent. Fred and I looked around Berwick and found we could rent a Justice of Peace’s office on the weekends. It was smelly from people smoking in the office. On Saturdays our family cleaned the building and aired out the smoke. We held Sunday School sitting on the floor in the hallway for the kids. We adults used the main entrance and one of the offices for our meeting room. The Justice’s office was our chapel.

There were about seven families and us who got it started. Richard Long was our first branch president. Richard and Lydia were our good friends from Bloomsburg, PA. They are still our best friends today [Note from Mike – Mom put no date on this document, but both she and Dad have since passed away as has Lydia Long]. I’m trying to remember the other families. There was Doyle and Betty Smethers from Mainville, PA and their kids. Also Doyle (chicken lips) and Diane Breech from Catawissa, PA along with Jean Bitner and her husband (can’t remember his name) and their kids from Catawissa also. Then there was Bill and Linda Schmidt and their family also from Mainville area. Nancy Zehner from Mainville (Nancy, Bill Schmidt and Betty Smethers were sisters and a brother). Cecil and Ann Turburville and their family were from Bloomsburg, PA. We became one big family and stayed that way ever since. Many of them have died now and the one’s left are old and ready to go.

We used that building for about a year and then bought an old school building outside of Berwick. We had a fund raising spaghetti dinner to raise money to remodel. At that time Fred (my husband) had his own country and western band and they played for a dance with a dinner. Fred must have eaten too much spaghetti because when he was playing his guitar his belt buckle came off and flew across the dance floor under everyone’s feet. He got teased about that for a long time.

We tore it all up and remodeled it ourselves as a branch. For money to remodel, Lydia and I made my recipe of chili and sold it at an auction that Lydia worked with. Some of the people said they followed the auction just for our chili. It was all donated to the building fund. It was a lot of fun working the auction and it helped a lot. We were still going to that building in 1977 when we sold our house and left for Utah. Now there is a new regular ward building there. We visit it every year when we go back. It’s great seeing our old family again.

When we moved here [to Utah], Alma and Don Thrash had a house all picked out for us. We lived in it 28 years. We buried them (at their request) in our grave plot at Calls Fort cemetery between Brigham City and Honeyville, Utah. Their two kids were nomads and moved around a lot and died out of state later. Dona and Alma were our parents in the church and great friends. Fred is already buried beside them and I will be also someday.

We enjoyed having the missionaries at our house on P day. They did their laundry there and ate supper with us often. They played with our kids and took Mike and Fred with them on splits often. We have kept in touch with Elder Drue Smith and his family over the years but have lost track of Elder Johnson [we have confirmed the other missionary was actually Steven Hardy Jackson].

My testimony has grown over the years and I am so happy to have found Jesus’s church. It is the best thing that has happened to me and our family in my life except for having my family beside me. Thank you Heavenly Father and Jesus and the Holy Ghost for finding us.
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Paulene Fay (Miller) Beach

Week beginning 6 Feb 1983

​A snow storm caused Mom to be late getting home on Monday, making for a short Family Home Evening conducted by Crystal. She got letters that week from Mike on his church mission, and another from Lisa feeling sick from pregnancy. Lisa encouraged Dan and Crystal to visit over the summer. Perhaps she was feeling a bit homesick.

Crystal had to go to the orthodontist this week to get spacers put in. More interaction with Lisa made it clear she wanted to stay with our grandparents since her in-laws were not supportive. Our cousin, Jeff was asking to do the same thing so Grammy Miller called to chat with Mom about it. Seems Grammy wasn’t really in a position to take in either at that time. Despite that, Grammy Miller seems to have let Lisa go to PA from where she was living. PA was closer for her than UT. Mom was worried because of the heavy snow in the weather report, but Lisa made it safe at least. At issue was that her husband of that time, Vince, was in basic training in the military. They had no money until he got paid. The in-laws were very negative about everything which put Lisa in a bad place.

Spring-like weather that Friday. That week Mom put in for a job that came up within Thiokol. It was a “six” level job. She said she was sure not to get it since she was new to her current position, and so many would apply since that level job was rarely available. Her boss wasn’t happy to hear about it. Dad and Dan had valentines and candy waiting for her and Crystal when they got home. Dad was working overtime that week which meant leaving for work at 10p.

Saturday brought time at the temple, then a bunch of tasks. Don Thrash gave her a tunnel to go with the family Christmas miniature train set. While she was away and Crystal was with the Thrashes, Dan had decided to clean the house for her. He had even dusted! The evening was full of other house chores (laundry, dishes, etc.). Don Thrash had been working on their taxes for them, and was expecting them to get a return of about $2000, clearly much needed. The evening ended this way for Mom, “worked on embroidering and watched a movie, wrote letters.” Dad had a Navy Reserve weekend duty after working all night.

Sunday brought church, choir practice, more letter writing and embroidering.