Family Patriarch, Husband, Father, Grandfather, Son, Brother, Friend and Neighbor
Glen
Pierce Willardson was born on 1 November 1929 in Gunnison, Utah, the son of
Alice Eva Pierce and Anthony Robert Willardson. Grandson of Maud Reddington Pierce, and Sylvester Pierce and
Annie Forrester Willardson and Joseph Willardson. His family consisted of Robert Kent Willardson, Lynn
Willardson, and Karen Willardson, who was born when Glen was 11 years old.
His
ancestors were strong, courageous people.
His great grandfather, Isaac Washington Pierce, joined the church in New
York and migrated to Kirtland, then to Far West, and then to the Nauvoo area
where he died from wounds received in Missouri. His great grandfather, Christian Willardson, and his wife,
Karen Sorensen, joined the church in Denmark. Christian received a beating at the hands of a mob when he
attended a meeting to investigate the church.
Glen
said, “My grandfather Pierce was really important to me because he employed me
in the summer time to help him on his dry farm. I started herding turkeys for
him when I was eight years old and continued working for him in the alfalfa
seed, and wheat, and so forth, until I was about 14 years old. My grandfather paid me 25 cents a day
and he paid me in the fall after his crops were sold. I bought my school clothes with the money that I got from my
grandfather.”
Glen
stayed with his grandmother Pierce when he went to Kindergarten. She died when he was in the 1st
grade, and his Grandfather Willardson died when he was in the 2nd
grade. He said that he was close
to both of them. His Grandfather
Willardson was a prominent livestock man.
He had a lot of horses that he sold. He was always good to Glen and he always gave him lots of
things.
At
the time that Glen was born, the family was living in Christenburg, a small
village east of Gunnison, Utah.
Because Alice was so sick with the pregnancy, she went to Gunnison to
stay
with her mother. Glen was born in
his Grandmother Pierces’ home on the corner of 1st East and 1st
South.
Glen
said of his mother, “My mother was small but very, very determined and
resourceful and worked really hard, both with helping on the farm and also in
town in a grocery and department store.”
She also worked for the OPA during World War II. Glen’s mother taught
him to work also. He helped her in
her flower garden and helped her build a lily pond with lilies in it. He caught frogs to put in it. He hauled dried manure from the corrals
for her flowerbeds. She paid him a
penny a load for his work. He also
learned the value of money from his mother. Glen’s relationship with his mother was always good, “except
sometimes when I did things I wasn’t supposed to do or teased too much. Once she took a shoe to me and beat me
a little bit with it. It was a
high heel shoe, too. You could get
a good beating with a shoe.” His
mother taught him the importance of church in his life. She helped him do things which were important
in growing up. Things like getting
to the school bus on time so that he didn’t have to walk the four miles to
school.
Glen
said this about his father, “Dad had a very quiet personality. He was quite good-looking. Everyone
said he looked like Walter Pigeon, a movie actor. He served in World War I and was sent to France. By the time he got there the war was
over, he did not see action. Dad
was a hard worker also. He had a good team of horses and used them to haul
bundles of wheat, oats, and hay. He also hauled peas to the pea vinery. He used the horses to build roads
also. He worked for the Utah State
Road department for many years. He
was the supervisor . My
relationship with my father was good.
He wasn’t the disciplinarian in the family. Mostly he was easy-going and easy to get along with. He could get upset if you didn’t do
what he asked. He was concerned about things that we did: our schoolwork, our
work ethic, and fulfilling our assignment to help with the farm animals. He did
not go to church with us. Usually
he stayed home and worked on the farm.
At one time Dad played on Mayfield’s baseball team. He enjoyed deer hunting and later in
his life he enjoyed fishing very much.”
Glen’s
brother, Robert, was quite a scientist.
He built a model derek with a hayfork that would actually haul the hay
and stack it. Once Glen pestered
him when he was working and he got mad and chased him for about a mile and
finally caught him. Glen said, “I
was afraid he might really beat me up but he didn’t. He had a little difficulty catching me though.”
His
sister, Lynn, was the one who watched over him. She saw that he did the things his parents told him to. He teased her sometimes though. Karen, his sister, was 11 years younger
than him. He had a good time spoiling her. She grew up alone mostly because the rest of the family left
after they graduated from High School.
Glen
lived in Christenburg until he was 12 years old. He enjoyed the years that he lived in Christenburg. He said, “There was what we called the
White Hills between Christenburg and Mayfield, which are Arapa Shale, and we
used to go there on Easter and other times and play. We also used to ice skate on the canal in the wintertime. Our neighbors had a sled that we could
ride in the wintertime on the farm.
There used to be snow as high as the fenceposts so we could sleigh ride
just about anywhere. I had a sled
that I used to go down a little ravine right by the corrals by our house that
would ice over and I could ride down on the ice. The Sanpitch River was close to our home. We had a favorite swimming hole in the
river. One day as me and my cousins
were there playing one of them
threw me into the river. I did not
know how to swim but could do what we called ‘dog paddle’. Every time I tried to get out my cousin
would push me under again. Finally
another cousin came to my rescue just before I was about to drown. I never liked to swim after that. I used to like to spear carp in the
river with a pitchfork though. I
played a lot with our pets. I had
a dog named Duke. He was my
favorite. One day when we were walking to my Uncle Bert’s farm, Duke was hit
and killed by the train that ran through Christenburg. We had other dogs, one named
Cuffy and one named Fido. The neighbors
were few and far between in Christenburg but one had an orchard that we used to
go there and play.”
When
the stock market fell in 1929 and caused the depression years, Glen’s family
lost their farm. This was in 1933
when Glen was about 4 years old. This was a very sad time for the family. His father never really got over
that. However, it worked out well
for the family. Glen’s Uncle Bert had a farm that he offered to them and they
lived there and worked the farm for shares.
The
Kindergarten that Glen went to was held in the old City Hall on Main Street
next to the Christensen’s Department store. In the basement of the building was the city jail. Glen lived with his Grandmother Pierce
while he attended Kindergarten.
Kindergarten then was held only in the summer. One day as he was crossing Main Street, he ran in front of a
car on Highway 89. He said, “I
remember very vividly the car coming clear upon the sidewalk on the East side
of the street before it was able to stop.
The front bumper of the car just barely touched the back of my
legs. It scared me so badly that I
didn’t ever tell anyone about it.”
After Kindergarten he attended school at Washington Elementary in
Gunnison and Gunnison Valley High School
School was more reading, writing, and
arithmetic. There were not many
activities on the side. They
didn’t travel long distances for athletics like they do now. However, at tournament time they
traveled. He played on the
basketball team and was on the track team. He was involved in debate, drama,
and band. He said, “I was a good student. I worked hard and got good grades. I had a brother and a sister who got
good grades before me so they expected quite a bit of me. I won the region American Legion
Oratorical contest and was awarded the “I Dare Award” from the Danforth
Foundation. I guess I thought I
was pretty good and smart but probably not as smart as I thought. I think I was a little critical of
other people, then but I have learned better over the years.” His best subjects were English and
Math. Chemistry was all right in
High School but was hard in college for him. During the summers Glen worked in the sugar beet fields
Glen
had many friends when he was in High School. Four of them were close friends. Donald Beck, Clayne Jensen, Mack Ray Bartholomew and Glen
formed a club that they called “The Big Four”. They enjoyed playing table tennis, going to dances, ice
skating parties, and dating. They
did not have cars so they walked unless it was an important date and then they
borrowed Mom and Dad’s car.
At
that time the teenagers were very aware of World War II. It was talked about and covered in the
papers and on the radio, but the movies was where they got the most information
. Every time there was a movie,
there would be a newsreel showing news for the war. Glen and his friends would always discuss what they
saw. They discussed what was the
most important position that anyone could have. Glen thought it would be a politician because they would
have the most influence over the people.
His friend, Donald, thought that scientists would be the best and most
important.
Glen
graduated from High School in 1948.
He was one of the speakers at graduation. His topic was “Looking Ahead to a World of Prosperity.” He also served as School Paper Business
Manager, and was secretary of the senior class.
Right
after graduating, Glen and his friend Donald Beck began making plans to go to
Alaska to find a job. They had
heard that there were good jobs there.
They took Donald’s mother’s 1940 Chevrolet and headed for Seattle. When they arrived they found that
Seattle was not the gateway to Alaska.
They learned that there was no road to Alaska only through Canada. They then went to King’s Gate, Idaho,
to cross into Canada, but were delayed for a day and a half because the guards
told them that they needed to prove that they had permission to leave the
United States with that car. While
they waited, they had many conversations with the people about the Mormon
Church. The people there thought
they were running away from home.
Finally they were able to cross and they drove the Alcan Highway to
Alaska.
Glen
saved enough money to pay for his first year of college. He enrolled at Brigham Young
University. The next three years
he worked in Alaska on highways and bridges. The last summer he worked in Alaska as a local purchasing
agent in Anchorage for the Munter Construction Company. He made enough money that he supported
himself through college. He did
work for a short time for the steel company in Springville and for the city on
the golf course the first year he attended BYU.
At
college he and Donald lived together.
Also, Keith Orme and a fellow named Bob lived with them. They were from Idaho Falls. Glen participated in track the first
year at BYU along with his friend Clayne Jensen. He wanted to be an aeronautical engineer and took the
classes in that field. He said he
didn’t do so great and thought that he would do something else, so he went into
History and Economics and Political Science. His roommate, Keith Orme, ran for Student-body President;
Glen spent a lot of time helping him with that election. He won over his opponent who was Mark
Benson, Apostle Bensons son. The
next year Keith, named Glen to the Associated Men’s Student Council and on the
Inter-organization Council.
However, the Korean War disrupted his schooling that year.
Glen
was working in Alaska at the time he got his draft letter. It didn’t reach him until just four
days before he was to report. He
quit his job and returned home.
Then he waited and waited for orders to report. Finally he enrolled in school and then
had to quit after about a month of school.
Glen
said this about his service, “I served in the United States Army for two
years. I took basic training
at Camp Roberts and then spent one year in Japan. In the Army I performed a
great number of clerical and administrative duties. My experience was in the following departments: the Personnel Shipments department, the
Army Education department, the Finance department, and the Officers Records
section. I also held the positions
of mail clerk and morning report clerk. While in Japan I organized the LDS
group at Camp Gifu. I was the mail
clerk there and had access to everyone’s records. I looked for any LDS that came into the camp and organized a
group Branch of the church. I also
served as the LDS Group leader at Camp Eta Jima. I had been interviewed for a mission but had to go into the
army before I got my call. I
always felt that my service as Group Leader was my mission. One of the
experiences I had while in Japan was climbing Mt Fuji, a very hard but
exhilarating experience. I was released from the service in October 1953 and
enrolled again at BYU.”
In
January 1954 Glen’s roommate John Carmack introduced him to his friend, Helen
Matthews, of Grantsville, Utah.
Glen said that her honesty and her concern attracted him to her. She was a returned missionary. They spent a lot of time together that
first year. She could type and
they spent time doing Glen’s papers.
Helen suggested that they should pray together and see if they were
really meant for each other. Glen
was impressed with that thought and knew that she was a religious person. Helen graduated that spring and Glen
went to Salt Lake to work. Glen
learned of a job at the Tooele Army Depot that paid good money roofing
warehouses they had there. Helen
lived in Grantsville. Glen moved
out there and spent the whole summer there working for a construction company.
Glen and Helen got engaged the 2nd
of August and were married the 3rd of September 1954 in the Salt
Lake Temple. ElRay L.
Christiansen, who was the President of the temple at that time and who was
originally from Mayfield and knew Glen’s mother and father, married them. They had rented an apartment in Provo
and had moved their things there ready to start school. They spent their honeymoon at the Rocky
Mountain State Park in Colorado.
They spent one night there and then went back to Provo and to
school. Helen began her teaching
career the next day at Walker Elementary School in Pleasant Grove, Utah. Glen enrolled in graduate classes at
BYU. While at BYU this time he
served as President of the International Relations Club.
Glen
graduated from BYU June 3, 1955, with a major in Political Science and a minor
in Economics. He said this about
his choice of Political Science as a major, “I had a great desire to work with
people and government. Government
and public relations have always held my interest and stimulated my
thinking.” He applied and was
accepted in the Southern California University Public Administration
Program. There he worked on his
Masters Degree. He was given a stipend from Los Angeles City to intern in the
Office of the City Administrator.
There he had the opportunity to observe many types of administrative
control programs. He was
offered a job in Martinez, California, as Assistant Financial Director. He was
there for about 20 months. He then
took a job in Baldwin Park, California, as Assistant City Manager.
While Glen worked at these jobs, he and
Helen were called to serve in the church.
In Los Angeles he served as Guide Patrol leader and Helen served as
Primary Secretary. In Martinez
Glen served as Elders President and Helen as Councilor in the MIA. In Baldwin Park Glen was called into
the Bishopric as 2nd Councilor. He had some wonderful testimony building experiences while
serving there. Glen came to Salt
Lake for General Conference in April and while there he was interviewed for the
City Manager job and Clearfield, Utah.
At the age of 29 he became the second city manager for Clearfield and
moved his family to Clearfield in June of 1959.
Glen
and Helen began their family the summer after he graduated. Anthony Glen was born July 8, 1955, in
Provo, Russell Blaine was born 2 July 1956 in Tooele, and Shelley Jean was born
1 Feb. 1958 in Martinez, California.
In
Clearfield Glen and Helen bought a new house that had just been built. They
moved into their home on the 3rd of July 1959. They worked hard on
the landscaping and turning it into a home. Three more children were born there: Barry Matthew on August
31, 1960, Marti Elizabeth the 15th of December 1962 and Kendall
Joseph the 3rd of December 1963. Those were busy years for the Willardsons. They made some very good friends who
they associated with often. Glen
and Helen were called as Stake Young Married leaders before they ever got to
Clearfield. Glen was very busy as
City Manager and Helen was very busy caring for the family. Glen served for a time as Priest
Advisor and in 1962 Glen was called as a Councilor to Bishop Anthon
Montgomery. Helen was called as a
Councilor in the Primary. Bishop
Montgomery was in the church education program and was called to move to
Arizona to preside over an area there.
In January of 1963 Glen was called as the Bishop of the Clearfield 5th
Ward. His daughter Marti was 3
weeks old. Helen felt like she could not raise their small children by herself
because she knew how much was expected from a bishop. She was told by the Stake President at the time of Glen’s
call that she would not be raising them alone, that the Lord would be there to
help her as Glen served. That
surely came true.
As
City Manager of Clearfield the Freeport Center became a reality and funds for
the construction of a new city hall were accumulated. A new park was purchased and built in the Southeast part of
town. In 1962 Clearfield was given
an award for developing an outstanding Community Recreation Program. While in Clearfield, Glen served as
President of the Utah City Managers Association and as secretary of the
Northern Utah Municipal Association.
Being
Bishop and City Manager was a challenge for Glen. The city office was a block away from the church. Anyone with a problem knew where to
find him. At church he was
confronted with city business and at work he was confronted with church
business. He learned that a lot of
people were reasonable in one capacity and irresponsible in the other capacity,
and that there are always two sides to every story. Glen developed an ulcer at this time. Glen and Helen lived in Clearfield for
6 years. He had been offered
another job in another city but felt like his situation in Clearfield was a
very good situation with a very good working relationship.
Glen
became interested in a book that he read about in the newspaper, a book called
“Standing Up Country" written about Southern Utah. He also heard that the
General Manager of Garkane Power Company in Richfield, Utah, was taking another
job so he applied. Glen was in Gunnison for his father’s funeral and had made
an appointment for an interview at that time. He was offered the position and felt like it was the right
thing to do to take it. He had to
convince Helen that it was right, however. Glen started the job in April of 1965. He commuted to Clearfield until August
when he was released as Bishop of the 5th ward. Those in-between months he lived in the
family home in Gunnison and commuted to Richfield.
As
it turned out, it was the right thing to do. They found out that it was a great place to raise a
family. The schools were excellent
and the city was safe. In September of 1965 Glen and Helen purchased a home and
put the children in school. Two
more children were born to them, Rick Pratt 9th of August 1969 and
Jana Lyn 18 Apr 1971.
Glen
worked for Garkane Power for about 28 years. Throughout those 28 years he served the people of rural
southern Utah with honor and dignity.
Many things were accomplished while he worked there. Glen said, “Each day brought something
new. It was never dull work. Work began with balancing the budget,
to appeasing a customer whose trees were cut down by the workers, to training
my assistant to take over when I retire. ” Glen had a very good relationship with his board of
directors. They trusted his
judgement and knew he would fulfill their instructions. Glen traveled throughout Southern Utah
and Northern Arizona and learned to love that part of the state. He also made many trips to Washington
D. C. to fight for the rights of the people who Garkane served. Regional and annual meeting took him to
all of the western states, including Alaska. National meetings took him to many other states. He had a good relationship with many
other Rural Electric managers.
Glen
served on many boards in the 28 years he worked for Garkane. Among those were President of
Intermountain Consumers Power Association, (ICPA) and Utah Rural Electric
Association
(UREA), and director of Deseret Generation and Transmission (DG&T), and
Intermountain Power Association
(IPA). He and Joe Fackrel,
his engineering friend began the work on a new power plant that was to be built
in Wayne County; but because of the closeness to national parks it was built in
Lyndal and is the Intermountain Power Plant (IPP).
Because
of the work he did on all of the power projects, he received many, many awards
for the service he rendered.
Glen
also served on the Advisory Council for the Bureau of Land Management and on the Sevier School Districts Strategic
Planning Committee.
Glen
was given many church assignments while in Richfield. First was Sunday School teacher in the 7th
ward. Then councilor in the
Richfield Stake MIA Association.
He was called to the Stake High Council, from there to the Executive
Secretary. After that he was
called as Second Councilor in the Richfield Utah Stake Presidency. In 1986 he was released from the stake
presidency and was called as Ward High Priest Quorum leader.
Glen
always felt cheated because he was not able to serve a mission for the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints.
In 1994 he and Helen were called to serve a mission to the England
Birmingham mission. They served
from May 1st 1994 to the 1st of November 1995. After their release they went to Leige,
Belgium, to meet the family of their daughter-in-law.
For
a birthday present, Glen received the magazine “Pioneer”, a publication of the
Sons of the Utah Pioneers. He
enjoyed reading it and wondered why there was not an organization in this valley. He began working on getting one
here. He spent many hours on this
project and on 25 January 2002 the Sevier Valley Chapter was organized. He served as President for 2 years.
Glen
did have some hobbies. Stamp
collecting was probably his earliest hobby. He loved to garden and would spend the morning in the garden
hoeing and tilling. He loved
sports and spent many hours following his children and grandchildren around the
state watching them excel in sports. But his most loved hobby was fishing. He loved to be alone with his fishing
pole on some stream relaxing and enjoying the quietness around him.
Glen
passed away on the 11th of February 2004. He was a quiet man of
“exceptional personal honesty and integrity. He was also fair to all concerned and spread goodwill among
those he dealt with”. He was a
wonderful father and a wonderful grandfather to 38 grandchildren and 4 great
grand children and a great church man.
He was very prepared to meet his maker.
- Written by his wife, Helen Willardson, for the Sons of the Utah Pioneers
