GatheringGardiners: Martha Lestie Kroksh 1895

Martha, Augusta, baby
Martha Lestie

Excerpt from Zion by the Sea by Skip Hellewell:

"From the first Sunday School to the building of the chapel and the creation of the Laguna Beach Ward, no family did more than the Boothes. So it is proper that we remember them. Clyde was born in 1894 at Honeyville, Utah, and married Martha Lestie Kroksh in the Salt Lake Temple in 1915. After he completed a degree in veterinary science at Utah State University, they settled down on a farm. Clyde, however, would get seriously ill with tonsillitis each winder....this was before penicillin--so his doctor recommended a milder climate to protect his health.

"Joining the post World War I migration to California, Clyde went on ahead to Long Beach in 1922 where he worked as a milkman. When he got a better job with the Sherman Water Company (later West Hollywood), he was able to send for his family. In a flurry of development after the building of Pacific Coast Highway, he joined the San Juan Water Company, and the family moved to Laguna Beach in 1927. It was a difficult move for Lestie as she preferred the bright lights of the city, and Laguna then was characterized by its rural hills and goat trails. The Boothes built a house at 951 Catalina Street, a home in the Utah style for it had a basement. Their property was at the edge of town; the land south of Anita Street was still planted in barley. Here the Boothes reared their children: Charles, donna (Woener), Alice (Frambes), and Winifred (Woods). The home is till in the family, occupied by Winifred and husband Jesse.

"Perhaps it was the stress of the move to a new job and the constrution of a home in the same year, but Clyde got seriously ill again. During his illness he became discouraged, and the reverend Raymond Brahams of the Laguna Presbyterian Church visited Clyde and prayed for him. This kindness made a deep impression and was long remembered by the Boothes.

"When the Sunday School was formed in 1936, Lestie was asked to be the secretary and Clyde a teacher. In 1944 Clyde was called to be the second branch president and led the growing congregation for the next eleven years, except for a few months when he served as the district president. this service included a year and a half as the first bishop. The breath of Bishop Boothe's leadership is not likely to e matched, for bishops now serve terms of about five years.

"During the Boothe era services were noted for their reverence--considering the sociability of the members, this was a feat of leadership. For several years church services were held in the Boothe home, and they were the driving force behind the funding and construction of the present Laguna Beach chapel. After Clyde's release as bishop, he served on the stake high council. Lestie served as Relief Society president and later earned a 35-year service pin for her work with the children of the Primary.

"Clyde was a soft-spoken person, a man of few words but many good works. In the way that roles in a marriage grow around each other's strengths, Lestie became the spokesperson for the family. As branch president Clyde may have presided over the meetings, but it was Lestie who wrote his talks.

"Carleton Glassford, a teenager in the ward during the '50's, recalls that "Clyde was everybody's grandpa. He didn't say a lot, but if you needed something you went to see Clyde." When Carleton was a senior his mother moved away and the Boothes put him up in their home for the year, so he could graduate with his classmates.

"When Lestie's mother passed away she cared for her father, who had been on of the first to pioneer north of the Bear river in Box elder county, Utah. The story had a tragic end of an elderly lady driving near the Bothe home lost control of her car and crashed into the living room, killing Lestie's father as he sat in his armchair.

"The Boothe's had a grandson, Gary Woerner, who should be remembered. On the day the car crashed into the Boothe's living room, Gary escaped because he had left the room a moment before. Gary's father wasn't a member and his mother wasn't active in church, but the Boothes took him to meetings and he grew up as a church-goes. I think that Gary was the Boothe's pride and joy for he was an outstanding student and went to BYU on an academic scholarship. He later became very active in the church and married in the temple.

"The Boothe's enjoyed warm friendships with presidents George Albert Smith, to whom they were attentive on his recuperative visits and David O. McKay. On a visit to Salt Lake City, President Smith invited them to breakfast, and Clyde declined as he had already eaten. Lestie was fit to be tied, saying she would have done anything to eat with the prophet--even eat three breakfasts.

"Clyde Boothe died in his home after a long, well-lived life. Bishop Hanson had visited Clyde a few hours before his death and found him comatose in bed, incapable of movement. Later that night, when the bishop heard of Clyde 's passing, he returned to comfort Lestie. She told Bishop Hanson of how her husband on his way to the next world, had walked into the living room where she was sitting, telling her good-by, it seemed, in the way that a husband does when leaving home." (Excerpt from Zion by the Sea by Skip Hellewell)

Grandma Boothe is my grandmother's mother. She was an amazing lady! She made sure that all her grandchildren were baptized members of the church. Out of the 11, only 2 remained active throughout their lives. One was my dad and the other was his cousin, Ron. I am so grateful to her for giving my dad and our family the opportunity to be members of this church. If she had not stepped forward, it would never have happened because none of her children remained active. (Carlene Payne, FamilySearch)

Children of Martha Lestie Kroksh and Clyde Boothe:

Donna Boothe b. September 03, 1916, Elwood, UT.

Clyde Boothe b. August 22, 1918, Elwood, UT.

Winnifred Boothe b. November 22, 1919, Brigham City, UT.

Alice Boothe b. February 16, 1922, Brigham City, UT.

Charles Boothe b. October 06, 1925, Elwood, UT.

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