Personal History of Marjorie Brown
Preface
Life History of Marjorie Yvonne Jones Brown. Notes were taken from history written by her mother, Belva Wilcox Breiten, four videotapes taken during Spring of 1987, and a tape recording of her testimony on Feb 1, 1987. A shortened version of this compiled history was presented as a tribute to her from her children at her Funeral Service on July 27 1987, by her daughterSuzanne Brown Gardiner.
My mother was completely committed to the gospel, her family, and all things with beauty in the world around her.
Birth
As the time came for Marjorie Yvonne Jones to be born, her father
George Bryan Jones drove her mother Belva Wilcox Jones to Chino
Valley, Arizona so her Grandma Wilcox to take care of her. With
the help of Dr. Yount from Prescott, Marjorie made her debut on
the 25th of November 1924 in her grandparents farmhouse. Her
Wilcox grandparents were a fine gospel oriented family. Her
Grandpa Wilcox was dedicated to the Latter-day Saint Church.
Grandma Wilcox had been a school teacher, and she nurtured
Marjorie's love of fine literature, education, art, and the
Gospel.
George’s mother and stepfather, Grandma and Pappy Henderson,
came from Dewey to see their first grandchild and to bring some gifts.
George was so proud of his beautiful baby daughter. He was a big
help when he finally brought mother and daughter home to their
two-room rented shack in Skull Valley, Arizona, about 12 miles
west of Prescott.
Belva’s sister Hazel (Peggy) Wilcox Wren gave birth to Marjorie’s
cousin Lawrence at Grandma Wilcox’s home just six weeks after
Marjorie's birth. Not only were they close in age but over the
years they became childhood friends.
1 Year Old
The family moved to a small house in the Pines just west of
Prescott when Margie was about a year old, but lived there only a
short time because Belva did’t feel safe being alone with a
baby. George worked for the Yavapai County road department and
was away with the road crew much of the time. He lived in the
work camps seven days a week, and usually only came home twice a
month after pay day. So the family rented a small apartment in
back of Christy’s Grocery Store in Prescott. The Christys had a
little girl just older than Marjorie and the two girls were so
cute toddling about and playing together.
Her mother says that Marjorie was a healthy, beautiful, cheerful
child, so imaginary in her play, and seemed to grow quickly. One
of Marjorie’s earliest memories while living there is of a
birthday party. She won a prize after a card game. She also
remembers gouging her thumb with a knife while trying to cut the
rind from an orange. Her mother told her she would cut her hand,
if she used the knife and her mother was right. She was about
four years old when that happened, and she carried the scar on
her thumb her whole life.
Animals
One time her Dad brought a baby cottontail rabbit for her and
made a wire cage for it. Marjorie made quite a pet of the little
creature. She also had kittens and dogs, and loved animals.
Marjorie was almost three when her little brother Lloyd Jones was
born prematurely on August 18, 1927. They made a makeshift
incubator out of a shoebox and baby blanket in the stove, but he
lived only one hour. He was buried in one of his Aunt Judith’s
doll dresses in Chino Valley Cemetery.
Marjorie Gets A Sister
Two and a half years later, after a priesthood blessing by the
missionaries, her mother gave birth to Margie’s sister, Norma
Louise, on February 10, 1930. Dr. Yount came to the house to
deliver her there in Prescott. Her Uncle Ferris Wilcox drove to
Chino Valley and brought Grandma to help. By this time they were
living in a small house just behind Merle Allen and his family.
Merle was Grandma Wilcox’s nephew. (Grandma Wilcox was Clarinda
Allen before she married Belva’s widowed father, Thomas Wilcox.)
When Norma was just a few weeks old, Marjorie’s friend (who lived
just east of them) got the measles, and Belva warned Marjorie to
stay away from her. But her friend was eating a cookie and wanted
to share it with Marjorie. Her playmate placed one half of the
cookie on the fence for her to reach. The results of course were
measles and she got very sick with them.
Second Father
Marjorie was a very social child, and she developed many lifelong
friends, including her neighbor Joan Allen, whom she later roomed
with at Arizona State in Tempe for three years. She wrote Joan a
letter just this Spring and said "Dear old friend, do you realize
our friendship has lasted about 60 years?....." Joan’s father,
Patriarch Merle Allen, was like a second father to her (loving
her and scolding her when she needed it), and was her priesthood
ideal while she was growing up, although he confided in her much
later that her choice of husband far surpassed him in every way.
She also caught the fancy of Joe Eccles, a very fine musician who
had his own dance band. He lived with his mother, and when
Marjorie came to visit, he let her feed crackers to his parrot
and sit on his lap while he played the piano. Later when his band
became famous and sought after, he consented to play at her
reception as a wedding present to the little girl who had
captured his heart twenty years earlier.
When Belva was not visiting her parents in Chino Valley on the
weekends, she took her girls to the Prescott Latter-day Saint
ward that met upstairs in the Lodge building while the Rock
chapel was being built. They made many good friends there
including the Allens, Johnsons, Scotts, Tennys, and Despains, as
well as Belva’s brother Ferris and his wife Ouida. The family was
very kind and helpful to Belva and the girls. They often had them
over for meals and to play games, and helped relieve some of the
loneliness. They also helped Belva make decisions as a single
parent while George was away working. Marjorie played with her
cousins Jim and Bud Wilcox, and the family did not feel so much
alone with many friends and loved ones looking after them and
being so helpful.
The family soon moved to a larger house next door, behind Uncle
Ferris Wilcox’s home. (Ferris and Ouida lived next door to Merle
Allen’s family.) Marjorie remembers walking up the hill to school
about a block away. She had two kindergarten teachers, (one named
Miss Rothenburg), who always had the children march in and out to
music. Right from the beginning she showed artistic talent, and
her teachers recognized this and encouraged her creative
abilities and feelings for art. Her mother remembers her teacher
showing her a lovely layout of clay figures that Marjorie had
made and was so proud of. She also loved to sing, and others,
like her cousin Leone Wilcox, marveled how she could carry a
tune at such a young age.
Moved Back A Year
During first grade she became quite ill with earaches and
tonsillitis and missed a lot of class. Since Marjorie’s birthday
was late in November, and the age for each class in school was
January first, and because she had missed so much school, her
parents were advised to have her take the first grade over. They
were always grateful that they made this decision; Marjorie
became a very good student and was always top in her class with
excellent report cards. On Parent’s Day, when the teacher
displayed all of the children’s best work, about every third
picture was Marjorie’s.
Cottonwood
While Marjorie was repeating first grade (about 7 years old) the
family moved to Cottonwood, Arizona and lived in a little house
on the cut off road between Jerome and Clarkdale. It was actually
the county road headquarters, situated two miles from Clemenceau
and about the same distance from Cottonwood. Her father was
foreman for all the county roads in the Verde at this time. Here
the family had many happy years together and George was able to
come home every evening to be with his family. It was really the
nicest house the family had lived in, although Belva persisted in
calling it their "temporary" home for twelve years. It never
seemed like a permanent place since it was so far away from other
civilization. George put a fence around the house to keep out the
goats that roamed the area, and the family planted grass, trees,
flowers, and vegetables.
Marjorie took the school bus to Clemenceau through the 9th grade;
the Junior High was side by side with the elementary school. Her
mother worked in the PTA organization so she could become
acquainted with the teachers in the school, and to help them earn
extra money. She assisted by helping with food sales and fund
raisers for special projects and extra things the school needed.
She worked as secretary, treasurer, vice-president, and then as
president. They always had a dinner and social for the graduating
class in the Spring.
Small Branch
They were active in the church, attending a small branch of about
30-40 members that came from Jerome, Clarkdale, and Cottonwood. They met in a very tiny building: it had a small vestibule, or entry, just big enough for a coat rack on each side; then there
was the main assembly room with the stage at one end; and there
were two classrooms, at opposite ends, with staircases leading
down to the Relief Society room on one side, and an unfinished
basement with a furnace on the other. They fixed the basement up
at Halloween with ghosts, and sometimes the poor missionaries had
to sleep there when there was no place else to stay. (Now there
is a large stake of several wards covering the same area.)
It was hard for the girls to attend church without their father
who was not a member of their faith, but because the church was
so small in number, they knew that they had to attend regularly
because they were needed and everyone worked together. The little
family was doing just about everything you could do. Belva worked
as a counselor or teacher in the Primary, Relief Society, Sunday
School and M.I.A., and Marjorie even taught her own age group in
Sunday School, and later helped in M.I.A. They enjoyed this
experience and learned from it. With her father’s consent she was
baptized at the age of eight in the Verde River by Brother Ray,
who was a counselor in the Branch presidency. The branch was part
of the California Mission at that time. They made many friends at
church, like Bishop Al Moody and family, the Skousens (Brother
Skousen later became their Bishop), Jameses, Rays, Edens, and
Richards. Two missionaries visited the Jones family regularly,
hoping to convert George, but he was not interested.
Henderson Ranch
On Sunday afternoons after church, her family traveled out to the
Henderson Ranch to visit her father’s mother and step dad. Her
dad had been raised a cowboy, had his own saddle and chaps, and
loved to help his folks with the round cup. Grandma Henderson, who
was called "Aunt Jane" by everyone for miles around, was always
so generous to them, sending home eggs, milk, butter, food from
her large garden, meat from a slaughtered cow, etc. She paid
Marjorie a nickel to feed the chickens, a nickel to gather the
eggs, a nickel to help with the chores; Marjorie always came home
with a pocket full of change. George’s two brothers Ed and Will,
and his young half brother Perry, all adored Marjorie. They led
her around the yard on grandma’s horse. Pappy Henderson would
bounce her on his knee and sing to her, and give her jellybeans
that he kept in his pocket for her. He delighted her by showing
her that he could eat an entire meal with his knife, including
lining all the peas along the edge and dropping them into his
mouth without spilling any.
Turkeys
One time Grandma Henderson gave Marjorie’s mother some baby
turkeys to raise and Marjorie remembers what pests they were. The
family raised the pullets on the back service porch and fed them
turkey mash until they got too big. Then they'd strut and
"gobble" about the yard, making such a fuss whenever visitors
came. They were the best watchdogs. Most embarrassing of all,
because they loved high places to roost, they’d jump from the
fence to the top of any car parked in the yard, and then leave
their calling card. When Marjorie’s mother hung out the clothes
to dry on the line they would pluck all the buttons off the
shirts. George said that since they’d raised them as pets he
couldn't kill them, so Belva usually had the milkman chop their
heads off. They sold most of them, but kept a few for themselves.
Her mother says that Marjorie was always a cheerful, pleasant,
and loving daughter. She was a big help at home and did her share
of the housework. She looked pretty in her clothes which her
mother enjoyed sewing for her. She made all of their dresses and
she had fun making them just a little different than the rest of
the popular ready to wear ones that you could order from
Montgomery Wards or Penneys. She’d make the cut of the sleeve or
collar different. Everyone always wanted to see what the Jones
girls were wearing when they went out to a special event, like
the High School Prom. Marjorie felt that no one had prettier
dresses than she.
Friends
She was popular with her friends, and many times would invite
friends to stay overnight with the family when special school
events were held and their parents lived too far away to easily
take them home. Her friend's parents always felt that their
children were welcome and safe in the Jones’ home. She and Joan
Allen took turns staying with each other during the Summer. She
also remembers a girlfriend they called "Page" from Pages
Springs, Arizona, Lillian M., two girls from Oak Springs, and
Gladys Chambers. She became well-acquainted with Gladys and her
older sister Melba Chambers when her mother began to work for
their mother Garnie in a dress and alteration shop. The girls
played together after school while their mothers worked.
Devastating Illness
When Marjorie was about 9 years old she became quite ill, and her
mother became very worried about her. They had no phone in the
house because George did not want to be called in to work on an
emergency during his time off. During those anxious moments,
Belva went out on the highway, flagged down a car, and asked them
to please stop in town and ask Dr. Taylor in Cottonwood to come
out. When he finally did come, he thought that it was the flu and
he prescribed some medicine for that. It seemed to help a little,
but she was very sick for a week or more.
About a year later they noticed that she was inclined to drag one
foot, and it was smaller than the other when they went to buy
shoes. They determined that the illness must have been polio. A
hospital in Phoenix did a spinal tap on her and confirmed this.
Her mother took her to several polio clinics in Prescott over the
next few years, and they recommended that she wear a brace, and
even fitted her for one. But Marjorie refused, saying that she
would not wear it. They prayed and asked Heavenly Father what to
do. Grandma Wilcox put her name on the Mesa temple prayer roll.
Her mother began to massage her foot and leg with consecrated oil
every morning before school and every night when she came home to
help the circulation. Her Uncle Ferris loaned them an ultra
violet ray machine that they also used twice a day on the leg.
Then her mother took her to an excellent chiropractor in
Prescott, Dr. Call, who began applying electric shock treatments
to her leg until the feeling, color, and growth began to come
back. She stayed with her Uncle Ferris in Prescott during the
Summer so that she could go every day. She hated the painful
treatments, but they really helped, and eventually she began
going every other day, and then only on Saturdays as the doctor’s
measurements showed that her leg was growing again and regaining
its feeling. The family felt that their prayers had been answered
in being guided to do what they did for her so that she could
walk comfortably without a brace.
Patriarchal Blessing
When Marjorie was 13 years old, her mother, who was the Primary
President, gathered up all the children in the branch and drove
them down to the Mesa, Arizona temple to do baptisms for the dead
and receive their Patriarchal Blessings. It was a four hour trip
over the old roads through Jerome, then over Mingus Mountain, and
on into Phoenix on the White Spar Road, and finally to Mesa where
the temple was. They set it up with the temple presidency ahead
of time and took two carloads of children. The temple president
who was also surnamed Jones, said "I am very busy, I only have
time to give blessings to two children; I’ll take the two Jones
girls". And so that is how Marjorie got her Blessing. (A
counselor gave the other children their patriarchal blessings.)
In her blessing she was promised that the Lord would "raise up" a
young man for her. Later she would joke with Dad and say that he
didn’t have a chance, the Lord was preparing him just for her.
She was told that she would gain a fervent testimony of the
gospel through faith and prayer, and that she would be able to
bear that testimony to many thousands of people, and to go to
various parts of the earth. She was promised that the blessings
of heaven and earth would be hers in abundance, that peace and
contentment would reign in her household, and that she would be
the mother of sons and daughters who would honor her and respect
the name that she would give to them. She was also promised that
the later years of her life would be occupied in helping to
redeem the dead in the temples of the Lord, even to becoming an
officiator in one of the temples, and that the way would be
opened up to find names of her ancestors who were waiting in the
Spirit World for her to assist them. She was told that no harm
would ever come to her as she was permitted to live upon the
earth many years. She would live until every part of her mission
had been completed, all the while being respected, loved, and
honored by her many friends and fine associates who would look to
her for guidance, advice, and counsel. She saw all these promises
literally fulfilled in her lifetime.
Talented Young Lady
Marjorie showed early musical talent and promise both in voice
and musical instrument. She was fortunate enough to be able to
take music lessons all during the Depression in the 1930`s from a
woman in Jerome. She was able to do so because her father worked
for the county and the county W.P.A. paid the teacher. She also
took accordion lessons from an Italian woman on an old Honner
accordion that had been gilded once on the bellows, and
sometimes it would stick together when she was trying to play.
She performed with her class several times on this instrument.
Her Junior High had an excellent music program, and put on H.M.S.
Pinafore and other musicals, which Margie also participated in.
At Clarkdale High School she played the bugle and later the Snare
Drum with a Drum and Bugle Corps. Her instructor (Benny) had them
do all sorts of intricate paces and formations, much more so than
most high schools were doing at the time. Her mother and Garnie
Chambers made all the uniforms for them. She also took part in
some Northern Arizona music and voice competitions held at ASU
and received "excellent" many times.
Jobs
She worked most of her young adult life in a variety of jobs. One
of her first financial adventures was making belts and selling
them for a dollar each, which seemed like a great deal of money
to her when she was only nine years old. They were a take off
from Concho belts. She made them out of wooden hand-painted
discs, connected by a leather thong. (Johanna has one that she
made for her Grandma Henderson.) Later Elsie Briggeman found her
a job with a journalist who had a large family and was living
down on Lower Oak Creek. She was to stay with them and clean
house in exchange for voice and music lessons. This only lasted
for about two weeks, however; Marjorie was too tired from
cleaning all day to practice, and was too homesick. When she was
14 years old Lucille Edens got her a job working as an usher in a
movie theatre on weekends and she earned $.50 a night. She never
really cared for movies very much after that. For the next two
years she worked in Clarkdale Drugstore after school. She was
fired from this job once for two weeks, then rehired again. She
thinks that it was because a customer complained that she was
serving drinks (like beer, etc.) from behind the counter when she
was only 15, not quite the legal age of 16. She also worked one
summer in Leland Black’s gift shop while Mrs. Black was in
California.
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| 1940 Marjorie Stunning-Colorized |
After High School she went to work for J.C.Penneys in Prescott and was a buyer for their women’s clothing. The manager, Mr.Hales, took a special interest in her and let her know that she always had job with them each Vacation and Summer while she was home from college. He tried to persuade her to make a career with
them, and go to California as a buyer for the store. She seriously considered this while attending Arizona State at Tempe, where her roommate was her longtime friend Joan Allen.
Her family moved back to Prescott from Cottonwood at this time, and her mother got a telephone and opened a dress shop to help
put Marjorie through college. At ASU she majored in Art while planning to work for Penneys. In her senior year she discovered
that she was just two classes short of getting her teaching
certificate, and thought that it would be wise to go ahead and
get it. She student taught a semester in a 1/2 combination at an
elementary school on campus, and the teacher had such tremendous
confidence in Marjorie’s ability that she turned over the entire
first grade to her. Marjorie enjoyed this experience and decided
that that she would rather be a teacher than a buyer for Penneys.
She received many job offers, including one from Mountain View
Elementary School District in El Monte (where Brother Payne was
on the school board). After talking to her dorm mother (Mrs.
West), she took the one in El Monte so that she could be near the
big city and attend the shows in L.A. She felt that she was just
a country girl from Arizona, and wanted some wider cultural
experience.
Initial Meeting
She met James Cyril Brown in a Sociology class, at ASU, where he
was a Pre-Med student in 1946, right after World War II. He
remembers being put out at sitting in front of the prettiest girl
in the whole school who talked incessantly to a red-headed boy
who played the tuba. But he didn’t give up very easily, and when
he saw her coming home from shopping one afternoon he offered her
a ride back to the dorms. She in turn invited him on a picnic up
at South Mountain Park. There she served him honey and walnut
sandwiches, because that was all she had to eat at the time.
Walnuts used to give him concur sores, but not this time. He knew
then that she was the girl for him. After a Sacrament Meeting
date all the girls in the dorm gathered around Marjorie and asked
her what she thought of Jim Brown, and she announced "Oh, he’s
very nice. He’ll make someone a wonderful husband!" With that
she bounced off to bed, not realizing yet how prophetic her words
were to become.
They dated off and on during the coming school year, and the
following summer she went home to work in Prescott. Jim couldn’t
forget her, and while traveling to Utah to visit his friends
Roland and Marie Tunnell, he conveniently remembered that she
worked at Penney’s. He stopped by and invited her out to lunch.
He opened the door for her, helped her across the street, and
impressed her with the considerate and thoughtful way that he
treated her. She thought, "He acts like I'm someone special!" He
also impressed her father a great deal, and while her dad rarely
socialized with any of her friends, he seem to enjoy visiting
with Jim.
Dating
The whole family liked him so much that Marjorie decided to write
him in care of his friends in Utah, and invite him to the family
rodeo at the Henderson Ranch. This was quite an honor, as the
Henderson ranch had become famous since her Uncle Perry Henderson had won the World Rodeo Championship. It was held the last Sunday in June every year, and Marjorie usually helped in the stands selling drinks to the many people who came to watch. On Jim’s way home from Yellowstone he stopped by his friends’ home but they
were not in. Looking through the screen door, he saw the
invitation addressed to him on their refrigerator, and was able
to get it just in time to attend the rodeo with her. The
invitation did not even have the right address on it, but Jim
felt that Lord wanted to bring them together and so helped him
get it anyway. After this they began to date seriously every
other weekend while Jim attended Summer School Pre-Med classes
down in Tempe.
What Marjorie did not tell Jim was that on the off weekends she
was dating her Fiancé, a fine young man who was not LDS but whom
she thought that she wanted to marry. She was also teaching the
Sunday School class at church for her age group, and the lessons
were on Eternal Marriage and Courtship. She knew that she could
not teach those lessons and consider marrying outside of the
church with a a clear conscience, so she began to reconsider her
marriage plans. As she would study and read the lessons, only one
man fit the ideals she had in life, the other one was a sad
contrast. To be certain, she would take her fiancé` and Jim to
the same places, feed them the same food, wear the same clothes,
purposely be late, and there was no comparison. (Jim later said
that he must have had the Lord on his side prompting him to say
and do the right things.)
Deciding On A Husband
Finally one weekend in August, 1947, she told her fiancé that he
shouldn't come back any more ("the most fortunate day in my
life", she said later), and the very next weekend Jim proposed.
They were taking a side road to Walker on their way to Dewey, and
didn't make it there until 35 years later. Some forty years after
that memorable weekend she could not even recall the name of her
former fiancé`. He really didn't hold a candle to Jim Brown.
Marjorie says that the nicest thing about her decision to marry
Jim was the feeling she had after making it. She felt such a
peace and assurance that all was well, and that the Lord was
pleased with her. She had no doubts; there was nothing to mar her
feelings that this was the right thing to do.
Jim drove her to El Monte late that Summer, properly chaperoned
by a friend of Marjorie's mother (either Myrtle Welch or Mrs.
Young), where she started her job teaching grade school. She had
contacted the Bishop earlier and he had found her a place to
rent. Jim went back to school in Arizona and worked for El Paso
Natural Gas in the evening, but came down to see her on weekends
as often as he could get away.
Learning About the Temple
One weekend in November he drove Marjorie out to the Los Angeles
Mission Home to get her temple recommend from President Oscar
Mc Conkie. (Prescott Arizona was part of the California Mission at
that time.) They had a terrible time getting there because Hobart
Street, where the mission home was, is one of those broken up
streets that do not go all the way through. They wondered if they‹j‹
were ever going to make it; they'd go down the street a ways,
then it would stop and they'd have to go around and connect with
it again several blocks over. But finally they got there, and it
was situated in a large older building. Pres. Mc Conkie was very
gracious and informative, teaching them about the sacred nature
of the ordinances and their covenants, particularly spending time
with Margie, who had never been to the temple and whose parents
had not gone there to be married either. He had someone sick in
the mission home and asked Jim if he'd ever administered to
someone. Jim said no, he didn't know how to, he didn't think he'd
ever even seen it done before. So Pres. Mc Conkie said, "Here, If
you'll assist me, I'll show you what to do." My father has often
contemplated how many many times since then he has used this
knowledge of administering to the sick in his position as a
physician and church leader.
That week Marjorie took the greyhound bus from El Monte to
Phoenix, then transferred up to Prescott. She worried about her
trousseau getting lost, but the bus drivers were real cute about
making sure that she and her luggage were not separated. They'd
say, "Are you the one getting married? Your suitcase is right
here!"
Marriage
She and Jim met at the courthouse early Friday morning on the
19th of December, 1947, where they picked up their marriage
license and went over to the temple. But she had forgotten to
bring her temple recommend with her. The little man at the
reception desk scolded her so (in a nice way) that she worried
that she might not be able to get married that day after all.
Then he said, "let me look to see if there is a duplicate on file
here." (They used to keep duplicate recommends on file at the
temples you would be attending regularly.) Sure enough, it was
there. Marjorie sighed with relief. Ironically, she forgot to
bring her recommend another time when one of her children was
getting married (Jim, Jr.) and it expired before her daughter
Judy's marriage; however at this time the Bishop and her husband,
who was the stake president, vouched for her.
Her mother Belva did not have a temple recommend, and so said
goodbye to her at the gate to the temple. But her Grandma Wilcox,
who first welcomed her into the world, was on hand along with all
her sisters who worked in the temple with Grandma, to escort
Marjorie through the temple that first time. Her Aunt Peggy and
Uncle Wren were there too as the witness couple. Jim remembers
how beautiful and radiant Marjorie looked kneeling across the
altar from him. The temple president, Pres. Payne, performed the
sealing for them, and gave them some very good counsel that she
and Jim reflected upon many times over the years.
He admonished them to continue their courtship of one another, to
be considerate of each other, to make the other one feel loved,‹j‹
and to keep doing the same things that attracted them to each
other in the first place. Marriage is something that needs to be
worked at; sometimes one works harder at it, and then the other
one does, but it needs to be a 100% commitment from both people
to work. Marjorie and Jim took this advise seriously.
Pres. Payne also counseled them to make a habit of saying family
prayers. While she and Jim tried to say their individual prayers
regularly, they needed this advice because praying together as a
family was not practiced regularly in their parents` homes and it
was difficult at first. They'd be driving along and remember that
they hadn't said prayers that morning and so they'd pull over to
the side of the road and bow their heads. Or they'd be in bed at
night and one of them would remind the other and they'd sleepily
crawl out of bed. But soon it became a tradition in the Brown
home to kneel around the couch in the front room and unite in
prayer and then exchange kisses before separating for various
destinations.
Honeymoon
They left on their Honeymoon to travel through Utah in their 1940
Dodge coupe with little money and lots of faith. They travelled
through a blizzard part of the time on their way to Dushesne to
visit the Tunnells, but were so happy and in love that they
didn't discover that the heater wasn't working until later. But
Marjorie got very homesick on Christmas Eve in their little hotel
room after eating out at a Chinese restaurant. She was so used to
the big family get togethers at the Henderson Ranch where there
was always lots of family, friends, and food around.... and this
time she only had one husband and a tiny lonesome room to sleep
in. She never had a quiet Christmas Eve after that.
Med School and Poverty
Jim bought a little 8` by 27` house trailer and moved it to Five
Points in El Monte. Then Jim went back to ASU to finish up his
last few weeks of Pre-Med. Everyone was very nice to the young
newlyweds. One time everyone in the trailer court helped Marjorie
move it to a better spot without Jim even being there. And
several people brought over dinners and other offerings that
helped their skimpy budget. They kept in touch over the years
with many of the couples that lived in the trailer park with
them.
That Spring and Summer Jim worked for Signal Pipeline
Construction Company and became well acquainted with the
superintendent, Frank Gastlin. Then in the Fall of 1948, Jim
started medical school at the College of Osteopathic Physicians
and Surgeons (now the California College of Medicine at UC
Irvine).
School Teacher
Marjorie continued to teach grade school. She taught fourth grade
for half a year at Mountain View. Then because the district
needed another first grade teacher at a new school, she consented
to do it if she could be allowed to have two weeks to set up her
class room and plan out her curriculum. They let her have two
full weeks by herself in the classroom and when she finally got
her students she only had about fifteen in the class. Because she
had volunteered to do this, the district was always very generous
to her. The following year she requested that she be allowed to
teach at Jenny Baker Tucker school because it was within walking
distance of where they lived in the trailer park, and the school
board said, "What grade would you like?" She decided that she
would like third grade, since that had been her favorite grade in
school. The students were old enough to be able to do things with
but young enough to be influenced. She taught four years
altogether, three of them at Jenny Tucker Baker School. Some of
her pupils later became Jim's patients over the years and she has
kept in touch with many of them. After her oldest daughter was
born, she substituted in the district for half a year while Marva
Payne babysat Johanna; but she decided that this was too hard on
everyone and so stayed home thereafter to raise her family.
Tithing
Jim and Marjorie made many decisions during their early married
years that they felt later determined the great blessings that
came to them. Once, owing $20.00 tithing and only having $20.00
to live on, they debated whether or not to pay it or eat.
Deciding to trust in the Lord, they paid their tithing. That very
day Jim ran into Frank Gastlin, who offered him a job working
Saturdays filling and relighting the gas lamps that the road
crews put alongside the open trenches in the road. It paid time
and a half for one day per week and he worked all four years of
medical school. When studies were heavy, the work was light, and
when their finances were low, he was able to work enough hours to
pay their bills. When he graduated from school and finished
internship, instead of being in debt like so many of his
classmates, he and Marjorie had $2500.00 in the bank after
selling their Penmar house enough for a down payment on another
home. Even during his Internship at $65.00 a month they paid
their tithing and got by. They gained a strong testimony of this
principle, and Marjorie tried to instill this into her children
by always having them pay their tithing first, whenever they
received any money from gifts, allowance or jobs.
Raising A Family
While Jim was Elder's Quorum President, one of his counselors (Ed
Walker) built them a house on Penmar in El Monte. They lived here‹j‹
about four years. It was while they were living here that Johanna
Christine Brown, their oldest daughter, was born. Jim remembers
how Marjorie looked, modeling her first maternity dress. He gave
her a book called "Childbirth Without Fear", which Marjorie read
dutifully. One night she asked Jim what it was like when the bag
of waters broke. He felt around the bed and said, “That's it!"
He called the Bishopric over to assist him in giving her a
blessing, and then drove her to Pomona Hospital where his
instructor (Richard Eby) allowed him to deliver his own child on
August 19, 1951. Marjorie felt like sitting up "Indian style"
during labor, and walked into the delivery room and climbed up on
the table when she was ready. She wanted to walk out afterwards,
but Jim and the doctor wouldn't let her. She said later that she
didn't know any better. This was during Jim's senior year in
medical school. He called his parents to tell them the good news
and went overtime on his phone-call, but the operator, who had
been listening in, congratulated him and did not charge him the
additional amount.
Since they had been married four years before Johanna was born
and then waited three and a half years for Suzanne, they feared
that they would not be able to have many children. But they
didn't need to worry. They soon moved to the little house on
Elmcrest Street, where they brought five more children home from
San Gabriel hospital. Jim delivered each one of them. Suzanne
Marie who was born February 2, 1955. James Cyril Brown, Jr. was
born one year later on February 10, 1956. Judith Caroline Brown
was born 21 months later on November 18, 1957. Charles Thomas
Brown was born 13 1/2 months later on January 1, 1959, and David
Philip Brown was born 22 months later on November 8, 1960.
The youngest five children had less than 7 years between them.
Things were somewhat hectic with six little ones, but they felt
that each child was special and unique. One woman told Marjorie
that she was amazed that there could be such diverse
personalities in the same family. It was a special blessing to
have an even number of girls and boys. Whenever the family went
places the children were paired up by twos, and they frequently
stopped to count noses to make sure no one was lost or left
behind.
Fire In The Mountains
The family had a little two-story cabin north of Glendora in the
San Gabriel mountains. They stayed here frequently and stored
some of their family heirlooms there that wouldn't fit in their
small home in El Monte. Marjorie kept her wedding dress, a
wedding-ring quilt that her mother made and gave her when she and
Jim got married, some furniture (including a rocker, dresser, and
other chairs) that her family had brought across the plains, and
her high school annuals. Jim found an old pump organ and brought
it up there too, and played many hymns and songs on it when the
family was staying there. Late in 1960 there was a bad fire up in
the San Gabriel mountains that threatened the cabin. Jim and
Margie wanted to go up and rescue these heirlooms, but Jim felt
that they shouldn't go, that they might be trapped and unable to
get out in time. Everything was destroyed in the fire. Margie was
heartbroken that so many sentimental treasures were lost.
The Accident
One night early in 1961, Jim had a very poignant dream of little
Charlie saying “bye-bye", and disappearing. He cried, "I can't
let him go!". One Spring morning shortly afterwards while the
family was coming home from a family excursion to look at larger
homes they nearly lost him. They were driving in one of Jim's old
Rolls Royces, a limousine with glass partition between the
driver’s seat and the back. Marjorie usually sat in back with the
children to keep an eye on them, but this time she sat in front
with Jim to visit, and held little David, who was just a baby, on
her lap. She had just told Charlie to get away from the door, and
he jumped up to wiggle the interesting knobby handle as soon as
her back was turned. Suzanne, who was on the way to afternoon
kindergarten, saw him roll on the dirt on the shoulder of the
freeway offramp and she pounded on the glass partition to alert
her parents. Jim stopped the car and ran back to pick him up.
They brought him home and said family prayers. Then Suzy went off
to school and dad went to the office with a warning to mother to
watch him closely.
He seemed fine for awhile, but then his eyes turned cloudy and he
went into a coma. Marjorie called Jim and they rushed him to the
hospital. The doctors determined that he had a concussion and a
four inch long skull fracture in the back of his head where he
was injured. They called K. G. Bailey, one of Jim's Neurosurgeon
instructors to look at him, and they deliberated about operating
on him. Jim and Marjorie pleaded with Heavenly Father to let them
keep him, and Jim remembered his dream, which made sense now.
They called Bishop Cluff to help administer to him and
immediately went into fasting and prayer. Finally he came to.
They felt that this was a very special answer to their faith and
prayers. Marjorie later said "I have been most blessed by The
Lord! Do you know why? Because I am a firm believer in prayer.
Most of my prayers have been for my husband and children or how I
can help them, and when The Lord blesses, guides, and protects my
husband and children, my problems are nonexistent. I have been
most blessed.".....Jim sold that car after this, he could never
really enjoy driving it again after that experience.
First Edition
One day a young man came to the door with a first edition of the
Book of Mormon. He was a member of our church and had several
documents from our church's early history which he had collected
over the years. He was preparing to enter into the service and
needed some money. He heard that the Brown family may be
interested and so came by the house. Marjorie told him to "come
back and see my husband". When he returned the second time, Jim
and Marjorie bought the Book of Mormon for $130.00, a lot of
money to them, but a small price compared to its spiritual wealth
to the family. Over the years it was prominently framed and
displayed over Jim's desk, and treasured for the joy its
teachings and precepts had brought to both Jim's and Marjorie's
families over the generations. There are relatively few first
edition copies known to be in existence today, and even fewer in
good condition like this one was.
The children have many fond memories of the brick-colored little
Elmcrest house: water(c)painting the playhouse; climbing the crab
apple tree; tricycling around the hedges in the front yard;
watching "Wagon Train" with "Wilsie" or Mrs. Wilson, their
favorite babysitter; the bandy chickens and the `possum in the
woodpile; playing superman on the swing set; walking to Frank M.
Wright Elementary school; eating pomegranates from the tree in
the back yard; making snap dragons "talk"; tamales at Christmas
from their next door neighbors, Mack and Bee; cute "Georgie",
Jimmie, and Jarvis Justus, the neighbors with the pool on the
other side (where Suzy almost drowned one time). But they
desperately needed a larger home. Jim wanted one with a view, and
Marjorie wanted a large area for the children to play.
2348 Turnbull Canyon Road, Hacienda Heights
When they told the real estate agent what they wanted, he said he
knew of a home that was coming out of probate and was not on the
market yet. He took them up to see Faye McKnight, whom the
children called "Mrs. Midnight", who was inheriting the home from
her sister and her husband, the Crawfords, who built the large
home in 1939. She said that the home would be available next
week, and that she really wanted to sell it to a large happy
family. She said that she would sell it to them and no one else,
and she never even showed it to another person. They got it at a
very good price and moved in the Summer of 1961. It has been a
choice home for the family for the last twenty-five years.
Marjorie enjoyed making the house into a lovely home.
When finances would permit she would go to antique shops and
auctions, and look through the newspaper for oriental rugs, nice
dishes, furniture, paintings; things that would make the home
inviting and lovely to those who lived and visited therein. She
always seemed to have just the right touch in each room so that
the home gradually became a place of beauty. Later her children
and their spouses and her friends would ask her for advise as to
what would make this room spacious, beautiful or interesting.
Whatever she put her hand to seemed to increase in loveliness.
Several General Authorities from the church visited their home
over the years for stake conference while Jim served in the stake
presidencies of West Covina and El Monte stakes. Many church
members also came for interviews and meetings, and later for
patriarchal blessings when Jim was called to be the stake
Patriarch. With so many people visiting the home, Jim was always
proud to show off his home and family and the wife that made it
all possible. Marjorie was always a gracious hostess, and enjoyed
creating a peaceful, lovely, and orderly home for her family.
The house set on a tree crowned hill over looking San Gabriel
Valley on the front, and a little canyon with a trickling stream
on the other. The nearly eight terraced acres were dotted with
avocado trees that the children loved to climb and claim as their
very own. They ran along the horse trails that creased the ridge
of the canyon, tunneled in the spring grass, made forts in the
overgrown bushes, and stained their clothes with juice from the
blackberries in the wild blackberry patch. They spotted rabbits,
skunks, coyotes, and foxes that ventured up near the house, and
found frogs and fish in the stream.
Fire!
Late Summer in 1963 Jim received a call at the office that the
hill was on fire. As he drove up the road it looked like every
thing was gone. There was a lot of smoke and the fire came very
close to the home. Marjorie knelt and prayed at this time for the
safety of her home and family. Later, the firemen indicated that
the wind shifted and the fire stopped about 100 feet from their
house and went back into the canyon and burned itself out. Later
Charlie told his father that he knew that Heavenly father
wouldn't let the fire burn the house and mommy because he and
“Jimmy-boy" had knelt down and said a prayer too.
Wealth
Jim and Marjorie often introduced their children as their
greatest wealth and treasure. Marjorie said that of all their
accomplishments, they wanted most to see their children happy, to
see them honor their family ties and to teach their own children
the gospel. Whatever else happened didn't really matter. Both she
and Jim wanted their children to stand on their shoulders and
continue the heritage that they had received. For many years
Marjorie gave up her teaching career and developing her artistic
talents in order to raise her children and support her husband.
She believed homemaking to be the best of all careers, and the
loftiest of all arts.
A Christmas Tradition
Marjorie always loved big get togethers at Christmas time, and in
1964, several weeks before Christmas, she asked Jim what he
thought the missionaries were doing Christmas Eve. He asked, and
found out that they had no particular plans, so he and Marjorie
invited all eight missionaries in the district to come for dinner
and a little program. Marjorie prepared a lovely dinner with
turkey, dressing, potatoes and gravy, spiced ham, green beans and
bacon, homemade rolls, green salad, lime jello and applesauce
mold, pumpkin pies, persimmon cookies, popcorn balls, and a tray
of Sees candy and fruit cake. And Jim contributed some of his
famous Christmas pickles that he made for their special friends.
After dinner, Jim read the Christmas Story from the Bible and the
Book of Mormon, read the Message from the First Presidency, and
then called on each missionary and some of the children to bear
their testimony and tell what Christmas meant to them. After that
a Piñata was broken, with much enjoyment, and gifts were passed
out to the missionaries.
It was such a special Christmas event that it soon became a
tradition each Christmas eve, and as news spread throughout the
mission, missionaries from additional districts asked if they
could be included as well. One year nearly thirty missionaries
came, in addition to the Brown family, Grandma, and Jim's office
secretary Ruth Browne. The missionaries always brought such a
special spirit into the home as they told about what Christmas
meant to them serving Christ in the mission field away from their
families for the first time. In spite of the heavy demands placed
on Marjorie, she seemed tireless in her desire to achieve a
wonderful cultural and spiritual experience for the family.
Special Times Together
At least once a year the family went on camping trips together in
a camper they owned or rented. They would visit General
Conference, Gold Country, and Virginia City, San Francisco, the
Sequoias and Yosemite, and Fresno to visit Dr. Van Wagenon and
his family (he was Jim's medical associate for a few years in El
Monte). A special memory was the yearly camping trip to Dinky
Creek with the old North El Monte Ward gang. They also visited
Philmont Scout Camp, Wyoming and Colorado, Aspen Grove Family
Camp in Utah, and of course over to Arizona to visit Jim's folks
in Mesa, Marjorie's sister Norma in Phoenix, her dad in Prescott,
and the Henderson Ranch in Dewey. They took in a lot of the state
and national parks and monuments as well as Indian Ruins in the
SouthWest.
Jim would get up early and drive for awhile until the rest of the
family was up and Margie had made breakfast. Then he'd pull over
and they'd eat and he would rest awhile, then drive on. They
often parked by the LDS chapels or in KOA or state campgrounds.
It was an economical way to travel around with eight people in
the family and it brought a lot of sweet memories together and
good exposure to the children to historical and cultural sights.
Marjorie often instigated these trips and researched and planned
them out way in advance. She would have a thick file on the place
they were to visit and would get the most out of each experience.
Most Memorable Vacation
One of the last big trips the family took together was to the
Cumorah Pageant the Summer before Suzanne went to BYU and after
Johanna was already married. They flew in to Newark, New Jersey,
rented a camper, and drove it over to the Pageant. The family
attended a special testimony meeting in the Sacred Grove with
Elder Mark E. Peterson. Then they drove around upper state New
York all the way to Niagara Falls, and down through Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania, into Washington D.C. to see the new temple and
visit friends. They drove through the Catskill and Appalachian
mountains (where Marjorie’s Jones and Livesay family lived for
many years). They stopped in Nauvoo, Illinois, and Carthage jail
where the Prophet Joseph Smith was martyred. Then the family
crossed the plains and returned home. It was another faith promoting, family binding experience.
Talents
Through the years Marjorie intermittently pursued her artistic
talents and interests. Before David’s birth she had done a little
china painting, and promised her children that as each one got
married they could pick one of the dishes as a wedding gift. She
displayed the dishes in the breakfast room, and the children
enjoyed gazing at them and deciding which one they would someday
choose. After the children were raised she took classes in oil
painting and painted many seascapes, flower arrangements, still
life's, and other assorted subjects in different painting styles.
Many of her paintings now hang in the homes of her children.
Besides painting and antique collecting, she also studied
quilting, flower arranging, architecture and interior design,
genealogy, and the cultures and history of different countries.
Jim always maintained that he would have stayed a simple country
farmer without Marjorie's refining influence. Many were blessed
by her ability to see beauty in things and others. She actively
participated in the local chapter of the California Utah Women
and also a local book club. Always the teacher, she tried to
instill this love of learning and beauty in her children.
From Suzanne
Her daughter, Suzanne wrote, "She is not only beautiful, but she
loves beauty wherever it can be found. Nearly everything she
touched became lovelier: our home, its furnishings, even to a
vase of flowers on the kitchen table. There were always fresh
flowers in our house at least in my memory there are. If there
were none from our garden there were some my father brought to
her. She was always trying to expose us to all that was good and
beautiful. She frequently picked out things of interest around us
and helped us to evaluate and learn from them. We made many
family excursions to museums, parks, historical sites, and other
places of cultural and educational value. She encouraged us in
our music lessons, hobbies and studies. Our home was a learning
center; she had gathered an extensive file on many current topics
as well as many good books, a noteworthy library with some of the
finest literary and church books available."
Church Service
Marjorie enjoyed serving others. Her first calling was working in
the Primary in El Monte. She later worked in the ward and stake
Sunday School Programs. Sister Faye Cluff reminded her recently
of a time when she worked in the Mutual with her in El Monte as
well. When the family moved to Hacienda Heights, she served
mainly on the ward and stake Relief Society boards including
Cultural Refinement Leader and Education Counselor. She even
worked as a Den Mother for a while when Jim was in Cub Scouts.
Perhaps her longest and most conscientiously filled calling was
that of Visiting Teacher; she really grew to love her companions
and the women she taught and served.
Many of her dearest friends were made among those with whom she
worked, including the Five F Club, which stood for family,
friends, food, fun, and fellowship. Once a month they met at each
other's homes for a gospel oriented lesson, socializing and
refreshments. The five couples involved had associated with one
another in various church callings over a number of years.
Besides Jim and Marjorie, there was Murray and Faye Cluff (the
Brown`s Bishop in El Monte), Jim and Nellie Ellsworth (who was a
stake president in Pasadena stake at the time Jim was stake
president of El Monte Stake), Jack and Betty McEwan (who became
temple president and matron), and George and June Olsen, long
time Arcadia friends). This association brought them lots of joy
over the years and great comfort in the months before Marjorie's
passing.
Temple Helper
In her last few years she found joy in working in the temple. She
had several assignments as an ordinance worker and reception
hostess, which she did in a gracious, warm, and queenly manner.
She and her mother also kept all the altar cloths washed and in
good repair. When she noticed a smudge or a rip she would
promptly retrieve the cloth and take it home for mending. She
enjoyed the temple and felt that this was all part of her mission
in life. She felt that it was a privilege to work in the temple
and help unite other families in the larger family of God,
because her own family had been so blessed by the gospel. Like a
diamond in the hands of a master jeweler, the many facets of her
fine personality became brighter, lovelier, more noticeable. Many
people commented on the wonderful spirit she radiated while
working there in the temple.
What Is Life's Greatest Blessing?
One of Marjorie's greatest blessings has been that every one of
her children and their spouses holds a temple recommend and is
worthy to attend the temple. They have all met together to
perform family sealing sessions with Jim serving as the sealer.
The most special of these occasions was when they met together to
perform the ordinance work for her great grandparents, John Jones
and Abby Livesay, and their children. Jim was the sealer, and the
children, Marjorie, her mother, and her sister were proxies for
them. There was a powerful spirit present that brought tears to
everyone's eyes as they performed the sealing of the family
members to each other. We could not help but feel their love for
each other and their desire to be together eternally, as well as
their appreciation to us for making this possible. Jim and Margie
stood together in the sacred temple sealing room and were deeply
grateful that all of their children were present and accounted
for. We felt that John and Abby, and John's first wife Lucinda,
wanted these same blessings in their lives as well.
Europe
Marjorie continued to love places of cultural interest. In
September 1974 she traveled to Europe with her mother and her two
favorite aunts, Peggy Wren and Judy Lind. They went to seven
countries: first to England, then over to Holland where they
picked up a tour group and visited parts of Germany, Hungary,
Switzerland, Italy, and France. In October 1981 she and her
mother went to Egypt and Israel. In Jerusalem they joined an LDS
tour group whose tour guide was Dan Rona, the LDS branch
president in Jerusalem.
She had a warm, tender, loving relationship with her husband Jim.
Each week they would head out on their date to church events,
plays, concerts, the theater, or just dinner. Consideration,
thoughtfulness and kindness was always evident in their
relationship. They enjoyed spending time together. One time she
penned down these words inside a card to Jim:
A Poem Of Love
Yesterday, I loved you.
Tomorrow is a vision
of an eternity together.
And today is a pleasure,
an excitement of time together,
a sweetness of dreams fulfilled.
I love you, dear.
Margie
Traveling
Now that most of the children were married and out of the home,
she and Jim took the opportunity to do a little traveling when
time, church commitments, and Jim's medical practice would
permit. In January 1983 she, Jim, and her mother flew to New
Zealand to sight see and pick up her youngest son David, who was
finishing up his two-year mission for the church. She loved
meeting new people, seeing the sites, and learning about the
history of another country. In August, she and Jim flew to
Georgia, went to the Atlanta temple, drove through the Carolinas,
and then up to the Jones Reunion organized by her dear, newly found cousin Delbert. It was a time of searching out long lost relatives and seeing places she had heard about through the
family for many years.
In Spring 1984 she and Jim had a memorable two(c)week stay in
England. Again she made up an extensive file, thoroughly planned
the trip, and made the most of the two weeks. The highlight of
the trip was visiting the temple in Lingfield and developing a
friendship with the temple president and his wife. They planned
to return again in a few years.
In the Summer of 1985 they flew to Cardston, Canada, attended the
temple there, and drove over to Lake Louise, Vancouver, and
Victoria Island.
Last Picture As A Family
In July, 1986, before they left for China, Johanna and her family
came into stay for a week during July. With Jim staying with them
as well on medical clerkship with the Navy, Charlie home from BYU
Law School for the Summer, David still at home, and Suzanne and
Judy's families within traveling distance it was the first time
all the Browns were together in many years. They planned a Brown
Family Week of activities, with miniature golf for the adults, a
birthday party for Johanna, beach and park trips, swimming and
Bar-B-Q at the Gardiners, and a family portrait for Jim and
Marjorie and their six children (the first time in 20 years). It
was a wonderful time for the family, and the last time they had
to all be together before Marjorie's death.
China
In August 1986, she and Jim went to China with a group of
American Doctors on a goodwill mission. They met the mayor of
Shanghai, were on Chinese television, climbed the Great Wall, and
sailed down the Li River. They had a wonderful time traveling
together, and their sweet companionship was strengthened by their
experiences and memories. This was to be their last trip
together.
Something Is Wrong
Marjorie had been feeling poorly most of the latter part of 1986.
Some of it was her arthritis and kidney trouble (she had kidney
stones removed in Spring 1986), which doctors suspected was
compounded by post-polio symptoms and the beginning stages of
Parkinson's Disease. Then when the pain became unbearable and her
posture became noticeably affected, Jim ordered a biopsy in
January 1987. Cancer in her crushed vertebrae was discovered, but
the source was unknown. The advance seemed to be so rapid that
her family felt that she may have only a few weeks left to live.
One Last Challenge
While in so much pain and discomfort, she read a talk by Pres.
Thomas S. Manson on the Goliaths that we must all face in our
life. She determined that the Goliath that she must face was not
the illness itself, but her reaction to it and the pain, and how
she made others feel around her. She wanted very much to keep a
sweet spirit in our home because she knew that she was the heart
and center of it. All who helped care for her know how she
conquered this Goliath. Often her face would be contorted in
pain, and yet she wouldn't complain, she'd bite her lip and ask
after the welfare of those around her. The Brown family came to
know first hand the great refining process that comes through
suffering, as they watched their beloved mother truly become an
angel on earth.
All Her Dreams Fulfilled
In February, when she understood the serious nature of her
illness, she desired to attend Fast and Testimony Meeting and
bear her testimony to the ward members and her family. Most of
her children travelled to get there and with the help of Jim she
bore a sweet testimony of the divinity of Jesus Christ, the
restoration of the Church, the mission of the prophets down to
the present, and the firm conviction that the purpose of the
gospel is to make us like Christ and unite families together
eternally. She thanked everyone for their prayers in her behalf
and the many kind acts of service by the ward members and she
encouraged them to continue to love and serve one another. She
said that she did not know how much longer she had to live, but
that she hoped that she could continue to serve wherever the Lord
wanted her to. She said that all of the dreams that she had ever
dreamed of as a little girl had come true.
Jim had been wanting to donate their treasured first edition of
the Book of Mormon to the church for some time, and decided that
he would like to do it while Marjorie was still alive. He told
the stake president Jim Smith, of their desire to do this and
Pres. Smith then contacted Elder John Carmack, the church area
president. Elder Carmack then arranged for Jim and Margie to
present the book to President Ezra Taft Benson in person during
the luncheon program before the Fireside for the seminary and
institute students at the Anaheim Convention Center the second
Sunday in February.
A Present For The Church
Pres. Benson, more than any other prophet, has really encouraged
studying the Book of Mormon to increase righteous living in
families. He was greatly moved by the presentation, and spoke for
a few minutes about the Book of Mormon afterwards. David Brown
was able to be there also, and Jim and Marjorie felt that this
was a very special event in their lives. Pres. Jim Smith had a
letter typed to Pres. Benson indicating the Book of Mormon was a
gift from the entire Brown family to the church, and he included
all of the children's names and their spouses. The Latter Day
Sentinel and the Church News carried a little article about the
event, and the family received a nice letter from the First
Presidency thanking them for this valuable contribution.
Priesthood Blessing
The family and many friends fasted and prayed for her and she
received a priesthood blessing from the priesthood leaders in her
Five F Club, blessing her that if it was the Lord's will that she
live, she would be healed; but if not, then she would not suffer
any unnecessary pain. Miraculously, for a few months in the
Spring of 1987, the pain receded and she was able to get out of
bed and get around a little bit. She used the time to sort
through some personal belongings and family history, and we
videotaped her life history with dad and Grandma. This short
respite gave us a chance to mentally prepare to let her go.
Special Sealing Session
It also enabled her to be sealed in the temple on June 6, 1987 to
her father, who was deceased, and her mother, who is still living
in Pomona. This in itself was nothing less than a miracle to have
been approved by the First Presidency of the church in such a
short time, and something which Marjorie always hoped for but
never thought would be possible. This was the culmination of the
temple work begun on the Jones family four years previously. The
family feels that there is a great work going on among the Jones
family in the spirit world trying to reclaim each family member.
Almost immediately after this sacred family ordinance, Marjorie's
health began to deteriorate again. On July 1, she wrote down this
poem to Jim:
"He Says She Says
He says, "I love you"
She says, "Thank you, I need your love"
He says, "I love to look at you"
She says, "I am no longer physically beautiful"
Now that I am ill there is no dignity left
He brushes my hair
He takes my dresses from the hanger and helps me put them on
I say no, that's the back not the front
He puts my hose on
I say pull them up tight, they will bag at the ankles
He washes me in the shower
I say I have lost my independence, and I miss the touch of
your hands
But this is all right
We can talk
We can cry
We can share
We can be together
After almost 40 beautiful years
He says, "I can pick it up, let me bring it to you."
I can do this, I can do that
She says, "I don't want to be a burden"
He says, "I love you."
She says,"Thank you, I need your love, I love you very much"
Beautiful To The Very End
Even in the last week of her life when she wandered in and out of
a dreamland, she was concerned about available beds and room for
everyone. Her sweet spirit made it a special joy and blessing to
care for her. On July 20th, Jim, all of the girls (Johanna,
Suzanne, and Judy), Charlie and his wife, and David flew to
Arizona to conduct and speak at Jim's father's funeral. Before
they left, Jim told Margie to wait for him, and in morning
prayers, they pleaded with the Lord to continue to bless them as
he always had in the past. She had a good day while they were
gone and she was in the care of her mother, Belva, and good
friends Gene Stone, Felice Smith, and Sharon Hartmon. Then on
July 22, at 9:15 pm, she died with her sweetheart holding her
hand.
Special Feelings
We know that she still lives. We have felt her presence at sacred
family ordinances, like the blessing of Julia Yvonne Wooten,
Judy's youngest daughter, on November 1, 1987. We believe that
she is now serving a mission among her father's family, the
Joneses. And just as she so graciously assisted people in the
temple here in mortality, she is no doubt helping them in the
spirit world to accept the gospel ordinances done for them. We
love her and we miss her greatly.
Her influence is still being felt. She lamented once in a Five F
Club Home Evening that she had never brought anyone into the
church. That may have been, yet she helped to make the church a
wonderful place to be. The sweet spirit at her funeral so touched
the hearts of Drs. Hans and Joan Jutner, who traveled to China
with them the year before, that they investigated the church and
Jim baptize them on November 29, 1987.
Remembering Marjorie
Now that Marjorie has been called back to Heavenly Father, the
legacy she leaves with us is her conviction of the restored
gospel and its purposes, her appreciation for beauty in the world
around her, and her family values and commitments; all these burn
brightly in the hearts of her family. She had high expectations
for herself and others. She will be remembered by those who knew
her as someone who loved beauty and was full of knowledge; she
developed her teaching and artistic talents; she was an excellent
listener who genuinely cared about those around her; she was a
caring mother; she was a dutiful wife who had a sweet loving
relationship with her husband; she truly believed that the
purpose of the gospel is to make us like Christ and unite
families forever: this is what she leaves behind in our
memories, and what she takes with her to share with those on the
other side.
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