Donald Jack Roberts

At the end of summer, September 3, 1927, a baby boy was born to Donald Roberts and Mae Lapreal Lee Roberts. He was their first born. They named him Donald Jack Roberts. He would be the older brother of 3 other children. It was a painful and joyous day. Jack was birthed by his grandmother, Rebecca Ann Alexander Lee who was a midwife. Donald and Mae had traveled from Beaver to her parent’s home for the birth of their baby. At birth he was blue and did not breathe. He was laid on a blanket at the foot of the bed and given up for dead. His mother was beside herself with grief and cried over and over that he was alive. Finally, his grandmother picked him up and took him to the kitchen where she and his great grandmother worked together bathing him first with warm water and then cold water. At length, to everyone’s joy he began to breathe and the blue faded into life.

Donald and Mae lived with Donald’s family in Beaver, Utah for a time. Generations of the Roberts family had lived in Beaver, so Jack grew up with lots of family around and cousins to play with. He was raised in the faith of his forefathers, the Mormon faith. He was a scout and received the priesthood when he was 12. He knew at a very early age that God was real and he had a Savior. Gazing at the stars one night, being a very young boy, he had a very real confirmation of God’s reality and it stayed with him through his life.

Jack’s father, Donald found work at the Grand Canyon and when he returned home they were able to buy a little log house on the other end of the block from Donald’s parents. It took some work to make the inside of the log home livable. Jack’s mother used orange crates to create a little table and chairs for the family and dressed them with pretty fabric.

As a young boy, Jack had his tonsils out, was circumcised and had a tooth pulled all at the same time. Something he did not forget.

Jack was happy and grew up running the fields of Beaver, Utah. His first 13 years of life in Beaver were his very happiest. He romped and played in the green fields and fished in the streams and learned to help the family. He carried a rifle and hunted rabbits from the time he was about 8 years old and became a good shot. Sometimes there would be a bounty on rabbits when they were over running the crops and they would pay 5 or 10 cents for ears. He would make a little money that way.

Jacks’ grandfather, William Herman Roberts, lived on land that been homesteaded by his grandparents, Jack’s 2nd great grandparents. Jack spent time working with him in the hayfields, for he only lived a short distance away from him. During the harvest the famers would leave a portion of the crop in the corner of the field for those in the area that may need food. No one went hungry. Grandfather Roberts taught Jack to drive a team of horses when he was 11. One day Jack’s Grandfather handed him reins and got out of the wagon to talk to a neighbor. Jack became nervous and pulled back too hard on the reins and the horses would not stop backing up. Grandfather had to run and jump in the wagon and rescue him. He learned to manage the wagon and was proud of it. His family traveled by wagon when he was young. Only the wealthier people owned cars, such as the doctor in town. In the evening, Jack’s grandfather would sit on the porch with him and sing. Jack loved listening to his pleasant voice as he sang old songs. Jack never knew his grandmother as she died of Typhoid Fever in an epidemic that hit Beaver in 1909.

Jack’s father became a carpenter by trade. Sometimes work would be scarce and he would have to travel and work for a while. In 1940, when Jack was 13, his father got a job in San Diego, CA helping to build military housing. The family, including Grandfather Roberts, packed up and moved to San Diego. It was a tremendous change from the small town of Beaver. Grandfather Roberts had never been out of Beaver. He was getting old and the move was very unsettling for him. He was never quite the same after the move. He died while Jack was still a teenager. Jack dearly missed the fields and hunting and everything about the country life they had left behind.

During Pearl Harbor, WWII, one night in San Diego on the block Jack’s family was living on, there was an explosion up the street when a stove blew up in a restaurant. Everyone ran into the street screaming, thinking it was a bomb. Jack’s mother, Mae, ran a skating rink for a while and a lot of young Army soldiers and young women would spend time there on the weekends.

Six weeks before graduating from high school, Jack decided to quit school. He was drafted into the Army in September, 1945. He did his basic training at Ft. Lewis, Washington and was then stationed at Bushenell hospital in Brigham City, Utah as a medical aid. The Government closed Bushenell Hospital and he was transferred to Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center in Denver, Colorado. One of his final assignments was working on the Tuberculosis ward at Fitzsimmons hospital. He was required to sit with the men who were terminally ill. One night he had to literally hold an oxygen mask on a dying man as his sisters wept. It proved to be too much for him. He refused to go back. He was disciplined by being restricted to his barracks for 2 weeks. He spent the remainder of his service time there, and was discharged honorably from the army on the 17th day of August, 1947.

While stationed in Denver, Jack met Mary Belle Glenn. They dated and were married on the 5th day October, 1947. They stayed in Denver for a short time, and then moved to Beaver, Utah. Jack’s parents had moved back to Beaver, Utah so Jack and Mary moved to Beaver and jack helped his Father on the farm until after their first child, Donald Ray Roberts was born. They then moved to Salt Lake City, Utah where Jack got a job working as a mechanic. They lived in Salt Lake from 1948 to 1952. Two more children were born – Richard Lee Roberts on June 29, 1949 and Mary Roxine Roberts on June 1, 1951. Jack was able to get a job working in Tooele, Utah, making more money, so the family packed up and moved into a small home Tooele, Utah.

Mary became extremely homesick for Denver. When her mental health was threatened, Jack quit his job, packed all their belongings in an old little trailer, loaded the family and on a wing and a prayer headed for Denver, Colorado.

Jack and Mary lived in a little shack by her Mother’s house for a little while. It was a tiny little building, very rustic and not well built. One night it rained heavily and water poured under the front door flooding the little shack. It left water marks on some of the furniture and was very discouraging. There were mice in the little shack. The kids did not mind, they loved watching them and feeding them cereal in the mornings, but Jack was not happy about it. He spent the days looking for work. Mary cared for the three little ones.

Eventually, they rented a little home in Southwest Denver. Jack went to Gates Rubber Company seeking a job. Gates manufactured tires, rubber belts, etc. Not being a high school graduate made it difficult. Jack had taken a mechanical drawing class in high school which proved to be a great help. With his mechanical drawing skill he was able to draw a mechanical part that he was asked to reproduce at his interview. The interviewer was impressed and hired Jack. His starting pay was $1.78 an hour, and he and Mary were thrilled. Jack spent the next 34 years working hard in the factory, repairing machines and making suggestions for improvements in production. He was awarded several times for his suggestions that proved to save the Company time and money. He was extremely talented when it came to machines. He could simply listen to a machine, and decipher the sounds and tell what was needed to repair it. His gift was extremely valuable to the Company. He was able to pass some of that knowledge on to his sons.

One day when money was scarce, Jack and Mary were driving down the street with their children wishing they had money for a drive in movie. They had a little bit, but needed one more dollar to pay their way in. As they drove along wishing for that dollar, one blew across the road in front of the car. They were excited and used it for a movie that night.

Having a home of their own seemed like a dream they could never reach. After looking at some brand new little brick homes in a new development on the western edge of the city, the builder decided to let them move into a home on the condition they have the $500 down saved in six months. They moved in, but money was tight and they were not able to save the money. When the man came to see them about it, he must have had a gentle heart, as he handed Jack the $500 when they told him they had been unable to save it, and told them to pay it. They were forever grateful to that man for helping a struggling young family have a home. They lived in that home for the remainder of their lives, lovingly caring for it and building a homestead for their children.

Trials came when Mary became ill with her 2nd bout of Rheumatic Fever. She was sick with high fever and the Dr. was called to the home. She was taken to the hospital in an ambulance and it was a month before she gained her strength back.

Two more children were born to Jack and Mary, Starline Ann Roberts born October 17, 1958 and Steven Jay Roberts born June 2, 1964. Life was busy and full.

Jack and Mary were active members of their church. Besides his work at the factory and caring for his home and cars, etc. he also served in many different ways in the church. He taught classes, helped the Scouts, and served on several Stake Missions as a Missionary baptizing many people into the faith as well as serving in Bishoprics and eventually becoming a Bishop. He and Mary also served a full time mission California for 18 months. His heart was faithful and he gave all he had to his family and his callings in the Church. He was a spiritual man and shared very special spiritual experiences with his children which they treasure. Many times he used his priesthood in faith and laid his hands on sick children and on his wife to heal. He was a good example for his children, always.

Mary discovered she had breast cancer. God blessed the family greatly and Dr.’s were able to get all of it. Jack’s faith sustained him through every trial that beset the family.

Jack was a quiet man, who sometimes could be misinterpreted and people could assume he was unfriendly. He was a family man. He enjoyed being home and tinkering on cars, fixing them up. He could be found loading bullets in the basement of the home. Hunting and fishing remained a love throughout Jack’s life. He had hunted with his Father and Grandfather and he passed that love onto his own sons. Yearly they would head for the hills and hunt deer which helped provide meat for the family and his son’s families, creating lifetime memories for them all. It was hard when he became older and had to finally admit he did not have the strength for the hikes.

The hands that could fix cars and machines care for his home and family, hunt and fish, could also sew doll clothes. He could be found sitting with his older daughter, helping her sew tiny clothes for her Barbie doll. She could not have been more delighted with any store bought doll clothes than she was with the ones sewed by her father’s hands.

When Jack retired from Gates Rubber Company after 34 years, he and Mary were able to travel. They bought a trailer and would travel to see children and grandchildren that lived away. They were blessed with trips to Germany and Hawaii, and a delight for Jack was traveling to Alaska to visit his oldest son and experience the great beauty and the fishing!

Life brought many trials and difficulties, as well as many joys to Jack and his family. He overcame each and every one and continued to counsel and guide his family. When Jack was 82, his youngest son, Steven Jay Roberts, died unexpectedly during the night in his home. It would have been a painful and draining experience for a young man, but in his old age he submitted himself to God’s will to call his son home before he himself was called. His faith and that of his Fathers got him through.

Special spiritual experiences were part of Jack’s life. He would speak often, as he aged, about the wonder of the Lord’s blessings in his life. He spoke of a time when he was hunting in the hills. He was near a cliff. When he spied a deer he turned to shoot and fell backwards off the cliff, feeling hands catch him and regain his footing on the mountain, when actually there was no one there. He spoke of visions that came to him at work, when he would be praying and struggling with the trials of life.

As failing health came upon him in his later years, Jack always somehow managed to keep his outlook hopeful, even through the difficult pain of osteo-arthritis, surgery for a broken hip and a torn esophagus.

Jack is dearly loved and cherished by each of his five children, including the one gone on before him. He was a pioneer in his own right and forged the way for those who came after him and his family will be eternally grateful for his example and guidance and love. He gave his life in every way he could and for those he loved. His family is eternally grateful.

Don and Mary together again, forever.