Life Story of Ruth Elizabeth Proctor-Part Eleven

Written by

Ruth Elizabeth Proctor Cook

Cleo and Ruth

When Kay and Carla were married, they had a lovely garden reception.  In September 1972. Cleo and I spent Labor Day weekend up in Island Park in our camper.  Cleo decided to go across a river bottom that was dried up instead of staying on the road, and did we ever get stuck.  He had to walk to Alpine, Wyoming, to get someone to come to pull us out with a wrecker.  The fellow who pulled us out said we weren't the only ones who had tried to do that same thing.  He made good money pulling people out.  I told Cleo for heaven's sake to stick to the roads, we couldn't afford that trick too many times.  We still had fun and the camper was nice. 

Cindy, Theron, Max, Darrell, Kay

We always have a family gathering on Christmas Eve.  The year of 1972, we met at Mark and Lois' home.  We exchanged gifts of names that were drawn.  We would have something to eat, and sometimes old "Santa Claus" would make an appearance to the kids' delight.  This was the last year that Cleo was with us.

Cindy, Mike, Joyce, Lynette and Max

Mark, Lois, and Theron

Cleo shoveling snow-1972

In our home here in Menan, we have a large tree in front of our north window.  On the morning of 30 December 1972, I started to take our tree down as the limbs seemed quite dry.  Cleo had gone to get hay for our milk cow down at Raymond's north of Menan.  When he got home, he was planning on going fishing with John Swager.  Darrell was to have gotten hay earlier in the week but his basketball practices kept him from doing so.  So his friend Dee Raymond said he would go with Cleo.  He went over to get Dee and there was no answer when Cleo knocked on the door.  So he came back home, came in to the house and told me.  I called Dee on the phone and let it ring until he answered.  Before Cleo went out the door he came to me and put his arms around me and said "I love you very much, honey."  That is what he generally called me.  Then he went out to his pickup.  I was watching him from the window.  He sat there awhile, then came back in and said the same thing again.  I told him I loved him too.  I also told him that as soon as my visiting teacher partner came we would be going teaching, for him to drive carefully when he and John went fishing and not to be too late in getting home.  Lois was my partner.  We were over to Merle Jenkin's place.  It was about 11:00 a.m. and I kind of shuddered.  Merle ask me if I was cold.  I told her you know that old saying that someone was walking over a grave.  They all laughed and so did I.  I came home to finish taking the tree down, when I saw our pickup pull up in front of our home and it was loaded with hay.  Across the lawn came Theron, Dee and Terry Fullmer.  I just knew something had happened to Cleo.  I met them at that door.  I asked Theron if it was his dad.  He told me to come and set down.  I told him no.  I wanted to know where Cleo was.  I looked at Dee and Terry and they were crying.  Theron had been.  I knew then that Cleo would not be coming home. any more.  Theron told me that Dee and Cleo had loaded the hay.  Cleo was driving and they were talking.  Then Cleo just leaned his head back and seemed to take a deep breath.  Dee grabbed the steering wheel and got the pickup stopped.  It was between Clifton Rhodehouse's home and the corner.  Dee said he laid Cleo down on the seat and run to Fullmer's.  Terry was out in their yard and saw Dee running and waving to him.  He went to meet him.  They got Cleo to lean on Terry and Dee drove to the hospital in Idaho Falls. 

Cleo-1972

Theron was working in the hospital painting the rooms, when Dee run into get help, he saw Theron.  They got out to the pickup with a stretcher and Theron said when they laid Cleo on it he knew he had been called to his Heavenly Home.  When they told me all of this the next thing I knew I was laying on the couch and he was kneeling beside me.  I suppose I just fainted for awhile.  Theron just took over.  He called Lois and Mark, Max and Joyce, Franklin and Ilene and Kay and Carla who were on a trip in California with her folks.  They came back on a plane with the help of Kay’s sister, Lois.  When Darrell came home from basketball practice, the kids met him at the door and told him about his dad.  For a long time Darrell blamed himself.  He thought if he had gone and gotten the hay it would have never happened to his dad.  We all told him it wouldn't have made any difference for it was Cleo's time to be called home.  Bruce Eckersell told us that had Cleo came through that massive heart attack, he probably would have been bed ridden and wouldn't have known any of us.  So there are a lot of things worse than death.  People started coming to our home and we received phone calls as soon as the word got out about Cleo.  Food was brought in and people offered to help any way they could.  Wayne Poole and Sock Raymond were among the first to come to my home.  All of Cleo's family that were around here came. 

Funeral Service cover

Funeral Service Program

When we had Cleo's services, some of my family came from Utah: Atha and Opal Staker, Annie and George Jaynes, George and Libby Proctor, Jay and Maydia Staker, Dick Staker, Mark and Paula Staker, Barbara Staker, Inez Whitehouse and Dorothy Proctor.  Now the day was something to behold.  It was very cold, windy and snowy.  I don't remember too much that went on that day only I was told it was a very large service, lots of beautiful flowers and I received a lot of money also which surely helped.  Atha and Annie stayed with me for a while.  The rest of their families went back to Utah.  After the funeral they had a wonderful meal at the church.  The food was given by members of the ward and served to us.  Atha seemed to pick up something and she got very sick, so Darrell took them down to Idaho Falls and put them on a plane so they could go back to their homes.  

Head Stone