Lloyd Jones
submitted by: Vera Day
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My report is about my great grandpa Lloyd. I really wanted to write about him because he was in the Navy and I don’t have a lot of relatives that were in the military. He lead a very cool life, had a lot of jobs and had a lot of really funny experiences!
Lloyd Jones was born on February 5th, 1928 in Castle Dale, Utah. Lloyd’s parents were Lindley and Rebecca Jones. They were very nice but poor. His family lived in a wooden cabin with no bathrooms or showers. They had to go outside to go to the bathroom! Inside there was a stove, an oven, a table, and just 4 beds! They had to sleep 3 people on a bed! Lloyd had a great childhood but he had to walk or ride a horse to school because his parents couldn’t afford a car. He only made it to 10th grade and never did graduate high school or go to college.
When Lloyd was a teenager he and his friends sometimes stole some gas from other cars to fill up his friend’s car so they could go to dances. Lloyd would often ride 12 miles on a horse just to see his girlfriend! It was a good thing he did because they eventually got married!
Lloyd had quite a few funny stories from his life. For instance, Lloyd loved to hunt, fish and camp. One time Lloyd was driving and he had a gun strapped to the side of the car because he was going hunting. When he was driving they went over a speed bump and his gun accidentally went off and shot his sister-in-law on the leg! Thankfully she wasn’t hurt badly. My favorite story to hear was when Lloyd snuck some eggs in his coat pockets. His dad knew that eggs were in Lloyd’s pockets and asked if he had any eggs in his coat. Lloyd said, “No.” His dad patted the pockets very hard, breaking the eggs and making a mess.
In his life Lloyd had many jobs. He wanted to do something holy for his church, so he helped build some temples. He also worked as a blacksmith and janitor. He spent most of his time working in mines. He worked in a coal mine with his two brothers. He had 13 siblings and I guess they didn’t want the job. The pay was very low. Lloyd worked at about four different mines during the first part of his life and worked in the coal mines for a total of about 8 or 9 years. While working in the mines, Lloyd did all sorts of jobs like laying track, running drilling machines and driving the shuttle car. A few years later, Lloyd’s parents went off to a mission for their church. To get some more money, Lloyd ran their grocery store. His house was right by the store and one day the house caught on fire! The house burned down along with the store.
In 1946 at the age of 18, Lloyd joined the Navy to fight in World War II with his twin brother, Floyd and his other brother, Clay. Lloyd was stationed in San Diego, California. Lloyd got $50 per month and gave his mom $40 to support her. Lloyd was released after 8 months when the war ended. He earned the “World War II Victory” medal.
A few years after coming home from the Navy, Lloyd married his high school sweetheart, Yvonne Litster. They eventually moved to Toole, Utah where they lived the rest of their lives. They had 5 children but sadly lost one of their sons to a heart attack when he was only 34 years old. Yvonne and Lloyd were married almost 61 years before he died at age 81 from heart complications. He lived a great life and came a long way from being very poor and living in his log-cabin to becoming a financially stable and loving grandpa. I wish I could have met my great grandpa but I’m grateful to learn all about him!