The
decision to go back to school was definitely inspired, and I have often thanked
the Lord for His prompting me to do so. Not only do I feel better about myself
for finishing my schooling, but if I had bought a truck, I would have been out
of a contract for it within a year after purchase. Thell and Lyman soon found
their trucks scheduled for fewer and fewer trips because the dispatcher put
several of his own trucks on for Dubuque and he would schedule his trucks
around them. They soon had to sell their trucks.
I
enrolled for the winter quarter at BYU in January, 1954. We found a basement
apartment in Henry’s home in Provo and moved our belongings and family there.
The apartment only had one or two little windows near the ceiling, and so it
was a very depressing place for Helen and Morris.
I
let DeLance help me choose the classes I should take the first quarter, and he
really did a number on me. He suggested that I take an algebra class, an
English class, and accounting class, and then two or three other classes. For
someone who had been out of school for seven years, that was a mighty taxing
course. My algebra and accounting classes kept me up until midnight every
night, and on weekends, I had to study all day Saturday and Sunday, taking time
out to eat and go to Church only.
I
made it through the first quarter getting B’s and better. We were able to get
an apartment in the old Wymount Village marrieds’ center. They had moved about
ten two-story army barracks in an area just east of the campus, and we got a
one bedroom apartment in one of them. Kim was born on May 23, 19--, and we were
able to get a two bedroom apartment in which we lived for the next two and
one-half years.
I
had to work hard and long hours to keep up a B+ average as I found it very
difficult to compete with the smart returned missionaries and youth just out of
high school. I was called as the ward clerk in the BYU Wymount Branch, and that
took all day Sunday to keep up with the typing of all tithing receipts and
payment of all bills. We had 200 families living in the Wymount Branch, and I
think that most of them paid tithing once a week. The Wymount Branch was the
first BYU branch, and after about a year or so, they changed us to the first
BYU ward, and I served under the bishop as ward clerk.
We
found it difficult to live on the G.I. Bill, and this was compounded when Kim
was born and we didn’t have any health or group insurance. I had scoured Provo
and Orem looking for a job, but with 10,000 students at BYU, jobs were scarce.
Service stations only paid 60-75 cents per hour, and I couldn’t even get one of
those jobs. I finally went to Central Utah Block and told Sterling Jacobsen,
the owner, that I would go to work for him for a couple of weeks without any
guarantee of pay, and after that, he could pay me whatever he felt it was worth
or let me go. He agreed and seemed pleased with my work and paid me about $2
per hour as I recall. I did the mechanical maintenance work on his delivery
trucks, fork lifts, drag lines, and block making equipment. I worked some
evenings and then all day Saturday, and when equipment broke down, I worked
some Sundays. After a year or so, he moved me into his office as their
accountant. During this time, I had to sell our five acres of land in LaVerkin
to meet all of our bills and stay in college.
Brad
was born on Christmas day, December 25, 19--. That was sure great timing as I was
able to tend the other children while Helen was in the hospital, and she was
home by the time the winter quarter started. By going to summer school, I was
able to graduate in June, 19--, with a B.S. Degree in Accounting and with Minor
Degrees in Finance and Banking and in Economics.
 |
| DuWayne's BYU graduation with Helen holding Brad MJ and Kim |
Just
before graduation, DeLance told me about a job a friend had told him of in Salt
Lake City for Bish’s Sheet Metal Works. I made an appointment to visit with T.
A. “Bish” Horne, the owner, and Helen and I drove up to his place on Millcreek
Road. We sat out in front and both had sick feelings about leaving Utah Valley,
and so we agreed that we didn’t want to accept the job but would show Mr. Horne
the courtesy of hearing him explain it to us. Bish was very gracious, and we were
very impressed with his beautiful home which he had just moved into within the
last year. Bish said that if I wanted the job, he would start me out at $5,000
per year. That was considerably more than I was making at Central Utah Block
Co. and the most any of the CPA companies were offering was $3,600 per year to
start.
Bish
did a good selling job, and we accepted his offer. He even told us we could
borrow one of the company trucks to move from Provo. When I told Sterling
Jacobsen that I had a good offer and would be leaving his firm after
graduation, he was very upset and did much ranting and raving. When I told him
how much I would be making at Bish’s, he said that he would bet that the job
wouldn’t last very long. I really felt guilty about leaving him as he had
really helped me get through school.
 |
| DuWayne worked at Bish's Sheet Metal from 1956 to 1995 |
Helen
and I spent the next three weekends in Salt Lake City looking for a home we
could afford. The more we looked, the sicker we felt about leaving Utah Valley.
Finally, we drove out to Bountiful, and we both immediately felt that this is
where we wanted to live. We found our present home and made an offer of $16,000 which was accepted. We began to move our
furniture (what there was of it) into the home, and we had just moved in when
Mr. Swain called us and said that the bank had turned down our application for
a mortgage loan since we didn’t make sufficient income to satisfy the mortgage.
I was sick and astounded, and so Helen and I talked to the banker. He explained
that since we hadn’t bought anything on time (credit), he couldn’t get a good
credit report on us. I told him about our buying the home and land in LaVerkin
and how the payments were just over $100 per month and my income was only $130
per month and we never missed a payment. I finally convinced him that it would
be easy for us to make the $86 per month payments on this home.
At
the time we moved to Bountiful, it had a population of around 5,000. With all
the wide open spaces and farmland, we had the feeling we were back in a town
like LaVerkin.
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