Tribute to Garth

At the conclusion of the funeral for Garth L Childs, in Huntington on Thursday, May 19, I was grateful for many the many comments made from the pulpit and from those who came to his viewing and funeral as they shared their thoughts as we gathered to celebrate his life.

I for one, was particularly grateful that I had grown up thinking of him as brother and that he allowed me to be "Big sister" though we were only first cousins. I was happy to have been a small part of his earthly life and to have the happy memories that I do. He was so beloved by me, my husband and my children. He was greatly loved by his family and his community. A large group of people who were family and friends gathered and others, who could not be in attendance, sent messages of love and condolence.

I am grateful for his example. He has been a loving husband, father, grandfather, son, brother, uncle, cousin and friend.

I am grateful for his service to his God, his country, and to his fellowmen. He is a man who knew how to love. He has always been willing to volunteer his time and efforts to help others. I am grateful for his example of what it means to be a dedicated servant and of what it means to live a Christ-like life.

As pain became his physical companion, his spirit became ever stronger. I appreciate his example of enduring faithful to the end. He was always a kind and gentle soul and he became more so.

We are grateful for the lessons he taught us. He lived life and his personal relationships and taught us to do the same. He never asked, "What can others do for me?" but, "What can I do for others?" He loved the beauty of the world and, through his eyes, we saw that beauty.

He taught us what it means to be happily married and what it means to cherish and be cherished by a companion.

He was a father to be grateful for and a grandfather to cuddle.

Thought we will miss him, we would not have him suffer more pain. He has been through the refiner's fire.

We ask only that we remember and cherish all the happy days we spent together. We ask, in particular, that our Father in Heaven will help us to live our lives in such a way that we may be with him when our lives end. We ask that we may be helped to follow his example and to be worthy to live with him in eternity.

How thankful I am for the plan of salvation that sent our Savior to this earth to die for each of us that we may be forgiven of our sins and once again to live with our Father, our Savior and our loved ones for all eternity.

Garth L Childs Obituary

Garth L. Childs

Garth L. Childs

HUNTINGTON-Garth L. Childs, age 67, returned to Heavenly Father on May 15, 2011 in Price, Utah. He was born March 10, 1944 in Price, Utah to Max L. and Vivian Renee Smith Childs. He was sealed to Alyce Grace Geary on June 18, 1971 in the Manti Temple.

Garth graduated from North Emery High School and also attended two years at College of Eastern Utah. He served an honorable mission in the Hill Cumorah Mission in New York and Pennsylvania. He also served his country in the US Army during the Vietnam War from 1964-1968 and served with the Utah National Guard during Desert Storm from Jan. 24, 1991-June 18, 1991. He was an EMT for more than 20 years with the Huntington Volunteer Fire Dept. where he worked for more than 35 years and became Fire Chief before retirement. He was a member of the Emery County Jeep Posse and the Utah Army National Guard. He served in the church as a Boy Scout Leader, a Stake Mission President, Elders Quorum President, Counselor in the Bishopric, Young Men's President and on the Stake High Council. Garth had worked for the Emery County School District, and also was a member of the American Legion and the Mine Rescue Team. He was named as Emery County "Person of the Year" in 1998, and Tri State Rocky Mtn. "Man of the Year" in 2002. Most importantly he was a good husband, father, grandfather, and servant of the Lord who endured to the end.

Garth is survived by his beloved wife Alyce Childs of Huntington, his four children: Kimberly Anne and Shayne Monson of Kingman, Ariz., Kristine Kate and David Bird of Huntington, Utah, Kevin Jeremiah M. Childs of Gresham, Ore., Kalvin David and April Childs of Washington, Utah, three grandsons, Kameron Monson, Derek Childs, and Connor Childs and four granddaughters, Kaira Monson, Grace Childs, Desiree Childs, and Kadrianne Bird. Garth is also survived by his brother, David and Kim Childs of Tacoma, Wash., his sister Myrna and Leonard Trauntvein of Nephi, Utah, and a sister-in-law Denise Allen of Emery, Utah. He was preceded in death by his parents, a brother Richard Childs, and an infant sister.

Friends may call for a visitation at the Heritage Funeral Home at 620 N. Main St. in Huntington on Wednesday May 18, 2011 from 6-8 pm. Funeral Services will be held on Thursday, May 19, 2011 at 11 a.m. at the Huntington Stake Center on 100 North Main Street in Huntington. Burial with military honors from the Huntington American Legion will follow in the Huntington City Cemetery under the trusted care of the Heritage Funeral Home.

Friends may sign the guest book for the family on line at www.heritagefuneralhomeut.com. 

Brother has gone home!

My beloved cousin/brother died this morning. I call him brother because, as children, we were together as one family. After my mother's death, when I was 11-months old, I went to stay with my grandmother, a full-time elementary school teacher. My Aunt Renee, my mother Elaine's only sibling, and her husband shared their two-bedroom apartment with us. Therefore, we lived as a family. Garth was born when I was three--my birthday in December and his in March. My great-grandmother was going to be my caregiver while my grandmother was teaching, however, she fell and broke her hip. My grandmother was the principal of the Wattis school at the time of my mother's death but gave up that position to teach in Price. Aunt Renee and Uncle Max lived in Price. World War II had started. My father went to war. 

Aunt Renee was the one who potty-trained me and provided daytime care. Garth was born when I was three and I thought he was the best thing since the creation of the world. I held him and patted him and, probably, drove Aunt Renee crazy. He was always my prince. After a time, my great grandmother came back to be with us. There was no room in a three-bedroom house for all of us. We moved to a small rented house nearby and Garth, later David, and when I was age 11, Richard, continued to spend countless hours together. I was "Big Sister" to all of them and I took my responsibility seriously. I bossed them around and they, mostly, complied. We played like brothers and sister and, we thought, we were. How I love those boys (now men) who have always been there for me. 

I cannot help but be sad that they are leaving and I am the one left--the oldest. Just David and I remain because cancer has claimed Richard and, now Garth. I cannot cry too much because it was time. Daily pain is a terrible thing.

Childhood Friends

One day, when I was a pre-schooler, my next-door neighbor friend, Frank Ruzzuto, who was near my age, was playing with the rest of the neighborhood gang and my boy cousins.

The cousins would, most likely have just been Garth and David. Cousin David was just a baby and Richard was not born until I was 11.

At any rate, Frank decided that he would pretend to be the father and would go to the store in the family car. The car was sitting in front of his house and, of course, was unlocked. (I don’t think people locked anything back then. At least, none of the people I knew did.)

I climbed into the front seat on the passenger side. I was always the gullible one. 

Frankie, whether on purpose or by accident, did something to the shifting column that allowed the car to move forward. 

We lived on the south side of Carbon Avenue in Price, Utah, at the time. The roadway sloped towards the end of town. Of course, we started rolling, gaining momentum as we went. 

I don’t know, to this day, whether Cousin Garth, a couple of years younger than I, just screamed or whether he actually ran to get Aunt Renee. Perhaps it was neither and the noise of the other neighborhood kids alerted her or, perhaps, knowing how children behave, she just looked out the window to check on us, 

Whatever caused her to know about the danger, she responded. She came running alongside the car, jerked the door open, slammed on the brake and slid behind the wheel of the car in what seemed one fluid motion.

Thankfully, the car stopped. She then moved it back to the side of the street and got the two of us out. 

Mrs. Ruzzuto claimed Frank and I was taken into my own house. I was scolded, told never to get in a car without an adult inside ever again and had to sit in the corner for what seemed like forever. 

Needless to say, I didn’t ever quite trust Frank again. I did, however, trust his sister, Mary, and his little brother. 

Still, with all that, Frank and Mary managed to cause trouble for all of us once again. 

We used to love to eat Jell-O powder. We would get a package from one of our parents and would open it and pour a bit into one hand. Then we would lick it off and repeat the process until the Jell-O was gone. It was easy to share a package. You just poured some into your friend’s hand and they licked it away.

One day, when we were all outside playing together, Mary and Frank came outside with orange-flavored Jell-O. It was a bit lighter in color than the usual orange we were used to but not enough to really attract special attention.

After we consumed the Jell-O, we all found out that what we had really eaten was permanent wave powder.

My goodness! We all had excited adults at that point. 

It seems that Frank and Mary climbed up into the cupboard and got what they thought was Jell-O. The lesson: always let an adult get the treat down. Don’t be sneaky.

Dr. John Frank Colombo, the family doctor of most of us, was called and each of us had to drink lots of milk. That was usually fine, we all liked milk, but in this case it was punishment and all of us were unhappy and unwilling. It must have worked, however, because we all lived.

Mother Mine

A word about mother not said before?

She’s been praised, berated, celebrated

And sometimes ushered out of the back door.

It’s true that If she weren’t always related

She would certainly be less of a boar.

Somehow, most days, we find that we love her.

Though she cries at church when her children speak

About her and would most often prefer

If the talk given was not a critique 

And had left some of her worst traits a blur.

Pity mother, we can’t live without her,

(To who else falls the mundane and diapers?)

And even though she is an amateur,

We wonder, if she were left to vipers,

Who would chauffeur, confer, or just concur?

Who’d pay the piper and be the dish wiper

If mother were missing, gone from our lives?

Who’d be the baker, the cookie maker,

Who’d keep the archives and give the high fives,

Buy ice cream and be birthday cake writer? 

We honor mom for prizing age thirteen,

That time when each new teen is always right.
Dear mom, who treats each burst with insight keen
And gently leads us 'til we see the light
While helping us to learn to be serene.

As we grow older we soon discover,
That she will leave soiled dishes in the sink
To babysit and to rediscover
That precious, intelligent, missing link
Who made her an angelic grandmother.

So one more praise for mother, this day’s queen,

Who loves her gifted children and their dad.

Who works to keep things clean and intervene

When all the world is sad and dark and bad
And never, no never, causes a scene.

Copyright by Myrna Trauntvein

Praise Mom

For her gift of human birth,

For her gift of loving heart,

For her love which here on earth

Fills our lives with gentle art.

Thanks we give and sweetly praise

Mother on this day of days.

For her days of precious hours,

For her nights of tender care,

For her kind thoughts, like flowers,

That fill home with beauty rare.

Thanks we give and sweetly praise

Mother on this day of days.

For her reverenced gift sublime,

For her genial warmth given,

For her life, a gift divine,

That leads us to eternal heaven.

Thanks we give and sweetly praise

Mother on this day of days.

For our pre and earthly home,

For the joy of all our lives,

For glory not ours alone

That follows as each child thrives.

Thanks we give to Thee above

For the gift of mothers’ love.

Copyright by Myrna Trauntvein, author.