Lawrence F Whitmer
LAWRENCE F. WHITMER
November 10, 1918 – May 9, 2000
Historical Profile
Lawrence was born on 10 November 1918, in Alpine, Arizona to his Father Angus Van Meter Whitmer (39 years old) and his mother Jennie (34 years old) as the eleventh of 17 children. His older siblings, Angus, Ralph, Cecil, Harold, Chuck, Genevieve, Ethel, Ray and Afton were 15, 14, 11, 9, 8, 6, 4 and 1 years old when he was born. One brother Lealand Claude died of whooping cough on 8 August 1906, well before Lawrence was born. Another brother Ray V, who had been born in 1915, died of pneumonia on 3 May 1917, shortly before Lawrence was born. The year of his birth, World War I which had been raging across Europe, came to an end. 1918 brought the end of the war, but it also brought the spread of the flu pandemic to the world.
According to David Keith Whitmer the Whitmer children were raised, “in the lusty rugged and amazingly beautiful White Mountains of Alpine, Arizona where the mountains reach 8,000 feet in the sky of neverland. Alpine is now a resort but in the early 1900s it was a very small place where farmers raised their cattle, vegetables and did whatever it took to feed their families. The Whitmer children knew the Blue well, a place where the cattle grazed in the winter. All the children were raised riding horses. It was a place where everyone had to work and work hard. Seventeen children were born here. Four died.
Then at only 2 years of age a little sister Mary was born in 1921, as well Lawrence’s future wife Evelyn Lee who was born in Lebanon, Arizona. Another little brother, Von, was born in 1922. Then in 1925 twin sisters Faye and Fern were born into the family. 3 years later in 1928 twin sisters Bertha and Blanche would be born but not survive the birth. These were the last of her siblings to be born to his parents. Lawrence was 10 at the time.
One year later, when 11 years of age, Lawrence and his family experienced the collapse of the stock market that would bring about the Great Depression beginning in 1930, greatly impacting the Whitmer family and their entire community sending several of his older siblings throughout the West in search of good work and requiring his large family to work together to make ends meet.
Lawrence was raised on a ranch where he and his family dry farmed. He enjoyed the outdoors, hunting and fishing. Lawrence was an excellent horseback rider.
Lawrence’s family were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and according to his younger sister Fern’s account, “Church and religion was our whole life. We all got up and went to Church. I don’t know if I learned a lot. My parents were so busy I wasn’t given much time. Church and Sunday School on Sunday, Relief Society and Mutual on Tuesdays, Primary Wednesdays. Dances on the weekends. Family prayer sometimes around my parent’s bed.”
WhenLawrencewas20yearsold,WorldWarIIbegan in Europe, just two decades after the end of the First World War. It would become the most destructive conflict in recorded history. The United States tried to stay out of the war for as long as possible, but after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt was forced to take action and declare war. The U.S. joined the Allied Forces (including Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union) in opposing the Axis Powers of Nazi Germany, fascists in Italy, and the Empire of Japan.
Lawrence joined the National Guard and was a member of the “Arizona Bushmasters” While on maneuvers the war began and Lawrence went off to war before ever coming home. He served in the army as part of the 158th Regemental Combat Team, 45th Division, and fought on the front lines in the South Pacific. He also served in Panama for a time. In total he was in the war for 45 months and only received a small wound on his wrist during that time. His outfit was called to spearhead and lead many new invasions before the Marines arrived. Ultimately the Allied forces were triumphant in the war, as Germany’s surrender was eventually followed by the surrender of Japan.
As the war came to an end and his tour was over, 26 year old Lawrence returned to Arizona where he met, courted, and eventually married Evelyn Lee in Morenci, Arizona on 19 October 1945. She was 24 at the time. Their marriage was later solemnized in the Mesa LDS Temple where they were sealed in 1960. The next decade of his life was spent building his family and working to take care of them. He was always known as a competent, dependable hard worker, and was greatly admired by his coworkers.
Over the next 15 years Lawrence and Evelyn would bear and raise 6 children: Lawrence “Randy”, Dennis, Ronald, La Ree, Rebecca, and Leslie “Les”.
The next decade marked the dawn of the Atomic age at the end of World War II (1945), the Korean War (1950), a Polio Vaccine in 1953, and the Vietnam conflict stretching from 1955-1975. In 1952 Lawrence and Evelyn moved the family to Las Vegas where he continued to work and raise the family. In 1955, when Lawrence was 36 years old, his father Angus Van Whitmer passed away at the age of 76. 4 years later, His youngest son Leslie would be born when Lawrence was 40 years old. Afton’s mother Jennie would live until 1967 when she would also pass away at the age of 83.
This was a time of great change in culture, in technology, and in global events. Martin Luther King would lead the nation in a civil rights movement. United States astronauts would land on the moon in 1969 when Lawrence was 50 years old. Beginning in 1970 Lawrence would begin to see his siblings also begin to pass, starting with his sister Genevieve in 1970 at the age of 61, and his brother Angus in 1977 at the age of 74.
Five years later in 1982 his older brother Ralph would pass away at the age of 77 followed the next year in 1983 by his brother Cecil at the age of 75. Then in 1985 Lawrence’s sister Ethel passed away being 71 at the time. In 1987 his brother Chuck would die at the age of 76. Then in 1990 his brother Harold passed away at the age of 81. Two years later in 1992 his brother Von passed away at the age of 69. Then in 1996 tragedy struck and Lawrence’s son Leslie Cornell, also known as Les, died in his prime at the age of 36. Two years later in 1998 Lawrence’s brother Afton, just older than him, died at the age of 81. Then just after the turn of the 21st Century, Lawrence passed away on 9 May 2000 at the age of 81 in Washington, Utah where he was also buried. He was survived by his wife Evelyn, 5 children (Randy, Dennis, Ronald, La Ree, and Rebecca). 27 grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren.
Lawrence Whitmer, written by his wife, Evelyn Whitmer
Lawrence was born the 10th of November 1918, the day before the Armistice ending WWI. His mother said when she heard that good news (the day her baby was one day old) she rubbed his little hand and said, Now my baby boy will never have to ever fight in a war ( WWI was supposed to be the war to end all wars). Lawrence was the first one in the family to go into the service in World War II Lawrence was the 11th child born to Sarah Jane (Jenny) Judd and Angus Van Meter Whitmer. He was born in Alpine, Arizona, where his folks owned a beautiful ranch at the foot of the Escudilla Mountain. Many people have said it was the most choice spot in the Alpine Valley. He had a happy childhood.
Lawrence used to tell his children about his boyhood years there in Alpine how he and Afton used to catch chipmunks. They pretended the chipmunks were cattle they would make corrals out of sticks for them to brand them with nails they’d bend and heat (this always made his little daughters protest How could they?) He told them about one time Afton climbed a pine tree after a chipmunk they were trying to catch.
Lawrence said he tried to hit the chipmunk from the ground by throwing rocks at it. He hit Afton by mistake (right on the head) and felt so bad.
Ethel said one time she and Genavieve made a devil’s food cake and Lawrence kept sneaking into it, so they told him a little devil was in his stomach. Lawrence ran down to where his mother was in the little back house screaming his head off because he was afraid he did have a devil in his stomach. His mother assured him he didn’t really have a little devil in him.
Lawrence loved his brothers and sisters he felt so grown-up when he was asked to stay with his sister- in-law Vergie so she wouldn’t have to be alone at the Dave Rogers place where they were living, while Ralph was away working on the fire guard. He helped others any way he could. Rex was another of his favorite brothers. He used to spend a lot of time and many happy hours with Rex and Claire and their children. He was really good to all of his nieces and nephews and loved to do things with them.
Lawrence was a really hard worker and he was happy to help his folks out on the farm after the other boys had married or were working away from home. He had a great love for his mother and was glad some of his pay-check, when he was in the Army, was sent home as an allotment to help his mother.
Lawrence tells about how he used to stay in a little cabin on the Blue all by himself for months at a time watching out for their cattle pastured there (he says he was only around 15). Harold would stop and stay with him whenever he’d take the mail to the Blue on horseback and Lawrence was very glad for that. Once he went to the camp where two trappers were staying and they fed him wildcat steaks.
I met Larry when I moved to Alpine after I graduated from Mesa High School in 1940. He had such pretty blue eyes and a cute dimple in his chin besides he looked so handsome riding a horse, just like he was glued to it! We went together until he was conscripted into the Army in January 1941. He was just supposed to put in one year, training to fight, and then be released. But Pearl Harbor was bombed 2 weeks before he was to be released. We never saw him again for nearly 4 years.
His division was sent to Panama for jungle training and to protect the nal for nearly a year. Then they were shipped to Australia on a captured German boat called the Hermitage. They had to zig-zag so much to confuse the enemy that it took them 33 days to reach Brisbane, Australia. From there they were sent to Port Moresby, New Guinea where they were first under enemy fire.
Their first engagement with the Japanese was at Sarme New Guinea May 14, 1943-from there to Milan Bay, New Guinea then to Kareena Island to Woodlark Island French Haven to New Britain where he was sent on a patrol to search out the enemy and found their dead bodies along the trail where they had starved due to General Mac Arthur’s strategy of by-passing the enemy and cutting off their supplies.
Then they were sent to Noemfoor Island where they were engaged in combat. The Army dropped a company of paratroopers to give them reinforcements instead the 15th had to administer first aid to the paratroopers because they had been dropped too close to the ground and broke their legs, ete.
(Garland Lee’s boy from Nutrioso was in this paratroop group and received a broken leg that left him partly crippled for awhile.) Also this is the place Larry got a fish bone caught in his throat and was in a lot of pain – they started taking him by motor boat to another island for first aid treatment when the bone slipped free (they were glad because it was going to be a risky trip) They had several close calls dodging enemy patrol boats and one time they came within moments of being blown up by a U.S. patrol boat who mistook them for Japanese!
From Noemfoor they were sent to invade the Philippines… they were in their worst fighting there – on the front 35 days at a time, then sent back to rest, but instead of resting, they trained them for an invasion of Japan. Larry nearly lost his life one time when he was directing the marn under him in the machine gun platoon. A bomb hit closer to him than anyone and even though he was standing (which was more dangerous) and the others were laying on the ground, most of the others were killed. He was knocked out for a while. It blew the front off his helmet. This caused him to do some serious thinking that maybe the Lord had a purpose for him on this earth.
One other time as his platoon was walking through a group of dead Japanese, the man behind him shot a “dead Japanese that had a bead on Larry. That was a humbling experience. Larry was in a company that zoomed through Maila before the japanese knew the Americans had reached there, so they could reach a big prisoner camp and free our prisoners before the Japanese could get to them first (afraid they would kill the prisoners). Larry says they were walking skeletons and they broke down and cried when they were rescued.
For many years Larry seemed to quit having nightmares and put those terrible times behind him, but since he retired 4 years ago, he started reading a lot of books on the Japanese war. Now he fights in his sleep again. He suffered from Malaria attacks for 10 years after the war. He was being discharged at Fort McArthur in San Francisco when Japan surrendered in August 1945.
Lawrence and I were married October 19, 1945 at Afton and Lenora’s house in Marenci. We moved to Parker a few months later and lived near his parents there. We have many happy memories of going on picnics with them and Mary and Jeany Mae. Mary was living with her folks while Afton was in the service at that time. Our first daughter, LaRee, was born in Alpine on March 11, 1947. When she was 3 months old we moved out to Marysville, California where Don and his family lived. We thought we might want to use his GI bill to buy a place there.
But when Fall came and it rained a lot we moved to Phoenix. Larry worked in the plastering trade for a few months with my brothers. In 1948 he got a job for the recreation department at Las Vegas, Nevada maintaining a summer scout camp in the mountains (Lee Canyon) nearthere. While living there the year around, our 2nd child, Randy, and 3rd child, Rebecca, were born. In 1950 we moved to Las Vegas to start LaRee in school. Lawrence worked in plastering there for 2 years. Our 4th child, Jeanne, was born there. We had bought us a new little home and were doing really well, but we thought the state of Nevada would outlaw gambling and Las Vegas would go into a depression (Ha ha). So we moved to Famington, New Mexico where we could have a cow and a garden and become self- sufficient like the Church was advising. Larry drove a truck for Fautz Brothers Sand and Gravel. We only lived there a year, then moved to Salt Lake for 1 1/2 years where our 5th child, Dennis, was born. Living in Salt Lake didn’t work out so we moved back to Las Vegas and lived there for 10 years. We had Ronald our 6th and Leslie our 7th there.
Larry worked in construction there and had a good reputation for being such a hard worker. In 1965 we moved up here to Oregon. We felt like we were in a strange land – so damp and drizly and green. For two years Larry worked with my brother Virgil Lee building swimming pools. Then he got a job as a custodian at Beavercreek School. He could get retirement working there, so he stayed with it for 16 years. He enjoyed the children and the teachers and they all thought the world of him. They say they never had a harder working janitor before he came or after he left.
When he retired in July 1982, they made a big deal out of it. They gave him a check for over $400, 14 caps like he likes, and a nice plaque. There have been many happy times here in Oregon. Hunting in the Fall with his boys (He taught them to be as good a hunter as he was), camping and fishing in the summers. There are some beautiful lakes and streams here. We had many barbeque picnics in our yard when our kids came to visit. We also made several trips over to the beach and up to Mount Hood.
Lawrence planted a big garden and was proud of it. I canned a lot of corn and green beans, etc. We had apple and pear trees, grapes, and a lot of wild blackberries for jam and pies. Larry raised our own beef for eating and sold several every year.
We sent two of our boys on missions which gave us much pleasure. We are really proud of our children. Most of them have testimonies of the restored church and are raising their children to further the Lord’s work in preparation for His coming.
Our oldest daughter, LaRee, married Coy Smith and has 7 children. Coy retired from the Air Force last September and they are now working for Rockwell International in Lake LA, California.
Our 2nd child, Lawrence Randolph, is married to Saundria Murdock and lives in Roosevelt, Utah. They have 2 little adopted Lamanite children.
Our 3rd child, Rebecca, married Garold Bates. They have four children. He’s an engineer at Morton Thiokol. They live in Wellsville, Utah.
Our 4th child, Patricia Jeanne, married Alan Farr. After having 3 children, they divorced and she’s living in Mesa, Arizona with the children.
Our 5th child, Dennis Lee, married Gayle Carlson Larson who had four sweet little girls when he married her. They also have a boy and a girl born to them, which makes 6 children. They live in Garland Utah where Dennis works for Morton Thiokol.
Our 6th child, Ronald Wayne, married Carol Sterling They live in St.George, Utah and have a girl and a boy. Ronald will start teaching school this fall. Carol is a registered nurse and works part-time.
Our 7th child, Leslie Cornell, spent 4 years in the Army, some of it in Germany. He hasn’t married yet. Les is the only one living here in Oregon now.
We are moving to St. George, Utah and will be near Ronald and just a day’s drive from the other five. Life has been pretty good and looks better all the time.
LAWRENCE EVELYN
Happiness is not a matter of good fortune or worldly possessions. It’s a mental attitude. It comes from appreciating what we have, instead of being miserable about what we don’t have. It’s so simple -yet so hard for the human mind to comprehend.
Lawrence F. Whitmer's Stories
I met Larry when I moved to Alpine after I graduated from Mesa High School in 1940. He had such pretty blue eyes and a cute dimple in his chin. Besides, he looked so handsome riding a horse, just like he was glued to it!
We went together until he was conscripted into the Army in January 1941. He was just supposed to put in one year, training to fight, and then be released. But Pearl Harbor was bombed 2 weeks before he was to be released. We never saw him again for nearly 4 years.
His division was sent to Panama Canal for jungle training and to protect the Canal for nearly a year. Then they were shipped to Australia on a captured German boat called the Hermitage. They had to zig- zag so much to confuse the enemy that it took them 33 days to reach Brisbane, Australia. From there they were sent to Port Moresby, New Guinea where they were first under enemy fire.
Their first engagement with the Japanese was at Sarme New Guinea May 14, 1943. From there to Milan Bay, New Guinea then to Kareena Island to Woodlark Island French Haven to New Britain where he was sent on a patrol to search out the enemy and found their dead bodies along the trail where they had starved due to General Mac Arthur’s strategy of by- passing the enemy and cutting off their supplies. Then they were sent to Noemfoor Island where they were engaged in combat. The Army dropped a company of paratroopers to give them reinforcements.
Instead the 15th had to administer first aid to the paratroopers because they had been dropped too close to the ground and broke their legs, etc. (Garland Lee’s boy from Nutrioso was in this paratroop group and received a broken leg that left him partly crippled for a while.) Also this is the place Larry got a fish bone caught in his throat and was in a lot of pain. They started taking him by motor boat to another island for first-aid treatment when the bone slipped free. They were glad because it was going to be a risky trip. They had several close calls dodging enemy patrol boats and one time they came within moments of being blown up by a U.S. patrol boat who mistook them for Japanese!
From Noomfaer they were sent to invade the Philippines. They were in their worst fighting there on the front 353 days at a time, Then they were sent back to rest, but instead of resting, they trained them for an invasion of Japan.
Larry nearly lost his life one time when he was directing the man under him in the machine gun platoon. A bomb hit closer to him than anyone and even though he was standing (which was more dangerous) and the others were laying on the ground, most of the others were killed. He was knocked out for a while. It blew the front off his helmet. This caused him to do some serious thinking that maybe the Lord had a purpose for him on this earth.
One other time as his platoon was walking through a group of “dead” Japanese, the man behind him shot a “dead” Japanese that had a bead on Larry. That was a humbling experience. Larry was in a company that zoomed Manila before the Japanese knew the Americans had reached there, so they could reach a big prisoner camp and free our prisoners before the Japanese could get to them first (afraid they would kill the prisoners). Larry says they were walking skeletons and they broke down and cried when they were rescued.
For many years Larry seemed to quit having nightmares and put those terrible times behind him but since he retired 4 years ago, he started reading a lot of books on the Japanese war. Now he “Fights” in his sleep again. He suffered from Malaria attacks for 10 years after the war. He was being discharged at Fort McArthur in San Francisco when Japan surrendered in August 1945.