Relative Bliss

Genealogy of Julie Ann Bliss Hammons

Ferron Lane Bliss
1918-2003

Mostly taken from a  biography by Kathryn Bliss Holt

Ferron Lane Bliss was born January 5, 1918 in Hinckley, Utah to Norman Ingles Bliss Jr. and Harriet Theobald. They lived on a farm near Hinckley. When he was born he had one sister, Zelma: four brothers, Stanley, Theon (Bill), Howard and Max and four half brothers, Clarence, Clark, Oren and Earl. (An elder half-brother Maitlan died a year before he was born). A brother George Ingles (Joe) was an infant and Ferron was eighteen months old his father died.

Living on a farm gave him plenty of opportunity for activity. He remembers that at the age of three he could ride horses as hard as they could go. Every February 2nd he would break the ice to go swimming so he could be the first one to swim in the year. He and his brothers would also swim in the summer on their way home from the fields. They would stop the hay wagon on the 15 foot high bridge of the reservoir and from atop the wagon of hay would dive to the water which was about 25 feet deep. Anyone who couldn’t make the dive and bring up mud from the bottom was considered a “sissy”. His mother made sure there were always bats, balls, and mitts for the boys to play with. During the winter, ice skating was one of the favorite sports. Christmas time was always a big event, even though money was scarce, everything was done to make Christmas special.

When Ferron was nine  his mother remarried. She and her new husband J.R. Lee had two children, Leo and Otto. Harriet died  as a result of an infection soon after the birth of Otto.  J.R. Lee  took  Leo and moved away. The new baby (Otto) and the remaining younger children were scattered among the oldest brothers and families in town. Otto drowned at the age of 19 months. Ferron was taken in by his oldest brother Oren and wife Alice. They had children near his age. One of these children was Maxyne who later introduced him to his future wife.  Every day before and after school he would milk six cows and do chores, he also worked for neighbors by milking cows and helping with chores, as a result he always had some money. Money was tough to come by, and he remembered having a pair of shoes to start school in, then by spring when they were getting to small he would take them off and go barefoot until fall again. During the summers he would round up the 50 to 100 head of cattle for townspeople and take them outside of the town to pasture, bringing them home in the evening. He knew every cow in town and who it belonged to. To help him with the cattle and keep him company were his old horse “Buck” and dog “Tip’.

He attended the Hinckley Elementary School and then Hinckley High School where he was very active in sports. As a Freshman he made the second team in basket ball. All during his high school he participated in basketball, track, and football, and for two years was the quarterback of  the varsity football team. High school activities also included a dance every Friday night and during the winter, sleigh riding and ice skating. He also like the  rodeo events that were held in Hinckley and neighboring towns; especially riding bucking horses and calves. He was elected  Student Body President his Senior year and  graduated from Hinckley High School in 1936

Ferron next went, from 1937-1939,  to the Branch Agricultural College at Cedar City, Utah. He studied Dairy Manufacturing while working at the Arden Dairy to support himself through school. He played Varsity Football at the college for two years. While going to school he lived with a group of other young men. Several of them came from farms and their families would supply meat and vegetables and so Ferron would cook for his part of the food budget. He was a pretty good cook, and made the best beef soup on the planet.  

In 1949 he  and some of his friends from Delta and Fillmore enlisted in the Fillmore National Guard.  He advanced to the office of First Sergeant. At Camp Cook, California he attended Chemical Warfare School. He went to Non Commissioned Officers School at San Louis Obispo, California where he was a training Instructor. He also was an instructor for six months at Fort Know Kentucky. In 1941 he went overseas and was involved in the New Guinea and New Britain Campaigns. He made five beach head landings. He was wounded in the Battles of Laytay and Louzan and received two purple hearts.  He served for 3 years  of World War II on the front lines in the Jungles of the Philippians where he was with a special operations unit. They would be attached to different as their skills were needed. His main unit was the 112 Calvary. He  was with the  first troops to land in Japan after “The Bomb” was dropped, and served there for time with the occupation forces. In 1945 he received an honorable discharge .

Ferron saved his money while in the military. He sold his cigarettes and beer from his rations (since he never used them) and so he always had money to lend to others soldiers, which was always paid back with interest. As a result when he returned to Hinckley he was able to purchase the remaining pieces of his late Father’s Farm, buy two homes in Hinckley, one which he rented out, to buy a new car and furnished his first home.

He was introduced to  Julia Finlinson, by his niece, Maxyne who had married one of Julia’s cousins. They began dating and were married  April 3, 1946 in Idaho Falls, Idaho. They eventually had four children; Julie Ann, Kathryn, Paul Ferron, and Ronald Finlinson.

He continued to love sports and played on church and city league teams of  baseball, softball, and basketball. He also played tennis and of course there was always swimming.

Ferron also loved farming and ranching and in 1951 moved to Sunflower, Utah (near Abraham) to the Garn L. Moody Ranch  also known as the Lazy L ,where Ferron worked as the foreman. It was a large cattle ranch where cattle were fattened up for sale and corn and alfalfa were grown for feed.  The numerous buildings on the ranch property had been purchased, after the war, from the nearby Topaz Japanese Relocation Center, and remodeled into houses, shops, barns, garages, etc. It was so far from town or from other farms, that there was no telephone service and all electricity was supplied by a large generator, that served both the ranch compound and the cattle facilities which were about ¼ mile in distance from each other. Three artesian wells supplied the water. He was always a hard worker and taught the value of work to his children.

Their next home was in Spanish Fork, Utah where they built a house on the east bench of the city and lived for the rest of their lives. His family and his religion were always of prime importance in his life. Family events were always supported and church was always attended. He served in many leadership capacities in the church.

He loved to take ride to “Historical” sites throughout the State and always could  tell you about the events that took place there. He was always up to the minute on news and events and had a great ability to remember details, dates, places and names until the end of his life. He was like a walking encyclopedia.

Once they were married their lives were literally one. They did everything together. They rarely went anywhere without the other. Our family outings were generally drives to historical sites and wonderful picnic lunches. They probably visited every historical site in the state of Utah. Ferron loved to read and loved history. He was a walking encyclopedia when it came to historical facts, dates and events. They also loved to visit friends and family. Whenever they went for “a drive” if they knew someone in the area they would stop for a visit. Often their trips would end up in Oak City or Hinckley.

He loved being around young people, and often took youth groups, swimming, skating, or  rafting down the  Green River. He also loved music  and would quote “A home without music is like a home without windows” There was always music playing somewhere in the home.

Julia loved roses and so Ferron grew them for her and took great pride in them. Their lawn was the best looking lawn in town. It was the first one to green up in the spring and the one that got cut the most often. It had to be cut twice a week, and those of us who tried to help by mowing, found out that there was a way to cut a lawn and a way not to. Ferron was very organized.  He liked things in great order, and never, ever wanted to be late to anything.  He often said “If you aren’t there ten minutes early, you’re late”.  He and Julia were always the first to be there, and the last to leave. They loved visiting and as long as there was someone to visit with they would stay.

Both Julia and Ferron had many friends, and they kept in touch with them throughout their lives. They were also close to their neighbors. One neighbor commented that they had lived next to them for over 40 years and that there was never a cross word between them.

Ferron also  loved his garden which supplied many of his children and grandchildren with fresh produce. When he was in his 70’s he decided to plow under his famous garden and plant lawn. The next year the borders of his “lawn” were expanded a bit and he grew about 50 tomato plants as well as cucumbers, onions, and squash. He kept his “small” garden, threatening every year that it would be his last. When Julia died 15 January 2002 at age 82, he was really lonely. They had been married for 56 years and really did everything together. He continued to work in  his yard until May of 2003 when he became very ill. He died 24 August 2003, at the age of 85 in the hospital in Provo Utah. He buried next to Julia in the Spanish Fork City Cemetery in Spanish Fork Utah.

Julia Finlinson
1920-2002

By Julie Ann Bliss Hammons

Julia was born 17 November 1920 in Oak City, Utah to Leo and Lydia Lyman Finlinson. She was their 7^th child and 5^th daughter, and when she was younger they called her Sam. ( I guess there was a message there). She grew up in Oak City, Utah surrounded by siblings and cousins and she loved it. She was close to her brothers and sisters and her fondest memories were of home and the relationships she had there. She felt like every evening was "family home evening", as there were not a lot of distractions to take them from the family. On Sunday afternoons she loved it when they would meet in the Parlor where everyone would have an opportunity to share a talent.

Music was important to the Finlinson family and whenever they got together music was part of it. She loved to sing and always sang in the Church Choir. Later in life when she and her sisters would get together they would always sing. She was very close to her many cousins and enjoyed their companionship. She loved being outside and one of here favorite activities was riding horses with her cousins up in Oak Creek Canyon. Sometimes in the summer when it got really hot they would move up to the Canyon for a month and “rusticate”. That meant living in a tent in the canyon until the weather cooled down.

Julia attended grade school in Oak City and she did extremely well, skipping a grade in elementary school. She learned to care for a home, to sew, cook and crochet, and worked in her mother’s store.  She always had a crochet project and she was an awesome cook. Though she grew up in the Depression she didn’t really remember it. This was probably because of the lifestyle they had. Her father grew everything that could be grown and her mother owned the small community store, so while things were probably tight, they were prepared.

She attended High School in Delta where she was especially active in the “Operettas” that were produced annually. She had the lead in several of these. She was a perfectionist in everything she did, and she always wanted to look her best. She would often stand on the entire bus ride to school from Oak City to Delta so she wouldn’t have a wrinkle in her dress when she got there. She had beautiful handwriting and would often pre-write even notes, so that the final draft could be copied perfectly. She was active in student government and was the Student Body Vice President for both her Junior and Senior years. She had lots of friends, and went to lots of parties and dances. Her friends were friends for life. She kept in touch with them and they visited each other. She graduated from Delta High School. 

After graduation from high school, Julia went to Logan to College so that she could be with her brother and sister, Lyman and Isobel, who were attending there. But, it was too far from home for her. She was always homesick and finally transferred to BYU, where she majored in Home Economics. At that time they had a special program for the Home Economics Majors. These girls would live together in a home, doing all the cleaning, cooking, planning, expense tracking etc. as a group project. There were sixteen girls the year she lived there and they were known as the “Sweet Sixteen” These "girls" always stayed close, and were known forever after as “the sweet sixteen”. Not too long before her death she ran into a man at the mall who had attended BYU when she was there and he remembered her as one of the “sweet sixteen.” She graduated from BYU with a degree in Home Economics Education.

Julia then went to work as an Extension Agent for the State of Utah where she traveled the southern part of the state. She later taught Home Economics at Delta High School. She was a beautiful seamstress and believed that the inside of a garment should look as good as the outside. A source of stress for her daughters. As I would unpick a seam at her encouragement she would quote “Always learn to undo that which you have done amiss.” This was a quote from her mother, and Julia had a “Grandma Fin” quote for every occasion.

When she graduated from College World War II was still raging, and most of the eligible young men were gone, so she waited until the “boys came home”. In the fall of 1945 with the war she was introduced to Ferron Bliss by her cousin Raymond and his wife Maxyne who told her they had someone they wanted her to meet. She wasn’t sure but decided that since it would be going to church she would agree. Their first date was attending church in Oak City. Julia remembered walking to church next to Ferron and glancing over and measuring him to make sure he was taller than she was.

They were married on 3 April 1946 in the Idaho Falls Temple. It was a new Temple and Aunt Angie and Uncle Willis  Lyman who lived in Idaho convinced them to come up. They had a big celebration, as only Aunt Angie could orchestrate. Asael put on a tuxedo and ushered them into a room where they had a musical performance so standard to a Finlinson gathering. Ferron loved being a part of the Finlinson Family. He loved their sense of togetherness, their musical Sunday afternoons, and the laughter.

When they moved to Spanish Fork Julia went back to school and got her Elementary Certificate and began teaching again. She  taught her first year of elementary school in Santaquin, Utah and  then transferred to the Thurber School which was located on Main Street in Spanish Fork, and is now the City Building. When the City closed the Thurber School she taught at the Brockbank School in third and later second grades. She loved to teach and finally retired when she was 67. The school was begging her to stay and Ferron was begging her to retire, so she retired. She had been a teacher for so  many years that she ended up  teaching, in some families, several generations. She was everyone's  favorite teacher.      

Julia loved to cook. Each meal consisted of many courses. Picnics were also huge and  consisted of meats, several salads, lots of different vegetables, breads and chips and several desserts. Everyone who visited their home was fed. Julia also would also make a treat on Saturday and then select someone who she felt needed a bit of attention and then go visit them and take a treat. She loved also to visit, and she loved to laugh. She had a unique laugh that you could hear and recognize amid a large crowd.

Julia's lovely singing voice,  was clear and beautiful until  the day she passed away. The last words from her between a series of strokes that all occurred one morning was a song, she sang with Ferron "You Are my Sunshine". She passed away 15 Jan 2002 in Provo, Utah and is buried next to her sweetheart in the Spanish Fork Cemetery.

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Copyright © 2004 Julie Ann Bliss Hammons. All rights reserved. Ferron Bliss History used by permission.