DAVE MECHAM WAS NOT WELL KNOWN IN NEPHI, BUT WANTED HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY KNOWN

Dave Mecham wanted his life story to be told, but not til he and his adopted family had passed, which is Joe Garrett, Lucy Sanders, Afton, Ross Garrett and Corrine Garrett. I will take the liberty to not print all of it, as it is lengthy and not sure he would really like it all made known. "I know little of my father's parents history except that they crossed the plains with the pioneers and settled in Nephi, Utah....my grandfather was killed by the Indians and my grandmother severely beaten but being a tough old bird she survived and raised a family of four by grubbing sage brush. That fight for survival seems to have trickled down to my father. He was not religiously inclined in his younger days. He married young, had a son; divorced when the son was 7 years old. His wife Ruby and son Jack moved to Idaho and he never saw her again. He did see his son Jack 33 years later in 1940 when he was living in Los Angeles...one year before by father died. Going back....two years after his divorce from Ruby he met and married Elizabeth Woodbury...that marriage lasted only 6 months and she died. Two years later he married by mother....Josephine Crosby, a daughter of Joseph Crosby and Maude Johnson. Both of Pioneer Stock and staunch in the church. Needless to say, my mothers family was not at all pleased with this union as she was 20 years younger than he and he was not too sold on gospel ideals. He was successful....foreman of the Bingham Cooper Mine and owned a Livery Stable. My father was stricken with a stroke at age 35 and on the same day my mother gave birth to her first son....my oldest brother. My father recovered from the stroke and went back to work but not for long as he had another stroke and became paralyzed, but managed to have five more children and I being the last. He recouped enough to be the janitor at the Old Court House. Mother died 3 years later after I was born, with a burst appendix. Dad farmed the three of the youngest out to family. My oldest sister lived with the Bishop of the ward, Clare lived with a neighbor and I went to live with the Bishop Counselor who had four children and they all made me a part of their family, although I was a fifth spoke and spoiled and not too well greased to fit in with the family, which was Rob and Erma Garrett. I was not much of a farmer, but helped lived on a farm with sheep, cattle, hay, etc. I remember the winter of 1927 when the snow was way up to the top of the fences. I remember it was so cold I grabbed a jacket from the closet below the kitchen cabinets and later realized it was used by Aunt Erma for cleaning and had an open can of Lye in it. By the time I got to the farm, I was burning up and in pain til I got back to town. On another occasion, I was late getting to school when I was 7 years old and took a cut off, and got hit by a car driven by Clayton Beck, one of the teachers. Joe Garrett jumped off a nearby truck and pulled out the truck handle that was lodged in my neck, and rushed my bleeding body to the Doctors office. I was forever grateful for his quick thinking and caring service. I went back to live with my Dad for awhile, but returned to the Garrett farm to help. I had a tearful occasion when I didn't do the farm work well, and the same kind Joe Garrett held my head in the water trough to teach me a lesson. (That is how we all learned to do things the right way on the Garrett farm-writers insert). My foster sisters-Afton, Lucy and Corrine(a precious soul who was born five years before the polio vaccine) and has been a model of courage and endurance. On Nov. 2, 1934, my world came to an end with my idol and brother Hy was killed in an auto accident. In 1938, my bother Bill and I moved my Dad and I to Los Angles where we managed a grocery store, earning $18.00 a week. My dad died in May, 1941. I then moved in with a sister in Arizona, then another sister in Wyoming. From there, I went back to the Garretts to live until I joined the Army in 1942. It was sad to see so many of my friends killed in the war. My worse was after we landed on the Philippines, the enemy saw us coming and hit us with 16 inch 1000 lb. shells. When it hit, it made holes 20 feet wide and 8 feet deep. I saw atrocities on both sides. Hundreds of Japanese were killed running in to us. The day after-our own men were stripping them of anything of valuable and even digging gold out of the teeth. Our own men turned into Barbarians. After the war I took advantage of the G.I. Bill and graduated, getting to know the President of the Agriculture College-Daryl Chase, from Nephi. After graduating, I became a professional Scouter, but told to leave as I wasn't married. I did sales for awhile and then Joe Christensen convinced me to go on an LDS Mission at 32, but I was a flop as all I did was baby sit younger missionaries. I finally found a good job as a paper salesman in California and retired in 1986. I was inactive in the LDS church for several years, but came back with the help of Bishop Richard Alder and that is my testimony that others can be brought back in the same manner.  Writers Note: Dave returned to Nephi and remained here until his passing, and never married and grateful to be called a son of the Garretts.