This picture is of Val's paternal grandparents, J. Urie and Ivy Lee Jones Williams. From the time Val was about four years old until he was out of high school, he spent a lot of time at their farm north of Cedar City, especially during the summers. He has very fond memories of them.
Ivy was small in stature. Val remembers that she always wore a dress with an apron over it. She became very hard of hearing, and people had to speak loudly to her. She was a hard-worker, participating in some of the farm work, especially in caring for the many chickens they raised. One of their main farming projects was selling eggs. Every year they would get a bunch of new little biddies to raise, and Val would sometimes help prepare the coop for them. When staying there, he would help feed the chickens and was sent out to gather the eggs two or three times a day. Every night his grandparents would clean the eggs, candle them, and sort out the cracked and bloody ones. Twice a week his grandpa took the eggs to Cedar to sell and would deliver eggs and milk to his daughter, LaVern, and her family. On the way home he would stop at Hugh's Cafe and buy an apple pie.
Urie had other farm animals besides chickens. He kept a milk cow, some pigs, and he raised sheep. He raised hay and grain to feed them all. He owned some mountain ground south of Cedar, and every year he herded the sheep up to it for summer pasture. When Val got older he enjoyed helping with those sheep drives. His grandpa's brother, Uncle Dick, also had sheep and adjoining mountain ground, so they made their drives together. It took them two days, using a pickup and horses, and they all took turns driving the pickup and riding the horses.
The workday began early, so after lunch they napped for an hour. Ivy took the couch, Urie the rocking chair (which Val now owns), and Val would find a spot, usually on the floor behind the couch. His grandparents both liked to watch wrestling on TV. They also liked movies and would go to the drive-in once a week, and on the way home they would stop at the Artic Circle for an ice cream cone. Val loved their yard in the summer time. There was lots of lawn around the house, surrounded by tall elm trees.
Ivy and Urie were quite poor in their early years but they always had plenty of food. Ivy was a good cook, and Val especially remembers the delicious stewed chicken and gravy she fixed. He also remembers the good breakfasts, particularly the milk gravy and steamed homemade bread with lots of butter. Urie was a good business man, and eventually they became fairly prosperous. Each year he would alternate buying a new car and pickup. At first he bought Chevs, then later, Dodges.
When Urie decided to retire from the farm, they sold everything and built a small house in Cedar, on the same lot where their daughter, LaVern lives. Urie passed away first, in his early 80's. Ivy lived to the age of 91 and passed away at a rest home in Parowan where she lived for a while after she could no longer care for herself. They were honest, hard-working people who loved their family and lived a good life. They raised five children, Howard, Zelma, JenaVee, LaVern, and Marie. Another daughter died in infancy.
