Arnold Van Terry

History of Arnold Van Terry
5th October 1934 to 15th December 2006

Son of:
Franklin Amos Terry
Ellen Anna Goodliffe

by daughter, Susan Terry Rosenlof

One of my first memories I have of Dad is the time I got to go with him to “peddle” peaches. Dad had a load of peaches to sell and I got to go around with him as he sold them by the box. It was special to me for two reasons: I got to spend that time just me and Dad and we got to stay overnight in a motel! That was a pretty exciting thing to do in those days! After this trip with Dad I always thought that I was his favorite, imagine that!

When we lived in Oak Creek just north of Fairview UT we got to do a lot of chores, which wasn’t my favorite thing to do. We got to help Dad haul hay in the summers. We had to get up early in the mornings and we didn’t quit until it was done. I don’t know how I ever threw those bales of hay on that wagon! It didn’t seem fair to me that Gayle got to drive the tractor while the rest of us loaded the bales on the wagon while Dad stacked them! I thought it would be so easy to drive the tractor instead of doing the bales. I think Dad knew that I wanted to drive the tractor so one day towards the end of summer he had me drive the tractor home from the field! The high point of my summer, I’m sure!

Another time all Gerri’s brothers and their wives came to visit and we all loaded up and went camping up Fairview canyon. All us kids got to ride in the back of Dad’s horse trailer with all the gear. It was fun to go camping and visit with everyone. The best part had to be breakfast, for some reason food always tastes better cooked outdoors, especially in the mountains.

When I was a little bit younger we were living in Crescent Ut. I remember one particular Christmas Eve Dad hadn’t made it home by the time we went to bed. I was really feeling sad about it.

He must have come home sometime after we had gone to bed. That morning he gave each of us kids a $20 bill and we thought we were rich!

I also have fond memories of Dad sitting with me helping me read my Dick & Jane books when I was in elementary school. He always encouraged me to sound out the words I didn’t know and he had a way of making me feel good about myself. Anytime we got to do anything with to spend time with Dad was always special to me because he was gone a lot truck driving.

Dad always had a horse or two when we were kids. He spent a lot of time with them. He trained them, he pulled and replaced their horseshoes, he would brush and groom them and he would ride them. I still enjoy riding a horse every time I get a chance.

Dad used to tease us kids and tell us “tall tales”. One of these was the story he would tell us that when he butchered a chicken it would run around even when he had beheaded it. I never believed him and told him so. One day he told me to stand a ways off and just watch. He would prove it to me. I finally decided I would do just that because there was no way a chicken could run around without a head, no way! Well, I braced myself and watched……..it was no tall tale, that darn chicken was running around headless! Gross!!!!

Arnold’s First Family (above): Susan, Arnold, Kaye, Gayle, Frank, Jeanette, Cindy. Susan and Gayle are wearing dresses that Grandma Terry made.

I remember the difficult times for Dad after Gerri died. It was so hard for him on many levels. When he was on house arrest and living at the farm in Indianola he had to have someone over 18 years old with him day and night. He hated to ask us to give up our family time to be there with him. He worried so much about the kids still at home. He always wanted us all to be happy and stay close as a family; that was really important to him. When he eventually went to the prison at the point of the mountain he determined he would survive there and come home. He did. We will never really know how hard that time was for him. It was hard for our family too, especially the kids still at home.

When I went to visit Dad I would usually bring the kids with me. Dad always expressed appreciation for us coming to spend time with him. He was always glad to see us. He would give each of the kids his attention and always tell them to be good and mind their parents. I really appreciated the advice and counsel he had for me as our kids grew up. I respect him for having so much strength during this difficult time. When I think about these years, I am so proud of the way he held his head up and got through those years.

One of the good things that happened while he was in prison was he regained his testimony of the church. He went to church there, and he learned to read better while there. He didn’t just waste his time, he did what he could to keep busy and improve himself. I’m so thankful for the good people that volunteer to go and have church services and classes for the inmates. It makes a difference to some of them. It certainly added value to Dad’s life while there and later when he was released.

Later, when Dad was married to Sharon they lived in Bloomington for a while. Our oldest daughter Jennifer lived in St George at the same time. It made it nice to be able to visit with Jennifer and her family and also be able to visit with Dad and Sharon. Dad and Sharon used to get together with Jean and Wendall (I think) and go to Mesquite, they all loved crab legs at the buffet. They sure liked getting together, it sounded like they always had lots of fun.

It was at this time that they would occasionally help Jennifer when she didn’t have a babysitter. Sienna enjoyed being with them while Jennifer worked. It’s too bad she was too young to remember it. Dad had a weight bench that he would work out on in their family room. How cool is that?!

Gerri and Arnold Terry

 

 

 

MEMORIES OF MY FATHER
Arnold Van Terry
by son, Paul Terry

Some of the memories I have of my father Arnold Terry are these.  When I was very young he owned and drove a semi-truck.  I used to love to go with him on the road.  I always remember that big diesel engine purring me to sleep at night and waking me up in the morning.  Dad was such a smooth operator.  He could float the gears seamlessly.  In fact, I distinctly remember one time I heard him grind a gear and I teased him about that for quite a while.  Later on in his life when he was 60 or 65 he was showing me how to break a horse.  This horse was a 5 year old so he was almost fully grown.  Dad was on the ground yanking on the bit in the horse’s mouth in an effort to get the horse to rear up.  (The horse had been rearing up all day being a major pain). Once the horse reared up I watched my dad run to one side of the horse and get far enough around him he could pull on the reins and effectively pulled the horse over himself on the rear.  Once he had the horse down he kept tension on the reins and verbally commanded the horse to behave or else.  Once he let the horse back up I jumped on the horse and rode him straight out. That horse never reared up again.  I was very impressed with my dad that day.  I love him and miss him.  Paul Terry

 

MEMORIES OF MY FATHER
Arnold Van Terry
by Daughter, Jamie Dunfield

My name is Jamie Dunfield and Arnold Terry was my father. Here are a few of my favorite memories of [him]. I know Dad sure loved ice cream.  We always had a half-gallon stashed in our deep freeze.  Also, when we would get ice cream cones from a drive-up he would always have “to taste” ours to make sure it was good.  By the time we’d get our cone it would be half gone. And by the time we finished our half-eaten cone he would already have finished his, even though he got his last. 

My family and I would go visit him every weekend and one day we brought some home-grown vegetables with us, some of which were some really hot jalapeños.  Dad was so excited when he saw them he popped one whole, right into his mouth, ignoring my very loud objections. I was trying to let him know how hot they were, and he insisted that he would be fine, that he eats them all the time and they were just like candy. Next thing we know his face was BRIGHT purple! He assured us that he was just fine as he was gulping down glass after glass of water.   

Dad sure loved playing games! One way or another he always ended up winning.  My children to this day don’t know whether he was really that good at checkers, or if he was really that good at cheating.  

My dad was always trying to kill all the flies in our house in Indianola. A funny memory I have of him was when he started trying to kill the flies outside of our house.  One weekend my family and I were visiting and we were sitting on the front porch with dad and the flies were driving him crazy. So, in the house he went and came out with the flyswatter and started trying to swat all the flies.  We lived on a farm.  It’s not possible to kill all of the flies! 

One of my fondest memories was when my family went to Green River on vacation.  I loved walking through the desert landscape and looking over the cliffs.  But my absolute favorite part was when dad bet us kids that he could out-run us all.  We were all really confident that he was full of it, so we agreed to race him.  He even gave some of us a head start. We all took off running as fast as we could, next thing we knew, dad goes flying past us like we were all standing still.  Man, could he run.

Love you Dad. Thanks for the memories!

 

MEMORIES OF MY FATHER
Arnold Van Terry
by daughter, Rebecca Dawn Terry

My father is a person of whom I have the fondest memories; not the least of which is that of his love to laugh and tease about. Telling jokes and teasing others seemed to bring him the greatest joy. (The jokes he found most comical were quite often his own.) The most heart-warming memories are those of his big smile — typically brought about by his joking with another — and the joy which emanated from it. Dad loved to play cards, and he seldom, if ever, lost. It was often discovered, only after having completed the game, that an extra card had all-the-while been inside his shirt cuff. He loved this, as each discovery was followed by an outburst of laughter.

My father was a very skilled horseman and could be frequently found riding in the cedar-populated hills of Indianola. I greatly enjoyed my time spent with him on the farm; particularly that spent riding horses. During which time, I was taught much about them.

My dad cherished the times he spent in the company of Chase, my son, and would frequently have him sleep over and ride horses. He shared with Chase his favorites treats, which were orange-flavored ice cream and root beer. His desire was for Chase to become as skilled a horseman as he, and so, for Chase, he bought a cowboy hat and boots. By Dad, Chase was taken for many horse rides, and for these memories, I am eternally grateful. Unfortunately, Dad passed away when Chase was only eight years old.

Dad wasn’t always in the best of health, as he fell subject to severe heart disease and experience numerous heart attacks; the first of which occurred at the young age of fifty. This proved to be a severe attack which would, in only a few years, necessitate an open-heart surgical operation. On account of these ailments, he was often observed to be in physical discomfort. Regardless of our making it known, he would not complain. Dad was very tough, and we know that he held on for more time than was necessary. In the week prior to his passing, he informed me of the dreams which he’d been having of his already-gone (deceased) mother and that his time was near. In the time since, I, and others, have attested to his occasional presence throughout our lives. For these moments also, I am eternally grateful. I am likewise grateful for the childhood which I was given and for his simply being my dad. From Dad, I took a teasing nature and developed a love for the outdoors.