Shirley Tobler

Shirley Tobler (1920-2004)

wife of Frank Wayne Bushman

Two Autobiographies

I, Shirley Tobler Bushman, was born the second daughter of Vernon and Olive Dodge Tobler. My advent into the world was on a hot July 25^th, 1920 in St. George, Utah. I was blessed Oct. 30^th, 1920 by James L. Jones. I am 5 foot 3 inches in height, and about 10 or 15 lbs. heavier than I would like to be. My eyes are green, my hair coloring a little darker than a medium brown.

Along with my brother, Walter, and two sisters, Norma and Beverly, I enjoyed what I like to remember as a happy carefree childhood. Although things much not have been this carefree for my parents, as life wasn’t easy for us during those depression years. As a result, because of the necessity of making a living for his family, my father moved us many times. Not only did we move from Southern Utah to Salt Lake City, but we also moved rather often within Salt Lake itself. My parents were kind and loving. I appreciate the many sacrifices they made for us which they did without complaint. I also appreciate the confidence they always had in me.

I attended Kindergarten in Salt Lake, first and second grades in Santa Clara, third, fourth and fifth grades in Salt Lake, and then we moved back to Ivins where I attended seventh and eighth grades in Santa Clara and the rest of my high school and one year of college at Dixie College in St. George.

After leaving school I found employment in Salt Lake City. It was while working at the Hotel Temple Square as a cashier that I was introduced, by a friend, to Frank Wayne Bushman, a boy from Lehi, Utah. I was greatly impressed with this fine young man who had recently returned from serving a mission to Texas and Louisiana. It didn’t take very long before I had given my heart to him. To me he was by far the most outstanding example of young manhood I had ever met in my life. He was completely dedicated to serving the Lord to the best of his ability. We were married in the Salt Lake Temple on October 2, 1941, then moved to Lehi where we began building our life together. My husband is a dairy farmer. He works long hard hours as he has always given much time in church service besides taking of a great number of cows. He has served as a bishop in Lehi, Utah, and is now the first counselor in the Payson, Utah Stake Presidency. We moved to Payson almost thirteen years ago [in 1961], where we bought a larger farm.

At the present time I have just completed my fifth year as a Spiritual Living teacher of my ward. I have also been a Relief Society President, in M.I.A. and Primary Presidency, although my great love is teaching and I have spent most of my years doing that.

To our union has been born seven children. They are Eileen, Marilyn, Kenneth & Carole (twins), Janice, Neil and JaLaine. Our five oldest children are now married. All have been married in the temple. We also have fourteen beautiful grandchildren. Our son Kenneth has filled an Alaska Canadian mission. Our other son Neil will enter the mission home August 3, of this year, prior to leaving for the Argentina South Mission. Three of our son-in-laws have also served in the mission field. I am proud of my family as all are striving to live the commandments of the Lord and are actively engaged in their church responsibilities.

I have often felt badly that I wasn’t blessed with musical ability as I know so many of the Tobler family have been. I don’t know of any special talents the Lord has blessed me with, but I do know that I greatly enjoy people, that I love to read and study the gospel, that I really enjoy church service. I have been blessed as a mother in Israel and have spent the years since I was married taking care of my family and church responsibilities. I have been blessed with health

and strength, with those things necessary to having a good life. I am grateful to the Lord for his goodness to me.

On a hot July 25^th in Utah’s Dixie I was born to Vernon and Olive Dodge Tobler. My grandfather Tobler was one of a very choice group of Swiss immigrants sent by Brigham Young to settle in Santa Clara. Mother’s father was sent to Santa Clara to plant orchards and vineyards.

My early life as a child seemed like one of constant moving. My family moved to Salt Lake when I was two years old, back to Santa Clara where I attended the First and Second grades, back to Salt Lake while I attended Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth grades, then back to Dixie where I finished my schooling.

In the years we lived in Salt Lake, life was anything but dull, as we did considerable moving about there also. Altogether in my life I have lived in eighteen different houses. Life was interesting, and rather gay in my memory as a child as through the years I constantly had new friends to make. I was young and not too aware of the difficulties of those depression years.

At the age of ten the depression forced my family from the city as my father was an appliance salesman and people just didn’t have the money for those things. We owned some land on the sandy Santa Clara bench, and one of a team of horses, so back we came in hopes of survival, I think. Dad worked hard to make the move on an early April morning. He was ill that morning as we left but wouldn’t give in to rest until the family was settled. A few days after the move Dad’s illness forced him to bed with pneumonia. There he stayed for sometime fighting against death. By the time he was well again, things had become pretty rough for us. We had our Dixie sorghum, but little money for sugar. I can remember eating molasses cake, molasses cookies, even having a little molasses in the yeast to sweeten the bread. In my memory, though, they were very good. Mother had a knack for making delicious food out of very little.

I loved my years during those hard times, although I was aware of the worries of my parents. In our new town nine of us girls soon became very close friends, and along with seven boys those next few years leaves one of the richest memories possible. Constantly we were together making our own fun, roaming those red hills, playing games on hot summer evenings, having cook-outs and swimming, having dances and early Christmas morning caroling. It was here in my associations and church classes my values of the important things in life became established.

But all things end, and as I finished my first year of college, I left my town along with two friends to work for the next few years in Salt Lake. One of my new friends in the city was a girl from Magna. Her parents were from Lehi and June spent considerable time visiting her grandparents there. Her boy friend was also from there. He was Wayne’s closest friend, and one night while he was on furlough from the army he told me that Wayne had made arrangements for him to go out that night with June’s girlfriend. He hadn’t, and I wasn’t too happy about the whole thing, but at June’s insistence I went. That began an attraction that soon led us to the altar in the Salt Lake Temple, and has, through the years, been a close and very happy partnership.

To our union have been born seven very choice children. Eileen, Marilyn, Kenneth & Carole (twins), Janice, Neil and JaLaine. How soon other things become secondary, and our joys and hopes lie in the righteous choices of those spirits given to us. We are proud of our children.

We are happy with our associations through the years. These things we discover are life’s choicest blessings. We appreciate the callings the Lord has given us in His church. Many happy hours and close friends have been ours because of this.