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Biographical Sketch of Ilah Bushman (Mrs. Leo Hadfield) (1915-1997)

Written April 5, 1997

 A song was written about a young couple who would secretly meet just to be together.  At one time, the boy got to their designated spot and his sweetheart wasn’t there.  Instead, a note was attached to the tree.  The note read:

If you get there before I do, don’t give up on me.
          I’ll meet you when my chores are through.
          I don’t know how long I’ll be.
          But I’m not going to let you down, Darling, wait and see.
          And between now and then, ‘til I see you again,
          I’ll be loving you. 

Love, Me.

 

Somewhere back in time, we willingly agreed to come to earth, complete our chores, and then valiantly return to our Father in Heaven.  We knew the tasks that we had to accomplish wouldn’t be easy, but we’ve been told that they would be worth it.

Ilah Bushman began her time on earth November 7, 1915, in Lehi, Utah.  She was the second child of Effie Farquharson and John Martin Bushman.  She was born almost exactly a year after her brother, Lloyd, who died as an infant.  Her father was a farmer, and her mother was a wonderful cook and homemaker.  Ilah was a product of ‘pioneer stock.’  She was taught to handle every problem as it came, deal with it, and move on.  You had to make do with what you had, and make the best out of what you were given.

The Bushman home on West Main Street soon had more children, Wayne, Keith, and finally Ludene.  Times were hard, and there wasn’t a lot of money, but there was no shortage of love.  There were also many chores to do to keep a farm running.  Driving the cows, helping with the hay, feeding and caring for animals, and gathering eggs.  It was common to get your arm pecked as you reached under a hen to take her egg, but it never seemed to bother Ilah.  What did bother Ilah was an overzealous brother.  Once, while she was visiting her friend, Helen Gardner, her mom asked Keith to go tell her to come on home.  Keith obeyed, grabbed his beebee gun, and chased Ilah all the way back home.          

Ilah loved school and did well in her classes.  Her penmanship was remarkable, which made her daddy proud because he also had beautiful handwriting.  Ilah also enjoyed friendships with Tillie Slade, Beth Anderson, and Helen Gardner, and was active in extra curricular activities, especially the Posture Parade.

When Ilah was a Sophomore, a curly-headed boy from dogtown had the locker just below hers.  By the time she was a Junior, this boy had made up his mind that she was the gal for him.  Leo spent the next few years convincing Ilah that he was her man.  He’d be playing trumpet in the orchestra for a dance and watch her take turn after turn around the floor with other guys, but she, too, couldn’t resist the boy with the sparkling eyes, and would usually save the last dance for Leo Hadfield.

A special chore at this time in her life would be to volunteer to go get the ice to make homemade ice cream. Ilah and Leo would sit in the front of the Model A Ford and Ludene and Willa (their younger sisters) would crowd into the rumble seat and head up the low hills to gather ice.

llah finished High School and took a job at American Can Company in Ogden.  She lived with her Uncle Gordon Farquharson and learned to peel and core tomatoes, productions style.  Leo would often visit on the weekend.  After about eight months, Ilah earned enough to buy herself a fur coat, something she was very proud of.  Meanwhile, back in Lehi, jobs were hard to find, which sent Leo to California to find work.  In between all the back and forths, Leo and Ilah chose a wedding date.

Two sweethearts were married on January 6, 1937, in the Salt Lake Temple.  Ilah barely weighed 98 pounds, and she now had a strong foundry worker for a husband.  They had a reception and dance at the Dance-Art (now Colonial Manor) on a winter’s night.  In fact, it was so cold, there was very little dancing, instead they stood around the stoves trying to keep warm.  Leo and Ilah packed up and headed to Alhambra, California.

The newlyweds lived with Leo’s sister, Alice.  After three months, Ilah was so homesick, that they returned to Lehi.  They found a two room apartment next door to her family which they rented until they were able to build their own home.

Children blessed their home.  LaVee, John, Larry, Allan, and Scott added such happiness to their lives.  It was a lot of work to keep a family going.  The chores now seemed unending.  Washing clothes, hand wringing them, hanging clothes out on a clothesline, even in winter, cooking, sewing, and just trying to keep a clean house.  Then came the time when they were able to get hundreds of chickens. They built coops, tended birds, and soon were able to make an income off of the eggs.  There was always work to do on the farm too, as well as church work, which the family did faithfully.

Ilah loved being involved with Mutual, which was on Tuesday nights.  After a class there would often be a dance.   She was a wonderful Relief Society President, and her boys remember many a night when she cooked two dinners, one for their family, and one for others in the old First Ward. 

Somewhere, between all of these chores, Leo and Ilah found time almost every evening to visit her parents.  It was a family tradition to have apples and popcorn together while at the Bushman home.

Back at home again, Ilah would put on her apron and get back to her chores.  There was yard work to do and a garden to tend.  Many happy times were spent snipping beans, shelling peas, and picking apricots.  Ilah had a drive to fill every bottle she owned, and couldn’t stand to let produce go to waste.  She could also get pretty creative with coloring the bottled pears from year to year, putting pineapple and oranges in her apricots, and adding ham and onion to her green beans.

As her children finished high school, fulfilled missions, and married, Ilah seemed to find more chores to do.  Quilting was a special talent, genealogy gave her a special feeling, and then she took up painting.  She painted on fabric, she painted on wood.  She did ceramics, and soon nothing was sacred from being painted on, including milk cans and saws.

As grandchildren became part of her life, her hard-working hands moved even quicker.  As she worked, she taught them her skills of embroidery, quilting, cooking, canning, and even bottle feeding sheep and calves.  A morning of picking, snipping, and snapping beans was well worth the popsicle in pay.  Her home was always a welcome place to visit.  She was so proud of her family and their many accomplishments.