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| Florence is front row, center. Hilda Harwood sits 2 people to Florence's right. Georgia Jensen sits 2 people to Florence's left, with Lillian Adams next to Georgia. Della Smith is right behind Lillian. |
Like her sisters before her, Florence began to get more involved in school and community life as she entered the higher grades. For instance, Lillian Adams remembers that she and her friends (most likely including Florence) frequently served at banquets held in the town. Florence also gave a reading at the seventh grade assembly in January, one of many readings she gave through the years.
As Florence entered the upper grades, her older sister Fae was preparing to graduate, with Blanche in the junior class. Fae said once that Mahonri made clear his expectation that his children would perform, whether that be through music or drama or other activities. The 1924-25 school year proved no exception to that tradition. Fae excelled on the debate team, and Blanche earned a part in the school play. Fae and Blanche both worked on the school yearbook (back in the day when yearbooks captured the essence of school life). Fae also set the academic bar for the family by graduating as valedictorian of her class. Her sisters seemed to accept that standard readily.
In September 1925, Fae left for college in Cedar City, and Florence entered the eighth grade. That October, Earl and his wife, Ethel, were sealed in the St. George temple, along with their little daughter. As always, Mahonri worked hard to make ends meet for the family, spending the winter with a group of men building a road in Zion Canyon.
Harriet’s health continued to decline. Fae worried that their mother worked too hard. She worked hardest, perhaps, at trying to be well, but in the end Harriet’s illness had a marked effect on the family. Florence (and probably her sisters, as well) remembered coming home at recess and lunch to help around the house. Fae, in her usual dramatic way, says that the children “walked in the shadow of despair, not knowing if she’d be alive as [they] opened the door each night after school.” Harriet’s siblings, as well as her children, rallied around her in those years. In May 1926, for instance, William Norris came down from Shelley, Idaho with his wife for a visit. He called Alvin and Clair to come over from Caliente, Nevada, and the brothers enjoyed a reunion with their sister. Florence and her siblings loved those visits.
Blanche graduated in 1926 and remained at home for a few months to care for her mother. Fae came home for the summer, as well, though she did travel to Yellowstone for a bit and sent back glowing reports.
Beginning High School
Florence’s ninth grade year began in mid-September 1926. In those days, the school year followed the farmers’ schedule. School began once crops were harvested and continued through the beginning of planting season at the end of April. To make up for the long summer vacation, students had few holidays. They enjoyed the usual two days off at Thanksgiving and another ten days at Christmastime. Only Washington’s birthday gave them an additional day off from school.
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| Fae with her college sorority (middle row, left) |
With Fae and Blanche graduated, Florence filled the Decker tradition in high school activities. She gave several readings for various school and community events and had a part in the freshman play. In May, both Florence and Lillian participated in the Stake MIA Day held in Cedar City. Florence won the contest for declamation, an event involving the re-enactment of famous speeches. According to the newspaper, Florence chose to give her rendition of “Sail On” for the contest. Quite likely, this referred to a famous poem by Joaquin Miller entitled “Columbus,” with the stirring stanza,
“Brave Admiral, say but one good word:
What shall we do when hope is gone?”
The words leapt like a leaping sword:
“Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!”
The book Winning Declamations and How to Speak Them suggests that the orator use “clear, ringing tones” and address the climax with “large volume and strong force.” Presumably, Florence did just that. At any rate, her performance earned her first prize and a spot at the district meet with two other stakes later that month in Cedar City.
Blanche lived at home during Florence’s ninth grade year. For a few months, she cared for her mother. Then, in January 1927, Blanche herself came down with complicated case of appendicitis and spent the next 17 weeks in bed. She had surgery in January and again in February, according to newspaper accounts. Florence would have been quite busy caring for Blanche, in addition to Harriet.
In May 1927, somewhat recovered, Blanche traveled to California to spend the summer with Aunt Anna and convalesce. It was her first trip to California, and she spent much of the summer working as a cashier at Aunt Anna’s Shamrock Restaurant on Sante Fe Avenue in Los Angeles. Harriet went out to California in August, as well. She took Alpine, and they brought Blanche back with them on their return to Parowan. Fae had spent the summer working at Bryce Canyon.
Losing a Mother
As Harriet’s tuberculosis (or, as the doctors had insisted on calling it, her poisoned goiter) took its toll, she spent much of her time confined to bed or a chair. She would lie in the bed in the afternoons, reading the Book of Mormon. Sometimes, she could talk a little.
Still, even in the face of death, life had to continue on. Florence started the tenth grade in 1927 and looked forward to her sixteenth birthday. She wrote articles about school events for the local paper and managed the debating team. In fact, she beat out her cousin, a senior boy, in elections for the debating post. Her friends Lillian Adams and Georgia Jensen won elections to student body offices, as well.
Among all the other activities, it seems Florence was developing a love of acting at this point that was to last for the rest of her life. In November, Florence, along with her friends Della Smith and Ivy Dalton, presented a one-act play for the Dramatic Arts Club and for parents’ day. That same month, 30 students competed for 7 parts in the school play. Florence was awarded the part of Ma in a play called Applesauce.
By the end of December, however, the Parowan Times reported that Florence’s own mother lay “at death’s door.” In the days that followed, Harriet called each of her children to her bedside for a few last, quiet words. She told them to “be good to papa” and to cherish the testimony they had of the truth of the gospel. She died on a Tuesday, the third of January, 1928, at the age of 47. Mahonri, at 59, was now a widower for the second time. Harriet’s children ranged in age from Fae, at 21, to 10-year old Alpine.
Several days later, Bishop Adams of the Parowan West Ward (Lillian’s father) presided over Harriet’s funeral in the tabernacle. Barbara Adams spoke, and the choir sang the hymn “Oh, My Father.” Other speakers included David Matheson and Walter Mitchell. Alvin, Frank, and Clair Norris returned to Parowan for the funeral, as did Earl and his wife. The paper made no mention of Aunt Anna or Uncle William, so presumably they were not able to make the journey home.
Carrying On
Mahonri took his wife’s death very hard. Fae reports that he was a broken man, and that his children used to find him weeping silently. He had always kept Harriet on a pedestal and loved her dearly, despite his rough ways. Now, for the second time, he found himself burying a wife in the midst of a cold January.
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| Blanche, date unknown |
Florence remained at home with her father and, at the age of 16, essentially took over the mothering of Woodrow and Alpine. Even with the work at home, however, she found time to live her life. Late in January 1928, she tried out for the Parowan High School debate squad, earning a spot on the team of six debaters and competing in the Triangle Debates that spring.
Fae returned to Parowan in the summer of 1928. Near the end of the summer, Florence organized a 60th birthday party for Mahonri, combined with a birthday party for Blanche. Alvin, Mahonri’s oldest son, had begun to date his second wife, Verena, by then, and they were serious enough that she joined them at the family party. Alvin had lost his own wife five years previous to Harriet’s death, and he had been raising two boys on his own since then. Verena was seven years older than Florence, but she quite liked Florence and was happy to have a “sister” in town who was just the same age as the little sister she left back home.
Almost Ready to Leave the Nest
September 1928 found Florence back at Parowan High School for her junior year. She continued her acting, playing the part of Auntie in Elenor Gate’s whimsical farce, We Are Seven, and appearing in the PHS opera, The Belle of Barcelona. Fae had returned to town for the year to teach fourth grade.
The following spring brought significant changes to Florence’s circle. Her close friend Lillian Adams graduated from high school and prepared to enter college at BAC in Cedar City. In May, Fae married Cleo Dix, a newspaperman. They also settled in Cedar City. A few weeks later, Alvin married Verena Stevens. Blanche came south after a year at the University of Utah, but she opted to work at the Grand Canyon for the summer. Florence spent the summer at home, although she did get away for a few days in September to visit friends in Payson.
Senior year began with some excitement as the town gathered for the dedication of the new high school. Florence’s graduating class had been the first class to enter the old school building, and they would be the first to graduate from the new one. The new high school boasted a large gymnasium, six classrooms, and offices. The students would continue to use the East wing of the old school for home economics, shop class, and labs.
Florence won a spot as student body treasurer for the year, and she and her friends Georgia Jensen and Della Smith began their senior year with their characteristic enthusiasm, presenting readings and skits. In April, Florence and her friends presented a play at High School Day in Cedar.
In May, Parowan High School graduated the largest class in school history. Florence gave the valedictory address for her class of 30 students, and the newspaper spoke glowingly about her school record. Twenty miles away, in Cedar City, Elwood Corry also graduated from high school. He had dated Lillian Adams for some time, following a friendly bet over a basketball game in January, but Elwood decided he had better not date anyone too steadily before his mission.
Florence celebrated that summer with a hiking trip to Mammoth (through the mountains from Parowan, near Brian Head) with her friends Lillian and Georgia. On a Tuesday morning in July, they left town at 3:00 a.m. to begin their hike of roughly 15 miles. Bishop Adams (Lillian’s father) followed later by car with their camp outfit, accompanied by Lillian’s mother and sister and other ladies. They were to spend a few days at Mammoth while Bishop Adams repaired fences.
Apparently, at some point around Cedar Breaks, a passing motorist stopped to offer the girls a ride. As they approached the car, the man said, “I didn’t think you’d make it.” Needless to say, the girls finished the hike. Independence had carried them this far, and they were not about to give in when someone challenged their abilities. Born of pioneer stock and raised during the suffrage movement, these young women stood strong, ready for the world.
