Betty Nelson (Dale) Shelby

Dale Shelby History And Betty Nelson Shelby History

submitted by Joe Shelby (son) and Suzi Shelby Stanger (daughter)

Grandfather Thomas Shelby

                Born in Prairie Grove Arkansas. He loved to work with trees and plants. Before moving to Idaho in 1916, he worked on an apple tree farm. He is the father of 3 children, 2 boys and 1 girl. He died of a tonsillectomy and is buried in Prairie Grove, Arkansas.

Minnie Gibson Shelby Nesbit

Raised in Prairie Grove, Arkansas. Mother of 3 children, Melbourne, Joseph, and Juanita. She moved with the family from Prairie Grove, Arkansas to Rupert, Idaho in 1916. After Thomas Shelby died, he was taken back to Prairie Grove and buried there. Minnie married Jack Nesbitt. Because all of her children remained in Idaho, she was buried in Rupert with Jack Nesbit. Had sinus and mastoid problems and came to Idaho for her health. She had adult onset diabetes which was difficult later in life.

            Melbourne Shelby worked in a bakery.

            Joe Tillerman Shelby He was born in Fayetteville Arkansas near Prairie Grove Arkansas. He moved as a young boy to Idaho with his family. They travelled on the train to Idaho from Arkansas. With his southern accent and great number of freckles on his face and arms, he was subject to some hazing and teasing on first going to school in Rupert. He was a fast runner and good student. He was friendly and made many friends in school. He attended Rupert schools where he met Grandma Alyce at Rupert High School. They were m their senior year in High School in Farmington, Utah in the back of grocery store.

           Great Grandma Johnson was expecting a baby (Clifford) and Alyce and Joe thought it would be easier on the family if they eloped and got married. Alyce and Joe were in several classes in high school together. When they returned from their trip to Farmington to get married, they both went back home to live until graduation, not telling either family.

 A teacher at the Rupert High School had a friend in Farmington, Utah. This friend sent a newspaper clipping about Joe and Alyce’s marriage and asked if she knew the young couple. The teacher asked Alyce’s sister Margaret about the wedding in a class before the teacher talked to Alyce. Margaret went home and told the family. Although a somewhat unusual beginning, they shared a wonderful marriage that lasted more than 70 years.

Grandpa Joe loved to read magazines and business articles. He read the newspaper faithfully, often circling articles and cutting out something helpful or interesting to send in a letter to a friend or family member to read. He was an avid horticulturist. He loved to grow a great variety of flowers, trees, vegetables, fruit, and enjoyed spending his days in the yard, garden, and at the grocery store he expanded  into the relatively new area of stocking bedding plants and bushes that customers could purchase to plant at home.

He was a tireless worker. He was always awake and dressed and eating breakfast before 7am. He enjoyed working hard. He was happiest at work. He would eat his lunch and rest briefly and then he would work again until 6pm. During years in the grocery stores, those hours went until 10p.m.

As a young man he helped create the canal systems in and around the Rupert area when the dams were created on the Snake River. He loved to be at work and to be with people.

Juanita Minone Henrietta Shelby Hayden

Johnny Erastus Johnson was a very skilled carpenter. He came from a large family that emigrated from Denmark to Brigham City, Utah after joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Jennie Mortenson Johnson also lived in Brigham City, Utah. Her family was also from Denmark. Her mother died when she was young. Her father remarried and it was difficult for her and her brothers and sisters following his 2^nd marriage. Her family had a shoe store in Brigham City, Utah. She was a very skilled cook and she loved to play games. She was very tender hearted. She cried easily and often, her heart was very empathetic. She often would call the children “silly goose”.

Ray Johnson Alyce’s wonderful older brother he died at 14 from appendicitis.

Edith Johnson died as an infant baby.

Alyce Johnson Shelby Grandma Alyce was very athletic and smart. She had a wonderful sense of humor. In school, she was amazing in Math. As a young girl she loved Mathematics and excelled with memorizing math—times tables were her specialty. She loved competing in Math. She played games often as a girl as the family always played card games. She was a wonderful sister and helped her brothers and sisters and their families throughout her lifetime. It was very sad to her when her brother Ray died at age 14. She was very independent. She was a hard worker. She helped on the farm and during a short period when her family moved to California she helped with her younger brothers and sisters but also found time to swim in the ocean and enjoy the experience of life in California. She helped on the family farm and knew and loved the neighbors nearby.

After she and Grandpa met and were married, she was a lifelong help to him in all of their endeavors. She was very organized and kept the accounting and records organized. She was a whiz at an adding machine. She was very frugal and economized and saved money in many ways. She enjoyed saving money and used it to further their businesses. She enjoyed belonging to Civic Clubs and Bridge and Pinochle Clubs. She was an excellent card player. She and Grandpa Joe were both very patriotic and loved the United States of America. They both felt it was important to keep jobs in America and they tried to buy things that were made in America. Because they were self-made business owners, they were careful and never wasted any money or any time.

They raised large gardens and had fruit trees. They canned dill pickles, beets, apple and peach jam that were loved by all their family. They enjoyed raising green beans and carrots, cucumbers, and had fresh vegetables on the table all summer.

They had many friends and were good friends to other people. They always stayed in touch with their friends and family. Grandma wrote many letters to family and friends in Arkansas, Arizona, and other family members and friends wherever they lived. She remembered people’s birthday with a card and friends nearby often received flowers, a card, or they went to eat lunch or dinner together. They loved people and enjoyed many enduring friendships.

Margaret Johnson Forge she was so cute and funny. She and Alyce shared many funny times together. They had to clear the kitchen table after mealtimes at dinner. Alyce would let Margaret choose which half of the table that she would clear and Alyce would clear the other half of the table. As they would go back and forth to the kitchen, each time Margaret left the table, Alyce would slide some of the silverware, plates, cups and empty food dishes to Margaret’s side. At Christmas time they would each get a chocolate covered cherry from a box of candy. Alyce and the other children would eat their chocolate covered cherry quickly, enjoying the treat. Margaret would eat hers with a toothpick, one small piece of chocolate at a time pulled from the chocolate covered cherry. Alyce, exasperated, would finally grab whatever was left of Margaret’s chocolate covered cherry and eat it. They were very close sisters. Margaret was a wonderful seamstress and sewed most of Alyce’s blouses and pants, and spent time with Alyce ever year when they would update her wardrobe. Alyce learned to drive when she was 12. She drove into Ogden and back to pick up a relative from the train at age 12.

Ralph Johnson Alyce’s older brother. They were great friends and played and enjoyed working on the family farm together and enjoying growing up as the family moved from Utah to Idaho.

Margaret Johnson Forge her husband worked for the railroad in Pocatello and then in Nampa. She worked for many years as a seamstress.

Willard Johnson wonderful carpenter he also worked for Geneva Steel in Lindon Utah. He travelled for Geneva Steel and was Mayor of Lindon.

Lyle Johnson a wonderful carpenter. He could make anything. He was so sweet and kind.

Thelma Johnson Bradley she worked in the State Legislature in Boise. Her husband sold insurance. She was beautiful and lots of fun.

Clifford Johnson Alyce’s youngest brother he lived in Missoula Montana after his marriage.

Alyce and Joe moved to Arkansas after they were married, and following high school graduation.

Leon, their first child was born in Prairie Grove Arkansas and died from pneumonia when he was 3 years old. Tom and Irene Dyer and Grandpa and Grandma pooled money to travel from Prairie Grove, Arkansas to California in Model T Ford and shared expenses. They had seen an advertisement for work in Sonoma, California to work on road construction.

Joe and Alyce then moved to Ely, NV and bought a bakery with Joe’s brother Melbourne and operated this for short time until the mines closed and they had to move. Once they sold every baked good except chocolate cake to the miners.  Alyce and Joe didn’t want to waste the chocolate cake and they ate it as a meal. They became so sick! They never had chocolate cake at their home again.

Alyce and Joe moved back to Rupert and worked with the Canal Company and had second child Max.   He lived after his birth only briefly and he is buried in the Rupert cemetery.

 Grandpa Joe went to work for a bakery in Rupert.

Dale Le Roy Shelby was born August 25, 1930.

Dale Shelby

Grandpa Joe worked for Joe Dolan in the W&R (Wall and Rollins) food store.  He transferred after 6 months to Burley and managed the store (Dad was 6). Dale started school at Miller Elementary School. He loved school. He had wonderful friends. He had some struggles with sinus troubles. But he was excellent at sports and games played at recess. He worked before and after school and he didn’t spend a lot of extra time on homework but he was a good student and enjoyed learning.

                     

When Dad was 7 his parents adopted an infant, Monte Joe Shelby.

Grandpa Joe was manager of Walls Food Store for 3-4 years and then bought Freer Food Store and owned it for about 10 years and sold it in 1948.

Joe and Alyce bought Kaiser Fraser and Tucker Auto Franchises in Boise and Brigham City but because of a variety of Tucker Auto manufacturer issues they could not make a success of selling those types of vehicles.

In 1950 they moved from Boise to Twin Falls and started Shelby’s Market. They enlarged this store three times. It grew from 2,400 square feet to a 26,000 square foot supermarket.

Dale playing football on Budge Field downtown Burley by the Court House

Dale Shelby Graduation Picture

Dad met mom in 1945 at a seminary dance at the Wydell dance hall in Burley. Mom’s sister Wilma was living in apartments behind Shelby’s grocery store in Burley and Dad heard about Wilma’s cute younger sister from Oakley, and his interest was piqued. Dad danced with Mary Turner and was asked is there anyone you would like me to set you up with and he responded “Yes –Betty Nelson from Oakley. He and Mom danced that first dance, and the next and the next dance. They then walked and talked around the Wydell building. They talked until Mom missed the Seminary bus back to Oakley (Dad might have known the bus was leaving). He gallantly offered to drive her back to Oakley. Their relationship was started on this dance and they continued waltzing from 1948 until 2004.

Betty was a cheerleader from Oakley, Idaho.  She and her 6 sisters and 1 brother helped her mother and father on their ranch in Oakley. They had a large apple, pear, and peach orchard near their home. They lived about 2 miles outside of Oakley. Betty’s father died when she, Carol, Bob, and Wilma were young and still at home. Her mother kept the ranch going and worked at the Oakley school as a cook.

Dad grew up working in the grocery stores with his parents. They lived near the Burley Park and he had a lot of fun playing games with friends in the neighborhood. 

He would often go to his grandparents’ farm in Rupert. Many weekends were spent with them on the farm. He was very close to Alyce’s brothers and sisters and spent a great deal of time with them working on the farm. He rode the farm horses, helped with the cows and chickens, swam in the pond, and looked for eggs in the chicken coop.  Dale learned to swim and was a good swimmer. He enjoyed homemade bread with thick cream and sugar sprinkled on it.

Once he was asked to ride the horse to pick up some shoes that had been re-soled. On the return trip he had the shoes all knotted together on the neck of the horse. Something spooked the horse and after a quick dash, Dad and shoes went one way and the horse went another. The shoes softened his landing and Grandma and Grandpa didn’t notice any extra scuffs on the shoes from his slide down the gravel road on the shoes.

 As they grew older, her brothers and sisters came to stay and live with Joe and Alyce at different times. Willard drove school bus and he lived with Joe and Alyce during that time. He loved spending time on the farm and sharing in the work and play there.

                He loved to ride horses. He was a good bicyclist and he saved money and bought his own first bike. Once when he was riding his bicycle, someone swung the door open suddenly on a car parked near the side of the street –sending Dale and his bicycle flying.

Dad did all kinds of work as a young boy in the store. He would count all of the eggs that farmers brought to the store to sell. He would pluck chickens each night after school. He worked and saved money. He bought his own hunting rifles and he loved to hunt with Grandpa Joe and other friends all around Burley and Rupert.

As he got older, he loved to draw and had good talent. He created most of the hanging signs at each display in the store and he drew the large store window displays of items for sale and the price. Drawing was interesting and he would go in early each day and create all of the signs needed for the store.

Dad loved to work at the store but he also had a great mind for how to maximize his time and make good money while working. He realized he could make more money than most of the managers at the store by plucking chickens after school. It was a job no one wanted to do but the store supplied cleaned chickens to many restaurants and customers. Dale made a great deal of money plucking chickens. When he and Betty married, he had more than$4000 dollars saved and a nice truck which he had paid for with his own money.

 Dale was acquainted with many people in Rupert, Heyburn, Declo, Burley, Oakley, and Twin Falls as they would come in to trade at the store or they would have items for the store to sell. He knew many families and their extended families in the area. He knew everyone at school, older and younger. He was friendly and outgoing. He became captain of the football and basketball teams and served as student body vice president his Junior Year and as Student Body President his Senior Year.

He loved history. He was a great reader and enjoyed Western literature. Earl Carlson was the school principal and he enjoyed Mr. Carlson a great deal.

Dad enjoyed going to the movies on Saturday. He would usually get a blueberry or banana or coconut cream pie from the store bakery before the double feature movie on Saturday. He would eat one half of the pie during the first movie and the other half of the pie during the second feature. He would grow to be 6’2” and he was very active!

Most kids growing up in the 1930’s and 1940’s had 1-2 pair of pants for the school year. Dad in school enjoyed the tradition of having friends autograph each other’s pant legs which they would then wear all year. Dad had several pairs of corduroy pants that he wore to school throughout the year. He laughed that they must have been able to stand in the corner by themselves with all that wear each year!

The Second World War started for the United States on December 7, 1941 when Japan bombed the United States at Pearl Harbor. Dad had a map on his wall in his bedroom and he put pins in the map and followed the War and the battles between the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, and the nations of Africa and the Pacific as the War continued to its close in 1945.

Because they worked 7 days a week and the store was open from 7am and closed at 10p.m., the noon meal was the biggest meal of the day. After work at night they would often just take something home from the store to eat. Some of Dad’s favorite things to eat were canned Vienna sausage, cold cereal, and bread and milk. Grandma Alyce worked in the store and so she didn’t cook big meals during the week. Dad was impressed after visiting a friend’s house where a pan on the stove always had cooked beans for the kids to eat. He thought it was wonderful.

Grandma Alyce was a great cook. The family bottled everything from the garden and she loved to have a good meal and dessert for the family. She made wonderful apple cake, carrot cake, fruit cobbler, roast, chicken and dumplings, Chinese noodles, cabbage slaw salad.

The family loved to play card games. They listened to popular programs on the radio.  They had a coal furnace and had to clean the walls from the coal smoke. They loved to hunt and fish. They visited friends and family in Rupert, Burley, and enjoyed going on picnics.

In 2^nd grade, Grandma Alyce encouraged Dad to learn to play the violin. It was a great struggle for him and the violin didn’t come as naturally as basketball, football, marbles, hunting, fishing, or riding horses.  Music was not a book he enjoyed reading, or a sport he could help his team win, or work that he could do at the store. He was not interested. He struggled and worked with the violin but he was greatly relieved when the music teacher and his Mother agreed that he was not a good student of the violin!

               During the years in the store, bigger meals were usually on Sunday. They would always get hand packed ice cream from the store and eat the entire half gallon each Sunday evening. As Mom and Dad started dating, she would often be with them on Saturday or Sunday. Mom learned to check groceries, pack ice cream, and do much of the work there.

               

Oakley and Burley had a great school rivalry. Oakley was the smaller school and they really prepped to beat Burley in any sport they competed. As Dad and Mom started dating, Burley and Oakley were playing a football game. Dad sprinted down the field with football tucked under his arm and Mom was a cheerleader on the sidelines. She called out from bench after a successful field goal – “Dale you quit that!”

Dad loved Mom’s family. He loved the ranch and farm. He enjoyed all that the family did together and joined in as one of the family from the very beginning of their courtship. Quentin Warr, a brother in law who was very funny and joked all the time, commented when he met Dale: “Well Betty couldn’t you have found an uglier fellow to date?”  The family had so many good times together as the older sisters were married and lived in Oakley or nearby and they spent a great time together enjoying Sunday dinners, picnics, and holiday times together as a family.

After community dances they would go back and have breakfast together late at night at the Critchfield’s, or Warrs. They always had water fights. Once Dad remembers Grandma Nelson was ironing and a water fight broke out. The family chased each other and threw water as she ducked and dodged.

Grandma Nelson was a wonderful cook. Dale loved her home cooking. When they first started dating, Mom was afraid her Mother’s cooking wouldn’t be as sophisticated as the store bought bread and pies and cookies that Dad was accustomed to at the store. She made her mother buy some store bought bread to have for Dale with his first meal visiting their home.

Grandma Nelson made her own mayonnaise and her ground roast beef sandwiches were wonderful. She made homemade raisin filled cookies. She bottled hundreds of bottles of peaches and had great pear butter jam. They had horses and milk cows. It was very similar to his Grandparent’s home and farm in Rupert. He felt at home immediately and enjoyed everything associated with the Nelson’s farm and family.

Betty Nelson and Dale Shelby

Dale and Betty loved to go on picnics to the Oakley Dam and all of the area around Oakley. They ice skated on the Oakley canal. They attended all of the school and seminary dances together.

 One of the times Dad got in trouble for missing school was to go to Pocatello and see Mom in a high school play and he forgot to write himself a note to be excused – He had mastered the ability to forge his mothers note.

Dad loved to ride his favorite horse Nig to Oakley. It was 20 miles between Oakley and Burley. It was a 40 mile round-trip by horseback. He did that many times. To show what a kind and benevolent gentleman Dad was – after a dance in Rupert Mom missed the bus and Dad had to drive her home to Oakley. The heater did not work, so the couple wrapped in a blanket and kept each other warm for the 40 mile ride. Dad’s buddies never understood how the car did not conveniently run out of gas!

The Principal from Oakley Idaho said Dad should transfer to Oakley from Burley as he spent more time there visiting Betty then in Burley and he would get more school credit. They were both accepted very well in each other’s towns and schools and have been attending school reunions together throughout their lives.

Dale Shelby at the Grocery Store

Nelson Side

Swanty Nelson and Charlotta came from Tooele, Utah and moved to Oakley, Idaho and homesteaded below the dam and had a ranch that eventually was used as part of the Oakley dam.

Clarence Nelson grew up in Oakley. He was fun loving and a great horseman. He enjoyed being a cowboy as he grew up in Oakley. He was a big tease and loved to laugh and joke. Once he thought he would do something nice for his Dad and he pounded nails into his Dad’s saddle as decorations. He was surprised when his Dad wasn’t happy with the embellishment Clarence added to the saddle.

He was very strong. He could pull himself end over end up a rope very quickly. He could hold himself vertically straight out from a chair and circle the chair holding himself straight as he circled it. He was a fast runner. He was quick in a wrestling match. He was a good hunter and fisherman. He loved to play and have fun. He loved the outdoors and enjoyed the beauties of southern Idaho and Nevada.

He loved to joke and have fun. They put a wagon on top of the school. They played all kinds of pranks during his growing up years in Oakley.

He served a mission in New Zealand from 1906 to 1909. His nick name was “ Swantys Angel”. The day before he left to go to Salt Lake City and be set apart for his mission, he rode his horse into the Oakley saloon, yelling out “I am going on a mission in the morning!” He served a wonderful mission on the north Island. He had many wonderful friends and members of the Church in New Zealand. He brought back a saying “auckataweeah”- “row the boat over here”. He enjoyed riding a bicycle, a new invention at the time in some parts of his mission. They walked often 20 miles each day, visiting different members and investigators. He had a strong testimony of the Gospel and loved the Savior.

                Pherry Nelson and May Nelson were Clarence’s brother and sister. They never married and they lived and worked together throughout their lives. Dad and Uncle LaDell loved to hunt with Uncle Pherry. Often they would go after work up to pick up Uncle Pherry and they would ride horses and hunt deer all over the Oakley and Burley area.

Edward Eli Poulton father of Ila Vera Poulton. He died when she was very young.

Ann Worthington moved to Oakley from Tooele. 

The Poulton family  homesteaded the Buckhorn ranch – Edward went to the county seat during a business trip. He got very wet and cold and caught pneumonia and passed away at a very young age (33).

Because the Buckhorn Ranch was outside of town, Grancma Alice Ann Worthington would hide the children outside the ranch in a field or in a ditch when Indians came by to ask for food.

Diamond Field Jack came by and was introduced to the kids. He was the range detective to protect the cattlemen from the sheepmen.

                Ila Vera Poulton Nelson, Emerald Poulton Hunter, Edna Poulton Hales, and Wesley Poulton were the children of Edward Eli Poulton and Alice Ann Worthington Poulton.  Ila Vera Poulton Nelson as the oldest helped her mother after the death of her father when Wesley was a baby.

Both Clarence and Ver were born and raised in Oakley Idaho. Ila Vera had helped take care of neighbor’s children to earn money. She cooked for ranchers in the area.  Clarence was several years older than Ila Vera. They met after his mission and were married in the SLC Temple. 

They travelled by horse and buggy to be married in the temple. Their  first home was at the Bostetter Ranger Station were Clarence worked for the Forest Service and then help build the Porcupine Springs Camp with the CC’s.  They had 7 girls and 1 boy. They served in the Church in Oakley. They had many wonderful times on picnics, enjoying Church and community activities, and doing the work of the farm and ranch. Clarence Leroy Nelson was sick during the last 7 years of his life. He died in the LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City.

Betty’s sisters were: Myrna Nelson who was married to George Franks, she died at a young age from cancer, leaving her husband and children; Bea Nelson, married to Theron Smith; Wanda Nelson married to Niles Critchfield;  La Rae Nelson, married to Quentin Warr; Wilma Nelson married to Ole Parrish; Robert Nelson married to Mary Turner; Betty Louise Nelson married to Dale Shelby; and Carol Nelson married to Ladell Handy.

Betty Nelson was born in Oakley Idaho on March 11, 1930. She contacted an illness right after she was born and was treated for a skin illness in Twin Falls.

She got car sick from the fumes of the bus and would mainly walk everywhere she went. She learned to walk fast and be headed somewhere. The family was raised by the Oakley canal and so was a path she was very used to traveling. Although she lived close to the canal she never learned to swim. Vera put a lot of fear from swimming and the possibility of drowning and so she was very adverse to water.

 The Oakley drug store was the gathering place for the kids. Mom found a lot of fun in playing store from the books of the Clarks store and played with her sister around the leaf of table and two chairs. She would ride her horse Bally to gather the milk cows and to travel around. She and Aunt Carol were the dearest of friends and did everything together. They played dolls, played in the orchard, and shared all of their growing up years with each other.

                When Mom was little her dad requested her to learn the name Funeral to go to her grandpa’s funeral Swanty. Mom lost her Dad at age of twelve and was raised in pretty meager circumstances. She milked cows in the morning and evening and helped to do a lot of canning to help sustain the family and trade for needed items.  She and Aunt Carol would sleep in the orchard during the summer to keep cooler. No one could leave their home without a bushel of apples. Pioneer Day, July 24, was the family vacation to Bostetter. The family continued this tradition for many years and Veras oatmeal cookies were a big part of the tradition. The family looked forward to Uncle Earl Rytting coming and bringing Hostess products to share with the family.  Bread, Twinkies, Cupcakes were a cherished treat.

Moms grew up in very humble circumstances. She was invited to a friend’s birthday party in the Oakley Ward. The Nelson family searched for a gift for her to take to the party. They found a nickel to give to the birthday girl. Betty went to the party and happily gave her nickel to the little girl. The friend later told her that if she couldn’t give her more than a nickel, she would not be invited.

Mom remembered many winters where they lived on deer meat and all of the bottled fruits and vegetables from their garden. She remembered not having any money in the house during many winters. All they had was the food they stored.

One school picnic they went on an outing and her dad cut her a piece of inner tube to put in the bottom of her shoe to assist with the trip.

Their home did not have a well on site, so they would haul the water from the city canal or at Uncle Ferry’s farm. They hauled three milk cans to retrieve the water. Once Mom was running quickly from Aunt Emerald’s house to go back home and didn’t see some wire that was stretched across between 2 trees. It struck her in the throat and cut her throat badly.

Betty was good help on the family farm and was quick to get work done and to do it well. She drove the horses for the derrick cart when the men were cutting hay and storing it to use during the winter months.

Betty was a good student and loved school. She loved to attend the Ward activities and had a great testimony of the Savior as a young girl. She loved seminary. She enjoyed her studies. She was very quick and could run faster than almost all of the boys. They loved to skate around the sidewalks of the school. Lunch time was a fun time to be with friends at school. Although she couldn’t afford to buy anything at lunch time and always brought something from home to eat for lunch, she was very sociable and was everyone’s friend.  She was a cheerleader for Oakley High School all 4 years of high school. She was active in school plays and had a great talent for dramatic reading. She was very active in Seminary and loved her Seminary teachers.

As she grew older in high school she cooked for the hay crew at the Grandy ranch. One of the men made her a beautiful tooled leather belt-she had a 16 inch waist!

Mom and Dad went to retrieve a Christmas tree one year. They were so blinded by love that they didn’t notice on the fifteen mile return trip on horseback that the tree was dragging and eventually had no needles by the time they returned home.

              During their courtship they wrote many letters back and forth to each other. They were great friends and always had much to say to each other. After they were married they still spent a great deal of time visiting and talking together. Each morning throughout almost 60 years of marriage they woke up early and laid in bed and held hands and talked about things they were reading; about their family and friends; things going on in the world; and new plans and ideas of things they hoped to accomplish.

Birch Creek was a big picnic place for the Shelby family and was soon joined with the Nelson Clan for a wonderful Easter tradition of a meal of hot dogs, pork and beans, and potato salad followed by a softball game and mountain hike. The menu evolved to include fried chicken, cake, jello salad and a first class outfit with refined items and a lot of family fun.  Most of all the relatives from the two sides were very close and started some wonderful traditions making for very close extended family.

June 7, 1948 the marriage took place in the Salt Lake Temple and Mom and Dad enjoyed their honeymoon in touring a few of the LDS temples Manti, and St. George. At that time a temple recommend was required for each temple and they had to have a recommend for each one they attended.

They travelled to Albuquerque, NM where Dad was going to play football as a punter and place kicker for University of New Mexico.  After they arrived it seemed so far away from friends and family they decided to BYU to attend college and lived in a one room apartment – Sealeys Mobile Home Park.

 Dad and Mom attended BYU for a short time. The winter of 1948 -1949 was one of the worst on record.  Mom and Dad appreciated the canned goods their family helped them with and learned to enjoy peanut butter and honey sandwiches. Registering late for fall semester most classes were filled up and evening schedules were only available. Mom worked at a bank as Dad took some classes.

              After that year at BYU, they decided to go back and do what Dad knew and loved- work in the grocery business.

Cardinal Food market was his first job in Burley and they lived in Mrs. Fitz basement apartment – 2 rooms which were accessed by the coal furnace room. Then went to work for Spaurs Food store and lived on Oakley Avenue in a little three room home. They acquired their first furniture in this basement apartment.

 Gayle Dian Shelby was welcomed into their family on August 26, 1949.

Dad joined Grandpa Joe Shelby working at the store in Twin Falls during this time. Mom travelled back to have wonderful Doctor Sutton in Burley deliver Darla Kay Shelby on June 25, 1950. Mark Leon Shelby was born in Twin Falls on December 27, 1956.

Dad worked in the Twin Falls store from 1950 thru 1960. It was common to work 13 days on and take one day off during every 2 weeks.  He maintained this schedule for 6 years.

The first house in Twin Falls was a little three room house on Sunrise. When Shelby’s Market expanded, this house later became part of the Twin Falls store expansion.  The family moved to 11^th Avenue East, and then moved to a home on the corner of Falls and Mountain View. Their final home before moving to Burley to open the 2^nd store was a nice home on Larkspur just off of Addison Avenue.

Mark was diagnosed with a serious illness as a little boy… (Mark fill in details of sickness and time until it was cured)

Dale and Betty opened the Burley store in 1960. Sue Ann Shelby was born on December 18, 1962 and Joseph Dale Shelby was born on June 19, 1964.  Dale and Betty moved into the Dawson house on Oakley.

              They then had a home built on 20 acres on West 40^th near the Oakley Highway and Farmer’s Market in Burley. They sold Shelby’s Markets to Smiths Food King in 1970.

Mom served in many leadership positions in the church, including Stake Young Women President. She loved to play golf with Helen McMurray. She loved doing genealogy and compiled much Shelby family genealogy and had much family work done in the Temple during these years.

Mom loved to can and bottle and went to the canning kitchen each year. She enjoyed having her sisters, brother, and their family and kids nearby. The extended family enjoyed doing many things together including:  picnics; baseball games; church activities; parades; 4-H; Cassia County Possee Events; Horse Racing; family holiday meals at the grange or at the Church in Oakley; snow skiing; water skiing; sleigh riding and picking pine nuts.

 They did many fun things together. Sunday nights were spent watching TV shows like Wild Kingdom, Wonderful World of Disney, Mission Impossible and having treats. All of the family helped build the new Church building near South West Elementary School in Burley. Holidays were so busy in the grocery store: so many people needed extra food, decorations, gift items and to stock the shelves, sell the goods, and help people who had forgotten this item or that item and would call and ask if the store could be opened for them… left little time for sleep. Dad was often exhausted after Thanksgiving and Christmas and Easter and the 4^th of July. He loved to be with the family and do everything, but he needed more hours in the day.

As Mom’s family moved from Oakley to Burley to work they all helped each other in everything they were doing.

Aunt Myrna, Uncle George and their kids were fun and shared in so many family events.

Aunt Bea and Uncle Theron,  Renee, Connie, had picnics and their home in Burley was often a get together for dinner and homemade pie, cake, and ice cream.

Dian, Darla, and the cousins had a lot of fun with the Critchfield family when they lived in Oakley. Aunt Wanda opened a beauty shop in Burley. It was fun when their family moved to Burley to go to their home and visit their family. Ilene, Jan, Carma, Scott and Jeff- all of the Critchfield cousins were so fun.

Aunt Wilma and Uncle Oel had horses and it was fun to spend time with them and Dwight, Brenda, Warren, Barton, Randy, Corey, Holly, Sonia, and Kyle.

 Aunt Carol and Uncle LaDell were always part of everything that happened. Aunt Carol made the best divinity and chili and brownies and she always had fun games to play and things to do. Jerrolynn, Denise, and Debbie were our closest cousins and we did everything with them. We loved them and appreciated our close association so much. 4-H, work at the grocery store, school events, church events, skiing, water skiing, and riding horses-we did everything together.

Uncle Bob was in the Air Force and it was wonderful when he visited and shared stories of Europe and Asia.

During the time of managing the Burley store Dad bought a large section of land in Albion and then sold it to Skaggs Drug store. He then bought the ranch in Junction and ran 350 head of cattle and bought farm in Malta to raise hay and to have rangeland for the cattle in winter. They would drive, trail, and move the cows back to Junction for the summer.

Dian graduated from High School in Burley in 1967. She graduated from Utah State University in 1971.

Dad and Uncle Ladell Handy made a great project out of the Junction Ranch. They sprayed the land to clear the Sage Brush and planted crested wheat which grew well. They developed 4 springs in the area to serve the needs of the cattle for water. They rotated 4 lots of ground to maximize its use for their cattle.

Dale Shelby and LaDell Handy were recognized for their excellence in developing and using this ranchland. They were honored as Cassia County Grassmen of the Year in 1970.

In 1968 the Burley Shelby Supermarket had expanded into the premier store of the Cassia County area. At this time a large fire broke out around the back of the building and consumed the store in a relatively quick amount of time.

By the time Dad got to the store after a long night of stocking he could see the fire rolling up the aisles and was peeling the labels off the cans and blew the windows out of the front of the store. It was a total loss and the only items saved were the horseshoes off the Budweiser Horses and the Corel Ware .

It took 90 days to rebuild the store and to re-open. Luckily the store was covered by insurance and Associated Food Stores assisted in acquiring materials from a Medford, Oregon Safeway store that was not being completed.

Hussman had the equipment available (though this was during the 1960’s Watts riot. Hussman was in the middle of this major event). Dad has always been appreciative that they were fortunate to have planned for insurance to cover the time to rebuild the store, and to pay the employees’ wages. Because of this insurance planning, they could keep the staff all together as the store was rebuilt.

Dad and Mom learned the value of family as they stood in the front of the Cassia County Bank – now the First Federal Bank- and watched the store burn down in front of this bank building surrounded by all their kids – that family is most important and everything else is replaceable.

Two years after the store burned down – they decided to sell and move to full time ranching in King Hill Idaho and purchased the Pitchfork Ranch from the Knox Estate. Uncle Ladell and Aunt Carol Handy and Jerrolyn moved from Burley and joined in the move to King Hill to live and manage the ranch. Rex Hall and his wife Lilly also moved to help at the ranch. Many neighbor ranchers, farmers, members of the Church, and people in Glenns Ferry became dear friends.

The Pitchfork Ranch developed into about 68,000 acres and 1,500 cattle from adding the King Hill Ranch and Aiden Hall Range in 1973.  Dad served as Bishop in the Glenns Ferry Ward with Brother McBride and Brother Wills as his counselors. The Relief Society President was Sister Haskell and the Primary President was Sister Simpson.

Darla married Allen Hunt in Burley. Dad’s first grandchild, Juston Dale (Hunt) Hall born in Burley October 31, 1972. They later divorced.

Mom was involved in Glenns Ferry in church and many leadership positions and fund raising for building drives and offering donations. She was very committed to the Gospel and living the commandments not just understanding them. She was committed to preparing for the Sabbath and keeping it Holy and there was no deviating. She had a lot of fun with and providing lunches and food breaks on the cattle drives and made lots of parts and food runs from the ranch.

In 1974 President Nixon placed an embargo on beef that made it difficult in the long run to make ranching very profitable and the decision was made to sell the Pitchfork ranch and move to Provo, where Mark was going away to attend BYU. Mark graduated from Glenns Ferry High School in May of 1975. Dad gave the commencement speech to their graduating class.

The family moved to Provo and made many great friends. Dad drove back and forth between Provo and Twin Falls that year as he assisted Grandpa in beginning the development of the Mobile Home Park on Filer Avenue.

 Following one year at Brigham Young University, Mark served a mission to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil from 1976-1978.

In the summer of 1976 after Mark left on his mission and Dale, Betty, Joe, and Suzi moved from Provo, Utah to Twin Falls and lived on Juniper Avenue in the Twin Falls 5^th ward. Dad served in the Stake Young Men Presidency and then on the High Council for 10 years. He was over all of the LDS Church buildings in the Twin Falls Stake. He was instrumental in remodeling the Twin Falls Stake Center on Maurice Street and when the new Seminary building was constructed near the Stake Center.

He helped with many Scouting and Young Men activities. Youth Conference in Provo Utah, river trips with the Scouts down the Middle Fork, Stake dances with elaborate decorations, Stake Speech and Dance Festivals, Young Men Basketball tournaments, Scout Camp, Church Welfare Farm assignments, High Council speaking assignments, Ward Training, Dad helped with so many things.

Dad and Mom always made their children a priority. They never missed any sporting event or school event. They supported Dian and Darla as they participated in 4-H and cheerleading. Mark, Suzi, and Joe played basketball, football, cross country, and track and they attended all of their games. Often when Joe and Suzi were in Junior High and High School they would see one basketball game at one school and travel to another school-at times in a different city in Southern Idaho to see the other game.

Dad was asked to speak many times on different Mother’s Day. He was a great proponent of honoring women and often spoke of his appreciation for Mom and Grandma Alyce and the wonderful women in his life.

Dad has been a lifelong reader. He regretted not graduating from college and he encouraged all of his children and grandchildren to go to college and earn a degree.

              He has become self-educated on many subjects. He has read extensively on United States history and Indian and Western History. He has a great knowledge of all historical developments in the United States. He has avidly researched and read about the history of Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Oregon, Arizona and New Mexico. He is familiar with all of the Native American tribes and their traditions and values. Some of Dad’s favorite historical heroes are Chief Joseph; Jacob Hamblin; many church leaders and the often unsung heroes of Idaho and Utah and the West who helped in its development.

He has loved and appreciated the Western way of life. Reading about many Church and Historical leaders, he was not satisfied with knowing their life stories, but always stops to see the location where a famous battle occurred; the homestead or ranch of the past; or where a famous historical person is buried. He has respected the wonderful life lessons from the past and the great men and women throughout American and Church history who were true to what is right, and who gave their lives doing what is right.

He and Mom have driven many miles seeing family and friends or on business trips. They have had a lot of fun stopping along the way to research some of Dad’s historical readings and see the trails, roads, ranches, rivers, mountain passes, places and people that he reads about during his many hours of reading, enjoying learning about the events leading up to today.

Dad, Grandpa, and Uncle Monte Shelby worked on developing Shelby’s Mobile Home Estates.  In 1978 they bought ground on Pole Line Road in Twin Falls and expanded and developed the land into a wonderful Mobile Home Park.

In 1979 the family moved from Juniper Avenue to Hillcrest Drive which was just down the street from Grandpa and Grandma Alyce Shelby.  They had many wonderful experiences with Grandpa Joe and Grandma Alyce and all of the family during this time. Every week we had dinner together, often on the back patio at Grandma and Grandpa’s house during the summertime. Dad would often walk down and have breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa. Our little poodle became so familiar with the sidewalk between the 2 houses that Fu would show up at Grandma’s house to say hello.

On Thanksgiving, Christmas, and birthdays we were always together. As the family grew larger card tables were set up in the family room and living room to seat everyone. After dinner, we would play card games until evening. At Christmas time Dad and Mom always arranged for a Santa to come and visit to hand out a gift to each grandchild.

Darla and Bob Hall married in January of 1976. They lived on Buchanan Street in Twin Falls where Kelcy was born in February 1976. They moved to Kimberly and Jessica was born in November 1978, Whitney in September 1980, Jordan in July 1982 and Logan in April 1986.             

In 1980 the decision was made to tear down the original Shelby’s Market and build a new store for Smiths Food and Drug on the corner of Addison and Sunrise. At that time they moved the Gas station from the corner of Sunrise and Addison to the corner of Morningside and Addison. They added a carwash and gas station expansion and leased this to Royce Derricott to manage.

In December 1979 Mark married Jan Rumsey in the Idaho Falls Temple. Kreg Shelby was born in September 1980. Mark graduated from Brigham Young University and moved to Twin Falls to work as a CPA for Stan Snow. Matt Shelby was born in May 1983. Ryan Shelby was born in July 1986.

Dian and Dad bought Idaho Outdoor advertising. After several years it included all of southeastern Idaho. Dian moved to Pocatello and opened a second office there. Shelby’s Outdoor Advertising was a very successful business venture.  It was sold in 1985.

Suzi went to Bolivia as an exchange student in January-February 1981. She went to school at Brigham Young University after graduating from Twin Falls High School in May.

Joe graduated from Twin Falls High School in 1982. He attended Snow College in Ephraim Utah and played basketball. Mom and Dad enjoyed travelling to all of his basketball games. In June of 1983 Joe went on a mission to Raleigh, North Carolina.

In 1984 Dad and Mom moved to Idaho Falls and then a year later moved back to Twin Falls and held the wedding reception for Joe.

In 1985 Dad and Mom moved to Idaho Falls and joined in Computerland.

In September of 1984 Suzi went on a mission to Cochabamba, Bolivia. In February of 1986,     Suzi returned from Bolivia and went back to Brigham Young University. She married Jim Stanger from Murtaugh in February 1987. Mom and Dad sold the home on Hillcrest and moved to Idaho Falls permanently in 1986.

Darla Hall was diagnosed with breast cancer during her pregnancy with Logan in 1986. She and her family moved from Kimberly to Meridian Idaho in the fall of 1986. Bob opened a new dental lab in Meridian. She started chemotherapy in January of 1987. After remission and then reoccurrence of cancer and another complete round of chemotherapy Darla died January 9, 1993.  Juston Hall served a mission in Salta Argentina 1991 and finished his mission in California in October 1993.

In 1991 Dad and Mom built a home on Springwood and completed the yard and sold it in April 1993 and moved to Farmington, Utah in the Somerset area on Kingston Drive.

Betty Shelby, Dale Shelby

In August of 2003 bought St George home and enjoyed partial retirement.

On January 30, 2004 – Betty Shelby passed away in the SLC LDS Hospital during surgery to correct an aneurysm in her brain.

Nov 2004 married Margie Stanger Shelby and moved to Twin Falls, Idaho

Enjoys travelling and visiting Family and rotates between Twin Falls, Idaho and St. Geo