Jewel and Larry

Jewel and I first met in 1953 when we were both seniors in high school.  We met at the home of my friend, David Kimball. She was visiting with David’s sister Elaine. Jewel looked familiar.  It took me a few minutes to recognize her as one of the cheerleaders for Pleasant Grove when we played a football game with them in the fall. I remember thinking boy that is a cute girl. I would like to get to know her better.  As we came to the door Elaine greeted us.

Elaine:  “Jewel, this is my brother David and his friend Larry Knight. They are seniors at  BY High”.

Jewel: “Hi, I’m glad to meet you.”

David:  “Hi.”

Me: “Hi.”

Elaine: Jewel is my fiancé, Dee’s, little sister. We’ve been hanging out quite a bit while he is doing his basic training. We’ve been doing a little shopping downtown. We stopped off at home to get a bite to eat.

David and I thought that was a good idea. We went into the kitchen and gorged ourselves with hot homemade bread and honey.  Jewel left while we were eating. Soon Elaine came into the kitchen with a grin on her face. She looked at me.

Elaine: “Did you think Jewel is cute?”

Me: “ Yeah.” I  spotted her when we beat PG High in football.  She was the cutest cheerleader.”

Elaine: “Would you like me to line you up with her?”

Me: “You bet.”

That’s the last I heard from Elaine.

Two years later I was serving a mission for the Mormon church in the Northern California mission. I had only been out for three months when I was given a very difficult assignment in Walnut Creek, California. President Gardner, the mission president of the Northern California mission, immediately won me over. I told myself I would do anything for him. 

 Now after three months the president told me he wanted me to be an assistant district leader in the newly formed Walnut Creek District which included Berkeley, Richmond, Martinez, Port Chicago, Concord, and Walnut Creek. The district leader was Elder McCoy who had been serving as the district leader in San Jose. At 28 he was older than most missionaries. In his youth he went through a period of  inactivity and rebellion. He left college and joined the Army where he served for two years as an MP. He joined the reserve when he was discharged. He was called up to the infantry to his chagrin when th Korean War broke out.. After a brief period of training he was in Korea on the front line participating in firefights. He began to rethink his decision about God and the importance of the Church. He promised God that if He preserved his life he would give up smoking and serve a mission. After each firefight was over everyone sat down, relaxed and took out a cigarette. He couldn’t stand it. He said, Lord I’ll quit smoking, but not yet. He was captured and spent 30 months in a Chinese guarded prison camp in North Korea. His left eye was infected and he was treated by having a doctor pop his eyeball out just like a pimple.  He now has a glass eye. 

When he was released he enrolled in Utah state University found a girlfriend, but delayed his education and marriage to fulfill his promise of going on a mission.  As time went on he felt the pressure of needing to get on with his life––get married and finish college. 

Our duties were to train and supervise the other companionships in the cities in the district. We  visited one companionships each day each day to hold study class. We spent one day each week with one of the companionships. The rest of the time we worked in our area which included Walnut Creek, Danville, Lafayette, and Concord.  We dealt with rejection, dogs snapping at us, being treated as a curiosity. In a barbershop one day a man came up to us, looked straight at Elder  McCoy and said, “Are you guys in the boxing game.? You look like you might be the little, tough manager and this big guy is your boxer.”  

One day Elder McCoy said, “I’ve had enough.” He turned on his heels and walked to the car. We drove back to our apartment which was a remodeled garage. We continued to perform our duties with the other missionary companionships but the time set aside for working our area was spent in study and running errands.  Now I was the one who was frustrated. I had feelings of guilt because I wasn’t doing what I thought I was there for.

We got invitations to dinner almost every Sunday. The Weeks family in particular invited us several times a month.  During the Christmas season we were attending a church Christmas social. Suddenly Elder McCoy stood up. 

Elder McCoy:  “I’m going home. You can get somebody to bring to the apartment when the party is over.” 

 I didn’t quite know what he meant by going home. I felt uneasy. 

  Me: “I’ll go home with you.” 

When we to the apartment Elder McCoy started packing.  Then I knew what he meant when he 

said he was going home. I snitched his keys and put them in my pocket.

Me: “Elder, where are you going?” 

Elder McCoy: “I’m going home. I told you.”

Me: “No you’re not, at least not until you talk to President Gardner.” 

NO ANSWER!  Elder McCoy just kept Packing until he was finished. He then took his bags and climbed in to the 1948 Hudson. He threw in his bags and started looking for his keys. He fumbled and a look of frustration came over his face. He came storming back into the apartment.

Elder McCoy:  “Elder, where are the car keys?” 

Me:  “They are in my pocket.” 

Elder McCoy raised his arms and glared at me. Then he dropped his arms in frustration and walked out to the car. He opened the hood. I realized that he was hotwiring the car. When he completed the task he climbed in the car. I climbed in the seat beside him.

Elder McCoy: “Get out, now1” 

Me: “I’m going with you.”

 Elder McCoy looked at me with a look I will never forget. It was a look of hate and despair. He finally drooped with exhaustion and got out of the car. He walked in the apartment and fell on the bed and went fast asleep.  I called president gardener. He said he would be out to see us first thing in the morning.

Sure enough,  President Gardner showed up  at 9 o’clock the next morning. He interviewed Elder McCoy and when they had finished they were smiling. He had arranged to release Elder McCoy from his mission in good standing and told him to return home with the best wishes of the mission and the church. He expressed gratitude for his service.  Elder McCoy went home happy.

I gave him his car keys and waved goodbye as he drove down the driveway.

I was happy to start a regular missionary routine with my new companion. We continued to work with the elders in the district and we had good success in our own area. We continued to have Sunday dinner with the Weeks family periodically. In June Sister Weeks told me that her sister was going spend the summer helping her with the children and working in a local bank.  Her sister was Jewel Olpin, the girl I met at David Kimball’s home three years before. I was pleasantly surprised. My first thought was, it’s too bad I’m on a mission. 

Jewel  and I said hello to each other at church and socialized briefly at more or less weekly Sunday dinners with her sister Catherine and her family. At the end of the summer I received notice that I was being transferred to Fresno California. Jewel was going back home for her senior year of college at BYU. At a conference of the congregations in the Berkeley area which was held the day before we both were leaving Walnut Creek, I talked with Jewel briefly and suggested that she might like to write to me during the rest of my mission. She said yes and that she would write two words for every word that I wrote. I must admit that tweaked my heart a bit.

So for the remainder of my mission we corresponded approximately once every two weeks for the next nine months until the spring of 1957. I was released in June. I drove home directly from Fresno to Provo in my old Dodge mission car. On the long drive home I was excited to see Jewel and finally get that date I was promised years before. As soon as I got home I picked up the phone and called Jewel and made a date for the next day.

I picked her up at her house in Pleasant Grove. We drove around for several hours and talked. We ended up in American Fork Canyon. We pulled in the parking lot at the Timpanogas National Monument. We sat and talked. It was there that I gave Jewel her first kiss. On the way home she said that she wanted me to know that that was the first time she ever kissed a boy on a first date.

After that first date we were together as much as possible. We both had to work but in our free time we were together. I was invited to dinner. Her father and her brothers talked about bodies they had embalmed. Then they asked me to help them move a body. I apparently passed the test.

After a few weeks jewel told me about some of her old boyfriends. She seemed to be a little embarrassed because most of her girlfriends were married. At 22 she was beginning to feel like an old maid. I think in order to defend herself she told me about five boys that had asked her to marry them. When she finished telling me she looked at me with an expectant glance. I took the cue. I pulled out a box that contained a ring from my pocket and said,  “Now you have six proposals.” She accepted and we talked about a marriage date. We decided we should wait until next the next spring since she would have her first year of teaching. She had signed a contract to teach at Westmore elementary school in Orem. I had one more year of undergraduate study. About two days later

Jewel: “We’ve got to change the marriage date.”

me:  “Why?”

Jewel: “I don’t want you around BYU all those beautiful coeds before we are married.”

Me: “Sooner is okay with me. When do want to get married?”

Jewel: “August.”

My mother was a little cool.  She thought we didn’t know each other well enough.

Jewel’s mother warned her with, “That big man will kill you.”

We were married 19 August 1957 the Salt Lake City Temple the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. At our wedding reception Elaine Kimball remembered our first meeting. She said she asked me if I wanted to date jewel and I said, “She’s too short.” Then she asked Jewel if she wanted to date me and Jewel said, “He’s too tall.” She lied. I said no such thing. Jewel can speak for herself.

Jewel  saved my letters in a cardboard box. However they are not available for publication yet. Our oldest daughter Karen did find them and leaked one item.

“I read someplace that you lose one second of your life every time you kiss. I wonder if you’d be willing to help me commit suicide when I get home.”