Shirley Ann (Gleave) Lawyer

June 5, 1926 - She was baptized in Annabella on June 5, 1926, by Vaun James Barney and confirmed by her maternal grandfather Adelmon Nebeker. Again, it is interesting to note that Del Nebeker had years earlier, in August of 1905, also confirmed Shirley’s father and Del Nebeker’s future son-in-law, Lloyd Gleave. The Nebeker and Gleave clans were joined through several marriage unions over the years. Lloyd Gleave married Olive Nebeker and Tora Gleave married Lillie Nebeker.

1936 - Shirley graduated from South Sevier High School.

May 13, 1938 - Shirley graduated from Snow College with a teaching certificate.

1939 - 1942 - Shirley taught third grade in Redmond, Utah.

1944-1945 - She served an honorable mission to the Northern California Mission 1944-1945, during World War II. The Northern California Mission had been organized on January 2, 1942, with German E. Ellsworth as president, a month after the Pearl Harbor attack in Hawaii on December 7, 1941. Shirley served under President Ellsworth.

June 5, 1946 - She graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in education.

1949-1950 school year - She taught school during the 1949-1950 school year on the island of Moloka’i, Hawaii.

1950 - She traveled to Alaska to visit Mariam Johansen, one of her missionary companions from the Northern California mission. While there, she met Bruce Lawyer, a recent convert, at church.

1950 – 1951 school year - Shirley taught school in Kamas, Utah. Bruce had moved to Salt Lake City, Utah and was working there as an electrician. Bruce and Shirley saw each other as often as they could during the school year, considering the long drive from Salt Lake City to Kamas.

May 9, 1952 - Shirley married Bruce Adams Lawyer in the Salt Lake City temple. They moved to Anchorage, Alaska, where Shirley gave birth to two sons, Randy and Mark. Shirley often spoke fondly of friends in the Anchorage, Alaska branch, including Wells Bowen, Fred Roylance, and others. Bruce’s sons from his first marriage, Mike, Gary, and Phil, visited them in Alaska in the summer. They took the missionary discussions and joined the LDS church. Margaret, Bruce’s first wife, also joined the church and later moved with Mike, Gary, and Phil to Utah from Washington State. Shirley and Margaret had a very friendly relationship.

December 1955 - Bruce and Shirley drove out from Alaska on the Alcan Highway in December of 1955, just before Christmas, in an old Ford car. Shirley was caring for Randy (2 years 9 months old) and Mark (11 months old) and was pregnant with her first daughter, Ann. Days were short and nights were cold. They had to stop for four hours at 4 p.m. one day because the steering on the car was freezing up. They ran out of gas at 9 pm, 16 miles outside of Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada. According to the story Shirley wrote, the temperature that night dropped to 75 degrees below zero. As they crested a hill the car sputtered to a stop, Bruce told Shirley, “This is it.” He would have to try to walk to Whitehorse to get gas. There were few, if any, cars on the road at that time of night in the winter. As Bruce started down the road, car lights came around the bend. It was a man who worked on the DEW (Distant Early Warning) line. He was home that night because his wife was ill. He said he felt compelled to return to work that night, so he was on the road and found us. He drove the family into Whitehorse. When he dropped Bruce and Shirley and family at a motel, he called home and found they had taken his wife to the hospital. He immediately dropped Bruce off at a gas station on his way to the hospital and never made it to work. Shirley viewed him as a messenger sent from God to preserve her children.

Christmas 1955 - Bruce and Shirley and their family spent Christmas of 1955 in Annabella, Utah with Lloyd and Olive Gleave.

They lived in Annabella with Lloyd and Olive until Bruce found work in the Salt Lake City area. Ann was born in May of 1956 in Salt Lake City.

1956 - 1966 - Granger, Utah - Ann (1956) and Robin (1958) were born in Salt Lake City. The family lived on 3800 South, near Granger High School, and attended the Granger Ward. Bruce was active in the scouting program and served as scoutmaster. He also helped build the Granger Stake Center.

August 1959 - Bruce was driving to work on a rainy morning on 3300 South in Salt Lake City. Shirley had expressed concern about the weather and asked him to drive carefully. A 16 year old boy who had recently received his drivers license was driving too fast for the conditions and ran into the back of the VW bus Bruce was driving. The impact drove Bruce into the oncoming lane of traffic which resulted in a multiple car accident. Bruce was not wearing a seat belt (not legally required in those days) and was thrown out of the VW. The VW overturned and fell on him. There were no visible injuries but he had hit his head, which resulted in bleeding inside his cranium. The pressure from this bleeding damaged the left side of his brain. He was in the hospital for about 6 months. The doctors did not expect him to live. If he did live, they warned Shirley that it was likely he would remain in a vegetative state. He miraculously survived and eventually came home. The result, however, was paralysis on his right side and aphasia, which affects the ability to put words together. He never fully recovered from this. The doctors warned Shirley that most people who suffer from these conditions become very negative and difficult to be around. Bruce never lost his optimism and positive attitude. Shirley immediately accepted an opening at West Kearns Elementary as a teacher. She taught there for more than 30 years.