In 1927, at the time their third child, Beverly, was born, Raphael was working at the Winter Quarters Coal Mine near Huntington, Utah, bringing in extra money to support his family. Later, he and his dad mined coal together at their own Valentine Coal Mine, in Fairview canyon. The Valentine Mine was located north of the southern tip of present day Electric Lake. Grandpa Clement was an experienced prospector, but they were both skilled in how to find a vein of coal and open up a mine. They knew how to shore up the ceilings and walls, lay coal car tracks, etc, and could professionally do every other detail associated with that type of business.
Not long after Beverly was born (26 November 1927), Raphael's mother, Mary Ann had a runaway horse and buggy accident which seriously injured one of her legs. It is said that she was on her way to Relief Society and the horse had gotten spooked by something. Grandma's injury caused her great suffering as it didn't get better. When it turned gangrenous she passed away on October 12, 1928 at age 57. It was a hard loss to bear for Grandpa Clement. Raphael was only 29 years old when his mother died. His father was almost 59. Grandfather was graciously invited by Raphael and Pearl to come and live with them and be a member of their household. He accepted their invitation and lived out his life in their home for nearly 30 years, until the age of 90, when he passed away. He seemed to be happy (and fun), and content there, and was always a gentle, sweet person to have around.
Pearl wrote..."Grandpa and Grandma Clement used to come to the farm often for visits. He came to live with us after Grandma died. We never saw him angry or heard him swear in all the 30 years he was with us. The family adored him, he was their best friend. He was just like one of my own family.
At the start, when he arrived at the house on the farm, without a knock on the door, he opened it a crack and tossed his hat through the door first, and it landed on the floor near me. I smiled and took that as a sign that he had accepted our invitation to live with us and have a place to hang his hat, and call his home."
Raphael could be characterized as a grass roots person, a loyal son. He loved and honored his parents. There was a two-way love between parents and children in Raphael's growing up home. They were loyal to each other. Now Grandpa would be in a family setting again and have love continue all around him. He wouldn't have to live a lonely life by himself. Our home was full of rollicking fun, love and caring about him. In Grandpa's characteristic way, he did his part by assisting Raphael in maintaining a living from his farm work, coal mining with Raphael, or whatever was needed. He was a blessing to the family.
Over the years, there were children to love him - or bug him - or beg him for favors such as paying a 15 cent fine for a child's overdue library book, or buy an ice cream treat, etc. He had a patient and loving nature and loved us back in spades.
Raphael and Pearl did their children a great service and blessing by inviting Grandpa to live with our family. This example taught the children what it means to obey the commandment to, "Honor thy Father and thy Mother." Grandpa was also a great spiritual influence on the family. He blended in, loved us, helped us through our jobs many times and was a fine example of teaching us only upright things. He attended to us through many nights of illness.
Grandpa would also stay short visits with his other three married children from time to time. He had other grandchildren that he loved too.
When married just 13 years, and well established on the Fairview farm, a very sad thing happened in the life of 37 year old Raphael. It was a heartbreaking day for him when on a monday evening, January 4, 1937, his sweetheart, Pearl, age 32 was severely burned. They had seven children at this time - the oldest 12, the youngest 2.
Because this tragic accident played a major roll in Raphael's life too, it is felt that some excerpts of the full story should be transferred here from Pearl's autobiography. It was lucky that Dad even happened to be home on this night because he often had to be away earning.
There was no electricity in the outlying farms yet, ours included, so lamps were used. The gas lamp Pearl was lighting was apparently over-filled. As she turned the valve to release some of the air pressure, it caused gas to squirt out in a stream. The stream hit the hot stove behind her and caught fire, and the flame from the stove traveled back up the stream to her. The suddenness of it startled her and she dropped the lamp, causing gas to splash around and onto herself. The flames quickly ignited her clothing, hair, etc. After a couple of attempts to put out the flames, she ended up running outside and rolled in the snow.
Dad was in the barn milking the cows when the fire broke out up at the house. A cow was blocking the doorway and he could neither get out nor get the stubborn cow to budge. He was desperate to get out of there, so he grabbed a quarter tug and struck the cow with it, and was on his way as fast as he could run. When Dad reached the house yard, he sized things up fast, and gave quick instructions concerning Pearl. Everybody had evacuated the house and he ran into the kitchen to fight fire.
Because of Dad's quick and decisive action, he was able to save his home from burning. He grabbed the denim quilt from the kitchen cot and spread it out on the floor on top of the flames, tipped the 5 gallon can of water over on it, soaking it good and smothered the flames. Then he dragged it outside. Grandpa Clement had arrived home in time to help Dad fight the fire. By a miracle, his ride to Draper was cancelled and he caught a ride home from town with a neighbor. When he reached the head of the lane, being about 3 city blocks long, he could see through the front window and into the kitchen. He noticed the kitchen was on fire and hurried as fast as he could run, up the lane to the house, through the front room, picking up two coats, on into the kitchen and started fighting fire.
He sent Bud and Don on the run to the nearest neighbor to call doctor Rigby in town. The boys said they could hear Mother crying far down the lane. Pearl was in shock and Raphael couldn't wait any longer to hear from the boys about the doctor, so he got her into the "Model T" truck and took her to the Mt. Pleasant hospital. The "Model T" froze up a couple of times on the way because of the sub-zero temperature. They found out later that the doctor wasn't home anyway and could not be reached. Grandpa stayed home and tended the younger children when Pearl was taken to the hospital.
Later Raphael transferred Pearl to a Salt Lake City hospital where she could get better treatment and get healed. His nerves must surely have been on edge during those uncertain days of waiting while the life of his young wife hung in the balance. There would be many weeks of quiet, hope-filled visits to her bedside at the hospital, 100 miles from home in Fairview.
She missed her children, and they missed her. She was the hub of the home. While passing through life threatening burn side-effects that developed into kidney infection, Pearl remembered what her Patriarchal Blessing told her. It said that she would live to raise all of her children. So with her strong faith in that promise, added to priesthood blessings and many other prayers during the weeks following, the Lord blessed her and she fully recovered.
Raphael's humble prayers were heard by the Lord during that difficult time. He was so grateful to the Lord that his young wife was spared and not taken from him. When her physical condition was out of danger and stabilized, Raphael knew of a surety that his prayers had been hear and answered by a loving Heavenly Father. and he kept that knowledge burning bright in his heart and never forgot it. He promised the Lord that he would honor and serve Him from then on.
It took about four years for Pearl's body to completely heal inside and out. His attentiveness to her condition was uppermost in his mind. There was major scarring on her forearms, but miraculously nowhere else. In time, the scars were ignored by Pearl and treated as if they were unimportant. Always their prayers of faith and gratitude were heard.
After the four years, they were comforted to learn that a new baby would be joining their family. A baby boy, Charles Ray, was born on January 23, 1942, seven years since their last child. He was balm to their souls and a reminder of the great blessings they had received through those previous traumatic years.
It was at this time, in 1942, that Raphael received his first call as a missionary in the Taylorsville, Cottonwood Stake, Utah. Raphael kept his committment to the Lord. It was typical of Raphael that when he made a committment to do something, he was solidly loyal. He never stopped serving as a missionary, and served until the end of his life.
Dad had a slow, clear and decisive speaking manner. Although he did a lot of thinking, he wouldn't be characterized as being "closed-mouthed". Instead, he wisely weighed everything before he spoke. This was to ensure respect for others, which was noted and appreciated among every one who knew him.
Raphael stood out, he was a doer. He was known to take the practical approach to problems of both civic, business and family affairs. It's been said that Dad was a no-nonsense person. That's true in general, but as for Dad's sense of humor, when something struck him funny he laughed clear down to his toes. Occasionally he concocted a playful, but harmless practical joke on Pearl to get a rise out of her. He enjoyed that.
It was easy to make Mother involuntarily jump - her nerves maybe - and the male part of the family took advantage of her predictable response. When someone would quietly come up behind her and suddenly squeeze her arm or speak suddenly, she'd really jump and say, "Oh you! Stop that! You scared me!" She didn't like not knowing somebody was there, she was usually concentrating on something else and predictably, she'd jump. Dad knew how she was, and occasionally he would come up quietly behind her and reach all the way around her, before she knew who it was, and he would just hold her firmly with a loving hug so she wouldn't jump. When she realized that it was her sweetheart who was holding her, then she'd laugh and say, "OH, YOU!" He'd kiss her and they laughed together. He used to get such a kick out of doing that. It was a delightful, loving interaction between the two of them.
Pearl never undermined her man - nor any other man for that matter. She had a great respect for manhood. She described her husband as being "a man's man," and always endeavored to bring out the best in her husband which resulted in motivating him to higher accomplishments.
He would tease the daughters a little too, like, "I see you are wearing your war-paint", meaning bright red lipstick. In the 1940's, bright red lipstick was the fashion, and it really did stand out. It was nice that he would initiate these warm, playful, interactions with us, we enjoyed that very much. He didn't bend too far in one direction though, because, on the other hand, he was very much against clothing fads and warned against participating in them. He always seemed to be alert and on top of happenings in society.
In his early fatherhood, Dad was on the reticent side of showing affection to his kids. Mother often said Dad felt that babies belonged to the mother, but when the babies grew out of that realm, he often took over on the teaching. Since they came so fast and so many, he had to grow into the idea of fatherhood rather fast, but he did love them in his own way. It was very evident that he loved his family greatly if we would interpret his hard work and caring disciplines as love for us. He began showing affection in his later years when he became more "mellowed". That seems to be the standard evolution in the life of a parent.
It's true about him being impatient with kids "horsing around" to the point of wasting time, and not getting their work done on time. Dad was an efficient farmer, an on-timer, and nature dictated that things had to be done when the animals or the weather demanded it. He was very good with follow-up too, which was a good way of keeping us on our toes.
A man of few words when giving instructions to youngsters toward assignments of jobs, he wouldn't put up with argument or back-talk. To him, wasting words was figured to be a waste of time. And foolish behavior was a complete waste of time as it only exhibited a lack of common sense or sound judgment. Part of this approach was certainly meant for teaching respect for one's elders, and it seems he never let that slip by. He definitely was not one to let children rule. He was always fair though, and without exception he gave fair warning about what was expected in what he wanted done. When work on a project was going efficiently he would offer a break for a little relaxation, and even joined in some play together, such as a swim in the pond, etc.
In his earlier days on the farms, when he was dependent on a farm for food and life sustenance, time was money. We learned from Dad that if you waste, you do without. "We reap what we sow", he'd say, "both in planting and in behavior, it's the law of the harvest." Every family was "scraping the bottom of the bucket" during the depression years, and he couldn't afford to do without any more than he already was.
At the beginning of the school year 1940-41, the family left the farm for the first time and moved to Taylorsville, 100 miles north of Fairview. Dad had gotten a job with Utah Power and Light Company in Salt Lake at this time. Pearl Harbor was attacked that December. We stayed in Taylorsville until the spring of 1942, when Raphael moved the family back to the Fairview farm. The family stayed there until the late summer of 1943.
He couldn't be home with his family during the week because of his job being in Salt Lake, but would make the 100 mile drive home to Fairview every weekend in order to be with them.
On March 12, 1942, Raphael was ordained a Seventy by Apostle Antoine R. Ivins, and was called to be a Stake Missionary in the Cottonwood Stake. Taylorsville was in this stake. During week-day evenings, Dad would do missionary work there. He got a room with the Barker's, who were friends in the ward in Taylorsville. They lived in a big house on the west side of the street on Redwood Road, about a block south of 4800 south Redwood Road.
As time moved on, Raphael changed jobs for a good job at the Remington Arms Plant in Kearns, Salt Lake County, and began trying to sell the Fairview farm. At the end of the summer of 1943 he purchased a house at 4689 South Redwood Road, and moved his family a second time to Taylorsville. The Fairview farm sold, and the kids started school in September of 1943 at the Plymouth Elementary and Jr. High School (both under one roof and now torn down), which stood on the corner of 4700 South and Redwood Road. Our ward chapel was a couple of blocks east of the Plymouth school on 4700 south. It was a dark brick building, and years later was purchased by another denomination.
This might be a good time to identify THE LOCATIONS OF RAPHAEL'S TWO TAYLORSVILLE HOMES: We lived in two different houses in the two back and forth moves to Taylorsville, as explained above. The first house was rented, located in the Bennion area, about 1/4 mile south of the Plymouth school.
The second house was purchased, located at 4689 South Redwood Road, in Taylorsville, about a block or so north of the Plymouth school on 4700 south Redwood Road. This was the home we left when we moved to Richland, Washington. The city cemetery is a little north of our place.
One day, the Remington Arms Plant suddenly closed in 1943, after building a large surplus of ammunition for the war, and Raphael came home and told Pearl. The employees at Remington responded to work offers from DuPont Corporation to go to Hanford, Washington, and Raphael was among those that took the offer. This was also the case with thousands of others from throughout the United States, and thousands of people flowed heavily into Hanford to their new jobs.
Raphael was hired on as a power supervisor for the city of Richland as a Steam Engineer because of his past experience in that field. (Reference: Steam Engineer, is how Raphael signed his occupation on his newborn son, Gary's death certificate in May 1944).
Moving seemed to be a way of life for Raphael and Pearl from the time they were first married, but they took it all in stride. So now in the fall of 1943, Dad would transfer to a new job waiting for him at Hanford, Washington, and they would move once more.
In November 1943, after Raphael's goodbye's were said to his family, he climbed into his tan Chrysler sedan, taking son DeVon with him and left Utah, his native state, for good. Headed for Hanford in southeastern Washington - a 750 mile drive - Raphael looked forward to his new job and a warmer climate. The family would follow in the spring of 1944.
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