Hyrum

Our father was always so proud of his "kids,” sometimes it was embarrassing to us when he bragged us up in front of other people.  He never took us in his arms and said that he loved us, but we all knew for sure that he did.

He loved to go fishing and hunting, especially up Greys River, as he had spent a lot of time there herding sheep and supplying herders. Some doctors, West and Proctor of Afton, would always want him  to take them antelope hunting, which he did for several years, and were always successful.  

He enjoyed a good laugh, even when it was on himself.  One story was that he had made some chili beans, and afterward had to get on his horse and ride into the wind.  One time a turkey gobbler had been giving Mother a bad time because the boys had teased it so much. Dad put on one of Mother's dresses, and when the turkey came after him, he just about drowned it in the watering trough.

He was very devoted to Mother and was very jealous of anyone showing too much attention to her.  From February through June of each year, he usually went shearing sheep, and had to be away from home a lot  at other times, too.  He must have spent a lot of lonely hours after Mother died.  He would address the letters to "Dear Kiddies" faithfully writing at least once a week. I went shearing with him the last few times and remember how he worked so hard.  After finishing with one sheep, he would try to straighten up, then wipe off the sweat and grab for another.   

The Roos brothers were known for their fiery tempers, even with each other sometimes, but Dad was the peacemaker, and he could get along with all of them.

The hardest thing he ever had  to bear was when on 23 September 1928, he lost his dear wife.  Ruby remembers him pacing the floor, wringing his hands, holding his head and uttering, "Oh, what will I do. How can I stand it.” This good man had eleven children from age eighteen years to two months old. He had a very strong desire to keep the family together, but allowed Aunt Valora, Mother's sister,  to take the baby for a while.  As the time passed, he could not bring himself to take Valier from her. I'm sure that he had so many trials that none of us are even aware of.  He sat up nights making underclothes for the little girls on the old treadle sewing machine.

This was during the severe economic times during the great depression.  He had a 160 acre ranch at Tygee, west of Auburn, and in order to continue making payments on it, he bought sheep to raise money.  The price of wool and lambs was no better than the income from the cows.  He herded sheep on the red desert in the winter for $30.00 a month.  He worked wherever he could on WPA projects.  We didn't have electricity and milk was 10 cents a gallon. It must have taken a lot of courage on his part to hold things together.  One time he had five sheep dressed out and hanging on the north side of the house.  He accepted a lot of responsibility on himself, and he gave a lot of responsibility to his kids.

In 1939 while shearing in northeastern Utah, he contracted Rocky Mountain Tick Fever, and it took him a long time to recover.  The next year, while shearing, he got Rabbit Fever, or Tularemia Pneumonia. He came home and went into the hospital.  He lost lots of weight. One night during a time when he was conscious, Thomas Simpson asked him if there were anything that they could do for him, and he said, "May has taken care of everything.”

The next morning on 11 May 1940, he passed away.  The legacy this fine man left to his children was one of dependability, responsibility, keeping the family together, and self reliance.  He literally worked himself to death for us.  His word was his bond.  He is survived by eleven children, forty-nine grand children and many great grandchildren.

HYRUM STEPHANUS ROOSCompiled by son, Wayne Roos 1983Hyrum S. Roos was born at Peoa, Summit County, Utah, on 19 August 1882.  His father, Anders Olsson Roos, after serving in the army in Sweden, worked for King Charles XV as linguist, interpreter, and penman; as he was affluent in many languages. He was a branch president in the Mormon Church when he met the peasant girl, Johanna Isacson.  He was told he must renounce this fantastic religion called Mormonism and discontinue his company with the peasant girl, or he would be removed from the King's Court. He would not. In 1866 they set sail on the ship, Humboldt.  On the way to America, they stopped at Hamburg, Germany where they were married, 1 June, 1866. They settled on a small farm at Peoa, Utah. They befriended the Indians and Anders was able to learn their language easily; which was very useful at that time.

Hyrum was the seventh of ten children who were: Ellen Andrietta, Joseph Oscar, Carl William, Albert, Emerentzia Eleda, John Gres, Hyrum Stephanus, Hannah Louisa, Carrie Abbie Amanda, and August Raasce.  In 1890 Hyrum's father died, and his mother was left alone to take care of the family, the youngest being five months old.  Hyrum worked in neighboring towns when old enough, even hauling wood with teams of horses to Salt Lake City.  He left home when he was 15 or 16 years old and went to Bedford, Wyoming where his brother, Will, was living.

For the next several years, he worked around Poplar and Ririe, Idaho, mainly herding cattle.  For a short while, he helped float logs down the Snake River.  He stayed often with his brother, Will, at Bedford and helped with chores when Will was on his mission to Sweden.  As a young man working in the Henry's Lake area, he was falsely accused of horse stealing, a very serious offense at that time, and put in jail.  His mother traveled from Idaho Falls in a wagon to properly identify him, and he was released. (I have heard him recount many stories, but I have not heard him tell that one.)  He worked on the railroad for a while and he built cabins for the Forest Service.

His brother, Bert, lived in Aberdeen, Idaho and had a  shearing corral.  It was there that Hyrum learned to shear sheep, a job that occupied much of his time from February through June most years of his  life, and took him a long way from home.

One time when he was staying at Bedford, he met Alice May Sessions at a dance.  They were married on 29 September 1909 in the Salt Lake Temple. He had to ask her father for her hand and was given a bad time.  They made their home at Bedford, Wyoming and he soon built a home which stood and was occupied for seventy years.  They lived through the severe flu epidemic when so many people died. There were travel restrictions in the Valley to try to contain the epidemic.

They moved to Auburn and lived in the Hillyard house, then spent the winter in the Carl Walton  cabin. Then when his brother, Will's family,  moved to Declo, Idaho, they moved, too, and lived there from 1918 to 1920. They moved to Afton, Wyoming and in the spring of 1922, then moved back to Auburn. They  moved to the Baker place until about 1924, and bought the ranch at Tygee. He worked with his brothers in the sheep business a lot.   He freighted from Montpelier from 1922 to 1924.