Visiting Jarvis Family

 When I was young, Uncle Carol (Robert Carol Jarvis or Bob), came and got us and took us three boy to visit Grandma Jarvis. It was not a long ride so it had to be near Akron. She seemed to have a farm for she had a cow and chickens. I remember that she made the best rhubarb pie. I think we never went back again. 

Once Ken and Garrett saw Charles when Garrett was on leave from the army in 1970 in Akron. not remember him saying anything. never saw him again - it was after the accident and he didn't say much of anything. 

(Charles' semi truck was hit by a train and he suffered brain damage.)

From Arthur John Merrick - I knew Charles Jarvis (Edith's 1st husband), too. He and I were truck drivers together.

Your mom (Edith) and I used to visit Bessie Jarvis (Edith’s ex-mother in law). In 1974 Bessie said to us that her son, Charles, leaving Edith was, “Not my fault”. Gary visited Grandma Jarvis too. She lived in Ohio. She had a cow and made strawberry rhubarb pie. We (John and Edith) visited her often. She said, “Boys are a joy to raise.” She had an old gray house. Gary went to see Charles in the early 1970. Gary met him on Newton Street at Commercial Freight. Charles had a brain injury.

Charles and Edith Jarvis

Mom, Edith Conley, never said much about her first marriage and neither did anyone else, so this is what little we have. If you know more please share it, and I'll correct and fill in the story.

Charles Jarvis lived in Oka, Calhoun, West Virginia in 1930, but it seems that his family later moved to Akron, Ohio. Therefore he and Edith may have met in high school, at a USO dance, or around town.  Arthur John Merrick, Edith's second husband said, "I knew Charles Jarvis, too. He and I were truck drivers together."

A year before the end of WWII, on September 3, 1944, Charles and Edith married. They were both 21 years old. Charles was serving in the Army at this time, but we know nothing of where he served or what he did. It appears that they lived with Grandma Eunice Conley during their marriage. 

As Aunt Marie Conley Cendro explained, many of Grandma's children came back and lived with her at some time.  Marie remembered the summer of 1945 when she was only 14 years old and living at home on 508 Ohio Street in Akron. "Mill and Lorraine lived in the attic. Edith and Charles lived in the two little rooms at the back of the second floor below the attic. Mill and Lorraine had to go through there to get to the attic. Don and Ruth had the second floor, front, four room apartment, and they all shared the same second floor bathroom at the top of the stairs. . .  Edith got a divorce and later moved to the third floor across the street" with her three sons: Mel born March 29, 1945, Garrett born December 15, 1946, and Ken born November 10, 1948.

We think that Charles came and left several times during their marriage before Edith divorced him, but this is not confirmed. We do know that Edith had many rough years trying to provide for her three sons, but she didn't quit and she kept her family together. For a while she worked for the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. 

Ken does not have many memories of Charles, for it seems that they divorced shortly after he was born. Garrett was probably only two years old at this time and doesn't remember his father being in their home. Mel, we surmise, was about three or four years old at the time of his parents' divorce. He seems to have been the most deeply affected by his father's leaving. 

Garrett Merrick Memories of Early Years put in other posts

I was born on 15 December 1946, the second of three sons born to Lillian Edith Conley and Charles Aaron Jarvis. Melvin Charles Jarvis Merrick, my older brother, arrived previously on 29 March 1945. My younger brother, Kenneth Ray, came along on 10 November 1948. My very earliest memory is of lying in bed at night, being scared by ghosts in the closet at the end of my bed. I solved the problem by closing the closet door every night.

Another early memory occurred when we lived in the attic across from Grandma Conley’s house at 50 Ohio Street in Akron Ohio. I apparently awoke screaming from a very vivid dream in which I had seen a ‘rat’ running across the floor at the bottom of my bed. I was convinced it was real and would not be persuaded otherwise. In adult retrospect I realize it could not have been real, as at that time I had never seen a rat and didn’t even know what one looked like. This one was yellow and almost as big as a cat!

A year or so later from the window of that same attic (I must have been about six) I witnessed the torching of Grandma’s garage by my brother, Kenny. I was sick and had to stay in, so I was looking out the window when I saw smoke coming from the garage. I knew I should call the fire department, but I didn’t know how, so I decided to just watch and enjoy the show. I saw the fire engines come (too late!), smoke, flames, and people running around. I also seem to remember seeing Kenny sneaking back home across the street. He confessed to me that had been playing with matches in the garage. I was glad that I had been sick and couldn’t be blamed for the fire.

We spent a lot of time at Grandma Conley’s during my early years. She was a tiny, thin woman with white hair. I especially remember how kind and sweet she was. I also remember some really fine Thanksgiving dinners, always with cranberry sauce, which I ate once and never again. We always loved to go to Grandma’s house, a place of love and security.

My other favorite relative was my father’s brother, Uncle Carroll. He would take us for rides in his car. He impressed me with his knowledge of which direction other cars were going to turn; I later learned about turn signals and turning lanes. On one occasion he took us to visit Grandma Jarvis (Bessie) in West Virginia. It was wonderful: the countryside; the steep West Virginia hills, especially in the morning fog; watching someone milk the cow; feeling free and outdoors; Grandma’s garden; and her scrumptious rhubarb pie. Grandma was plump - and also kind and loving. I have no memory of ever seeing her again, though when I was nineteen or twenty, we had some pleasant correspondence.

Our Family - Visits with Grandparents Pearson

 Over the years, we had many visits with our children’s grandparents, Lew and Arlene Pearson. Sometimes they came to our home, and other times we visited them when they lived in Pocatello, Idaho and when they lived in Meadow Vista, California. 

Grandma Arlene Pearson made baby blankets and sweaters for our children. Grandpa Pearson gave us carpet for our home. They also sent Easter boxes, and birthday and Christmas presents. We sent them a family photo each year. 

We especially enjoyed our visit with them in 1995. Laura and Dan and Garrett and I went to see the ocean and the redwoods. 

Our Family - Trip to Dallas

 In May 1990 I was put in charge of starting up and staffing Computerized Forwarding System (CFS) operations in the Provo Post Office. This necessitated two weeks of training in Dallas TX in June. So, we rented a minivan, none of our vehicles being sufficiently sound or suitable for such an excursion, and took the whole family. The trip was challenging, but fun and memorable. We visited a nice mall and had a fun dinner with my CFS instructor at a western restaurant. August and September of 1990 were challenging at work, as I got CFS operations going.

While the kids and I packed, Garrett redid the floor in the kitchen, hall, up bath.  We enjoyed visiting Carlsbad Caverns and Mesa Verde. The kids also loved the long slide at the steak house and visiting a fun mall which had holographic photos. They loved all the room in the rented minivan. At the hotel they spent most of the afternoons in the indoor pool. During the mornings, we cleaned our one room (girls in one double bed, Garrett and I in another, and the boys on the floor). Dan was our “agitator”, because he stomped our clothes in the bathtub, then we hung our things in the bathroom to dry. We went out with Garrett in the evenings. It was a fun trip!

Our Family - Trip to Bryce Canyon

 In April of 1987, we went on a trip to Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah.  Since Daniel was too young to climb down the canyon by himself and Julene didn’t like steep inclines, Julene stayed at the top of the canyon and tended Daniel while the rest of us hiked down the canyon. 

We camped in our old van and in tents in the park campground. We had a great time experiencing Bryce Canyon.

Our Family - The Holy Ghost told us

 by Cheryl Merrick

One Saturday afternoon, Garrett and I left to run some errands. We had only gone a few miles when I told Garrett that we needed to stop and explained that I had a strong feeling that we needed to return home right away. A few minutes later, we arrived home just in time to see our oldest son trying to get his three year old brother to jump off the roof of our house.  He intended to catch his younger brother and thought it would be fun. Fortunately, our young son had enough sense not to jump, but he was getting pretty distressed from being stuck on our roof. 

Our older son was amazed that we knew to come home at that moment. We told him that the Holy Ghost was always watching and, as parents, He would warn us if we needed to come home. He was impressed!