Lieut. King Smith Udall

King Smith Udall was born July 9, 1917, in St. Johns, Apache, Arizona, to parents John Hunt Udall and Leah Smith Udall. He was the oldest of their 10 children. In the 1920 U.S. Federal Census for Hunt, Apache, Arizona, he was living with his parents and siblings as shown in the census record: John H., 30, Leah S., 27, John Nicholas Udall, 6 and a half years old (half-brother to King, and the son of John H. Udall's first wife who died in 1914), King Smith, 2 and a half years old; and Elias Earl, 11 months old. His father was working as a farmer and he owned his own home and farm free from a mortgage. All family members were born in Arizona. John's father in Missouri and mother in Utah, Leah's father in New York and mother from Utah.

In the 1930 census the family was living in Phoenix, Arizona, and were listed as follows: John H., 40, Leah S., 37, John N., 16, King S., 12, Elias Earl, 11, Ruth, 10, Reed S., 8, Janet, 6, Jessie M., 4, Josephine, 2, and Samuel H., 2 months old. They were renting their home located at 620 N. 14th Street for $65.00 per month and John was working as a prohibition administrator for the federal government, and John N. was working as an elevator boy in a hotel. John and Leah had been married for 12 years.

The family was living at 2509 North Eighth Street in Phoenix in the 1940 census, and were listed as follows: John H., 50, Leah S., 48, King S., 23, Elias Earl, 21, Ruth, 19, Reed, 18, Janet, 16, Jessie N., 14, Josephine, 12, Samuel, 10, Idella, 8, and Pauline, 4 years old. John was working as a farmer on his own farm and Ruth was working as a stenographer for the city street department. For the 52 weeks she worked at 40 hours per week in 1939, her income was $450. John did not disclose his income as a farmer. Both John and Leah had 3 years of college, King had one year of college, Elias and Ruth had 4 years of high school, Reed had 2 years of high school, Janet was in her first year of high school, Jessie was in the 7th grade, Josephine in the 6th, Samuel in the 5th and Idella in the 3rd grade. They had been living in the same place in 1935, and were renting their home for $35 per month.

On December 1, 1940, King Smith Udall arrived in New York City via the ship President Polk from Cape Town, South Africa. He was 23 years old at the time of his arrival. Perhaps he was serving a mission for the LDS Church at that time.

Two years later on December 15, 1942, King enlisted in the 53rd Infantry Training Battalion of the U.S. Army and served in Company A as a 2nd Lieutenant. Sadly, less than a year and a half later, he was killed while at Camp Wolters in Texas, due to an electric shock received when he was struck by lightning and received third degree burns to his nose, lip, chin and behind his right ear. He was buried in the Greenwood Memorial Cemetery in Phoenix, Arizona. Kinge was only 26 years old at the time of his death. Such a sad end to his life!