Lillian "Lillie" Dustin

Van Orrin Dustin is on the left, and his wife Lillian "Lillie" Kunz Dustin next to him. Not sure who the other couple is in the photograph. Since Van was born in 1898 and married Lillie in 1919, this photo was probably taken sometime between 1918 and 1920. Lillian or Lily was the 10th child of her parents, and was born April 22, 1902, and died May 26, 1977. She married Van Orrin Dustin on June 25, 1919, in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Van was born April 5, 1898 and died May 10, 1981.

A personal history of Lillian Kunz Dustin as edited by her descendant, Brenda Dustin Young, was found at this website: https://familysearch.org/photos/stories/1847742/personal-history-of...

My parents said that on a lovely, early spring morning on the 22 of April 1902, I made my first appearance to my mother and father, Caroline Wuthrich and Samuel Kunz Sr. I was the tenth child born to this union in the beautiful Teton Valley, in the Bates Ward. Bates is west of Driggs, Idaho. I can truly say as Nephi of old, “I was born of goodly parents.” I, like my brothers and sisters, have a great love and respect for the memory of my father and mother. Attempting to catalog all their virtues would be futile, as they were numerous and always in evidence. I would mention a few: their love and consideration for others, their lifting and lightening the burdens of their friends and ever strangers, their advice and counsel to their children, and those who sought it. They taught by example. I can remember when we would have family prayer; father would have us take turns, thereby helping to instill a testimony in our hearts very early in our lives.

I grew up in Bates and went to school in Cedron through elementary and then went to high school for awhile. The schoolhouse was rough construction. It had a warped floor and battered seats. There were jack knife carved initials on the desks. We had all the grades in one room and only one teacher. The discipline was quite strict as there needed to be quiet and order. My teachers’ names were: Miss June Beecher, Alma Hansen, Miss Ouland, Jennie Grosh, Mr. Thompson and Mrs. Wolfile. (My mother told how she and her sibling took their simple lunch to school in a lard pail and shared the contents of bread with butter and some cheese.)

I had to quit school as World War I broke out and my brother had to go to the army so I had to stay home and work by helping with the milking, farming and cheese making. I worked when I was very young. I worked for my Sister Martha Alred. That was while she was very ill. When she got better her husband Paul and brother Joseph Kunz had a coal mine. . . I had to work tending May and Glenn. I washed their diapers and was just all around baby watcher or sitter. Not a sitter either as we had no chairs then, sometimes we had a shaved off log. They were hard to roll about for a young kid. We enjoyed coal miners’ life as it was in the mountains. Our food consisted of beans, bread and sometimes cheese, wild grouse and yes, evens a roasted pine squirrel when there wasn’t anything else available. My brother Joe was also watching over me as I wasn’t too old then. Later when we would come home it seemed good to sleep on a good straw tick for once, better than pine boughs. We would come home in the fall to go to school. That was when I was nine or ten. We did enjoy the summer times only I was nearly always away from home and missed being with Kate, Lula (Louise) and Alma.

The spring before going to the mountains I got very ill. The doctor said it was appendicitis and rushed me over to Driggs to try and operate before it ruptured. Going in horse and buggy was slow and I was so very ill. I could feel every bump lying down in the back of the buggy with only a quilt under me. It was three weeks before I could come home and while there my dear mother came down with the mumps. I got them while I was down recovering. The three weeks seemed forever. When I got a little better I got to come home to Emma and Byron’s to recuperate.

I think that we used to know how to play and find our own recreation. Never did children have so much fun as when we would play baseball or “cat”. We would get our exercise and mother and dad would be right in the game with us. On the 29th of April 1910, I was baptized by George Edward Wood and confirmed by my father, Samuel Kunz on May 1, 1910. George Edward Wood later became my brother-in-law. We went to church in Bates as Cedron was not yet a ward.

Father had a new white top buggy and we all piled in on Sunday and went to Sunday School. I remember some of our Sunday School teachers. T hey were very fine girls. There was Annie Bates and Emma Josephson. A few years later Cedron was made a ward. In early April on a lovely spring evening in 1919, I dated and fell in love with Van Orrin Dustin. We were married on 25 June 1919, in Idaho Falls. We lived with Monroe and Effie, taking care of the Bates Post Office. We were quite young but we knew we loved each other. On the 2nd of October, 1919, we were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. My father, being a Patriarch gave us a patriarchal blessing on 9 May, 1920. I hope we can live up to it always.

On May 10, 1920, we moved to Price, Utah and there worked on a dairy farm for John R. Sharp. We worked there until September when we moved to Teton Valley again. We lived in the Cedron Ward taking care of the Sam Forbush ranch for the winter. I was called to be the first Primary president of the Cedron Ward. Then we moved to different places in the Valley and later to Bates, again. While in Bates I served as Primary president and also worked in Relief Society as a counselor to Amanda Josephson where I served until 1932, when we moved to Victor. We had wonderful friends and neighbors in Bates, who are still our friends.

Our first son, Myles was born in Bates on the 20th of December 1920. Van built a house down by the Teton River.  In that house Arvin was born on November 30, 1923.  That same year my mother passed away.  From August of 1921 to nearly 1923, I was given charge of my dear sister, Mary Ann’s girl, Hope, as my sister passed away.  I also had little Hazel for about six months.  In 1926 and 1927 we moved up to my father’s place to care for him while my sister, May and brother, Burton, finished high school in Victor.  We were so thankful we could do this for him as he passed away in the summer of 1927. 

Later we moved to the house on the Kearsley place which we bought from Dick Kearsley. Van and his brother, Monroe bought the place together. (The Kearsley place was in Bates on West side of the road according to my sister Neta Dustin Driggs. She remembers that farm. Dad owned a cow that drank a little gas and therefore and afterward the cow was name “Gas”.)

On a lovely spring morning on May 3, 1928, our first lovely daughter was born. She was not too dark haired but pretty. Neta was born in Bates but on the East side of the side of the road from the Kearsley place. Neta remembers going to Cedron in a car which she hated because the roads were so rutted with snow; she was afraid they would tip over. Often they crossed the Teton River Bridge with a team and wagon or buggy.

We really had some good cows and some spirited horses through the years. Van made it to Driggs in 40 minutes to go after a doctor for my sister May [Brown] while she was having her son Bob on one cold winter day in February 1929. After Neta was born, our second lovely daughter, Marlene Joy was born. This would have been in Victor on the Jess Foster place. Marlene was born on the farm later owned by Thomas Egbert in Victor. Neta recalls coming home from school with a note informing Dad that they would have to move out of the house.

Dad then built a home in which the living room, kitchen, and main bedroom was finished. Myles and Arvin; Neta and Marlene’s bedrooms and the bathroom were unfinished—just framed-in. Neta said they were very cold rooms in the winter. Marlene remembers taking flat iron to bed to keep warm. Neta remembers that on holidays they visited Aunt Effie and Uncle Monroe and sometimes Uncles Ellis and Aunt Jessie, and Uncle Jim and Aunt Arleigh once in awhile. They visited Uncle Alma and Aunt Mary who lived down on the Teton River where they owned a fishing lodge. Marlene remembers visiting Aunt May and Uncle Dock, and making homemade ice cream with a hand-cranked ice cream freezer. Marlene believes she was about ten or twelve when they first got electricity and about 14 when they had their first phone, which had a party line and everyone on it with a different ring.

Two lovely boys were born next: Garren Wayne and Vearl Reed. Gary was born in the hospital. Vearl was also born in the hospital. Myles, Arvin, Neta and Marlene worked very hard with us on this place. Myles and Arvin both got married while they lived on this place. Dear Debra Ann was born next. Gary and Vearl were quite young when we moved to the John Cluff ranch. I was Relief Society counselor to Rowena Lauritzen and Bertha Gillette in 1947-48 when I became president of the Victor Ward Relief Society until August 20, 1951. Theda Moulton became the next president. We had our last child, named Brenda Lillian. She was born on a very early beautiful morning. Brenda was born in the hospital.

We have lived on this place, the ranch near the base of the Teton Pass on the way to Jackson, Wyoming, since the winter and spring of 1948. We love this place very much. It is a little harder to farm the hillsides but we have our own water ditch which is better, but the other place was easier to work. We milked cows and sold the milk to the cheese factory. We sold our house where the family lived until May 25, 1961, and moved across the road from our home sweet home and lived in the Peterson house. The Petersons were away for the summer. Ed Peterson was a park ranger and moved to the national parks in the summer, usually Teton Park.

Daddy is building a home in town (mom writes) I wonder if we will like it in town. We worked in genealogical work since that time, Sunday school teacher, Primary teacher, and Relief Society visiting teacher until 1965 when we have been a Ward Record Examiner. Dad gave the mare to Vearl and Carol so when we wanted her we could use her. Mom writes that in 1976, we went to the barn today and the horse had broken her leg. I guess a horse kicked her through the fence, so we had to do away with her. She was once dad’s pride and joy, easy to ride. We have eight children. We are very proud and happy over our wonderful family. Van and Lillian have thirty-three grandchildren.