The Life of Joseph Ate Westra

The Westra kids never knew their Grandpa Joe. Scott was just a baby when he passed away. The original history written by Grandma Lucille (I believe) is on family search, as are all these pictures and more. I've included the history here, but rearranged a couple of items and wanted to include a few bullet points of items of interest at the top ...

• Joseph was 6th of 10 children. Only four survived to adulthood (in the picture in the top left, older brother John is not in the photograph).
• Joseph and Lucille were born only two days apart, both at LDS hospital.  They likely "met" at the nursery there, and would re-acquaint 19 years later and be married for almost 30 years.
• Joseph and Lucille were engaged while he went on his mission to the Southern States.
• While he was a marble champion when young, golf was his passion, followed by fishing. He liked all sports though. Football in the fall, basketball in the winter. Baseball in the summer.

LIFE OF JOSEPH A. WESTRA Joseph Ate Westra was born October 23, 1911 in Salt Lake City, Utah, and died May 24, 1965 at the age of 53 of a Coronary Heart Attack. 

His mother was Geeske DeHaan, born February 23, 1878 and died August 16, 1955 at the age of 77 (see her history). His father was Ate Obe Westra, born December 5, 1868 and died December 11, 1946 at the age of 78.  There were 10 children born ...

• Wilhelmina was born in 1904 and died in 1908
• Obe was born in 1905 and died in 1907
• Egbert was born in 1906 and died in 1907
• John was born Dec. 31, 1908 and died in 1998.
• George was born in 1909 and died in 1910 
• Joseph was born in 1911 and died in 1965
• Allen was born in 1913 and died in 1914
• Alice was born Jan. 28, 1914
• Alma was born in 1915 and died in 1916
• Edward Paul was born July 23, 1923.

Of Joseph's seven brothers and two sisters, only two brothers (John and Edward Paul) and one sister (Alice Louise Heller) survived to adulthood.

Joe's father was called on a mission to Holland and his mother took a job at the Forest Annex to help support her family. She kept the school clean and Joe had to help bring in the coal for the stoves. His mother was real strict and they were never allowed to go in the front rooms unless they had company. She kept a spotless home. They always had a nice garden and planted lots of vegetables. They had chickens and a cow. At a picnic at Lagoon Joe’s mother was badly burned when coffee was spilt in her lap. She was in bed for weeks, and Joe had to come home from school each day and scrub the kitchen floor. They had a nice bungalow type home at 2256 South 8th East. It had a long front porch and the family enjoyed sitting out there and visiting friends and relatives. The Westras had lots of friends from Holland, and they would always talk Dutch. Joe never learned the language, but could distinguish some of the words. His brother John went to Holland on his mission.

Joe had Rheumatic fever as a child and was sickly. He had to stay out of school one year. He was a marble champion and won a Hubbard Denn Medal in 1924. He liked scouting and went on lots of scout trips in the summers, along with his brother John and friends George and Seig Springer. While growing up, Joe's friends were Boyd Ostler, Laird Snelgrove, Frank Howard, Clyde Furner, Seig and George Springer and Clyde Campbell.  

Joseph went to Salt Lake City Schools: Forest, Irving Jr., LDS High School, L.D.S. Business College and then took the LaSalle Extension Course in Accounting. His business acquaintances were Cal Rasmussen, George Weidner, George Webb, Jack Lake, Adam Jacobs.

Joseph and Lucille were 19 years old when they met on the 9th East Street Car which both of them rode to work each day.  It was 1930. Lucille and Joe would double date with Clyde and Audrey Campbell. He had a roadster and Joe and Lucille always sat in the rumble seat. They would go to the Old Mill in Big Cottonwood on Saturday nights and dance, go on picnics, play tennis, and go hiking. They were engaged December 24, 1931, and he was called on a mission to the Southern States from June 1932 to June 1934. Lucille waited for him to return to her and enjoyed writing to her missionary. They were both just shy of 24 on their wedding day.

Joseph was married to Lucille Erskine in the Salt Lake Temple, September 5, 1935, by Elder Charles A. Callis of the Council of the Twelve. They had a wedding breakfast at Aunt Ivy McAuliffe's, and a beautiful Reception at the Belvedere Lounge. They didn't own a car, so didn't go on a honeymoon, but had a lovely apartment at 1258 Emerson Avenue. Seven months before they were married they started buying furniture, and by the time September came, all their lovely furniture was paid for. 

In 1936 Joe and Lucille bought their first car. It was a Grey Chevrolet Coupe. They were so thrilled to own a car. Now they didn't have to take the streetcar or walk. He was working for Snelgrove Ice Cream Company in Sugarhouse at the time, and Lucille was working for the Government WPA at the building that houses Deseret Industries now.

They were married for 29 years and had four children, two boys and two girls.

• Joseph LaMar, born May 28, 1937
• Sharon Lucille born September 16, 1938
• Diane born March 10, 1943
• Steven Arthur born June 22, 1946.

Golf was Joseph's first love in sports - he lived close to Forest Dale golf course and caddied there for many years while growing up. He really didn't take up fishing until his son LaMar was 10 years old and was selling nightcrawlers. They didn't even own a fishing rod, but decided to go to Mill Creek Stream and try their luck. Joe fixed two willows with line, hook and bait. LaMar pulled in a 21 inch German Brown. He had his picture taken with the fish, as one of the largest caught on opening day. That did it. They went out and bought fishing tackle and have enjoyed the sport ever since.

Joe went on some wonderful fishing trips. Each opening of fishing season they would go to Fish Lake and camp out. His brother Ed loved fishing too. While on a vacation to the northwest, he went to Westport on the Ocean and fished for salmon with his brother John. He went on lots of fishing trips to Strawberry, Yellowstone, Wyoming and Montana. Now he enjoyed fishing as much as he did golf. He loved all sporting events, and would work the High School Basketball Tournament each year, as an usher.

As a child, Joe suffered from a broken arm, and rheumatic fever. This may have been the cause of his heart problems later in life. In 1933, while traveling through the Everglades in Florida he was bitten by mosquitos and got Malaria. He was very sick for two weeks, and they gave him quinine and milk of magnesia with ice. When he got overly tired each summer the Malaria would come back again and he would be down for 2 weeks again. This lasted for 7 years. In 1945 he got a blood clot following an emergency appendectomy for a ruptured appendix and was in St. Marks Hospital for one month under oxygen. The doctors only gave him a 50-50 chance to pull through. President Richards came and administered to him and he recovered, showing the power of the Priesthood and faith that he would get better.

In 1957 Joe had Hypertension and was hospitalized for 2 weeks. His blood pressure was 230 over 130 on May 30th. In 1959 he had Bleeding Ulcers on Thanksgiving Day. In 1961 he had a heart attack in February. In March 1962 he had Bleeding Ulcers,  and in July of that year, he was hospitalized with wrenched shoulder and a broken hand following a roll-over car accident. In March 1964 he had another heart attack. In 1965 he had his third heart attack and passed away May 24, 1965. For his last stay in the hospital he went in on May 17, and died May 24. He said he would only stay one week.

Back in 1964 after his big heart attack, Joe was unable to work full time. He would come to the office when he was able, and they were very good to him. They continued his paychecks coming in each month. They finally had to bring in an assistant, Dale Curtis, to take over in purchasing. After Joe came home from the hospital in 1964, his good neighbor Coke Willardson would come over each day and give him a shot. She continued this all summer. Joe was beginning to fill up with water, and he had a geographic tongue. He had a hard time sleeping and he was taking a lot of medication every day for his heart. His appetite was poor and he was miserable. His cardiograms showed a lot of heart damage.

His father was Custodian at L.D.S. Business College. He and his brother John worked as Deseret Newspaper boys while growing up, and helped support the family. His father passed away December 11, 1946. His mother worked in the Temple after that. In 1950 she had a bad stroke, which left her unable to speak, and for 5 years she was this way. It was heartbreaking seeing her try to let you know what she wanted. She couldn't write either and was partially paralyzed. The family put her in a rest home, but she was not happy there. Joe would bring her up on Sundays in her wheelchair and have dinner, then take her to church and then back to the rest home. She died Aug. 16, 1955.

• Residences - Born in a home on 9th East, grew up at 2256 South 8th East, 1258 Emerson Avenue, 837 Sherman Avenue, 1261 Malvern Avenue, 246 East 21st South, 2740 Grandview Circle.
• Places of Work - Lauren W. Gibbs as a typist, Snelgrove Ice Cream as Ice Cream Dispenser and Manager, Garden Gate Ice Cream as Ice Cream Dispenser and Manager, Presiding Bishop’s Office, L.D.S. Church as Bookkeeper, Kennecott Copper, shift work during 2nd World War, Bingham-Garfield Railroad as Bookkeeper, Granite School District as Purchasing Agent, and was with Granite for 17 years until he passed away.
• Church positions - Elder, Seventy, High Priest, and Ward Clerk for 3 Bishoprics - Bishop H. D. Lowry, Bishop O. E. Aylett, and Bishop Feron Olson. He was also Sunday School Superintendent. His Wards - Forest Dale, Emerson, Wasatch, Hawthorne, Highland Park, Burton, Columbus, Grandview and Grandview II.

Joseph really enjoyed his mission and the wonderful people he met. He had a faith-promoting experience when he blessed a tiny baby with a growth on his head and he was healed. President Charles A. Callis headed the Mission. He got to love him and his wonderful family. Then President Callis was released and President Le Grand Richards headed the Mission. Joe lived right in their home. It was a wonderful experience. He was Mission Secretary. President Richard’s first mission to Holland made him acquainted with Joe's folks. He stayed right at their home and got to love them. They ran a laundry in Holland, and saved their money so they could come to Salt Lake City for their religion. They were converts to the church.

Joe and Lucille had a wonderful marriage and enjoyed their four lovely children.

• LaMar married Marjorie Norman June 29, 1962 in the Salt Lake Temple. They have four children, Scott, Christopher, Wendy and Jenny. 
• Sharon married Kent Amann June 27, 1957 in the Salt Lake Temple. They have three children, Randy, Ricky and Alyson. 
• Diane married Jon Mauss October 17, 1962. They have two children. Mauri and Brad. They lost one baby (2 days old), Leslie Ann, their second baby. 
• Steven married Diana Wathen June 28, 1967 in Frankfurt, Germany. They were divorced in July 1970. No children. He married Jan Thompson February 1, 1972. She has a boy Mike. As of August 15, 1973 this brings his grandchildren to (11). 

Joe was the first to leave this existence. What a wonderful homecoming with his mother, father, 5 brothers and 1 sister and his in-laws to greet him. He is working hard and making a place for his posterity.

Joe's siblings stories ...

• John married Melva Saunders in the Salt Lake Temple, and they had three children, Dorene, Jerry and Janet. John died in 1998.
• Alice married Paul Heller in October 1935, and they had two sons, Ronald and Bruce. Alica died in 1989.
• Edward Paul married Doreen Cobb in the Salt Lake Temple and they had four children, Kathy, Kenneth, Karen and Kyle. Edward died in 2011.

Sharon wrote a tribute too ...

Daddy loved fishing. He would go fishing practically every weekend during the summer when he was in better health. Quite often he would take the family along. And as most fishermen do, he would say he would be back at 6:00 but would really mean 8:00.  Lamar used to sell nightcrawlers when we lived on 21st South. Daddy would take Lamar to the golf course at night and help him catch worms.

Daddy was good at arithmetic. He would always help us with our homework. We probably never would have passed Algebra without him. 

 Daddy enjoyed doing things with the family. Every holiday he would take us all, and usually our friends too, to some resort for swimming and having fun. He would also take us, the whole family, on drives every Sunday; and we would always talk him into buying us an ice cream cone.

Although Daddy would take the boys fishing, he didn't neglect us girls. He was always willing to go with us to the daddy-daughter parties held in school and the ward. This meant a lot to us. He was always interested in the things we were doing.