Florence Peck (1901 - 1991): Our Family History

1901 - 1991 (89 years) Has more than 100 ancestors and 14 descendants in this family tree.

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Name	Florence Peck
Birth	1 May 1901	Whitney, Franklin, Idaho, United States
Gender	Female
Initiatory (LDS)	16 Mar 1921	LOGAN
FamilySearch ID	KWZW-G2B
Death	23 Apr 1991	Boise, Ada, Idaho, United States
Burial	26 Apr 1991	Fielding Memorial Park Cemetery, Idaho Falls, Bonneville, Idaho, United States
Headstones	Submit Headstone Photo
Headstones	Submit Headstone Photo
Person ID	I340	mytree
Last Modified	25 Feb 2024

Father	Leo Peck, b. 28 Jun 1875, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States d. 12 Oct 1967, Ogden, Weber, Utah, United States (Age 92 years)
Mother	Adeline Benson, b. 31 Jul 1879, Logan, Cache, Utah, United States d. 27 Jan 1960, Ogden, Weber, Utah, United States (Age 80 years)
Marriage	20 Dec 1899	Logan, Cache, Utah, United States
Family ID	F355	Group Sheet \| Family Chart

Family Grant Parkinson Packer, b. 12 Mar 1898, Preston, Franklin, Idaho, United States d. 23 Mar 1981, Idaho Falls, Bonneville, Idaho, United States (Age 83 years)

Marriage 20 Dec 1923 Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States

Children

+	1. Grant Peck Packer, b. 21 May 1925, Ogden, Weber, Utah, United States d. 2 Jun 2008, Idaho Falls, Bonneville, Idaho, United States (Age 83 years)
+	2. Leo Benson Packer, b. 13 Nov 1927, St. Anthony, Fremont, Idaho, United States d. 29 May 1974, St. Anthony, Fremont, Idaho, United States (Age 46 years)
	3. Margaret Catherine Packer, b. 16 Aug 1930, St. Anthony, Fremont, Idaho, United States d. 26 Nov 2015, Sandy, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 85 years)
	4. Ossian Leonidas Packer, b. 8 Dec 1932, Thomas, Bingham, Idaho, United States d. 17 Aug 2015, Idaho Falls, Bonneville, Idaho, United States (Age 82 years)
	5. Don Peck Packer
	6. Maurine Peck Packer, b. 7 May 1940, Idaho Falls, Bonneville, Idaho, United States d. 18 Apr 1995 (Age 54 years)
	7. David Packer
	8. Carla Rae Packer

Family ID F357 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Last Modified 6 Mar 2025

Event Map

	Birth - 1 May 1901 - Whitney, Franklin, Idaho, United States
	Initiatory (LDS) - 16 Mar 1921 - LOGAN
	Marriage - 20 Dec 1923 - Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States
	Death - 23 Apr 1991 - Boise, Ada, Idaho, United States
	Burial - 26 Apr 1991 - Fielding Memorial Park Cemetery, Idaho Falls, Bonneville, Idaho, United States

= Link to Google Earth

Notes

As told to her daughter Margaret Catherine Packer Wood, compiled March 1 9 68)

Florence Peck Packer was born May 1, 1901 in Whitney, Idaho, at her gran d mother Benson's home. Her parents were Leo Peck and Adeline Benson Pec k .

Brothers and sisters later born to this couple were Effie, Leo B, Maurin e , Beth, Garth, and Ollie Lou.

Grandfather Peck had come in his buggy three times before Florence was a c tually ready to come and be his little girl. He got there just in tim e fo r Dr. Cutler to tell him they couldn't save both the Mother and th e baby . Grandfather said to save the Mother of course. Grandmother Benso n spok e up and said, "We'll save them both." She rolled up her sleeves ( she wa s a midwife and knew what she was doing) and they did save both Mo ther an d baby. Addie and Leo took their baby home to Thatcher, Idaho, i n the Gen tile Valley.

When Mother (I'll call her this from now on) was five the family move d t o Fielding, Utah, and built a little white house that is still standi ng . She went to school there through the fifth or sixth grade and then m ad e the next move out to Holbrook, Idaho (Curlew Valley). This is the pl ac e that holds some of the happiest memories of her childhood.

Grandpa Peck hired a Bother Mann to come once a month from Salt Lake Ci t y and teach to those in the valley who were interested. Effie and Moth e r both took from him. Grandfather also organized parents and got two te ac hers from Salt Lake High School to come and teach High School in Holbr ook .

Effie and Mother went to Salt Lake for their first year of High School . E ffie got homesick and went home a little before it was over. They wer e bo th very homesick the whole year. They lived with Aunt Rachel Campbel l on e block from Temple Square. The last two years of high school were i n Log an, Utah, at B.Y.C. The family moved to Logan at this time and boug ht a h ome in the 300 block of East 4th North.

Mother started at the A.C., finished one semester, and had signed up t o g o into nurses training when she got a call to go to the California Mi ssio n.

She met her husband to be when he was playing on the basketball team f o r the A.C. Ezra T. Benson was also playing on that team. Mother said h e r interest in that team was very keen. It got to more than that becaus e s he got her diamond the Christmas before her mission call. The one dra wbac k was that a fiancée didn't come with the ring. Dad never came to se e he r through the entire holidays. He called on New Years and that is th e onl y word she had. She couldn't believe he could love her and not com e to se e her, so she gave the ring back. (Dad was earning money so he co uld ge t back into school and that was his big worry). When she left fo r her mis sion, she had no attachment or tie with "Grant". She didn't wri te or hea r from him during her entire mission.

Her first mission address was 153 W. Adams, Los Angeles, California. Dur i ng the summer she went to San Bernardino, the first lady missionarie s t o stick out the hot summer in that area. At the end of the summer, Mo ther 's health became a problem with fainting spells and blackouts. Befor e i t became necessary to send her home, she spent some time at Ocean Par k i n the L.S district. Finally, it was evident she would have to go home . Th e doctors in Los Angeles were the first to tell her she could neve r hav e a family.

She spent three months at home and was baptized in the temple for her he a lth. She returned and finished her mission. When she returned from he r mi ssion, she was again in bad health. As soon as she could she went t o wor k in a department store and met Margaret Catherine LeRoux, a cathol ic lad y, and started a friendship she never forgot and a conversion tha t neithe r ever made, though they both tried very hard.

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She returned to Logan to report her mission and saw Dad, and realized s h e really loved him. Effie wrote to him when they went home and said Mot he r had changed her mind, she thought, and if he still felt the same h e sho uld come and see her. He wrote back saying that Mother had promise d if sh e ever changed her mind she'd let him know. Then Grandmother Pec k made Ef fie show Mother the letter and Mother wrote Dad-- which was al l Dad neede d.

They were married December 20, 1923. They went back to Logan and Dad g o t his B.S. Degree from the A.C.

The young couple's first summer was spent in Wyoming selling knit good s . Then Dad accepted a principal's job in Eden, Utah. Their first baby , Gr ant Jr., was born the day school let out, May 21, 1925.

The following summer Mother spent with Lenore Petersen and her baby i n a n apartment in Logan while their husbands went on the road selling kn it g oods. The letters were almost worth the loneliness, Mother said.

Dad came back and taught one more year at Eden. Mother went early in t h e spring up to St. Anthony with Grandpa Packer. "That's when life real l y started", Mother remembered. The home had been used as a rest room f o r the cattle. The floor had holes in it and was anything but a honeymo o n cottage. She put clean sheets on the bed and cried all night wonderi n g what she was going to do.

They worked very hard during the summer. Mother cooked for men and chang e d the "rest room" into a home. They bought 25 registered Holsteins fro m C ache Valley to make their start. Some start, quoth Mother. The potat o cro p was a failure.

Leo was born (breech) November 13, 1927, in the little house down by t h e river. Dr. Kelly, a special nurse, Grandma Peck, Grandpa Packer and U nc le Vaughn helped welcome him. Grandpa Packer and Uncle Vaughn were the r e to sell the cows to make payments on the farm to try to save it. "W e hu ng on like grim death, after that", Mother said.

Leo was five weeks old when the flood came. It was December 15, 1927. Mo t her waded out in freezing water above her knees. Big blocks of ice wer e e verywhere. Mrs. Burt lost a baby that was not found until spring. Mrs . El lingson took them and sheltered them and warmed them until Sol Hillm an an d Dad came and took them to town, (Dad had been teaching school). T hey st ayed in town in an apartment until spring, then moved back in th e home Mr s. Burt had occupied. There was still water in the house, the r oof was sa gging, and it was damp and cold. That summer they rented the f arm and wen t out on the road again to earn enough to go back to the farm .

The Packers started out with $6.00, a tepee, a model T Ford, and two bab i es to make their fortune, or at least help.

This summer held many different, lonely, dangerous, and funny experience s . They would stop and camp in a clearing, often not knowing geographica ll y where they were. Daddy would go out to sell and Mother would stay wi t h Grant and Leo at the camp. One time Mother smelled cigarette smoke a n d knew there was a man or men watching her. She was alone-- alone-- i n th e woods with her boys. She sang to keep from being afraid. Dad final ly ca me home and she was unharmed. She says it was from a dear lady tha t summe r that she learned to make meringue, (for which she is now famous , at lea st with her family).

That fall Daddy put Mother in an apartment in Ogden and went up to mov e t he house on the hill for her away from the danger of the river, but n ot f ar away from the beauty of it. The next summer Mother stayed at th e far m but Daddy went on the road again.

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In the summer of 1930 Margaret Catherine (named after Mother's dear frie n d Margaret Catherine LeRoux) was born into a plastered, stuckoed littl e h ouse that was moved up from the river's edge.

Ossian Leonidas was born in a blizzard in Blackfoot that was so severe t h ey had to go meet the doctor in a sleigh and the school children had t o s tay at the school because they couldn't get them home. Daddy was teac hin g in Thomas. Mother rode on top of the furniture on the trailer whil e mov ing to Blackfoot. She thinks it must have been quite a sight becaus e sh e was expecting Ossian and very big.

Mother was singing a lot and had been on the Stake Relief Society boar d a nd Counselor of M.I.A. She was a favorite funeral soloist. In Thomas , Ida ho, she taught Glee Club in the school. Garth came up and played hi s trum pet on one of their special programs.

Don Peck was Mother's first hospital baby, born in St. Anthony hospita l ( when it was by the river) on July 22, 1935.

When Leo was about three, he fell out of Mr. Bassett's car on the way ho m e from June Conference between Rigby and Rexburg. The doctor scraped h i s skull to get the rocks and bone out. They watched him and took him t o t he doctor often to abstract the pieces that worked out. The doctor sa id i f the pieces ever worked in instead of out - it would be very seriou s.

After the barn burned down they lost the farm and moved to Idaho Fall s i n the summer of 1937. They rented a home on 6th street and Mother wen t t o the hospital in the fall. The doctor wanted to make it so she could n' t have any more children because of her poor health and he supposed th i s to be a good time while he was doing the other repair work. Mother sa i d "no" and later had a dream where her sister Maurine (who had died tw o y ears ago in childbirth) had a baby and when Mother asked if it was he r ba by she said that the baby was Mother's. Mother's next baby was a lit tle g irl who was named Maurine, and she looked just like the baby Mothe r had s een in her dream.

The next year they bought a house at 508 E. 13th Street. A big old hom e . This is still the family home.

Mother worked in Relief Society in many stake and ward positions. Musi c w as an important part of her life. she directed several outstanding mu sica l programs, and directed choruses and singing mother groups for year s. Sh e soon became a popular soloist and sang for many, many funerals i n the a rea.

Maurine was born May 7, 1940. The first of Mother’s second family. The s e cond came two years later, David Peck, born June 23, 1942, and numbe r 8 a nd the caboose, Carla Rae, was born July 19, 1946. She was prematur e an d had a hard time at first. Mother did too, but they both gained str engt h in time. Carla Rae was named after Carl Marcussen and Ray Petersen , bot h presidents of the Pacific National Life Insurance Company. Durin g thi s period Daddy was becoming very successful in the insurance busine ss. Th e highlights of each year was when Daddy earned an expense paid tr ip to c onventions. Mother loved them. She loved being with Daddy. She lo ved th e luxurious places they went, she loved the people, the shows, th e meals . The family at home were always eager to hear her report of thei r experi ences when they came home.

In 1956 they moved back up to St. Anthony with the last three children . T he older ones being away on missions, service or married. Dad had wo n a f ree trip for himself and Mother to Hawaii with the Pacific National , bu t was unable to go because -------ooooh----- it’s too painful to rem ember . Sufficeth to say, they didn’t’ go on the trip. (They had a man qu it une xpectedly up on the farm so they moved to St. Anthony to take ove r milk d uties and chores).

The farm still spelled hard work. They had to remodel the farm house a n d start clearing sage brush and rocks off the land. Mother thought th e fa rm was beautiful in spite of the hard work and one night when the fa mil y was swimming Mother said, “The farm is so beautiful and so much fu n . I wish we could share it with our Dairyland customers.” The “Fun Far m ” was reborn. (It was called the black and white Fun Farm when they ha d t he barn dance earlier) and used as an advertisement and a way of show in g appreciation to customers of the dairy, which they named Dairyland D air y.

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Every year Dairyland Fun Farm grew and they added to it to make it bett e r and a “funner farm.” Their lives revolved around it and it became a f av orite place for customers, friends, and grandchildren. Later they chan ge d over from free fun to trying to make it pay as it gave fun. In 196 8 th e (Leo mostly) built a lodge adjoining the house, for people to sta y over night.

Mother had four sons and one daughter go on missions for the church. S h e was happy and proud of all of them.

Mother’s home was always open to anyone who needed shelter, love, fun, f o od, friendship, or whatever. They were welcomed for a day, a month, o r ye ars, depending on the need.

___Florence Peck Packer
___1981 additions from tapes compiled by Margaret and Beverly
The very first time we went out to Holbrook I was about ten years old . W e went out for the summer and came back for school in the winter an d the m out again the next summer. That first summer we built a little sq uare h ouse out there but we stopped at the Colin Sweeten home. Grandfath er Swee ten, Colin’s father as Colin wasn’t married then. We stopped at h is plac e when we first drove into the valley and I was so darn sick I co uld hard ly sit on the horse. I had ridden from Fielding out there, drivi ng a fe w cows ahead of us and my little brother Leo had ridden a littl e horse w e called Puss and I was riding the big black horse that I calle d Smut . I loved riding but I just got so tired and I had such a headach e tha t I just couldn’t sit on that horse any longer, so when we got to S weeten s’ Uncle Colin came out and took my off the horse and said to my D ad, Gra ndpa Peck, “We’ll just keep you all right here tonight”. My Dad s aid, “No , we’ve got to get on out to the place, we’ve got everything s o we can ca mp, we’ve got supper and everything and we’ve got to go to th e place.” I t was about four miles farther on, so Grandpa Peck took me i n the camp sh ack, kind of a sheep wagon is what it was, with him and w e rode on over t o the place. But, oh, I was so sick. But Uncle Colin Swe eten was so goo d to us. The first thing next morning they came over an d welcomed us to i nto the valley.