Glen Earl Soulier

1919 - 2009  (90 years)  Submit Photo / Document    Has 2 ancestors but no descendants in this family tree.

• Name	Glen Earl Soulier
  Birth	31 Mar 1919	Provo, Utah, Utah, United States
  Gender	Male
  Initiatory (LDS)	30 Sep 1940	SLAKE
  FamilySearch ID	KWCK-Q3J
  Death	4 May 2009	Midvale, Salt Lake, Utah, United States
  Burial	11 May 2009	Midvale City Cemetery, Salt Lake, Utah, United States
  Person ID	I124618	mytree
  Last Modified	25 Feb 2024

  
  

  Father	Henry Soulier,   b. 9 Jan 1882, San Germano Vercellese, Vercelli, Piemonte, Italia d. 18 May 1964, Provo, Utah, Utah, United States (Age 82 years)
  Mother	Elisa Susanne Long,   b. 12 May 1886, Pramollo, Torino, Piemonte, Italia d. 2 Sep 1972, Payson, Utah, Utah, United States (Age 86 years)
  Marriage	23 Dec 1905	Provo, Utah, Utah, United States
  Family ID	F10168	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Ardis Poulson,   b. 20 May 1920, Provo, Utah, Utah, United States d. 15 Aug 1986, Midvale, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 66 years)
  Marriage	30 Sep 1940	Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States
  Family ID	F35037	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	21 Nov 2024

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - 31 Mar 1919 - Provo, Utah, Utah, United States Initiatory (LDS) - 30 Sep 1940 - SLAKE Marriage - 30 Sep 1940 - Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States Death - 4 May 2009 - Midvale, Salt Lake, Utah, United States Burial - 11 May 2009 - Midvale City Cemetery, Salt Lake, Utah, United States  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Notes

  Life Story of Glen Earl Soulier It was on Monday night, March 31, 1919 that I was born in the Provo Ben c h area of Utah County, Utah delivered by Dr. David Westwood (who, by t h e way, also delivered my future wife, Ardis Poulson). I was born at ho m e as was my other brothers and sister. My brother, Wes, remembers my mo th er being in a lot of pain at that time. He also tells that he was tol d th at the stork delivered me. My parents lived on a farm in an area called Grandview which was on a hi l l that had a beautiful view of Utah Lake. The actual location of the fa r m was about 85 East 2000 South (mailing address was Route 2 Box 34) whi c h was part of the city of Provo then but is now in Orem. I was the sixth child born to my parents. The eldest was Ernest who di e d when about 18 months old. Next was my only sister, Iona, then Clarenc e , Wesley, Paul and lastly, me! Iona married Ervin Coon and had five children, Lisa Ann, Barbara, Kathle e n, Paul and Richard. Iona, or Ione as she was called later, trained an d g raduated as a registered nurse from what was then called Holy Cross H ospi tal located on South Temple about 1000 East. She practiced at that H ospit al as well as did some private nursing until she married. After he r child ren were raised, she was the head nurse at Geneva Steel in Vineya rd, UT f or several years. Clarence married Cora Herman and they later adopted a son, David Ricky . C larence was a farmer, farming the Stubbs farm and later buying it fo r him self and also buying our lower farm when my dad retired. Wesley married Lucille Skinner and had three children, Michael, Jan Stev e n, and Shelley. Wes taught Vo-Ag at Alamogordo, NM after graduating fr o m Utah Agricultural College (now Utah State) then at Lincoln High Scho o l for a short time. He went to work for the Union Pacific Railroad as t h e Agricultural Agent from which he retired. Paul married Gladys Johnson and they had three children, Vickie, Jeann e a nd Jeffrey. Paul also attended Utah Agricultural College then worke d fo r Pacific Fruit and was transferred by them to Canada. He later lef t tha t company and started his own successful company. My Childhood I started doing chores when I was very young. I remember washing dishe s , cleaning floors, hauling coal into the house, bringing water in fro m th e well, ironing, tending a section of the vegetable garden, caring f or th e lawn, and helping my mother with turning the wringer handle on th e wash ing machine. Living on a farm required a lot of cooperation to ge t the da ily chores done and we all pulled together. My mother was very p roud tha t her sons could do a lot of the housework as well as work on va rious cho res on the farm. I remember doing most every job on the farm as soon as I was old enoug h ; some jobs I liked better than others. I remember picking up cut limb s f rom pruned trees (didn't like that job), cutting the grass from the d itc h banks with a cy and a sickle (some old tools), thinning peaches (an othe r job I didn't like), driving the sprayer as my father sprayed the t rees , feeding the animals (chickens, pigs, cows and horses), weeding an d hoei ng, cleaning stables and chicken coop. I especially didn't like cl eanin g the chicken coop because of all the dust. I learned a lot by doin g al l those chores. We had a customer, a widow and her daughter, that came from Fountain Gre e n. They were people who had sheep and were quite wealthy. They had a Bu ic k which I thought was really neat. I got to drive that Buick up into t h e field to pick up some peaches for them. I know it jerked along bu t I di dn't mind. That was a highlight for me. My family never had a vacation or took a holiday when I was young becau s e there were always chores and responsibilities to do on the farm. I d o r emember a couple of times going with Uncle Bill's family up Provo Can yon . During the summer when school was out, I did have some other jobs worki n g for other people. I’d hoe strawberries for 25ȼ - 50ȼ per day for neig hb or farmers and I worked at Erckenbracks Fruit Farm in their pear or ap pl e shed where they packed the fruit in boxes to sell in Salt Lake. I al s o did some odd farming jobs for Al Lunsford. Any money I earned went t o m y parents to keep for me. If I wanted to spend it I had to prove it w a s a good way to spend it. I remember a watch that I wanted that cost $ 5. 00 and I finally saved enough money to get it. That was a lot of mone y ba ck then. In the evenings after chores were done, our family would sit and liste n t o boxing on the radio. Boxing was very big at that time with Joe Lewi s an d others. We also read the newspaper and things like that. Christmas and Thanksgiving were two holidays that I remember that we inv i ted family together for dinner to make it special. In those days we did n= t celebrate as we do now. For Christmas we did have a tree that was de cor ated and we looked forward to Santa Claus. Mostly what you got was cl othi ng. I remember once I wanted a wrist watch, but I got a play one ins tead , and this was a big disappointment. Thanksgiving we always had a get-together and a big dinner. My mother wo u ld cook rice; she was famous for her rice which looked like a Spanish r ic e but it had a different yummy taste. We’d invite Uncle Ed down from O gde n because his wife had divorced him so he was alone. He’d come down o n th e "Orem" (a railroad line that came down from Salt Lake) and we’d g o dow n and bring him to the house. I remember one Fourth of July when I was about 10 or 12, my dad said I c o uld have a dollar to spend at the celebration being held at Pioneer Pa r k (500 W Center Street) but I would have to get it from Kuhni's for a d ea d horse they took from us. (Kuhni's was a place which bought dead anim al s to process) I remember my parents took me down and stopped on the ro a d while I walked to their house and knocked on their door. I don't kno w h ow I approached them, but I got my dollar . Most of my toys and play things were very simple and homemade as I loo k b ack on them today. One was a board about three inches wide and thre e fee t long with a cross piece on the bottom. We’d take a rimmed wheel a bout 1 5 inches in diameter and we’d roll it down the road and push it al ong wit h the board. I could do all sorts of fancy things with it. I rem ember ha ving roller skates which clamped onto your shoes and roller skat ing on th e packed dirt road that ran in front of our house (2000 South ) . I remember having ice skates which I would use in the winter on the can a l by the house. It wasn’t a real big area to skate but it was fun. Als o w e made homemade skis out of barrel staves and secured pieces of leath er f rom old harnesses on them to hold our shoes, and used them to ski do wn hi lls; the road in front of our home was on a hill and so we’d ski do wn th e road. Sometimes we’d have our horse pull us on our skis across th e Luce rne fields when it had snow on it. I also had a flexible flyer , a familia r sled that I’d use to enjoy the wintertime . When I was in my early teens, the Great Depression ran its course in t h e country. Many people lost jobs and money was tight. I was very fortun at e by living on a farm where we were able to raise the food we needed . W e also never really had a lot of "things", so we never seemed to hav e les s than we always had. My parents were very careful with their mone y an d I don't remember them ever being in debt. School Days - Elementary to High School I went to Lincoln Elementary which was about a mile and a half from ou r h ome; east to State Street and then south about a quarter mile by th e Cart erville Road right on the brink of a hill. We walked to and fro m schoo l each day. Nuttall's dairy farm was south of the school (Dian e Nuttal l was a girl friend in the Third Grade) and across the road wa s Kuhni's M eat Processing Plant but I don't remember noticing any smells . I went thr ough the 6th Grade at Lincoln Elementary. I remember that mother took me to school on my first day. We used to ha v e gypsies that would camp along the main highway (State Street) and I w ou ld have had to pass them on the way to school and I was afraid of th e gyp sies so my mother would come and get me so I wouldn’t have to be al one. I think I was excited about going to school. We had old fashioned wood d e sks that had an inkwell in the table top with wood seats. There were th re e desks attached together front to back and they would be lined up . A typ ical day included the usual reading, writing and arithmetic wit h one teac her teaching it all - no team teaching like today. We also ha d music an d singing. I remember we used chalk and slate but I don=t reme mber pape r too much. I also remember that all the boys wore overalls an d when yo u wore overalls you were dressed up . I remember what my lunches were like. Mother would send in my lunch buck e t not only sandwiches but she’d put other things like custard and frui t i n it. Three or four of us would sit in a little ditch and have our lu nc h and we’d trade just like they do now. I remember there was a boy th a t lived down in Riverside and his folks had a store there and he use d t o have all kinds of money. I didn't have any money. I used eggs to bu y wh at I wanted at the store right across from the school. This boy brou ght o lives one day and I had never seen olives (they were black olives ) so I g ave him some of my custard (he’d never tasted custard) for som e of thos e olives. I remember wishing that my mother wouldn’t give me an ything mor e than sandwiches because other kids didn't have those thing s and I didn' t like being different. We were on our own for recess. We had a large school yard with lots of r o om to run around. I remember playing marbles. I had a sack of marbles a n d we’d draw a line and shoot marbles. There were also some swings an d w e had a pipe that had six chains hanging from the top, each with a ha ndl e that you’d go round and round swinging on them. We used to wind the m u p and then let go and it would swing a person way out. I think I brought home something to do every night - homework. I don't r e member any books but it was words for us to learn to read and spell an d m y mother would drill me at home so when I went to school I’d know the m. M y mother helped me a lot and I must have done well because I was a g ood s peller. In Junior High I was the top speller in a Spelling Bee at l east o nce if not more. Mrs. Helen Wentz was my Third Grade Teacher and I remember that on my bi r thday I was kind of naughty or something and didn't do my work so she k ep t me after school. I told her, "It’s my birthday and they’re going t o hav e a little party for me." She said, "That’s too bad." So as I was d oing m y work there, she stepped out of the room or something and I wen t over t o the window which was probably open and jumped out the window a nd ran ho me. The window was about 6 feet off the ground. I wasn’t goin g to miss m y birthday party. Fortunately, I don't remember getting in tr ouble for th at. I also remember Valentine's Day in Mrs. Wentz class. There was a big b o x and we’d make valentines and put them in the box. On Valentine's Da y , our teacher would take them out and call the name and we’d go up an d ge t our valentine. I’ve heard it said that it was not a good way to d o beca use some kids didn't get valentines but I don't know that becaus e we mad e our valentines so everybody must have received a valentine . I don't rem ember it being a problem. I vividly remember that big box o n the teacher' s desk. I remember Mr. Anderson in the Fourth Grade. He traveled every day fro m t he west part of Utah county near Utah Lake. He played the cornet an d taug ht us a little music, to sing and even dance a little bit. In the 7th Grade I went to Lincoln Junior High School. It was locate d o n State Street also, but you went north instead of south. It was a tw o st ory building located across the street from Lincoln High School. Th e scho ol was big for those days but not as big as they have now. It mus t have b een three miles or a little less because I had to walk there too . If it h ad been more than three miles, there was a bus that would tak e you to sch ool. I remember that the bus was a big noisy, gray bus and t he driver , I thought, was ornery and didn't tolerate any monkey business . I enjoyed all the classes that I took but Science was a favorite class . M r. Lewis, the teacher, would get after me a little because I’d be to o exu berant about things. I’d get excited and talk or tell about thing s when m aybe I shouldn’t have. When time came, I attended Lincoln High School. It also was a two stor y b uilding facing south just off of State Street (800 S in Orem - nort h sid e of street). There were three ways we got to school. Sometimes i t was ri ding the bus that passed right in front of our home. We’d walk d own to th e canal west of our home and pick up the bus there. The bus wou ld take ab out 15 minutes to get to school. Sometimes we had to walk an d it would ta ke about 45-50 minutes. Sometimes Paul and I would be walk ing toward Sta te Street and the Riding family would be passing in thei r Ford car wit h a trunk on the back and Mr. Riding would stop and pick u s up and take u s to school. The Ridings lived just east of us what woul d be a couple o f blocks. The school year would start in September. Our peaches would come on at t h at time and I’d stay home a few days to help ship them out. We’d get o u t in May just like they do today. I think there were about 500 student s a ttending High School. We had about 80-90 in my graduating class . We had the regular English, Math, History, Science classes but I don't t h ink they had courses like Biology and Botany. They had a Seminary build in g next door to the High School which I visited but never took a clas s the re. My favorite classes: Speech (teacher - Fern Jude) History (teacher - Frank Newman) Chemistry (teacher - Carl Swenson) English (teacher - Mr. Cordner) Shop (teacher - Boyd Davis and I built a footstool) Eugenics (Genetics for human beings and the teacher was Boyd Davis too) Algebra (teacher - Ray Partridge who would brag up how neat my work was) Physical Education (Coach was Sanky Dixon) Typing (I can’t remember the teacher's name) My real favorite was Vocational Agriculture (Vo-Ag) which was held in t h e bottom floor. This was something new and had the government support b ec ause at the time they wanted to train young boys to be farmers. I wa s exc ited about Vo-Ag and FFA (Future Farmers of America) but never want ed t o be a farmer. Farming was one of those things that you thought wa s the w orst things in your life but turns out to be the best because i t taught m e to work and take responsibility. Vo-Ag and the FFA club ha d activities , and the class and activities were fun. I did everything th at would lea d up to be a farmer then. Mr. Boyd Davis was my favorite teacher (Shop and Eugenics). He had a w a y with working with students. There were athletics also and the only athletic thing I indulged in wa s b oxing. I wasn’tt a big tough-looking guy, but I was a pretty good box er . I also took Chorus and was in an opera at one time. I remember bein g ma de up with a moustache. I remember wanting to be a twirler with the band. I took a broken shov e l handle, cut it, rounded the top and painted it and would use that t o tw irl and throw. I practiced a lot and became very good. I was kind o f th e assistant Drum Major. I remember John Tidal was the Drum Major wro te i n my year book "You’re going to be the Drum Major next year" but I d on' t remember being that. I was the only twirler with the band though an d th e school bought me a baton with a big nob on it. I practiced with th e ban d during the summertime and as they played, I twirled and was goo d at it . I used to balance a hoe on my chin or finger and walk around. For lunch I’d have a nickel a day to buy my lunch if I didn't take i t . I remember buying two sweet rolls frequently for my lunch. Because this was a farming area, I don't remember homework being emphasi z ed as they do now. I think the teachers realized that the students ha d ch ores to do after school. We also didn't have a lot of after-school a ctivi ties as they do now for that same reason. Burt Dickson, Arden Rowley, and Weston Koford were good friends whil e i n High School. Present teenagers have a lot of activity to participat e in . They go farther and do more things. For us, friendships were at sc hoo l only. We each went home and didn't socialize after school too muc h . College Years at BYU There was a barber named Burningham that I knew. It seemed like an eas y t hing to do - meeting people, talking with them, cutting their hair . I tol d my parents once that I wanted to be a barber. My mother told m e I wasn’ t going to be a barber that I was going to go to college and ge t an educa tion. My parents knew that education was important and all of their children w e nt to college. We all basically put ourselves through college. I had t h e money that I had earned doing different jobs and it was given to m e t o go to college. The first college that I attended was Brigham Young University. I decid e d to go there with the counsel from my parents and it was surely the ri gh t thing to do because that's where I met my future wife, Ardis Poulso n . I began in the fall of 1937. I stayed with my sister, Iona, and husband, Ervin Coon, and their fami l y who lived down in Provo (300 West and Center Street) during the wee k wh ile attending college and was able to go home on some weekends. I he lpe d them whenever I could; I was their chief baby sitter. I didn't hav e a c ar then so I just walked all over when I needed to go somewhere. I don't think I was much of a student at BYU; wasn’t mature and prepar e d for college then. I had no idea of a major nor an agenda of any kin d . I just went to school. I went a year then got sick during the summe r . I was going to have my tonsils out at that time but was running a fev e r that wouldn’t go away. Dr. Eldon Clark, the Ears, Nose and Throat spe ci alist was afraid I would get Rheumatic Fever and so they put me to bed , w hich was the way they treated Rheumatic Fever then. The fever never p rogr essed into what they thought so they eventually took my tonsils ou t an d I got better. I missed about a year before returning to BYU for an othe r year of schooling. While attending my first year at BYU, I would often go into the Hebe r J . Grant Library to study. While there I saw the most beautiful girl w orki ng at the distribution desk. I wished that I knew her and tried to g et u p the courage to talk with her, but we hadn't been introduced. I wen t t o the library more and more often. I would work it out that when I sa w th at she was leaving, I'd leave too and we’d walk down the steps toget her . One wonderful, spring day a friend from Lincoln High School, actuall y a g irl friend, Ina Poulson, was walking into the Library while we wer e leavi ng and I discovered that she was a cousin of this beautiful girl , and In a finally introduced me to her - Ardis Poulson. After that, we w ould tal k as we walked and we started to walk often together. I would walk her to her home which was just off the Upper Campus (86 6 N 2 00 E) and then I’d continue to where I was staying. We then began w alkin g to Calders which was on University Avenue across from the Lower C ampu s (where the BYU academy was), to have toasted tuna fish sandwiches . Tha t meant that she walked a little farther past her home but she didn 't see m to mind and after having our sandwiches, I would walk her home a nd the n continue on my way which was just over a mile farther. I didn't have much money at that time. I had my breakfast and dinner mea l s with the Coon's, and had just a little money to spend for lunch. To s av e money then, I would stop off at Pop's Market, located about 800 N 20 0 E , and buy a pint of milk to have for my lunch . We would have very simple dates. Sometimes we’d meet and sit togethe r o n the lawn under a white birch tree and talk. That was kind of a favo rit e place. We went to football games. I remember it rained and we sat o ut t here and stayed in the rain when everyone else left. We joked abou t tha t occasionally. We also went to basketball games at the BYU Smart G ym o n University Avenue. I remember walking Ardis from the Lower Campus to religion class with Pr o fessor Ivins which we had together on the Upper Campus. Professor Ivin s w as the father of a good friend from Lincoln High, Tony Ivins, and Pro fess or Ivins used to tease Ardis and me about being late or other thing s tha t happened in class. He was a fun professor . There were times that she’d invite me to go to the BYU Lyceums at the Pr o vo Tabernacle. Her father would have passes that she’d use for us to g o a nd that would be our entertainment. These Lyceums would be musical pr ogra ms, just speakers or a combination of both. When I got sick, we’d talk on the phone. Either I’d call her or she’d ca l l me and we’d talk. Of course, she had other boyfriends and had dates w it h them. She’d tell me about the boys and I knew who they were . After I got my tonsils out, I started to feel better and I remember I we n t and bought some new light colored shoes and green pants that were rea ll y snappy. I did this in anticipation of getting together again with Ar di s on Valentine’s Day. I even went down to Provo and ordered some carna tio ns and delivered them to her then too . I remember celebrating Cinco de Mayo at BYU with Ardis and her friend, B e th Richardson, whose father was a Professor of Spanish. During the summ er , while I would have errands to run for my family from the farm, I’d d riv e our Chevrolet pickup by Ardis' home and of course stop to visit wh e n I could. It was about this time that I was baptized into the LDS Church, May 28 , 1 939. I know that Ardis was a great influence on me to do this althou g h I always wanted to be a member but the church didn't have missionari e s in the area as they do now. We then began to date more steadily and for her, more exclusively. We da t ed through the next year of college and during the next summer (1940) , wh ile up on Squaw Peak there in Provo Canyon, I proposed to her. How h app y I was that she said "Yes". I still didn't have a lot of money, bu t I ha d continued to have my milk for lunch and had saved enough to bu y her a s olitaire diamond ring with a gold band. She had told me that sh e didn't n eed a ring, but I insisted she have on . During this last year at BYU and going with Ardis, I had decided what ca r eer I wanted. I wanted to major in Ag. Education; become a Vo-Ag teache r . I knew that I wanted to go to the Agricultural College in Logan (no w it ’s called Utah State University) to do this. We then began to make p lan s and set the date. Her father convinced us to marry on September 30t h be cause that was Ardis' mother's birth date and that would make it spe cial . Even though that was earlier than I had thought, we decided that’ s wha t we’d do. So on Monday, September 30, 1940, Ardis and I went to the Salt Lake Ci t y Temple and were sealed together for time and eternity. My parents we r e not able to go to the temple with us as they were not members of th e Ch urch. We did have some family there that threw rice when we left th e temp le. After the ceremony, we got on the train that would take us to Logan. T h e next day I attended my first classes at the AC so there was no honeym oo n. Professor Poulson gave us $60 in lieu of having a reception and wit h t he little money I had already from my folks, we went to Logan not pen nile ss but almost. Written for Christmas, 2000 by Glen Earl Soulier for his children and descendants