Families Photo Shoot

Robert Lurker (Dad)Myra (Tibbitts) Lurker (Mom)

 Emily Lurker (Me)

 Evan Lurker (Younger Brother)

 Hailey Lurker ( Younger sister)

Andrew Lurker (Youngest brother)

 Elmer and Joyce Lurker (Dad parents)

Cleve and Betty Tibbitts (Mom parents)

 Grandpa Lurker siblings

 Myra's siblings

Grandma Tibbitts siblings

Robert's siblings

 

 

 

Life Goals/Future Plans

My Dreams	Goals
---Goal 1---Find more relatives on my father side	Daily: ---Search on the internet for the Lurker name ---Ask family members if they have any new leads on family members --- Weekly: ---Go to family history center for some help on searching techniques ---Index to help others with their family history and so I will be more aware of certain problems that will arrive. --- Deadline: ---By the end of August find at least 10 new family members names
---Goal 2---Get an summer internship job	Daily: ---Search on the internet for different firms ---Call on the firms I find ---Make a list of places to call, and ones I have already called Weekly: ---Return calls to the firms I called ---Send out thank you cards to the firms that talked to me ---Send out email to firms that are hiring --- --- Deadlines: ---By May I will have an internship set in stone by the beginning of May
---Goal 3---Go excising	Daily: ---Make a conscious decision to eat healthy ---Be physical at least 30 minutes a day. Weekly: ---Invited friends to be active with me --Go to yoga ---Go out and play a sports game with friends --- Deadline: ---By the end of June be able to run up the stairs without being out of breathe.

Life and History of Betty Lou Davis Tibbitts

Betty Lou Davis was born on April 10, 1924 on a farm in Egin, Idaho to Lew Wallace Davis and Ethelyn Caroline Rice.  She was the third girl in the family. Her parents were going to move and they waited and waited and decided to move anyways and then the day after they moved Betty came.   A midwife would come in to help assist in the birth.

She moved to St. Anthony when she was three or four years old and that is where her only brother was born.  She remembers running outside to tell the neighbors about her brand new little brother, Herb.

During her grade school years her family would move out to Egin, Idaho during the summers to help on the family farm and then when school started they would move back to St. Anthony.

During her childhood she would play summer outdoor games with her siblings such as run sheep run, and hide and seek. During the winter she would make snow forts, or just play in the snow.  They also had many cousins around the area and she loved playing with them.

When she was in high school she worked at the local drug store as a soda jerk, a place where the teenagers would hang out.  She worked there during the summer at two different drug stores as a soda jerk, for two different summers. She attended St. Anthony High School (South Fremont High School) and was active in the Glee Club where she accompanied them as well as sang for this group.  This started her love for music, which continued throughout her life.  She accompanied five violinists that would travel around to such places as Grand Junction, Colorado and Pocatello, Idaho to compete in music festivals.

Betty met Cleve, her future husband because her older sister Donna had a crush on him.  He delivered the local paper and Donna would wait for him every day.  Betty knew of him from Donna.

In April of her senior year of high school she developed a goiter in her neck and was admitted into the hospital for two weeks, which required surgery.  The surgery would have to be done in Salt Lake City, Utah.  This was extremely hard for her.  She was in Salt Lake City for two weeks because she had to gain weight before they would do the surgery. She was very alone there, but Cleve would come and visit her and bring her home after her two-week stay. She had to drop out of school because she missed so much school and she missed her graduation; she was upset because she had gotten a new dress for her graduation. She received your diploma after she wrote a paper.  The doctors advised her that she not attend school after this.

After a couple summers home Betty’s sister, Donna talked her into coming to California and working with her in the engineering department working with the P-51 fighter planes.

Cleve gave her a ring before he was drafted into World War II and they were married on April 10, 1945 on her 21^st birthday in the Salt Lake City Temple.  Cleve returned home with an honorable discharge with pension.  She is not sure why that day was picked but Cleve wanted to be home to help with the planting of the crops on the farm. 

Cleve’s family were very good friends with the owners of Hotel Utah in Salt Lake City and his family tried to arranged for Betty and Cleve to get the Honeymoon Suite.  Because it was during the war they could not get the room.  They called everywhere and could not find a room anywhere.  Cleve’s mother and Betty’s mother went down to Utah for the wedding and got a room in Hotel Utah.  It was a Jack and Jill room with connecting bathrooms.  The night before the wedding they slept with their mothers and after they were married they spent the night across the way from their mother-in-laws.

They moved to Salt Lake City for Cleve to attend college.  They lived in a tiny studio apartment, so tiny they had to go to the bathroom in the hallway.  This is where their first child Camille was born.  A month after she was born, Betty hemorrhaged.  They were not charged for the hospital bill because the doctor knew it was his fault.

They moved back to St. Anthony after Cleve graduated and lived with Betty’s mom. Her mom was living alone since her father had died the summer before.  They lived with her while their house was being built.  This is where the rest of her five children were born.

In 1955 she joined the Mello Dairies a local singing group. She was with them for a total of 50 years.  She started out as the organist and the last 37 years as the director.  She would travel around the area with the group doing stage shows in the spring, and a Christmas program each year.

She also sang with a group called Relief Society Singing Mother’s that sang at General Conference.  Later in her life she realized one of her dreams of practicing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  Her granddaughter is a member of this group and helped realize this dream.

In 1992 Cleve and Betty turned in their papers to serve in the Adelaide, Australia mission.

She continues to live in the home she and Cleve built over 60 years ago.  She enjoys spending time with her children and grandchildren and serving those around her.

 

The Life History of Cleve Marler Tibbitts

Cleve Marler Tibbitts was born with his twin sister Doris on September 16, 1921 in Idaho Falls, Idaho to Byron Moody Tibbitts and Vera Bodily Galbraith Tibbitts.  He was the third child in the family of six.  He had a very special bond with his sister Doris throughout their lives.

Cleve grew up in Idaho Falls until the age of twelve years old until they moved to St. Anthony, Idaho where his father had been working every week and coming home on the weekends at their family farm in Egin Bench, Idaho.  Cleve found a job working as a newspaper boy delivering the Post Register.

He attended South Fremont High School.  In high school Cleve was a friendly and likeable person.  He enjoyed the time he had with his friend and sometimes this lead to neglecting his schoolwork.  He would always regret his early negligence for his education.  Because of Cleve physical stature and poor eyesight, he never participated in sports, so he played the French Horn in the marching band then switched his senior year to Drum Major.

Joining the Marching Band was one his greatest decision because this leads him to travel and also to meet his future wife, Betty Lou Davis.  At first Betty was unaware of him, but Cleve always had his eye on her.  They began dating at the age of fourteen years old and continue to date throughout high school. 

After high school Cleve attended Idaho State University and also negliged his studies here and regret it.  His second year attending Idaho State University World War II broke out.  He knew he would be drafted, so he decided to enter the Army.  He reported to Fort Douglas in Salt Lake City in November of 1942.  He was honorable discharged after two years of military service because of his poor eye sight.  He returned home to work for his father.  His relationship with Betty began to progressed.  They decided they wanted The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to play a huge part in their life and their friends they were associating with would not lead them there.  They sat down and decided that church would be a solid foundation in their lives and was married on April 10, 1945 in the Salt Lake City, Utah Temple. 

A short time after their marriage, Cleve when to the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah and graduated with bachelor’s degree in zoology.  He applied for medical school at Utah University and was not accepted because of his poor grades at Idaho State University.  In his adolescence he did not realize the importance of his early education.  After this he returned to St. Anthony to work with his father. His father owned an expanding business farming potatoes and wheat, and as well as ranching cattle. 

Since living near his parents he had a special relationship with them.  His mother instilled in him spiritual and his father instilled hard work.  His father developed a mental illness and suffered a nervous breakdown.  At the age of 74 in July of 1967, Cleve father, Bryon, committed suicide by drowning himself in the Snake River.  After this Cleve realized the great responsibility and stress that comes from running a business and gained a greater understanding and appreciation for his father.  Soon after his brother Byron Jr. passed away from a fatal heart attack at the age of fifty-five. 

Cleve held many church calling such as bishop, high councilman and his last calling was stake patriarch.  He received the calling from Elder Marvin J Ashton.  He was very nervous about his calling, but grew to love it. 

In 1993 Cleve and Betty turned in their papers to serve in the Adelaide, Australia mission.  They traveled around the mission giving patriarchal blessings.  It was at this time they learned to lean on each other since they were so far from home and their families making their marriage strong than ever before. 

On February 24, 2008 Clever Marler Tibbitts passed away from complication of a surgical procedure.  He is extremely missed by his wife, six children, twenty-three grandchildren, and (soon to be) thirteen great grandchildren.

Emily Lurker Life History

My life began on a cold, snowy day in November in Provo, Utah.  The winter had been unseasonably warm and mild.  A few days before I was born winter returned.  There had been a big snowstorm and winter was here with a vengeance.  My mom spent a few hours before I was born working and then running some errands.  My dad spent the day at school, as he was a student at BYU.  I was already three days overdue and she was anxious for my arrival.  At midnight, she awoke to a sensation of her water breaking.  She immediately woke up and then woke my dad to call the doctor.  She informed them to get to the hospital as soon as possible.  By the time they got to the hospital her contractions had started.  They hooked her up to an IV and a small dose of pain medication.  Twelve hours later her contractions were getting more intense and more uncomfortable. She was not dilating. After enduring excruciating contractions and trying everything to get her labor progressing she was ready to push.  She had been in labor for approximately 24 hours.  She pushed for approximately 3 hours and I entered the world at 3:45 a.m. on November 16, 1988.  A beautiful daughter they named Emily Joyce.  Emily was a name my mom had loved since she was a little girl.  Joyce is also my mom’s middle name as well as my grandmother’s first name.   After all the important vital statistics, weight and initial cleaning were complete, my parents were able to hold and admire their first-born daughter.  While enjoying these first few moments of life a nurse felt inspired to check my heartbeat.  She immediately realized that my heart was beating twice the beats that were normal for my age and size.  They rushed me to the nursery along with the nurses and doctors.  While another doctor sewed up my mom and prepared her for the recovery of giving birth, I was being helped to bring down my heartbeat.  The doctors were not sure how to respond to this complication since they hadn’t seen many cases like this.  One doctor suggested they put a bag of ice over my face to restart my heart.  This helped but they decided another hospital was more equipped to take care of me. My dad contacted the bishop of our ward and he arrived within a few minutes.  They gave me a blessing and then my dad drove in the car, while I was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital.  My mom stayed back at the hospital since she had just given birth.  By that afternoon, she was released from the hospital and was able to visit me in the other hospital.  But, she returned home without a baby.  I was required to stay at the hospital for an extra four days.  I was released with a heart monitor and really no explanation as to what caused this. They were advised to contact a specialist at Primary Children’s Medical Center.  They prescribed medication and were told to do the ice bag trick again if it ever occurred again.  They did have to do it once time within a few months after my birth.  I was only on the medication a few months and have never really had any explanation as to the why or how.  I experience some rapid heartbeats.  I just know that I need to sit down and stop what I am doing.  I have not experienced any ill effects because of these few scary moments.  

            A few weeks after my birth, my parents moved to Logan, Utah so my dad could continue his studies at Utah State University.  We lived there for about a year and a half.  We then moved to Orem, Utah and my dad finished his degree with his student teaching.  We only lived there a few months because my dad was offered a full time teaching job in my mom’s hometown of St. Anthony, Idaho.  Because of budget cuts, his technology program was cut and he was without a job.  They were able to find a job in Chandler, Arizona.  This is where my brother Evan was born a few weeks before my third birthday on October 30, 1991.

            I loved my little brother and treated him like a baby doll.  I could not wait for him to grow up so he could play with me and we could best friends.  He did grow up and we did become best friends.  We did everything together.  He played dolls with me and I played trucks and ball with him.  Soon after he was born, we returned to St. Anthony, Idaho so we could housesit for my grandparents while they served a fulltime mission in Adelaide, Australia.  We were there for a year and a half.  My dad worked at various jobs and attended school at Ricks College. When my grandparents returned my dad was able to get a job with ITT Technical Institute in Portland, Oregon.  We lived in Vancouver, Washington and he would travel over the river to Portland each day.  This is where I entered kindergarten.  We enjoyed our stay there and I made many friends in our neighborhood, at school and at church. When I was six my dad got a promotion within ITT and we moved to Louisville, Kentucky.  This is where my little sister Hailey was born, on December 2, 1995.  I finally got the little sister I had always wanted.  I had someone to dress up in frilly dresses and play dolls with.  I could not wait to get home from school every day to hold her and carry her around.  For the first month of Hailey life she lived in a “suitcase” that is what we called it but it was a blue light that helped with her jaundice. I was so happy for the nurse to say she finally did not have to sleep in the “suitcase” so I could hold her more often.   I attended first grade in Louisville.  He then got another promotion and we moved to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.  I attended second grade there.  But, my family was anxious to get back west and closer to family.  My dad was able to find a job with Idaho Power and we moved to Pocatello, Idaho.  This is where my little brother Andrew was born on August 17, 1999.  This was an exciting time too.  I was a little older and was able to do more to take care of my baby brother.  I loved carrying him around and showing him off to everyone. We lived there for four years.  I attended third through sixth grade there.  This was the longest I had ever lived anywhere. 

            While we lived in Pocatello I broke my ankle.  I was jumping on our neighbors’ trampoline.  We were told that we could come over and jump on their trampoline anytime we wanted.  My brother Evan and I  jumped every chance we got.  This particular day me and my brother and our neighbors’ daughter were all jumping.  I jumped and as I came down I landed on my ankle sideways.  I immediately knew I did something bad.  They had to carry me home.  My mom decided the next morning that I needed to go to the doctor since I couldn’t put any weight on it and had to crawl everywhere I went.  They had to put a cast on it.  Luckily it was a walking cast.  I had this cast for about five weeks.  I was so glad to get that awkward thing off.

            But, this was not be permanent.  My dad lost his job and he found another job in Cape Girardeau, Missouri teaching at a University.  So we moved again.  We lived there for two years. I attended seventh and eighth grade in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.  It was here that I began my long career of babysitting.  We attended a small ward with few youth.   I was the go to for babysitters.  I was busy almost every weekend as well as during the week.  I learned to love babysitting and loved being around children. 

After our two years in Cape Girardeau, we moved to Warrensburg, Missouri.  This is one of the few times in my life that we lived somewhere longer than one year. We lived there for four years.  My father was employed at Central Missouri University as a professor.   I was able to start and finish high school here. In school I really enjoyed the art classes and started or continued my love for the arts.  I joined the school choir here was really enjoyed it.  I was able to make some good friends there and to this day, they are still my friends.  I call this place home. I was able to continue my babysitting here and was able to save a lot of money for my future doing this.

Since my dad grew up in the military, he liked to move around a lot. After a few years in one place, he got antsy to move, which was the case in Warrensburg.  So, he sought out other employment.  We moved to Pahrump, Nevada.  I attended the only college in this small town.  It was Great Basin Community College.  My dad was the director at this outlining campus, which was based in Elko, Nevada.  I completed a year at the community college.  I served as a co-chairman of the student association while I attended my first year.  I was able to complete a lot of my general education classes there. My dad once again lost his job forcing us to move again.

We then moved to Independence, Missouri.  This was our third city in Missouri.  My dad worked at ITT Technical Institute in Kansas City, Missouri. We lived there three an half years. I finished and got my Associates of Arts Degree at Metropolitan Community College-Blue River. Because I was a graduate of a Missouri high school I was able to get my education paid for which was a great relief.  At Blue-River I joined the Metropolitan Community Choir and was able to perform throughout the community three times a year.  I really enjoyed doing this and still love choir.  That following fall I was accepted into the Interior Design program at Brigham Young University-Idaho.   It is a very hard program to get into, so I feel very fortunate to be accepted.  It is a grueling major, which takes up a lot of time and energy. I have thought about changing my major, but I have a lot of great friends that have been a great support for me.  I have been able to live with my grandma Tibbitts while attending school, which has been a great blessing financially.  I have been fortunate to be able to come home for Christmas and for the summer. 

The summer of 2011, right before school started I helped my family move out to Utah since my dad was getting antsy again.  He was able to get a job as Associate Dean of Technical Studies at Salt Lake Community College. Since our house did not sell right away my dad, brother Evan, and I took our belonging to Utah while my little sister, little brother and mom stayed to sell the house.  My brother Evan then flew back to Missouri to help my mom move out the remaining stuff.  Luckily, it did not take too long to sell the house. They moved to Utah at the end of September.   I was so glad that my family was much close and I would not have to take a plane to get back home, only a car trip away.  They are currently renting a house in Daybreak in South Jordan, Utah.  They are looking at homes to buy at the current time.  Hopefully, they will be able to find something soon and be in Utah a long time.  

I am currently a second semester junior in the Interior Design program and looking for an internship for the summer. I plan to graduate in April of 2014.  I am looking forward to being done with school and get on with my life.   

Testimony

I have a testimony of the restoration of the gospel. I know that Joseph Smith lived and restored the gospel in this dispenation. Joseph was a great man that was chosen from God to bring the gospel to the earth. I also believe in family. It has been such a blessing in my life and wouldn't know what to do without my family here on earth. There have been some hard times but we have gotten through it together. I know that Jesus Christ lived and speaks through our living prophets and apostles in these latter days. They reveal things that we need to hear at this point in time. Family history is a blessing in my life. Because of the family history that my father has done he was able to meet a distant cousin who is also a member of the church. The most amazing part of this story is that the rest of my father's family are not members of the church. My father is the only member in his family. He figured he was the only member. So he was thankful when he discovered this distant cousin that was also a member. I'm thankful for the gospel in my life and how it has blessed my family and my life.