Cleo Royle was born April 22, 1915 in Lehi, Utah. She married the love of her life, Cecil Webb, on January 4, 1937, in the midst of the Great Depression. Starting her own family during such a hard economic time taught her one of the great axioms that she passed on to her grandchildren: Waste not, want not. She often threatened that if we didn't finish the food that was placed on our dinner plate, she would save it and put raisins in it for breakfast in the morning. I don't ever remember having raisin spaghetti for breakfast, but I do remember a lot of clean dinner plates.
Cecil made his living as a fine jeweler, and Cleo helped him occasionally in his shop. She was also a dental hygienist, a piano teacher, and many other professions to help make ends meet, while raising her six children. Because of Cecil's skill in fine craftsmanship (learned from making watches for years), he was drafted in World War II as a mechanical technician - he was in charge of putting together the delicate instruments in the dashboards of the airplanes. Such a skill was rare during that time, so he was never sent overseas to fight; he stayed in Arizona and sent his handiwork off to war. Cleo declared that she was extremely blessed to have married such a talented man and showed her appreciation by watching over the wives of those men who were sent off to war. She considered herself their mother hen.
Three of her six children were born deaf. Cleo simply taught those three children to read lips and to speak by feeling the vibrations in her throat. Decades later all three received cochlear implants and found that they had no trouble adapting to their new world of hearing because their mother had painstakingly taught them all they needed to know.
Cleo and Cecil served a mission in Guayaquil, Ecuador, in 1979. The grandchildren grew up hearing stories about the wonderful members in Ecuador and listening to lengthy prayers of thanksgiving offered in Spanish. I was able to go with the two of them to the dedication of the Ecuador temple in 1999 - a temple that had been promised while they had served there 20 years earlier. Just a year later, I was called to that same mission and did all that I could to be the kind of missionary that my grandmother had taught me about for years.
In 1990, at the age of 73 (long after most couples would have been touring the world or simple settling down), Cleo and Cecil moved to Bountiful, Utah, to help take care of our family while my mom attended medical school. I was just becoming a teenager at the time, and I'm sure I didn't give her the easiest time during those hard years. But she never yelled. She simply quoted scripture or sang hymns to make us behave - I can still hear her beautiful voice in a slight vibrato singing, "Let Us Oft Speak Kind Words to Each Other." If we continued disobeying her, she would threaten us with the back of her hand, not that she could do much damage - but those intricately designed rings Grandpa gave her would have!
Cleo had a beautiful voice and she loved music. She directed church choirs for years. Other callings in the church included gospel doctrine teacher (until the age of 82), Relief Society instructor, and Ward and Stake Young Women's President. Perhaps her favorite calling (besides being a missionary) was as Assistant Temple Matron in both the Ogden and Bountiful temples. I loved going to the temple with her and tried to do so every time I visited after being married. She shared so many insights into the endowment that only years and years of study could teach.
Cleo dedicated herself to family and the progression of her eternal family. She learned how to ski when she was more than 50 years old so that she could spend more time with her youngest son. She came camping with us twice a year until she was nearly 90 years old just to be closer to some of her grandchildren. I will never forget the half hour she had me locked in her car, explaining to me that I had to keep my new husband happy so that he would never leave me! All joking aside, I know family is and always will be the most important thing for any of us - and I know that because of her.
Cleo was diagnosed with acute leukemia on August 17, 2009, which accelerated rapidly. Knowing that she was at the end, all her children and a large portion of her grandchildren gathered at her side. She planned her own funeral days before it actually happened and continued to recognize her visitors as she grew weaker and weaker. She passed away in her sleep on August 25, 2009, without losing either her sight or her mind (her two biggest fears). She leaves behind 74 descendants (children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren) to join her husband, a son, a son-in-law, and many, many more loved ones at our Father's side.
We learned some new skills. A2 first learned to pull himself up in his crib...
...then learned to cruise along the furniture and walls to get wherever he wants to be. His favorite places? Wherever Mommy happens to be, including the bathroom and the kitchen.
A1 learned to swim (while wearing arm floaties). A2 learned that it is funny to throw himself into the pool and scare Mommy to death (which he then attempted to repeat three or four times and got really mad when I wouldn't let him).
And, of course, we visited family in Utah. As I was attempting to pack everything for our trip, A1 really wanted to help. So I told her to choose which clothes she wanted to pack with us and to put them in a pile to put in a suitcase. I came out of the bedroom 5 minutes later to find this:
She had taken every piece of clothing she owns and put it in the pile. Notice that she included her stuffed cat (for herself) and a plastic horse (for A2). I think we need to have a lesson in "packing light." While I packed some clothes for her and put the rest away, she decided that A2 needed help packing as well. I found all of his clothes in a pile in that same spot. I was too exasperated at that point to take a picture of his pile.
...and a trip to the zoo with Cousin Carmen.
We had a great time. Thanks to everyone for all the memories we made this summer.
