Arlo and Gatha Vance family

Gatha's Life

    I was born in Antonito, Conejos, Colorado on 24 October 1928.  I am the second child of James Edward  Bingham and Cora Emily Dunn..  I have a brother, Keith Edward, who is older than me, he was born in Manassa, Colorado.  Next in line is  Teddy Leon, then Barbara Ann, Cora LaRue, and Last Doris Faye.  We lived in Antonito a very short time.My Dad worked for a grocery Store there.  We moved back to Manassa, where Leon was born.  All of my siblings were born in Manassa.

    Before I went to school, my dad worked for a man in Saguache, Colorado.  While we lived there Keith and I were playing on a two wheel trailer and I fell off and cut my head.  I still have a scar where it was cut.  Keith broke his arm while we lived there.

   We moved back to Manassa, where I went to school until I was in the 4th grade.  Through that time, we lived across the street from Helen Culler's family.  Helen and I were good friends.  

   The year that I was eight, our family, (except for Doris Faye, who wasn't born yet), and Mom's  sister Doris, went to Los Angeles, California.  My dad's aunt Mattie had a home there. She died and left the home to Dad and his sister May.  We went there to settle the estate.  On the way home to Manassa, we went to Mesa, Arizona to the temple, where we were sealed as a forever family. That was one of the great days of my life.

   When we got back to Manassa, Mom and Dad decided to buy a 60 acre farm two and a half miles from each Romeo and  and Antonito.  That was the home we spent most of our lives in.  We went to Romeo to School and to church.  We were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. (The greatest blessing of our lives). I don't believe there is anything on the Earth that compares with it.  We belonged to the Romeo Ward.

   Our school was in an old bank building.  It had two stories.  The top was a stage, a bathroom. a kitchen, where our school lunches were prepared and a class room.  There was a floor with basketball standards on the East and the West ends. Assemblies and dances were held there. There was a bus garage connected to the building.  The first and second grades were in one room.  The third and fourth were held in one room. the fifth and sixth were in one room and the seventh and eighth were held in one room.  The high school was held in three rooms. The year after I graduated from High School, The building burned down.

   In 1944, my Mom was hurt, while riding on a tractor with my Dad,  They were combining a field of grain and when they stopped, as my Mom was getting off of the tractor, the power-takeoff broke and swung around and cut my Mom's leg from the knee to the hip.  It was a cut almost to the bone.  She had complications from that. She lived for about a month, and infection set in and she died.  She died on the 11th of October 1944. That has been the hardest thing I have ever gone through in my life.  Today it has been sixty eight years and it still is hard to talk about.  My Mom was one of the best people I have ever known.  She was a gentle patient mom.  She taught me so many things and especially how to behave..

   I was still in high school.  My Dad was so unhappy.  He could not stand the farm that he had loved because he and Mom were so together. You hardly saw one without the other.  They were and example of the kind of love that makes a happy home.  He sold the farm and we moved into town of Romeo.  In the short time there we lived in three different houses.  I was the oldest girl and the responsibilities of the home were in a way on me.  I did not make a good mom to my  brothers and sisters.  They didn't want my telling them what to do. My Dad never got over grieving for my Mom's death.

    When I was a senior in High School I met and Married Arlo Vance. on the 30th of May 1946.  I was still in High School.  We moved to LaJara, and I either drove to Romeo to school or rode on the train, which ran from Alamosa to Chama New Mexico in the mornitng and returned at night. I graduated from High school in May 1946  I had been married for three months when Dad checked himself into the hospital in Alamosa,  Arlo and I drove him there.  He had a hernia which he need to get repaired.  He had complications from the surgery and had another surgery.  He got lockage of the bowels and died on July 11, 1946.

   That was a hard time for all of us.  There was never after that a place to go home to.  Keith retured home from the Navy (World War II).  I got a wire from him that he had been discharged from the Navy and was on his way home. Dad had just died.  There was no way to warn Keith.  Someone met every train and bus that came into Alamosa, (the only way to get home).  He was home in time for the funeral.  

    Doris Faye came to live with Arlo and me, Leon went with Aunt May, Barbara went to California to live with Aunt Ethel and Uncle Don.  LaRue stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Dunn.  Keith went to Los Alamos, New Mexico.  After six years all of my brothers and sisters, except Keith were living with Grandma and Grandpa Dunn.

    When Arlo and I were married on the 30th of March 1946, Doris Faye came to live with us in July and Donnie was born on the 28th of January 1947,  Arlo and I had lived with Grandma Vance and in Isabel's little house.  He went to work for Guymons. Donnie and  Kent and Bonnie were born as we lived there.  In about 1952, we left Guymons, We lived for one year in a farm house between Bountiful and Sanford.  From there Arlo worked for Thales Haskell and we lived on a farm Northwest of Romeo.  We lived there for a year.  Larry was born there, Donnie was born.While we were there Arlo had back problems.  Richard and Roxanne (Arlo's brother), came for Christmas.  When they left, they drove Arlo to the veterans hospital in Grand Junction, where he was intraction for a month and they transfered him to Denver, where he had surgery on his back.  While he was there, we had to leave the farm where we lived.  I moved my family to Manassa, where we lived until 1983.