1910 -- 1999

The Farnum house wasn't much for looks,
Up on the old dry farm land,
It was built by my Mom and Dad,
Built with love and callused hand.
Made with logs and chunked with mud,
As my memory now recalls,
That little house on the prairie,
Was a castle to us all.

To gather around the old wood stove,
With a candle for a light,
Listening to Grandpa tell Indian tales,
And the coyotes howl at night.

In the corner of the room,
As my memory does recall,
We were born there one by one,
Without a doctor or nurse on call.

Glenn, Pearl, Elizabeth, Ruby, Opal,
Nina, Vera, Elva Tom, and Hazel
Walking to school three miles,
Was a fun time for us all,
The horses were all busy on the farm,
Harvesting crops until late in fall.

Until the snowflakes fluttered down,
And covered up the shed,
Then we went to school each day,
With two horses and a sled.

To see our old house tumble down,
Brings teardrops to my eye,
And brings memories back of long ago,
As time is gliding by.

The nails behind our stove,
There was a nail for every one,
Twas there we hung our stockings,
For Santa Claus to come.

And that squeaky high back rocker,
To see destroyed cuts to the quick,
In it our mother used to sing,
And rock when we were sick.

As I drive by our old home,
I see mother at the door,
Just like she did long long ago,
Memory makes me a child once more.

My memory is very real to me,
And where ever I might roam,
Once more to see the twilight fall,
On the Joseph Ether and Matilda Staker home.

Today one more twilight has fallen
As Nina bids good by to her husband George,
She married 67 years ago, in the Logan Temple,
And her four children, Ruth (Dean) Law,
Margaret (Dwain) McGary, George (Lanay)
Brinkerhoff, James (Irene) Brinkerhoff;
17 grandchildren and 37 great-grandchildren.

Written for Nina Staker Brinkerhoff

Funeral services will be held Tuesday, January 19, 1999 at 12 noon in the Bountiful 14th Ward Chapel 1500 South 600 East. Friends may call Monday evening from 6-8 p.m at Russon Brothers Bountiful Mortuary, 295 North Main and Tuesday at the church from 10:45-11:45 a.m prior to the services. Interment in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.