Ancestral History: Life Sketch of Arnold Albert Isham

(Arnold age 3, 1923)

Arnold Albert Isham (my Grandfather) was born on September 8^th, 1923 in Bloomington, Minnesota. He was born into the home of George Isham and Gunda Brandon Isham. He was the first born of his family and later would be an older brother to two other children. His two other siblings Vernon Robert Isham (born 19 Jan 1928) and Margaret Louise Isham (born 29 Aug 1929). Both of his siblings are still living. Arnold spent most of his childhood years raised on a farm near Cumberland, Wisconsin.

Arnold Albert Isham enlisted in the US Navy on May 28, 1941 at the age of 17.  He was honorably discharged from the Navy on March 17, 1945.  While in the Navy he served as an AMM2C (AVIATION MACHINISTS'S MATE--Maintains and repairs aircraft engines, propellers, fuel systems, brakes, hydraulic system, gears, starters. Operates machine shop tools.) 

He was a gunner in Navy Torpedo Bombers and served aboard the aircraft carriers, USS Enterprise and USS Lexington.  He received two purple hearts for injuries received in military action.  He also served as a flight engineer aboard B-17 bombers during the war.

After World War II he was given an opportunity to become an airline pilot and turned it down in order to race cars in California.  He raced on dirt tracks in sprint cars, midget cars and stock cars.  Even though he never won any important races, he did come to know many racers who become famous as race car drivers and owners.  Some of their names were A.J. Foyt, Al & Bobby Unser and J.C. Agajanian.

He also loved flying and actually owned three different Cessna’s during the 1970’s.

He lived in Barron County, Wisconsin as a youth, Inglewood, California, Sioux City, Iowa, St. Louis Park, Minnesota, back to Barron County, Wisconsin, Mesa, Arizona and then the final years of his life in Cumberland, Barron County, Wisconsin.

He was married to three different women in his life.  His first wife’s name was Elsie (they had three children together: James A. Behne, Michael Behne and Patricia Anne Behne), his second wife’s name who is my Grandmother and Nana was LuCille M. Plasschaert and they were married 2 October 1948. He and my Grandmother had three children together: Jeffry D. Isham, Gregory P. Isham (my father) and Arnette D. Isham) and his third wife’s name was Mary E. Hedlund whom he had no children with.

(Top: Gregory Isham (my dad), Jeff Isham. Middle: Arnette Isham. Bottom: Lucille Isham, Arnold Isham.)

My grandpa later passed away on August 12^th, 1991 at the young age of 67. He developed a persistent lung cancer due to having smoked cigarettes for 50 years of his life. Gregory P. Isham, his son and my father later performed the baptismal and Endowment ceremonies for Albert on 25 September 1992. 

Ancestral History: Life Sketch of Mary Margaret (Shelley) Marble

(Mary Margaret, age: unknown) 

Mary Margaret Shelley, granddaughter of James E. and Margaret Hunter Shelley was born at home to George Elsmore and Margaret Cleo Butler Shelley on January 8^th 1932 in Joseph City, Arizona. She was the 8^th of 10 children. Her oldest brother Lester passed away at the age of 4 so she never knew him but talked fairly often of him to her children.

    In 1937 at the age of five, Mary started grade school in Joseph City.  She graduated from the 8^th grade in May 1945.  In January 1949 she was chosen Queen of the Gold & Green Ball for her most perfect record among the girls of the organization. Shortly after she graduated from Holbrook High School on May 27, 1949.

·         A month after being chosen Gold & Green Ball Queen she won the prize waltz at a Rose Prom.

·         She was a scribe several times for patriarchal blessings given by Patriarch Joseph L. Petersen.

·         She was a member of the Holbrook Drum and Bugle Corp which won several prizes.

    At the age of 17 a lock of hair in her bangs turned white without explanation and was that way for the remainder of her life. She worked at various jobs until she decided to take a teletype course. On October 1, 1951 after she had completed the course she landed her first real job working as a teletype operator for Western Union Telegraph Company in Winslow, Arizona. They sent her to Blythe, California and then consecutively to Prescott, Flagstaff and then Winslow, Arizona

Her father suffered a stroke shortly after he and her mother were married and was disabled for the remainder of his life until he passed away from an unidentified illness when Mary was 20 years old. 

    At the age of 21, while working for Western Union in Winslow, her roommate, Mary Marble introduced her to her brother Wesley Elbert Marble. They were married October 6, 1953 in the Mesa, Arizona Temple when she herself, became Mary Marble. After they were married they lived in Eagar, Scottsdale, Showlow, Snowflake, Joseph City, Heber and then back to Joseph City.

    During the first four years of their marriage, Mary conceived and miscarried twice. She was told by her doctor that she would never be able to bear children. God had something else in mind though because contrary to that prediction, Mary gave birth to her first child Gaylene on June 20, 1957. Gaylene was followed by Gordon on October 11, 1958. Kristine was born on November 4, 1959, Diana came on June 28, 1961 (my mother), Sandra was next on November 26, 1962 and Sheri came on July 20, 1964. Mary became pregnant sometime shortly thereafter, but the baby died in her womb but did not abort. As a result, Mary became very ill and was unable to take care of her children for several days so Wesley farmed them out to relatives because he had to continue to work while she went into the hospital for a D and C.

    Mary and Wesley moved their family to Brigham City, Utah in 1975. Her daughter Gaylene was married and lived on McLaws Road near Joseph City. Gordon remained in Joseph City and roomed with friends from High School. Kristine, Diana, Sandra and Sheri remained with them and attended Box Elder High School. Sheri was in Junior High the year they moved to Brigham City.

    Mary and Wesley had 3 children on LDS missions at the same time. Gordon, who later moved to Brigham City with their cousin Doran, was amongst those 3 missionaries.

    Gaylene divorced, remarried and then had her second marriage annulled. She then moved to Brigham City a couple of years after the family moved to Brigham City.

    Diana met Greg Isham after moving to Arizona after High School.  They were married in the Salt Lake LDS Temple on Wesley’s birthday, August 16, 1980. Mary saw the births of her first two grandchildren, Gordon Paul and Sarah Anne Isham (these are my oldest two siblings). Kristine met and shortly after married Jeff Johnson on May 27, 1983, a year to the day when Mary passed away. Gordon met Helen on his mission in Oakland, California. They were married on June 10, 1983. Both marriages were solemnized in the Salt Lake Temple.  She suffered a massive heart attack and passed away on Memorial Day March 27, 1984. It was a day after she grieved over a neighbor whose son was brutally murdered. She was 52 years of age. 

My Life - Personal History

         (Me, age 4 months)

I was born September 19^th, 1990 to Gregory Paul Isham & Diana Marble Isham in the Auburn, Washington hospital. At that time I was given the name Shelley (after my grandmother’s maiden name) Marie Isham and then whisped away by a nurse to get cleaned. My mother told me that in that instant she didn’t want me to be taken and she was worried that they wouldn’t handle me the way she wanted them to. When I was washed and cleaned to took me back to my mother, but my skin was dry and red. My mom told me she never wanted to let the nurses give her baby a bath again! I was taken home to my new family of 5 siblings. I already dad 2 sisters (Jennifer-4 and Sarah-7) and 3 brothers (Gordon-9, Michael-5 and Nathaniel-2). I stayed in the hospital for only a day and then my family took me to our home in Puyallup, Washington. My mom had never given birth to a baby in the hospital before me and she wasn’t use to the hospital environment, she didn’t much like it and left as early as she could.                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Infant/toddler years – When I was an infant I was often described as having very big eyes and a bald head, at least up until I was around 2 years old. I lived with my family in Puyallup for about 3-4 years before we moved to my grandparent’s house in Brigham City, Utah.  When I was about 4 months old my parents dressed me up in a pink knit outfit and gave me a pink teddy bear to take pictures. I still have those pictures and the teddy bear. During our stay in Puyallup (when I was 2-3 years old) my family would take walks together to pick blackberries along the railroad tracks next to our home and hunt for and find 4 leaf clovers everywhere! We often visited the parks in Washington and enjoyed a number of hikes for family outings. I don’t really remember this time in my life but my mom told me of a lot of the experiences. On March 27^th, 1992 my brother Matthew was born and I loved him very much.

 (This is my brothers Matthew, Nathaniel and I, all stuffed into one cupboard.)

Childhood years – I don’t remember much from my childhood either but there are a few highlights I can recall. I was about 4 years old when my family resided in Brigham City for a year. During this time, my brother Jeffry was born (May 6, 1994). My growing family then moved to Troy, Virginia where we only stayed for another year before moving to Independence Missouri. My brother Aaron was born in Independence February 24^th, 1996. I was 6 years of age by this time and vaguely remembering my baby brother being chubby cheeked and having a full head of thick, black hair. While staying in Independence, we lived in a big red and white brick house. I remember there being a large path-walkway that went over the living room area and led into my sister Sarah’s bedroom. I admired this house with as much adoration a little 6 year old could muster. My brothers and sisters and I would often play out in the backyard and make mud pies and other messes late into the night until it was time for us to get to bed so we could prepare for school in the morning. I also was 6 years old when I started kindergarten in Mrs. Snow’s class. She was on older, sweet lady, with snowy white hair just like her name, whom I quite liked, especially when she sat down to read us stories.

(My 6th birthday with (from left to right) my sister Sarah, My Mom and my sister's friend.)

We only lived in Independence for about a year when we moved to Ashland, Wisconsin. We lived in a smaller, white house in Ashland. This house was also beautiful to me; it had lovely paintings all over the walls from a previous owner. I shared a room with my sister Jennifer while we lived here. A long, dirt road led up to the house and on the side of the road was a pond with all sorts of frogs, lizards, bugs and other animals nearby. This house was surrounded by an enormous amount of land. Although we didn’t own the land around us, I often explored the forest brush nearby. I loved to climb the trees and considered myself an expert tree climber. In the woods behind our house we had pretty flowers and sometimes if I got lucky, I would find yummy blueberries, blackberries and raspberries to eat. One time, while I sat in the house watching a movie, I noticed a black shadow creep over my legs. I looked over to our arcadia glass doors and saw a big black bear up on hind feet with his paws against the doors looking in. I remember in that moment I was horrified and scared stiff. My brother started walking into the living room and I told him not to move. Just then I heard my mother’s van pull into the driveway and the bear was gone. I ran out to tell her to hurry and get inside just in case the bear was still lurking. Later that day we saw a couple of cubs walk into the forest. We often saw wildlife throughout our stay in Ashland. I remember seeing a mother doe and her two fawns walk right next to our glass doors once.

I caught an assortment of frogs and snakes and even mice while living in this house. One time I found a bundle of grass in the lawn. There were little pink splotches in the grass. I looked closer to see that they were baby mice! I was so proud of what I had found that I put them in a bucket to try and raise them as my own. Sadly, when I accidentally left them outside while it rained, the little mice died. I cried after this experience and buried them next to our pond down the road. I think the mice experience taught me a little bit about responsibility. I loved playing on, around and near our little pond, except for avoided going into the water because there were leeches. Yuck! I remember that my older brothers and sisters always wanted to sail across the small pond but were too heavy for the little plastic turtle shell that was used as a boat so I was always picked to take the challenge. I was little enough and smart enough. It was fun whirling around on the top of that water but I would always end up getting wet on the way back to shore while trying to get out.

During the winter months of our stay in the Ashland house it was freezing cold. The pond froze over and so did the tips of my fingers when I played outside. I remember one time when my bother Nathaniel, whom I called Nano, and I were getting ready to go to school. He was 9 and I was 7. Before we took the long trek down our dirt road to the bus stop he pulled out a sled, laid me down in it and bundled me up in my coat to keep me warm. I specifically remember him taking the reins of that little sled and pulling me the entire way out to the bus stop. I felt like it was a long way! This is a time when I realized one of my older brother’s generosity and the love that he had for me.  The summer later, I learned how to ride a bike for the first time (at the age of 7). My oldest brother Gordon taught me how to do this by sitting me on the new bike I had gotten for my birthday and holding on to me while pushing down the road. The first couple of times I fell down, but the last time I lifted up my feet and soared. Once I knew how to master the bike, I took it on adventures wherever my little legs could carry me.

During that same summer my family found a black and white puppy on the side of the road. His owners had abandoned him so we took him in. I remember calling him Oreo, because he was black with white paws, just like an oreo cookie is black and white. Oreo proved to be quite the handful. He would pee in the garage when we kept him in from the rain, and if we let him outside he undoubtedly would dig up my mother’s rose bushes. Oreo would get too excited. One time my younger brother Matthew and I came home from school and he ran up and jumped on Matthew (who was 5). Matthew just wanted to pet him but he knocked Matthew over and got too rough, eventually giving him several scratches. We had to get rid of Oreo after this, and we ended up taking him to the nearby animal shelter.  Near the end of our stay in Ashland, my brother John Wesley was born, March 30^th, 1998.