A Few of the Great Men in My Life...

For anyone who has spent any time in St. Johns, you probably recall with fondness the holidays. For some reason, the Holidays become a great time for reflection on our own lives, on the lives of our families, and on the lives of those who have influenced us greatly. It seems like St. Johns is full of people who have influenced me in ways I’m not sure I can ever repay.

From the time I was a kid, Rob Roy Patterson played a significant role in my life.  Rob and His wife Diane are among my parents' very best friends. Their friendship parlayed into work opportunities on the ranch for me and my brothers and my three boys.  Rob Roy single-handedly managed a big cattle ranch and was involved in every intricacy. Maybe because I was a little more mechanically inclined, I was passed over for the fun jobs, like driving cows and working with young horses, and was picked instead to work on equipment and be involved directly with Rob working on mechanical things. Anybody who knows him knows he was not always a man of many words, and that the lunches he prepared off the back of his truck would never have passed any health department standards. I always thought that Rob Roy liked me, but when he would get after us, it was enough to put the fear of heaven and earth into the depths of our souls! However, after a long day of hunger and thirst and plenty of work, the ride home was usually filled with funny stories, a lot of laughter, and the redemptive confirmation that he really did like me and appreciated my efforts.  My love of machinery and taking care of it, my love of livestock and working with it all have their roots in what I learned from Rob Roy Patterson.

Another beacon in my life, and in the community, is Matt Montoya. I was a grown man before reason led me to realize that it was indeed possible for Matt not to smile. I don’t know if I have ever seen Matt without his big contagious smile. I have had the great blessing of knowing Matt all of my life and have had the privilege of working with him. Matt is one of the most successful businessmen ever in St. Johns. His success is the direct result of a great family, especially his wife Betty, who has contributed not only from the home, as a mother and wife, but also to the community in her work for Apache County. Because of the people that Matt and Betty have surrounded themselves with, they have been a great influence to many.

Matt’s influence has blessed my children’s lives, too. I will never forget attending a college football game in Flagstaff, Arizona. It was particularly sweet, because Afton Lambson was playing for NAU, and my youngest son, Josh, was playing for Southern Utah. They played together in high school and had a lot of success. At halftime, the crowd in the dome settled into a lull as the teams took the field to warm up for the second half. The lull was shattered with a loud “buh-yah” that anyone from St. Johns would immediately recognize as Matt’s rallying cry for the St. Johns High School football team. On this particular day, however, there were two college teams playing. Still, there were two responsive “buh-yah” yells from the field. What was special is that one came from the NAU sidelines and the other from the Southern Utah sidelines. Josh and Afton could not refrain from the familiar yell that is uniquely Matt Montoya’s - but that represents all of St. Johns.

The last person I have been reflecting upon is my Dad, Ted Raban. All of the men I have mentioned are great influences in my life. There are many more, too!  None, however, has been as great an influence on me as my Dad. My Dad was born and raised in St. Johns.  When he was courting my Mom, he brought her here to meet his family and visit his town.  She responded that it would be a great place to visit! Now, over 50 years, and six children later, their visit continues. My father has always been a steadying influence in mine and my siblings lives. He always respected us. Even in his discipline, there was an incredible amount of respect and love. I’m not sure that we ever went without monetary things, although I know that times were tough for his young family. We always felt like we had everything, and on top of that we were taught to love our community, and our faith, and our family. With my dad, there were no lines drawn around religion, or race, or status.  We were taught to love our neighbors, and in St. Johns, everyone was our neighbor. I am grateful for that.

Written by Jeff Raban
November 2013

A Change of Heart

I love St. Johns!

But it didn't begin that way.

Ted and I met at BYU, and, a short time later, he wanted to take me home to meet his parents. What delightful people. What a very nice visit.

On the way back to school, I said to Ted, "nice little town, but don't ever take me there to live." Well, we have lived here 53 years of our 58 married years, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

What a great town in which to raise your children. What a great place to love your relatives, friends, and neighbors.

Years ago, before SRP came in and saved our town that was too small and about to die, we could stop our vehicles in the middle of Main Street and have a conversation, for however long we wanted, and it wouldn't disrupt traffic at all. Those were the days!

And the friends and neighbors, they were like second parents. One of our children was across the street playing with friends and cut his hand quite badly. We weren't home at the moment, so the neighbors took him to the doctor who took care of him, stitches and all.

At one time, we needed to go to Phoenix and our older children said, "Mom, Dad, we are old enough to take care do ourselves. You can trust us." Well, we got a call in the wee hours from one of them saying, "We were out very late, got caught, and thought we had better call you and tell you about it before the neighbors do." Isn't that a great true story? I am telling you, this is a wonderful town.

Neighbors will pat you on the back at the slightest little good you do and actually let you help them when you can see help is needed. I can't even tell you how very many people in the big city have told us that they DON'T EVEN KNOW THEIR NEXT DOOR NEIGHBORS.

What a huge attitude change this writer has had from "Don't ever take me there to live" to "I wouldn't trade it for any other place in the whole USA."

I love St. Johns.

~Julie Raban
November 2013

The best TREAT of all.....

This year we had the opportunity to spend Halloween with my parents, they were passing through town on their way to a funeral in Ramah, New Mexico.  This Halloween turned out to be extra special because my dad had brought a very special “treat” with him. He told me that years ago he had found some old 8 mm film at his mom’s house and his thought at the time was “ I better grab these before something happens to them and they get ruined or lost”. Well in my parents recent move to St. George, Utah the film was rediscovered. My dad had taken the film to Costco and had it transferred onto DVDs. My dad had brought the DVDs with him and we were able to sit and watch them together.

 Let me just give you a little bit of background on my family, my Great Great Great Grandfather Andrew Smith Gibbons was one of the first pioneer natives of St. Johns and my Grandfather John Elwood Gibbons was born and raised here in St. Johns.  As we watched the DVDs I got to see my grandfather who I have never met. He passed away when my dad the oldest of 4 children was only seven.  I have seen pictures of my grandfather but to see actual live footage of his life filmed right here in St. Johns was amazing. The film is from the late 1940’s and the 1950’s and contains footage of my grandfather and several other people from the community.

  My husband Ty and I were so intrigued by these old films we wanted to obtain more information about who the other individuals in the films were.  Last night we took the films over to Ted and Julie Raban’s house where we all watched them together. Ted Raban knew my grandfather and was one of his roommates at BYU so he was the first one I thought of when I was trying to figure out who could help me find out more information about these films. Ted and Julie Raban were able to identify Lee Waters, Ken Pulsipher, and Lavon Thurber in the videos. We have several other individuals that we think we may have identified but we are not positive. The footage on the videos contained old downtown Saint Johns, Main Street, and what is now the Pulispher house where my grandfather was born and raised.  It was so fun to sit there with Ted and Julie and see their faces as they watched these old films and hear some of the stories and memories that came rushing back.

  As I sat there with them, I was so thankful that I was able to experience these moments and hear some of these old time stories. It gave me a better understanding of my grandfather and the type of man that he was.  Before this experience, I never gave much thought to Family History, now it seems to be something that I can’t stop thinking about. It is so exciting to learn more about my family and my ties to the wonderful town of Saint Johns.  I am so thankful for people in our Community like, Ted and Julie Raban, who are willing to help me in my endeavors to do family history.  Without people like them, a lot of our family history and some of those precious stories would be lost.  Elder Boyd K. Packer said “No work is more of a protection to [us] than...genealogical research. ... No work is more spiritually refining. No work we do gives us more power. No work requires a higher standard of righteousness. Our labors...cover us with a shield and a protection.”  I am so thankful for the recent opportunity I was given to learn more about my grandfather and what a wonderful example he was to me.  I am looking forward to learning more about him and his life in the wonderful small town of Saint Johns Arizona.
Candice Gibbons Bond