Veda Sweat Cox

March 4, 1921 – October 23, 2024

Veda’s birth was memorable in that her parents, Elmer Sweat and Wilhelmina Jane Wilde Sweat, had been married for nearly ten years, and she was their first child.  Thus, this being her first child, the doctor expected to have “plenty of time” to wash up and prepare.  However, it seems he was mistaken and was called to hurry, which he did….so fast in fact that he tripped over the step leading into the bedroom and fell to the floor…then had to return to the kitchen to wash his hands again.  Upon arriving safely at the bedside, he found the baby, Veda, had already made her entry into this world without his assistance, March 4, 1921.

At the time of her birth, her parents were living in Fruitland, Utah.  The nearest doctor in the Uintah Basin was in Roosevelt, some distance away, so her mother went to Heber Valley and the home of her husband’s parents in Center to await her arrival.  After the birth of the second child, followed by the baby’s sickness, Elmer and Wilhelmina decided they needed to move back to where they would be nearer doctors if they were going to raise a family.  They sold their homestead in Fruitland and purchased a home in Center, where Veda and her siblings grew up surrounded by family. 

Interestingly all four children were given four letter names.  Wilhelmina chose short four-letter names for her girls because her own name was so long, she didn’t want her daughters to have the problems she had with such a long name.  She said her doctor said he needed one prescription page for her name and then another to write the prescription.

One day, a very young Veda went to meet her father as he came in from the field for lunch.  He gave her a ride with him on the drill.  Instead of getting off while her father unhitched the team, she promised to sit very still and quiet because one horse was easily frightened.  The horse became startled anyway and jumped, throwing her forward onto the tongue where her right leg was pierced just above the knee on the underside of her leg by the spout of the oil can.  The spout ran straight into the leg, leaving a rather small opening. This was before the family owned a car.  She faintly remembers being carried into their home and placed on the table…, and then she remembers later going to the doctor’s office.  Their doctor being gone, she was taken to the other doctor in Heber.  Afterwards her mother went to American Fork to stay with her sister so that she might be nearer medical aid.  A bandage had been placed over the wound. However, the leg began looking discolored around the bandage, so her mother removed the bandage, and when she did, quite a lot of stuff drained out.  The next day, Veda was taken to a doctor in Provo who, after examining the wound, said it was good her mother had removed the bandage when she did, or the infection would have been so far out of control that she may have lost the leg.

Another time Veda was in the hay wagon while her father was in the hayloft of the barn, she decided to pretend she was driving the team, so she took the reins from where they were tied to the hayrack.  The movement of the reins caused the team to become startled, and they ran from the barnyard out into the pasture. In her fright she dropped the reins and was holding onto the hayrack and crying. Her Dad had to run out to the pasture to stop them and rescue her.

Veda’s mother played the organ, sometimes for church or Primary, and she also accompanied people who sang for different occasions.  Her mother had an organ in the house, so the singers would go to their house to practice their numbers.  Veda developed an interest in playing as her mother did.  She would climb on the organ stool and have her sister pump the pedals with her hands so she could “play” the organ.  When she began to learn the alphabet, her mother taught her the notes and the keys to the organ.  The summer following her first-grade year, she began music lessons (piano), which continued each summer until she was in High School. These lessons were given by the local High School Band teacher, Delmar Dixon.  He would go out to the small communities surrounding Heber and give lessons to band members during the summer.  He would also give beginning piano lessons to younger children.

Veda remembers when the family purchased their first automobile, a “Model T” Ford.  The Model T was open but had isinglass curtains to snap on in the wintertime.  She remembers that in winter, they would bundle up in their coats and boots, hats and gloves, then be tucked in under a quilt, and away they’d go. Sometimes, they would go to American Fork to visit with family or just to visit family in Heber Valley.  Without TV, families made their own entertainment.  Sometimes they would dress up with bib overalls and sing “Hallelujah, I’m a Bum.”  It was great entertainment along with other games families played like “hide and seek,” “run sheep run,” “kick the can,” and others.  Other family gathering memories are of sleigh rides followed by hot bowls of chili or having candy pulls.  (Taffy pulling was an activity she and Zen carried on with their children.)  Veda had a cousin who lived next door who was just a few months older, so they did all kinds of things together.  Climbed trees in the orchard, looked for bird nests, and played in the little creek that ran in front of the house.  Her mother taught them how to make cakes with leaves from the tree; they had swings to swing, and on wash day or watering day, they played in the water on the lawn. They learned how to make whistles from green willow branches.  They were always able to find lots of things to do. 

When Veda started school, there was a school building in Center Creek with two classrooms on the ground floor and stairs leading to an upper floor.  The stairs became a place to play when they remained inside or could sneak in when we should have been outside.  The first three grades met in the east classroom, and the next three grades in the west classroom. One teacher taught all three grades in the room.  Veda remembers trying to finish her assignment for her class, so she would try doing the assignment on the board for the next grade.  She thought it was fun to be able to work out some of the problems.

Soon after Veda began school, the family purchased a home and land right across the street from the school.  They had moved to be closer to the school, and in a little over a year, the school was moved five miles farther away, and she attended school in Heber for the rest of her school years, riding the bus to and from school each day.  However, for a short time, while the school was still open in Center Creek, she was able to go home for lunch each day.  Her mother would read to her during the lunch hour.  The story she remembers most was Peter Pan.  Each day, she would hurry home for lunch so she could hear another installment.  She continues to remember how sad It made her feel when Tinker Bell drank the poison.

It was five miles to the school with time to pick up students along the way made an interesting ride each day.  But from the beginning, Veda says she lived in fear of missing the bus.  She has said that even after she was married, she had dreams of that yellow school bus coming down the road and not being ready to catch it.  She dreamed that she would be looking for books or a coat or something and rushing around, trying to get out the door and to the bus stop before the bus got there.

The school in Heber had an indoor toilet in the schoolhouse.  It was the first one Veda remembers seeing since everyone still had an outdoor “out-house.”  Her first encounter with the indoor toilet was frightening because the tank that held the water was way up near the ceiling, and there was a long chain hanging down that you would pull to flush the toilet.  Then all that water came rushing down and made such a big noise!!  Veda wouldn’t use that bathroom unless it was an emergency.  Hard for us today to realize the quiet that people grew up with a century ago.  All our modern conveniences have brought noise and erased the stillness people were used to back then. 

It was a big event when electricity arrived at their home.  The men finished the wiring after dark one night with Elmer Sweat holding his lantern to give them light.  Then he sat down at the table and said to the lantern, “Well, we are not going to need you in here anymore.”  They then turned on the power, and the lights seemed SO BRIGHT!  Just a light globe at the end of a cord hanging from the ceiling, but it was really something to children who had only known lamp light.

Another new convenience the family acquired was the telephone. Veda’s first memory of the phone was in 1927. It was a wall telephone: a wooden box fastened to the wall with a mouthpiece attached which could move up and down.  On one side was a hook which held the receiver.  The receiver was attached to the box by a long cord.  On the other side of the box was a crank, which was used to ring Central (the operator), or different rings could be used to ring the other people on your line.  The ring for their house was a long and a short.  Before she began school, she had learned to stand on a chair to reach the phone and ring the two long rings to talk to her cousin Alice Lindsay.  

On 24 March 1929, Veda was baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  She was baptized in the baptismal font at the Seminary Building in Heber.  This building, at the time, held the Seminary and the Stake Offices.  She was baptized by Horace Ritchie, and that evening at Sacrament Meeting, she was confirmed by her father, Elmer Sweat.  On the way home from the baptism her mother was worried about Veda’s head being wet and took her hat off and put it on Veda.  They were riding in the Model T Ford, and it was a cold spring.  Her father objected to his wife taking off her hat because she had a cold and was pregnant.  He felt that it was more important that his wife keep the hat on herself.  This made a lasting great impression on Veda because her mother soon had pneumonia; her baby, a boy, was born prematurely and died before the doctor arrived.  Then, her father caught a cold from having his hat off during the dedication of the baby’s grave.  He also got pneumonia, and for a few days, both he and his wife were in bed with pneumonia.  

On 9 April 1929, Veda’s mother passed away.  Her father was too ill to attend the funeral.   In those days, they brought the body to the home after it was prepared for burial, so the casket was in the bedroom.  Veda’s younger brother Boyd, who was just two years old, found a Children’s Friend and took it in to have his mother read him a story.  That and hearing her father’s sobs as they placed the casket near his bed for him to bid his wife a last farewell are memories that have always remained with Veda.  

Her favorite childhood memories are of times spent roaming over the hillsides.  Times the family got together to roast hot dogs and marshmallows over the open fire.  Surprise birthday parties her father planned.  Veda especially enjoyed her flower garden and evenings watching the moon come up over the mountain and just listening to the sounds of Mother Nature preparing for the nights rest.  She loved sitting on the steps and looking across the valley at Mount Timpanogas just any time of day and any time of year.

Her Sixth-grade teacher and the principal of the Elementary School was ElRoy Jones.  “Before we even began sixth grade, we knew all kinds of stories about him, some true and some tall tales.  I wasn’t exactly his best student.  One day I was talking to the girl who sat in front of me and Mr Jones said “There is too much noise going on back there!  And I said to my friend, “Is that so?”  Well, he heard me and sent me out in the hall for talking back to him.  Then, all the kids seemed to have to go to the bathroom so they could come out and talk to me.  I stayed out there the whole day.  The next day, I came to school and took my regular seat.  When class started the teacher asked me to stand, which I did, Then he said “Now you can apologize to me for what you said yesterday.”  Of course, I wouldn’t, so I was sent out again.  I’m not sure how many days this same thing happened, but finally, one day during the lunch hour, he met me at the drinking fountain and asked if that was a correct way to talk to the teacher.  I said no because I always maintained I was not talking to him, so he had me come back in class and told the class I had apologized to him so I could now come back to class.  When I told this story to one of my daughters, she said, “Mom, you should write that down.”  

In Seventh Grade, Veda was elected President of the class, so she had some duties and extra meetings with teachers.  One of her memories from that year was that the whole class was dismissed so they could attend the funeral of a classmate.  By then, she felt like she had attended enough funerals of family members and did not want to go to anymore, so she stayed by herself in one of the classrooms and studied while all the others attended the funeral.

Also in seventh grade, she began playing in the Junior High Band.  She learned to play the B flat clarinet.  She tried out for chorus, but when she went in for tryouts, the teacher asked her to give him the pitch where she wanted to start the song; when she did, he thought it was too low, so had her start it a little higher and then she could not reach the high notes so was not accepted.  Later, someone said she had a great contralto voice, but she didn’t even know what a contralto was.  She always felt like perhaps she missed developing a talent.

During her teenage years, farmers in Provo and Orem would drive a truck up to Heber Valley and gather teenagers to help with their strawberry harvest.  Boys and girls would climb in the back of the truck with some clothing and be taken down to the Provo Orem bench, where they remained for two to three weeks picking strawberries.  A picture of the truck, as well as a picture of Veda standing on the running board of a vehicle in front of the building/bathroom where the girls stayed during the harvest, is shown here.  (The boys slept out under the stars.)

The first year after High School, Veda worked for a family in Wallsburg, tending children and helping with housework.  Later, while attending Business College, World War II began, and with all the men going into the army, there was a great demand for office workers, so before she completed her accounting course and graduated from Business College, she took a job in Bookkeeping for Dixon Paper Company in Salt Lake City.  She worked until she was married.  And after her husband was sent overseas for the second time during the occupation of Japan, Veda worked for the University of Utah in their Payroll Department and worked there until they moved to Pocatello in 1947.  After that, she became a full-time homemaker.

Veda’s church service began right after she graduated from Primary at 14 years of age. Since then, she has taught in all the church organizations, has been secretary in several, been organist, chorister, dance director, Jr Sunday School Coordinator, Relief Society President and Counselor, and Counselor to Primary President.

Since she worked during the war years, she did not serve on a mission as a single sister.  However, with her husband she has served three missions away from home.  They first served in the Australia Brisbane Mission from the fall of 1983 to the spring of 1985.  They did micro-filming and worked with the Branch Genealogy Libraries and helped to set up new ones. During that first mission, they also spent some time in Sydney, helping get names ready for the opening of the Sydney Temple.

In January 1990 they began serving in the Canada Toronto Mission and served until July 1991.  They spent one year editing films to be copied and sent to the Library in Salt Lake City.  The last six months they filmed Copy Books of Deeds in towns of Southern Ontario.

In January 1995, they were called to the Canada Montreal Mission.  They worked there for three months and then were transferred to the New Hampshire Manchester Mission, where they served until July 1996.  In Canada, they prepared documents for filming.  In Vermont, they filmed Vital Records.

They also served as ordinance workers in the Salt Lake Temple for seven years and served two years as Church Service missionaries at the Granite Mountain Record Vaults.  Veda served for two years as a Church Service Missionary working on the “desk” in the British section of the Library in Salt Lake City. Then filled another Church Service Mission microfilming records at the Church Historians Office for nine months.  For 2.5 years, they served church callings at the Heritage Eastridge Care Center, where Veda was the Relief Society President at the Branch.

In January 2000 her heart got out of rhythm, with an overnight stay in the hospital her heart was regulated, but she was not feeling right.  In September, she was sent to a heart specialist who found a near blockage in the left atrial artery.  A stent was put in, and the slow process of healing began.  With regular exercise on the treadmill that continued until she was over 100 years of age, her heart improved, and she had no signs of heart disease. 

For many years Veda was deeply connected with her political party working at the grass roots level on elections and trying to get people out to vote.

Veda’s interests have been in music, learning to improve her piano playing during her adult life and attempting to master the organ.  Her hobbies have been quilting, gardening, painting, and the greatest love of her life -- family research. Her home is a monument to this love with meticulously prepared books on many ancestors and their families; research notes; carefully preserved cards, notices, events and photos. 

In 1974 she was privileged to go on a genealogy research trip to England where she spent nearly one month.  A neighbor, Julie Oswald, has been instrumental in assisting her to continue this work until very recently.

Veda has solid pioneer ancestry.  Her great-great-grandfather, Robert Broadhead, arrived in Heber Valley in 1859, and it is said that he was the first person to plow the soil of what was then called Upper Provo Valley.  Robert married Alice Clegg, who, with her family, was part of the Martin Handcart Company that left late in the season and ended up enduring ice, snow, and cold and for whom Brigham Young called on the people of Utah to rescue them.  Her family arrived in Salt Lake City on November 30, 1856, nine days after the youngest child, Margaret Ellen, had her first birthday.  The family was blessed to arrive, with all six members successfully completing the journey.  After arriving, they were assigned to go to the Iron Mission in Cedar City, but Jonathan mildly demurred and later said: “I didn’t tell ‘em I’d now’t go, but tow’d ‘em as I thought I’d tramped far enough for one season, and they finally said we would stop at Provo.”  And three years later, they moved up to Upper Provo Valley into a dugout.  Robert married Alice Clegg on 15 January 1861.  Together they had 13 children. 

While attending LDS Business College, Veda met Zeniff “J” Cox from Castle Dale, Emery County, Utah. While they were dating, WWII broke out, and Zen joined the Marine Corps.  He asked Veda to marry him by special delivery letter sent soon after boot camp.  He hitchhiked back from training in Norman, Oklahoma, purchasing a diamond engagement set in Kansas City, and stopped briefly in Utah to become officially engaged before departing on his first overseas assignment of the war.  When he was transferred back to the States, they were able to marry in the Salt Lake Temple.  Veda was able to move to be with him in off-base housing in North Carolina. Shortly thereafter, he was transferred to South Carolina, and Veda returned to Salt Lake City, where she lost their first child, a girl, while he was nearly a continent away.

This first child, born June 8, 1945, was termed “stillborn” by the doctors.  Veda’s mother’s heart pined for this child and wasn’t satisfied until, at 102, we were able to request a change in the birth certificate to list a name and have the headstone changed as well to reflect the name she chose for this baby girl, Valerie Anne Cox.

It was three years later that their first son, Gregory Cox, was born 13 July 1948 in Pocatello, Bannock, Idaho.  A daughter, Valerie Jane Cox, was born on 20 December 1949 in Provo, Utah, Utah.  Another daughter, Ronda Kaye Cox, was born on 11 July 1951 in Provo, Utah, Utah.  A daughter, Bonnie Cox, was born on 15 November 1952 in American Fork, Utah, Utah.  On 12 October 1954, a daughter, Leeana Cox, was born in Provo, Utah, Utah.  A son James Walter Cox was born 3 January 1958 in Dugway, Tooele, Utah.  Another son, Brett Eugene Cox, was born in Dugway, Tooele, Utah, on 3 October 1960.

The family lived at Dugway Proving Grounds from 1952 to 1962, when they moved to Salt Lake City and into the house where Veda has been since. 

The move to Salt Lake coincided with a job that took Zen away from the family for extended portions of the year.  The challenge of raising seven active and distinct children ultimately caused a near mental/emotional collapse for Veda.  The doctor counseled Zen to take her away for a few days.  He was then going on assignment to Hawaii, so he took her there.  Extended time alone and sitting on a seawall feeling the ocean was extremely curative.  Veda developed a love for Hawaii and was blessed to return a number of times, most recently with Leeana and her family in 2022.

Currently the children and descendants of Veda and Zen are:  8 children, 22 grandchildren, 60 great grandchildren and 3 great, great grandchildren.

 “The thing I have learned and experienced that is of the greatest worth in my life is my testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I have found the greatest joy and growth by striving to live according to that testimony.  I know that Jesus Christ is the head of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  He loves us and wants us all to return to the presence of He and His Father.  I know that Joseph Smith was an instrument in His hands in restoring the gospel to the earth and in translating the Book of Mormon, the daily reading of which can make the greatest change for good in our lives.  The Book of Mormon is the word of God teaching us the way of “Happiness.” --- Veda Sweat Cox