My name is John Churchill Wyeth II. My mother didn't know that the II meant something else. She didn't want me to be a junior because I was named after my father. As a result, she put down the second. This is not correct. The second means you were named after your grandfather Churchill is a family name.
My birthplace was Chicago, Illinois. I was born on August 13, 1923. I was born there because my father was going to school. He was taking statistics ballistics. He was getting a Masters degree in mathematics. It was for the U.S. army. At a later date in his life, he figured out the ranges for the artillery ranges for the shells to go.
John Churchill Wyeth, Francis Huster Wyeth
and their son John
I was raised by my parents. They were really good parents. I didn't know how well until after I was grown. My parents weren't members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They belonged to the Episcopalian Church. They were really good people.
1924
Francis holding John C Wyeth II, Leslie, John C. Wyeth I,
unknown child standing
John with his sister Leslie Wyeth and grandmother Lucia Ora Horton Wyeth
Note to Hansi
Leslie and John
John Churchill Wyeth II
John
 |
John and Leslie |
1931
John and Francis
John, Francis and Leslie
While we lived in Salt Lake City, Utah, the only Mormons that I knew were “ Jack Mormons.” My neighbor was our landlord. His name was Brigham Smith. They did not participate for some reason in church. He and I were best friends and did a lot of things together. However, we did not attend any church activity. He did not go to church so naturally I did not go either. They were nice people.
Anytime that I got a crush on a girl and wanted to ask her out on a date, I had to get the courage up to ask her. I would have a date with her and then they would find out that I was not Mormon. That would be my last date with them. The parents would cut it off because there were plenty of Mormon boys to go with. They did not want any Gentiles dating their daughters.
While living in Salt Lake City, Leslie was in college and I was in the 9th grade. I attended Bryan Junior High. In those days, Salt Lake only had eleven years of school (with 10 months a year) instead of twelve years (with nine months a year). I found out that by dialing 19 that the phone would ring. I would love my sister to get in the tub or someplace like that and then I would make the phone ring. I would say “Just a minute Joe” just loud enough for her to hear. I would then call her. She would struggle out of the tub and get wrapped in a towel to answer the phone only to find the line dead. She would panic because she thought he had hung out. She would wonder what he wanted. One day, she figured it out and backed me into a closet and beat me within an inch of my life. No eleven year old boy is a match for an angry sixteen year old sister. That cured me of that trick.
Everyone had hardships. Most of them are what you create in your own mind. I had a difficult time as a child. I was real shy. I was not around other kids. Since my sister was four and a half years older than I was, I was always around adults. I did not know how to handle high school girls. I was really at a loss at that. There are some embarrassing moments. Mother taught me how to dance. However, when I would go up to ask someone to dance, they would turn me down because they already had a date. So that was a hardship.
I found out when I was younger (living in the Philippines) that I could out run Leslie. I was faster than she was IF I had a head start. I found that I could “get her goat” before she “got my goat.” So I got away with a lot with her. We are good friends now that we are older. She lives at this point of time in Fort Huachuca, Arizona where my father was born.
My parents paid quite a lot of attention in raising their children. I did a lot of activities with them. Our relationship was really good. We were religious people as such... We didn't say grace and we didn't go to church much but my parents kept the 10 commandments. They taught them to us.I played golf with my parents on Sunday afternoons. It was a ritual. We had the golf course pretty much to ourselves. I also took up skiing. As I have said before, I lived in Salt Lake City, Utah. We didn't have any Mormon friends. It is with my parents that I learned to play golf. We all got pretty good and equal. We played consistently in the low forties (9 holes without any trouble). Dad and I could hit the ball further than mother but she was a dead eye dick on the putting greens. She made up for it there.My sister did not want to join in when we played golf or skied. She did not want to do anything but read books. She was on the outside of the family. It was her choice because she didn’t want to participate. She probably thought that I was the favorite one. If that is true, I can not tell but I do think a lot of my parents.
I have lived all over. I also had an interesting education. I left Chicago when I was three weeks old in the bottom of a clothes hamper!!! We went to North Carolina. Dad went there to base at Fort Bragg. About two years later, we moved to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. That is the place that I have been to three times. That is also where I remember my earliest memory.I was three years old. Most people don't remember that far back. Usually they remember when they were five or six. There was a prairie fire. It burned right up to the front porch. I was really taken by that. We were out on the lawn and the fire engine came up. That brief experience was ingrained on my mind. I can still see that today quite clearly. I thought I was older but mother said I was three.
The next thing that I remember is Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. I remember going with my dad and sister Leslie to ice skate on the pond and the fire was going. I fell through the ice and even got colder.I remember also that was the year that we got our dog Bramble. It was a little white dog that we call the "Puppy King." Bramble would end up on my bed during the night especially during the winter. He was quite comfortable.
.
That would be the year (1928) that we were on the way to
Columbia, Missouri. We lived there four years and then went to the Philippines. We left there and moved to Fort Sill, Oklahoma.On the boat to the Philippines, we went through a typhoon just outside of Guam. That was quite an experience with water coming over the boat but we were okay. The captain turned the ship into the waves so that the boat would not capsize. My dad and I were on deck during this adventure. My mother was very uptight about the hurricane especially when the water level covered the port hole. She could see into the ocean but never did see any fishes.
I remember when we crossed the International Date Line. I missed Tuesday. I skipped from Monday to Wednesday. Coming back I had an extra Sunday. I played a lot of shuffleboard on the ship. One interesting experience was when we went from New York to the Philippines. We went through the Panama Canal. Potato salad was served in which most everyone ate. They got sicker than a dog. I was a rambunctious nine year old boy who did not eat the salad. My sister, a couple of other kids and I had the run of the whole boat for two days. We were the only ones who were not sick with food poisoning. That convinced me more than ever never to eat potato salad.
I enjoyed the Philippines. The first year, I did not have school so mother and two other ladies got together and taught school. Mother taught high school, our neighbor taught intermediate school and Mrs. Wells taught grade school (where I was). We went to school from 7:00 a.m. to 1:30. I went two years to that school. I came back to Fort Sill, Oklahoma and went to Lawton, Oklahoma for schooling. They tested my sister and I. Leslie did okay. She had everything they required. I was lacking in Civics (now called Government). They held me back half a year until I had my Civics course. I then was with my class the following year. I was way ahead in geography and some other things. This was mainly because my mother was a history fanatic. I have learned a lot of things and done well in those subjects.
I got off on the wrong foot on the first day of school. It was at East High School in Salt Lake City, Utah. The teacher wanted to know if anyone knew where the Bering Straits were. I held up my hand because I knew where it was. I told them it was 32 miles from the American side to the Russian side (which was the closest point). It w as the right answer. All of a sudden, everyone thought I was a real brain which wasn’t true. I had trouble to begin with because of my teacher. It was an uncomfortable year. He thought that he had a smart aleck on his hands.
I learned to ride wild horses while in Salt Lake. They used to catch them in Southern Utah and bring them up for rides. My dad gave me a job in the summer to ride those wild horses. I’d seen enough Westerns that I did not think I could handle it with them being wild and mean. That was not true. Most of the horses were nervous about you getting on them. They would run as soon as you got on and they were out of the door. They could not run very far with the weight on their backs. They would break out in a sweat and would have to stop after a mile. If you could stay on their backs until they got used to the human weight, it wouldn’t be months before they were broken in. There were one or two horses that were ornery but I did not have these. Someone else would spot them and break those. Most of the horses were terrified of humans. They would not buck unless you tried to make them do it. There were plenty of places to run at Fort Douglas. When I was 14 years old in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, there was a spotlight that took 45 seconds to go around. I got good at holding my breath for almost three minutes while it went around. Also, while living in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, we were next door neighbors with General MacArthur. He was around the corner.
My father and I learned about birds together. Blue Jays were very numerous and robins were being chased out. We got out the Beebe gun and shot birds. I was a good shot but my father had a good aim.
I found a friend who was Catholic and he was giving up something for Lent. I decided to give up something also so I for forty days, I took cold showers. There was a group of 20 or more kids playing outside. There was a girl in the group that I liked. I called her “It.” She asked me one time “Am I YOUR it?” I responded, “Yes…I guess.”
I made a commitment with the Lord when I was a sick boy in Colombia, Missouri. We lived on a farm (the depression era of 1933 or 1934). One day, my parents went to town and I was left there with a million jobs to do. I had terrific ear aches at that time. I was hurting so bad. I ended up with a mastoid later on.I climbed a big cypress tree in the yard so I could see the road when it came off the highway (approximately 1 1/2 miles away). I talked to the Lord and said "Please bring my mother home." I thought of the biggest number that I could think of and that number was 32. I promised the Lord that if he would make my head well that I would pay $32.00.
That number 32 stayed with us when we got transferred the following year.We went to the Philippines. On the way there, we stayed in state room #32. I never tied it together for a long time. When we got to the Philippines, our house was #32. My father's car license plates were #32. I never tied it together that #32 was there.As years passed, Betty and I got married. She was L.D.S. and she said she had to pay her tithing. I was making $320.00 a month. Her tithing was $16.00. I wasn't paying tithing but when I joined the church, we were talking about what we were going to do. I realized our tithing was $32.00. That sequence of the #32 came flooding back. It hit me like a club on the head!!! It was an interesting spiritual experience I thought. I have had a lot of spiritual experiences.
As I was growing up, my mother (being German) had the attitude that there was no other place except military service or the state department. We teach our children in the church that a mission comes first then they could do what ever after that. I grew up believing the same philosophy about the military. One could do anything one wanted only after military service. The whole nation would also expect young men to go to war. Girls would say to the young men that they should go to war. Girls would say to the young men that they should serve and then after they got back, they would see what would happen.
I attended West Point for six months. After that I left because they didn’t like my Spanish. I did very poorly in that subject. West Point was all right but I really didn’t know anything else. I was able to go home from school before I was signed up for the war. 
After the service, I went to Salt Lake because I did not like being at home. I wanted to be on my own. I wanted to move back to Salt Lake to take up with some of the cute girls that I knew in high school. I did not realize that in 3 ½ years that they got married. The University of Utah grew and took over Fort Douglas. I went to school there for four years (three years and two summers). I graduated from the University of Utah.
My first job was with U.S.S.M. Co. (United States Smelting and Refining Company) in Salt Lake City, Utah. I worked part-time for .50 and hour while I was in school.
After school, I worked for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. I worked as a geologist. I passed the U.S.G.S exam that was given for all geologists.
I worked as a soil analyst and as a geologist. I did the work on the Flaming Gorge Dam (in the Uintah Mountains). I did some early work on the Starvation Reservoir (between the Strawberry and Duchesne in Utah). I did some irrigation work at Ship Rock. I also worked in the Uintah Mountains bringing water from one side of the mountain and dumping it into the Provo River. It has been flooding since!!! I left there and went to work for the Continental Oil Company. I had some interesting experiences working with the government. I went to Wyoming to work to work on the reservoir up there. It was there that I first rounded up moose.
My dad died while I was there and I went home. When I came back, I worked for the Natural Lab for awhile. After that, I worked for the Conoco Oil Company (October 1951 - March 1978) as a geologist. Since 1978, I have worked as a contractor for different people. Lately people say that I am too old to get a job but I say that I am doing just fine.
While working out in the field doing geology work, another employee and I were going along on a remote dirt road. There was an area of land that was considered “protected animal land.” I was in the passenger seat holding a 22 pistol. I was randomly shooting out the window at the birds. I wasn’t really trying to hit the birds. Since they were “protected,” it meant that they could not be hunted or harmed in anyway.
Luck would have it that I did hit and kill a bird. I knew that I would be in trouble. Even though I was a “dead eye dick,” it was just a fluke because of where the bird was and the fact the vehicle was moving and I wasn’t really aiming. With all these conditions, it was a slim chance of ever hitting the bird. My first thought was “Oh. Oh, I am in trouble.” The other guy had been trying to hit a bird but never could. After I killed that bird, we got out of there as fast as we could.
I first met Betty in a restaurant. I can not remember the name of it. Betty’s mother owned ½ of it. Betty worked there. At first, I did not pay too much attention to her even though she was pretty and attractive. I figured that she had lots of boyfriends so I did not say much.
One day, she asked when I was going to marry this girl that I had dated a couple of times. That made me sit straight in the chair. Vernal was a small town and if you went with someone twice, you were going to get married. One thing led to another and I soon had a date with Betty. We started going with each other.
We did not have much of a courtship because I was out of town every day Monday through Friday. On Friday nights, we would go to a movie if it was any good. I would come into town and we would have supper also. Her mother would give her the evening off. Most of the movies were pretty fair. It was before they had “R” rated movies.
We usually took a ride on Sunday afternoons. Saturday mornings, we both worked. Saturday nights, we would go to a dance, go “spooning” or something else. Some nights, it was an early date because I had to get up early the next morning. It was usually 5:00 a.m. for work.
Betty went to Bishop Hullinger because she was uptight. She told him that she kind of like this guy (I guess that is what she said). Anyway, the Bishop told her to marry me and bring me into the church later. I had gone to church with her. Most bishops would not say that. I did not know that but that is what Betty told me later.
I asked Betty to marry me in the car. She went with me the next day to pick out the jewelry. We got the rings the next week. A few weeks after that, we broke up. We got together again three to four days later and decided to go through with it. We got married after about six months. We had a casual acquaintance of three months and heavy dating for three months. It is the best thing that I have ever done by marrying Betty. I do not know how Betty feels though.
Diane Swain, Susan Swain, John, Betty, ?, Marion Swain, Iris and Loren Hacking
I have had many church callings. I never was ordained to the office of teacher in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I was a Deacon for a year. After that, I was ordained a Priest for a couple of months and then ordained an Elder.
My first calling was that of home teacher. In Salt Lake City, it is pretty hard for an outsider to get a church calling. I worked on some projects through the Priesthood but most of the time, I was a home teacher. When we moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, I had a calling in the Sunday School. Within three or four weeks, I was the Elders Quorum President. I had two or three Sunday School teaching assignments while I was Elders Quorum President. I served a stake mission there also. I helped to bring thirteen people into the church.
I learned a lot about church welfare in New Orleans. It was a real transient ward. People would want aid from the church. The bishop would send the Elders Quorum president and the Relief Society President to see what they needed. They were given the basics (wheat, sugar, etc.). After two weeks, if they seemed appreciative, the Relief Society would go get groceries. What this did was to week out those who needed help and those who were looking for a handout. New Orleans had a terrific situation (members and nonmembers) saying that they needed help. It worked pretty well because those who really needed help were appreciative of what they received.
We moved to Roswell, New Mexico and the mission president had sent a letter ahead to the mission president there. It said something to the effect that I was a nice guy. We walked into conference the first week that we were there. It happened that the mission president was addressing the congregation and before I knew it, I was addressing the Roswell, New Mexico congregation. That was the first Sunday that we were there in church. Typical missionary “rah, rah” type of stuff.
In Roswell, I was the Elders Quorum president, home teacher, Sunday school teacher and had callings in the Young Men and Young Women’s program. I taught the fifteen, sixteen and seventeen year old classes. I taught both sexes when they had special classes or special lessons. They would be divided. Betty would teach the girls and I taught the boys. I worked some in the mutual program in the church. I enjoy working with the youth. Those were the best experiences.
I was put on the district council and toured around. In fact, we went to Saguaro, New Mexico. It was a five hour drive. We left at 4:00 a.m. to be at the 9:00 a.m. session of church. We left at noon and got back about 6:00 or 7:00 p.m. It was a long drive.
We met the Treseader family there. He was born in the church, semi-active and got his wife active in the church. Then he sat back and did nothing. They raised their son up and he was their example. He went to Annapolis and ended up being stationed here in Corpus Christi Third Ward. It shows what a small world it is. He was active here and had his first child here.
When we first got there in New Mexico, the Treseader family had bread crumb chicken. Betty brought that recipe home and we have eaten it ever since. So that show the effect that they had on us. When the boy came over for dinner in Texas, we told him that we would give him chicken like his mother cooked. He loved it.
I was also involved with the scouting program. I had fun. All our children were involved in different parts of scouting. Terry was a girl scout, Dru was an explorer scout, Gregg was a boy scout, Jennette was a Brownie and Margaret was a camp fire girl. As a result, we were indoctrinated in all those organizations.
We came to Corpus Christi, Texas from Roswell, New Mexico. I headed up the Elders Quorum. I was also the ward clerk, teacher in every class there is except for the primary classes. I have taught some also in the mutual programs, Sunday school and a class in Relief Society. Betty is a much better teacher than I am. I got called to the High Council and have been on the stake level ever since (at the time of this recording anyway) except for the eighteen months as a Sunday School teacher.
I eventually became Stake President in the Corpus Christi, Texas Stake. I ended up adding to the second ward (now it is the fourth ward), built the Stake Center, added onto the Robstown branch, got the Kingsville chapel going, added phases 3 & 4 to the Portland building. I knew I was going to be the Stake President before I was called. To this day, I am not sure why I was called unless it was to build buildings. I guess the Lord wants me involved in the building department. These buildings projects were in New Orleans, New Mexico and Texas.
I didn't add to the Stake spiritually but physically built buildings to worship in so the church could grow and have nice buildings to meet in. I got into trouble two or three times because I was too pushy concerning church buildings. The Lord wants certain people when he needs something done. He uses those that he can as a tool even though they aren't so great. I started a church farm here in the Corpus Christi Stake. Eventually, the church changed their minds and it was sold.
One thing that I did that was good was to shift the center of the Institute of Religion program from the Rio Grande Valley to Corpus Christi. It took a lot of phone calls.
I loved the experiences as Stake President. I looked into faces of people and could tell if they were telling the truth or not. I didn't realize that I had the mantle for awhile. I learned a lot about people while I was Stake President. When I was released from being Stake President, the gift of discernment left and I missed it. Those are spiritual experiences that comes to church leaders when they live right so when they talk to people, they can determine worthiness. You might not think they weren't and didn't listen to what the spirit was telling you but it was there.
I was able to also get information from the General
Authorities about how the church runs. Some information
was spiritual and scriptural. Some of the personalities that I learned about were President David O. McKay, President Herald B. Lee and President Smith. I had the opportunity to meet President Ezra Taft Benson (then the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles). Many General Authorities stayed at our home while visiting. Brother LeGrand Richards stayed here a lot.
Authorities about how the church runs. Some information
was spiritual and scriptural. Some of the personalities that I learned about were President David O. McKay, President Herald B. Lee and President Smith. I had the opportunity to meet President Ezra Taft Benson (then the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles). Many General Authorities stayed at our home while visiting. Brother LeGrand Richards stayed here a lot.
President John Wyeth
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| Ground Breaking for the Corpus Christi Texas Stake Center 22 Dec 1979 |
?, President Wyeth, ?
Ground Breaking for the Dallas Temple
Gordon B. Hinckley
Dallas Temple Celebration
Dallas Texas Temple Dedication
I have had several spiritual experiences that involved Betty. She decided to do genealogy and I dragged my feet. She started in New Orleans by herself. I gave her some names on my side of the family. She did the "dirty work." My side is easier to do even though she comes from a long line of Mormons. There is a gap on her side and can't find a grandpa. My side goes way back.
One day, it was raining cats and dogs. We were in New Orleans. Betty went to Layola University (on fast Sundays) to do research on my family. I didn't think that she should go because of the weather. She said that she had an urge and just had to go.
She had been hunting for something for a long time. She met a man there in one of the rows and told her exactly where to find the information. After getting the book, she wanted to tell the man that it was the right book but he was no where to be found. I don't know if it was an angel or what but someone showed up at the right time and showed her what she was looking for.
Another time in this house (761 Bradshaw), Betty woke me up and said that there had been someone standing at the foot of the bed telling us to get back on genealogy.
I am the father of five children. They are Terry, Dru, Gregg, Jennette and Margaret. We thought our first child was so delicate and that if we left her alone for a second that she would perish. We learned after awhile that it wouldn't happen. When another child comes along, the first child doesn't get as much attention but they will turn out all right.
1961-Roswell, New Mexico
Terry, John, Dru
Jennette or Margaret, Gregg
1965 - Roswell, New Mexico
John with Terry and Margaret orJennette
1970-Corpus Christi, TX
Margaret, John, Jennette
1972 - Corpus Christi, TX
Gregg, Terry, Betty, John, Mr. & Mrs. Murphy (friends)
? Murphy, Margaret, ? Murphy
? Murphy
1984 - Mesa, Arizona
Jennette, John, Betty, Dru, Terry, Gregg
Ben
1984 - Mesa Arizona Temple
1985 - Corpus Christi, TX
1987 - Mesa, Arizona
Terry, John, Dru
Margaret, Jennette, Betty
1995 - Provo, Utah
Betty, Terry, Jennette
Margaret
1998- Corpus Christi, TX
Texas State Aquarium
These are my grandchildren as of 1997: (Terry’s children) Jason, Jeremiah, Ryan, Juliet, Tiffany, Donovan, (Dru’s children) Bryan, Ben, Nicole, Natalie, Bradley, Nellie, Noelle, Naomi, (Gregg’s children) Micah (deceased), Dallas, Philip, Zachary (deceased), Kaleb, Autumn, (Jennette's child) Michael, ( Margaret’s children) Karali, Kaela, Nathaniel and Krista.
Being a grandfather always has good sides. When children are sick or mischievous, their folks are the ones who deal with it usually. It is frustrating dealing with a sick child. They throw up in your face and all kind of good things like that.
It is interesting seeing my children make the same mistakes that we did. They don't believe what you tell them but that is the way it goes.
When my grandson Micah died in August of 1985, I felt bad but knew that I would see him again in the next life.
GRANDCHILDREN
1977 - Vernal, Utah
? Michael, Bryan, Jason, Jeremiah, Ryan
1987- Gilbert, Arizona
August 2003 - Corpus Christi, TX
+of+50th+Anniversary+aug2003+q.jpg)
Grandchildren
Front Row: Kaleb, Naomi, Kristi, Autumn
2nd Row: Donovan, Betty, John
3rd Row: Noelle, Tiffany, Nellie, Natalie, Philip, Karali, Juliette
Back Row: Tiffany, Dallas, Bradley, Natalie, Ben, Nicole, Kaela, Nathanial
What makes me happy? When Betty is in a good mood then I am in a good mood. Where ever Betty is, there is home. I grew up moving all over the country, the Philippines and everywhere. My whole life has been that way so where ever Betty is, there I am! I have lived in Corpus Christi longer than any place and Salt Lake City next. But if Betty moved tomorrow to Kansas City, that would be home. Everyone likes to be happy. No one like to be around anyone who is griping all the time. 
I guess a happy moment is when Gregg unloads the queen (in the card game of “Hearts” on Margaret or Jennette. Sadness comes when you do not do something you know you should for the Lord. I guess we all have those problems. Sadness also comes when someone you love dies.
I like the family being around and talking about things. It does not matter what the subject is. Anything from raising kids to raising cane… It is important that we are all involved in the discussion. I also like card games such as Hearts and Spades. It is a good family activity.
1985-Corpus Christi, TX
+of+1985c_1.JPG)
Karali, John, Nathanial, Kaela
Dallas, John holding Kaleb, Philip
Dallas, Karali holding Kaleb, John holding Nathanial, Kaela, Tiffany
Donovan, Philip, Juliette
1994- Corpus Christi, TX
2001- Corpus Christi, TX
Back Row: Jason, Terry, Dru, Rex, Margaret
3rd Row: Toni, Karali, John, Betty, Dallas, Maureen, Ben, Nathanial
2nd Row: Gregg, Bradley, Karali, Kaela, Natalie
Front Row: Nellie, Noelle, Naomi, Autumn, Krista, Philip, Kaleb
Autumn, Krista, Naomi with their grandpa
2003-Corpus Christi, TX
John & Autumn
In my spare time, I enjoy reading. I read a lot. I keep up on the news. I like “World News and Report,” gospel material and financial material.
My political views are conservative.
My health is okay (as of 1986). I don't eat well enough. It is going down hill some and I am gaining weight. I was sickly as a child. I guess through my mother’s nursing and the help of the Lord, I became a very healthy person. I counted seventeen days of being sick in the 37 years that I have been working. Two of those days were when my finger got infected and I got blood poisoning.
I do have a testimony. I have received a lot of inspiration. There is no doubt in my mind that God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost are real and live and strive to help us if we will but let them do it (provided that we keep the commandments).
I have had spiritual experiences in which I knew Gregg was okay when he was missing in the Utah Mountains and that Terry was okay also when she had a car accident. I know God is merciful because I don't live the Gospel as well as I know it.
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