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DOROTHY MERRILL GEE by Loni Hackworth
Dorothy Merrill, daughter of Orrin Preston Merrill and Alice May Stephenson Merrill, was born on April 2, 1917 in her family home in Downey, Idaho, the fifth child out of seven. She was not named after anyone specific, but growing up, she did have a nickname, Dot.
Once, when Dorothy was a babe in arms, her parents were riding in a buggy. Just before getting to the bridge, it appeared to Dorothy’s mother that the horses were headed to go into the canal rather than get on the bridge. Alice, Dorothy’s mother, didn’t want her baby daughter to drown, so she threw baby Dorothy into the bushes to save her. But the horses did go on the bridge and all turned out well.
One day as a young child, Dorothy fell down the stairs. Her mother asked, “What was that?” Her brother, Orrin, always the tease, said, “Oh, that was just Dot finding a new way to come down the stairs.”
Occasionally, Dorothy’s younger brother, Orrin, teased her and this annoyed her. One day her mother said, “Dorothy, it’s up to you how Orrin turns out.” Dorothy countered with, “But, he’s such a tease.” Then her mother said, “Well, it takes two to make a fight, so don’t you argue back. Try it for one week.”
Dorothy agreed that she would give it a try. Soon after, Orrin wanted her to go some place with him, but she was writing a paper for school and couldn’t go. Orrin grabbed the paper out of the typewriter and ripped it up! Dorothy wanted to get mad, but her mother had asked her not to, so she just took a a piece of paper and put it in the typewriter and started again. Later on, Dorothy’s sister, Geraldine, said of this event, “I never got angry with Dorothy, except that one time when Dorothy let Orrin rip the paper right out of the typewriter and she didn’t get mad at him!”
In the winter, the Merrill children would go sledding in the sand hills below their home. A favorite Christmas memory concerns a present she hoped for secretly. One day Dorothy and a friend were walking downtown when they saw a little doll buggy in the store window. Dorothy’s friend said, “I’m getting this for Christmas.”
Dorothy thought about how she would love to have the beautiful doll buggy, but she also knew that her parents could never afford to get it for her. Imagine her delight and surprise when she woke up on Christmas morning, and there was the very doll buggy she had so admired in the store window. As a young girl she did have stitches, but doesn’t remember having any broken bones. The family had a dog named Flash. When Dorothy was just a young girl, she rode with her mother to Logan on the train. Dorothy’s mother, Alice, wanted to go to Logan to get a new dress for a costume contest being held at a dance later that evening. On the way home from Logan, Alice saw a friend and stepped off the train onto the platform to visit with her acquaintance.
Dorothy was left alone on the train. And the train took off, leaving Alice behind on the platform with Dorothy on the train headed to Preston. A neighbor helped Dorothy get off at the right stop in town and then walked her home to her front yard. By now it was dark and young Dorothy tripped over a wagon left out in front. When she went into her home, she was crying and her father, Preston, said, “Dorothy, where is your mother?”
By the time Alice caught the next train and arrived home later in the evening, Dorothy had been tucked into bed and Preston, her father, was also in bed. But Alice pleaded with her husband to get up and take her to the dance so she might win the costume prize. By the time Preston and Alice arrived at the dance, the prize had been awarded, so the trip had been in vain.
Later on in life, Dorothy’s younger sister, Geraldine, would often jokingly remark, “First Mother threw you from the buggy, then she left you on the train. Mother was surely anxious to get rid of you.”
Dorothy lived in a big, two-story home with six bedrooms upstairs and one bedroom downstairs. Not all the rooms were used, however. One of the rooms - called the North room - was so cold that it would freeze ice in the winter. One of the brother’s bedrooms that was upstairs had a door going outside, but no porch. To keep the door locked because there was no porch, a bent nail was used.
But it did cause some concern among the family as the brother, Milford, who used the room, walked in his sleep and the family was afraid that some night he would walk out that door! Dorothy shared a room with her older sister, Virginia. The room had one window and a slanted roof. All the quilts used by the family had been made by Dorothy’s mother and grandmother. There was a playroom for her youngest sister, Geraldine. The yard was also very large. There was an attic, but it was not scary. Dorothy thought she might find gold in the attic, but unfortunately, she never did find any.
The only way to keep the big house cool was to open the doors and the windows. There was a coal stove in the kitchen. Each day as the family ate in the kitchen, they turned the chairs around and knelt for family prayer. There was also another stove in the dining room and this room was where the family played cards.
For a long time while Dorothy was growing up, there was no running water in the home. The children would get the water from the pump and heat the water on the stove. Two large galvanized tubs were set on a board to do the laundry. There were nine people living in the house; later a cousin joined them making ten, so there was always laundry and other work to be done.
As a young girl, Dorothy worked outside at thinning beets, topping beets, and weeding. Her household chores included dishes, sweeping, and dusting. Later on, Dorothy’s father, Preston, made a cesspool which allowed the family to have a tub and a toilet. Out the back door, there was a place the family had dug deep to keep the milk and butter cold. Dirt covered this pit. Behind the house, there was also a porch, which was not covered, then a garage and in back of that garage was the outhouse. It was quite far from the house; in fact no one rarely went by there. One day Dorothy was sitting on the outhouse seat with the door open when a friend from across the street walked by. That was a very embarrassing moment in Dorothy’s young life.
Money was scarce and had to be earned by doing odd jobs. Dorothy remembers one time having a nickel and buying some candy, a real treat. She was walking along the railroad track with the candy in hand when she heard the train coming. Upon hearing the whistle, Dorothy jumped and dropped her candy. She wanted to go back and retrieve the candy but decided she had better not. It was sad for her to loose that candy.
As a young woman, Dorothy stayed at night with her grandmother, who was a widow. During the night, Dorothy’s grandmother would get up and make the fire. Dorothy has a guilty feeling now, looking back remembering that. She wonders’, “Why didn’t I get up and make the fire?” Dorothy didn’t have pajama parties. Her father was very strict about the children going around in their nightgowns and pajamas. He would say, “Pajamas are made for bed!”
Dorothy learned to drive at a young age to help out on the farm. She drove in the potato fields so that the men could put the potato sacks in the back. She did not drive around town as a young girl, but only to assist on the farm, and she didn’t ever own her own car while living at home.
To earn a little money, Dorothy corrected papers for school teachers. When she had a driver’s license, Dorothy would drive the home economics teacher to outlying towns since the teacher did not own a car. Dorothy was paid by the teacher for this service.
Dorothy attended the schools in Preston. She always made good grades. In fact, some of her teachers at one time wanted her to skip a grade, but her mother said, “No.” Dorothy’s older sister, Virginia, had skipped a grade and had always missed the friends her own age. So it was decided that Dorothy should stay with her own age group.
A subject that Dorothy liked was arithmetic - and she later took accounting. She didn’t, however, like physical education because she didn’t like the teacher. The teacher insisted they go down a pole which was on the 2nd story and they would slide down to the gym. Dorothy didn’t like that at all. Dorothy walked to school which was over a mile away. She walked through heavy snow and whatever the weather was. She didn’t even know what a school bus was! Dorothy doesn’t remember skipping school to play hooky. She said that no one really did at that time. Teachers assigned lots of homework.
During high school, the speech teacher wanted Dorothy to be on the debate team, but she was in plays and students could not do both plays and debate. In Dorothy’s junior year of high school, she was involved in everything; the plays, the school operetta, etc. However, in her Senior year, the teacher wanted Dorothy to be on the debate team. During one of the debates in school, Dorothy’s partner got up and rebutted for the other team! She decided not to do debate as she wanted to be in plays. She ran home to tell her mother that she was going to try out for the school play, but her mother said, “I’m sorry to tell you this, Dorothy, but I need your help.” (Dorothy’s grandmother, Susan Mariah Simpkins Stephenson, who had now moved in with the Merrill family had broken a hip.) Dorothy’s mother felt like she needed Dorothy’s help with the grandmother, so that ended Dorothy’s acting career.
Growing up in a small town, Dorothy did not really have a set time that she had to be in at night. Weekends were spent in going to the Persiana to dances. Dates weren’t necessary, so Dorothy and her friend would go together. One night Dorothy came home later than usual after a date. Her mother came out on the porch dressed in her nightgown to call for Dorothy to come in. Dorothy was so embarrassed. The next morning she said to her mother, “Mother, if you ever come outside again in your nightgown to get me, I’m leaving home.”
Every time Dorothy would get home from the dance, her mother would ask her brother, Milford, “Milford, did you ask Dorothy to dance?” He would answer, “I tried, but every time I’d go over, she’d leave!”
Actually, Dorothy wanted Milford to like her and she was afraid that she couldn’t follow him because he was such a good dancer. But Dorothy didn’t just sit out all the dances. She danced with her cousin, DeVerl, and he was also known as a good dancer. Sundays were always spent in going to church.
Dorothy graduated from Preston High School in 1935 and was so looking forward to going to school at the Brigham Young because she had two friends who were going to school there. However, in July, Dorothy had an attack of appendicitis. It was decided that she would have to have her appendix out. One night she was crying and her father said, “Don’t cry - it won’t hurt.” Dorothy said, “I don’t care about that. I just want to go to the B.Y.” Her father then replied, “Don’t worry. You can go to the Y even if we have to take out a second mortgage so you can.”
So Dorothy started school at Brigham Young University at the 2nd quarter. She lived with her father’s brother, Harrison R. Merrill, who was a popular teacher at Brigham Young University. Professor Merrill’s daughter, Ruby, and wife, Edna, also lived in the home. For breakfast Dorothy had about two tablespoons of hot cereal which was dished out to her by her Aunt Edna. By the time she came home from school, Dorothy would be so hungry, but she did not feel comfortable just getting food for herself.
Sometimes Ruby would be there eating a sandwich, but unless she remembered to offer one to Dorothy, Dorothy would not have one. She remembers this time in her life as a time that she felt hungry a lot of the time.
Dorothy loved to play tennis while living in Provo. She had a friend, a young man, that she would play tennis with a lot. One day, her cousin Ruby said to Professor Merrill, “Dad, I’m afraid that Dorothy is falling in love with that tennis player.” Dorothy’s Uncle Harrison said in reply, “Well, you don’t have to worry until he falls in love with her!” This remark made Dorothy feel like about two cents.
After two quarters at Brigham Young University, Dorothy ran out of money and needed a job. About the only job available in Provo at the time was babysitting for ten cents an hour. In addition to the babysitting, the parents expected the babysitter to do the laundry and other household chores for the ten cents. So before school was to start in the fall, Dorothy’s brother, LaVaun said, “Come to Washington D.C. and live with us. I’m sure you could find a job in DC.”
So Dorothy moved to Washington, D.C. to live with her brother, LaVaun and his wife Ivanelle. Although Dorothy didn’t do a lot of cooking around her home growing up, she learned many things from her sister-in-law, Ivanelle Merrill, whom she lived with in Washington, D.C. before her marriage.
She became an excellent cook and her family many years later still rave about her pot roast and mashed potatoes, ham and turkey dinners with three varieties of drinks, salads, desserts, linen napkins, elegant goblets, and the like.
When Dorothy got to Washington, D.C., she went to Woodward and Lothrop’s - a department store - to apply for a job. The line with people applying for a job was almost a block long. After waiting in line, Dorothy took a typing test. Returning the next day, she found that she had passed the typing test. However, the company didn’t have any typewriters for her, so they asked if she would be willing to learn how to be a card-key punch operator. Dorothy said that would be fine. So her job was as a key-punch operator.
Then a friend at church who worked for a bonding company said her boss liked to hire Mormons and Dorothy would be able to earn more money. When Dot was about to go in to tell her boss that she would be quitting, the girls in the office said, “I’d hate to be you - telling the boss you’re leaving...he’ll chop your head off!” So Dorothy was frightened to go in and give notice, but her boss said, “I hate to see you go, but if you ever need a job again, please come back. We would be happy to have you.”
She then began work at the bonding company. It was while working for this bonding company that she met a young man named Merrill Gee. During the time that Dorothy lived in Washington, DC, she was attending the branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Merrill Gee was a young law student from Pocatello, Idaho and was the choir director in the branch. One night as the group was Christmas caroling, Merrill came up to Dorothy and asked, “Do you want a book, Dorothy?” She didn’t know that he even knew her name. But Merrill’s mother had heard there was a red-headed girl from Idaho. She had asked Merrill to look out for this young Idahoan named Dorothy Merrill.
Thus began a time for Merrill and Dorothy to get to know each other. However, Dorothy continued to date other young men, including Merrill’s roommate who wanted to know what kind of girl Merrill was interested in. They went to church dances and other cultural events in Washington, DC. When Merrill and Dorothy decided to get married, since they lived a very long way from Idaho, neither of their parents was able to make the trip to their wedding. They were married on October 29, 1938 in the chapel at 16th and Columbia Road in Washington, DC.
The night before the wedding, Merrill and Dorothy stayed up until the wee hours of the morning to squeeze the orange juice for the reception. The next morning as Dorothy was taking a bath, her roommate knocked on the door and said, “Dorothy, hurry up. You are going to be late for your own wedding.” Dorothy was so tired that she said, “You just go on without me. I’m too tired to go.”
She did, however, get out of the tub and made it to her own wedding and reception. Their reception was held at the home of a former boyfriend of Dorothy’s, Roland Young. Dorothy’s boss, a very dignified gentleman, came to the reception in the small home of the Youngs. Since there was no place to hang his coat, and no one offered to take it, this dignified gentleman carried his hat and coat around with him during the entire time he was at the reception!
For many young married couples, the honeymoon begins right after the reception, but for Dorothy and Merrill, the honeymoon wouldn’t be official until they had been married for two weeks. Merrill and Dorothy drove with another young couple to Hill Cumorah, then to Niagara Falls, and on to Detroit. The other couple had also just recently married and were going to Detroit to pick up a new car. Merrill and Dorothy said they would furnish the car if the other couple would furnish the gas. So they shared their honeymoon with another couple.
Dorothy began working for the social security department in the same building where her husband, Merrill, worked. However, the government decided to move the social security operation to Baltimore, Maryland. This would have required a long commute for Dorothy, so she began to work for the war department.
Dorothy applied for a job at the war department and once again, she passed the typing test, but once again, she was told there were no typewriters, but since she had experience with key punch, would she be willing to work as a key-punch operator. Dorothy again said that she was willing to do this.
After awhile, Dorothy’s boss asked her if she would type a report for him because his secretary, also named Dorothy, made so many mistakes on the reports. After the meeting, the boss went to Dorothy and said, “I hope you’ll forgive me, but when everyone saw the reports and how neatly they were typed, they all asked me who typed the report. I said ‘Dorothy,’ and they all assumed it was my secretary Dorothy. I didn’t tell them it was Dorothy Gee because if I had told them it was you, they would have taken you away from me - and I need you!”
The job as a card key-punch operator was during World War II. Her job was secretive, and Dorothy was put in a small room similar to a telephone booth. She could get out, but no one else could get in. Dorothy’s job was to decode signals from enemy ships. She did not understand the code that she was transcribing. Nevertheless, she worried that someone might know what she was doing and try to get information from her.
Later on, Dorothy was transferred to work on a big printer for the cards. The first time that Dorothy used the machine, she broke it! The man who ran the machine started bawling Dorothy out saying, “Do you know how much this costs the government, etc., etc.?” However, Dorothy’s boss intervened and said, “Don’t you bawl her out - it’s our fault for not showing her how to work it!”
When it came time for Dorothy to leave this job, this boss also said to her, “We would surely like to have you come back.” Dorothy remembers all her bosses saying similar things to her about hiring her back any time she needed a job.
After Merrill’s graduation, the Gees built a home in Annandale, Fairfax County, Virginia while they both worked in D.C. Also living in the home in an upstairs apartment was Dorothy’s brother, Orrin, the same one who had teased her years before, and his wife, Dortha - also called Dot. Orrin and Dot were newlyweds and they loved to dance! Merrill and Dorothy would hear them early in the mornings and late at night dancing to jitterbug music! According to Merrill, “Their dancing would shake the whole house!” After living in the house for less than a year, the young couple moved to Pocatello, Idaho, where their first son, Merrill Kerr Gee II was born on December 29, 1942 in the St. Anthony Hospital. |