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Show Page 4 THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Volume III, Issue I November 1, 2000 McKAY cont’d from page 1 for one reason or another respected him. Difficulties came early for Gunn, being the first child in the family. He had to lead the way in school and in the community. Because of the strong, forceful nature of his father, many of the older kids teased and pushed Gunn around. Perhaps partly because of the times when physical prowess seemed to rule. The heroes were Jack Dempsey, Gene Tunney and Joe Lewis. It was very common for the kids and teenagers to fistfight. The older kids were pushing and trying to get Gunn to fight them. Gunn’s father wanted to go confront the kids and their parents, but this time Gunn’s mother prevailed and Gunn was instructed to avoid fights if at all possible, and when he couldn’t, he was to defend himself the best he could, and if more than one attacked him at a time, he was to pick up a club and put his back against the building or a telephone pole and survive the best he could. Gunn followed this instruction and avoided as many fights as he could, fought the ones he could not avoid, and suffered the beatings he got. On one occasion he had to back up against a telephone pole with a club and fend off four or five older kids who came at him at the same time. He did very well on that occasion. Gunn did not have a mean bone in his body or a mean intent in his mind. Gunn became stronger under these experiences and eventually became greatly respected and admired by those older boys, as they grew older and matured and observed what Gunn really was and what he was really trying to accomplish. In later political years, Gunn coined the phrase that represented his intent when dealing with those that appeared to be his enemies: “Kill them with kindness.” From early childhood until age 15, Gunn was with his father before school, after school and all day long during the summer months, learning to milk cows, clean out the barn, fix the fences, harness the horses, repair the machinery, mow the hay and peas, rake the hay, haul the hay and peas, weed the potatoes and pick up the potatoes in the wet cold fall, help the ewes and the cows to give birth to their young, and do all things so that when his father was stricken in bed in the late stages of cancer, Gunn could take the lead of his three brothers to take care of the sheep, the cows, the horses, and run the farm and repair the machinery as he was instructed daily at his father’s bedside. A year later, at age 16, he had to take over without his father’s instruction upon his father’s death. Here again, like when his younger brother was born, and when the other children started school behind him, Gunn felt within that he was the one that was responsible for the care of the family. He drew from what he had learned from his father, but initiated new ideas about the cows and changed their routine from individual stanchions to cutting off their horns and letting them mingle together in the barn, as well as in the corral, which idea had been promoted in his Ag class in high school. Gunn furthered the registered Guernsey herd that his father had built up and took the animals to the Weber County and Utah State Fairs and even won a few ribbons competing against the older established dairymen. The commencement of World War II took Gunn away from farming, and being the man of the household. His grandfather Angus McKay, after emigrating from Scotland to the U.S., taught his children to be patriotic, and to be involved in politics. He himself was a member of the state legislature, and became the Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1896, the year Utah obtained statehood. He had placed pictures of all the presidents of the U.S. around the front room in the old rock house. Many thought Gunn should seek a deferment because of the family’s needs, but Gunn thought his younger three brothers and four sisters were adequate and that his rightful place was to join the cause for freedom. He joined the U.S. Coast Guard right after graduating from high school, and served well until his discharge at the end of World War II. It was not all work for Gunn. He loved to play sports and he stayed after school when he was supposed to be home helping with the chores. His staying and playing became so chronic that it resulted in much of the discipline he received from his father. Although he loved sports, Gunn was not very big until he entered the 10th grade. In fact, one of the big basketball tournaments was called the 9th grade tournament and Gunn did not even make the 9th grade team for the tournament when he was in the 9th grade, even though his younger brother Quinn, in the 8th grade, made the 9th grade team. This is when Gunn’s character of determination took over and he began to practice and put his heart into it so intently that either for that reason, or from blessings on high, Gunn grew tremendously between his 9th grade year and his 10th grade year. By the 10th grade, he was captain of the basketball team, the catcher on the baseball team, and when entering Weber High School in the 11th and 12th grades, he was the starting guard on the football team and the starting guard on the basketball team. The Weber High School basketball team went on to the state tournament where Gunn became so respected that he received the assignment to guard Arnie Ferrin, who even by that time had achieved a great reputation and proved it by going on to become an All-American basketball player in his last year at the University of Utah. Gunn was by then a “big kid,” and his heart for the game was even bigger. His coach and his fellow teammates, as well as the fans, admired and had great confidence in him. His heart for the sport continued when he was in the U. S. Coast Guard. All of the professional teams ceased because of the war and the military teams became the big sporting events. For a short period of time Gunn played on the lst team for the U.S. Coast Guard in the games against the Army, Navy and Air Force, which were the only national sporting events during those war years. It was not all fun. Gunn’s mother went to visit him in San Francisco and to watch him play one of the highly promoted games. During the game his mother’s heart went up into her throat as she saw them carry her son off the field on a stretcher after a rather severe injury. It reduced his football playing time but never reduced his determination in all Qjfdft!pg!Esfbnt Ujnfmftt!hjgut!boe!difsjtife!lffqtblft! gps!uiptf!opu!dpoufou!xjui!uif!psejobsz Gmpsbm!Bssbohfnfout Vojrvf!Cbtlfut Dpmmfdujcmft Csjebm!Sfhjtusz Fdmfdujd!Bddfttpsjft!'!Gvsojuvsf Mjofot Npoebz . Tbuvsebz!!21;11b/n/ . 6;41!q/n/ Usfoet!'!Usbejujpot 377!Ijtupsjd36ui!Tu/ Phefo-!!Vubi!!95512 )912*!4:5.5268 facets of life. Neither did it reduce his feeling of responsibility. Gunn signed up for the military matching allotment for a dependent mother and brothers and sisters and also told his younger brother Quinn, who had by then joined the Marines, how to also sign up for a matching allotment. Gunn and Quinn sent all but $10.00 a month of their military pay home to their mother and younger brothers and sisters for their support during the war. At the end of the war Gunn was one of the first to be discharged. Taking his lead from the tradition of his grandfather Angus who went on three missions for the church, and from his father who went on two missions, serving a combined ten years in Africa and then England, presiding over the London Conference during World War I, Gunn went to his bishop and said, “If you think I’m worthy, I would like to go on a mission.” He was interviewed by his father’s cousin, David O. McKay, who was a member of the First Presidency, and was called to go to England where he went as one of the first missionaries after the end of the war. During the cold winters, with little or no heating fuel and with very little food, which was still rationed, he went with a warm and enthusiastic spirit to tell them of the restored gospel and a better way of life now and hereafter. Gunn served well and was given much responsibility, which was natural for him. He returned home after his two years on Christmas morning where the temperature was 40° below zero in Huntsville. He spent much of the day helping the neighbors get their cars started because of the cold weather. Gunn was known for giving a helping hand to anyone who needed it. Gunn’s younger brother had also been discharged from the Marine Corp and after working for a while, likewise followed Gunn’s example and volunteered for a mission and was likewise called to England where Gunn, by then, was a leader as president of the Hull District. Gunn served with Quinn for a short period of time before returning home. Gunn felt responsibility again to help support his brother on a mission, as well as the family, and went to work. He took various jobs. He purchased a delicatessen/grocery store and tried to make a living. That forced him to show his character once again. He discovered that the delicatessen made most of its money on Sunday. One day when President McKay came into the store for a dish of ice cream, Gunn asked him what he should do about having the store open on Sunday. President McKay replied that was his decision and he would have to decide what to do. After wrestling with the problem for some time, Gunn decided that the right thing to do was to obey the Sabbath Day. So he closed the store on Sunday and a short time later, faced the inevitable that there was no profit being closed on Sunday and lost the store, but was determined to stick by his convictions. President McKay later complimented him for dong the right thing. Gunn’s strong religious beliefs and ability led him over his lifetime to be a popular speaker, a member of the stake seventies presidency, a counselor in the bishopric, and later, the stake president. Gunn also courted and, at a reasonable time, married Donna Biesinger in McKAY cont’d on page 5 |