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Show Nell loved serving people f , ";. lit V NELL C. HALEY By TOM BUSSELBERG BOUNTIFUL-"What kind of pie do you have, today? If you're at Servus Drug in downtown Bountiful, it's probably better to just ask yourself first, "What kind of pie do I want?" That legacy of almost sinfully delicious de-licious pies and rolls goes back a long way. Back to the beginnings of Servus Drug and before. A quiet, but meticulous, hardworking hard-working woman with an ability to take "a little of this" or "a handful of that" first warmed up the oven for those pies nearly 40 years ago. That woman was Nell C. Haley, who passed away after a short illness ill-ness at the age of 94 on Aug. 11. A close friend Lois Pickett says of her, "She was quiet, but made a big difference in the lives of people she touched." Nell first really got her hands full of flour when she did some "cooking "cook-ing on the side" that turned into being asked to cook meals for Bountiful Rotary meetings. That was back in 1948, when the group was first being organized. Dr. Evan Taylor, first president, asked if she'd provide meals for the meetings. As a result, those gatherings gather-ings rotated around the meals, being held in Nell's home. "There were between 12 and 20 members when it started," Lois recalls. re-calls. Either the meals or the discussion dis-cussion were so popular, though, that "she (Nell) soon felt she didn't have enough room." On top of that, "she felt the town needed another pharmacy." Ten months after the Rotary started meeting at Nell's, Servus Drug opened, in September, 1949. It was formally known as Haley Corp., doing business as Servus Drug. Although additions were made in the mid 1950's and again in 1970 when the large upstairs dining room was builtServus Drug hasn't changed dramatically. Ted Christensen came in as pharmacist while Nell's husband Jeff helped with construction-he was a skilled carpenter, Lois says. As far as cooking was concerned, con-cerned, Nell liked doing pies the best. "She became known for her pies. Hot blueberry pie on Sunday mornings was a favorite of the priesthood" from the nearby First Ward, Lois says. "Many would come in on Sunday Sun-day mornings for that. People would know about when they (pies) came out of the oven." What was the recipe? Whatever it was, people truly loved them even though Lois swears that when she learned the knack from Nell it was just "a little of this" or "a handful of that." That tradition of pies continues to this day, along with rolls that are a favorite of locals to where dozens of extra batches grace holiday dining din-ing tables throughout the region. "She took a great deal of pride in serving the public," Lois recalls, such as on the night of a banquet was being served in the Pine Room. "She broke her ankle but kept on serving until the work was done before going to the doctor. "The best was never too good" for Nell, Lois says further. "She would come early in the morning" and stay late, especially when the store was open until 10-11 p.m. "She was very meticulous. When she set a table it had to be 'just so'." Nell hailed originally from Beaver, Beav-er, in south-central Utah. Apparently Appa-rently her ancestry ties in with the infavous Butch Cassidy bunch and that legacy was carried forward in her fondness for Western stories. Teresa Decker, one of Nell's nieces, grew up knowing her aunt well. Turning to family history, she notes that Nell moved with her family to Centerville as a 9-year-old girl in 1901. Her education extended ex-tended through the eight grades provided at the old school that sat on the northwest comer of what is now Parrish Square Shopping Center. Her late husband, Jefferson M. Haley, had come to live with a sister sis-ter down from Nell's family "a couple doors", Teresa recollects. The couple were married in the Salt Lake LDS Temple Jan. 26, 1916 and moved to Bountiful, although he spent some time in military service since the nation was int he throes of The Great War. Nell was known to love singing, was a member of the old Centerville Centervil-le Ward Choir as a young woman and sang "all over the area" in duets and participated in operettas that were popular in the LDS wards during that period. Other recollections reaffirm her trait for neatness. "Her house was the neatest in town." And at the store where Teresa sometimes helped out as a waiter, Nell "always "al-ways kept all the cans in a straight line. She was always scrubbing and cleaning." Although she and Jeff never had any children of their own, "she always al-ways had kids to take care of, which she loved." Among those youngsters she tended were Cal, Byron and Virginia Virgi-nia Rampton. They were sister Janette's children. She and Jeff enjoyed spending time with family members and was always preparing pies for the holidays. holi-days. Teressa recalls how her family and Jeff and Nell would go on Sunday Sun-day drives years ago, when a car was a rarity. Her frontier heritage showed, too, though, with her fondness for attending wrestling matches and that occasional trip to Wendover. Always the self-reliant sort, Nell "always did her own yard, cut down trees, and planted the lawn where Jeff said it couldn't be done." She was a member of the American Amer-ican Legion Auxiliary, holding virtually vir-tually ever position there. Husband Hus-band Jeff and Elgin Handy were largely responsible for construction construc-tion of the Legion Hall on Third South. Perhaps her many years of hard work and constant up-and-down the stairs catering in the Pine Room contributed to her long life. Among those early employees were Alice "Grandma" Hamilton Johnson, who ran the kitchen, waitresses Fuchsia Arnold, Edith Graham and Iola Swenson. She formally retired, but certainly certain-ly did not forget, from her duties at Servus Drug in 1972. |
