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Show DAILY Sunday, March 26, 2006 HERALD THE History PAGE Success and generosity enhanced C.E. Loose’s life GOT HISTORY? The Daily Herald is iooking for interesting stories about local history for this weekly page. Make suggestions or submit material by e-mail to Executive Editor Randy Wright, rwright@heraidextra.com. Or mail to the Daily Heraid, P.O. Box 717, Provo, UT 84603-0717. No phone calls please. D. Robert Carter n addition to being know as loveroffine horseflesh and good cigars, Charles Edwin Loose also possessed a reputation for being a very generous man. Provo’s William M. “Billy” Wilson, one of Loose’s contemporaries,called the Colonel “openhearted to a marked degree, and ever ready to help the distressed and unfortunate.” Many other townspeople agree with Wilson's assessment of Loose. John W. Farrer summedupLooseas “generous ‘ Birds of a feather... | a free giver anda truefriend.” Eventhe local paperslauded Antiquebirds ofa feather still flock together in Orem resident Beth Froisland’s China closet. Theydecorate a set of hand- Loose’s altruism. Provo's Eve- ning Heraldsaid many widows andpoor men received his silent | painted dinnerware that once belonged to Colonel Charles Edwin Loose. Beth never metthe colonel, but she knew his son Dean. He married her Aunt Leola. generosity Education also benefitted fromLoose’s philanthropy He made a major contribution ean Loose was “Oh,I loved that nursery! tended city schools rockinghorse, andit had this big, beautiful cradle born in Provo in 1898, andhe at- towardthe constructionof Col- lege Hall, the building that once stood directly east of the re- and Culver Academy. He stored Academy Square build- enlisted in the armed services and served in World WasI. Deanlater attended ing wherethe current library stands. Loose and nine other contributors donated $1,000 Stanford University where eachto the constructionof the building The colonel's generosity won he earned a degreein law. building openedin 1898. The He came home, and he and his brother Clarencelived in the Loose homeafter the coloneldied. Dean eventu- $900for the southeast quarter of the block where the oldest ally served as Provo city’s judge. According to a Peay fami- the hearts of Maeser School's students soonafter their new Provo Board of Educationpaid section of the MaeserSchool ly story, Leola Peay worked stands. When workmen completed thefirst segment of the building, the new school took and housekeeper. For some in the Loose homeas a cook reason,she terminated her employment with the Looses up mostof the lot, leaving very little openlandfor a play- and left the house.Shortly ground thereafter, Dean visited his ex-employee and told he Loose, whoselarge house missed her and couldn't do stood on the block directly west of the Maeser, noticed withouther. He proposed marriage and Leola accept- this problemand solvedit without creating great fanfare or fuss. The generous benefactor bought the quarterofa block north of the original school and presentedit to the board of education. Loose’s action was spontaneous. Thefirst time the board heard about thegift was the night of November 11, 1898, when Loose presented the land Ver\ Allman Brother to brother: The Loose brothers(left to right), Robert Warren, William D. and Charles Edwin, posed for ths picturein 1902. They gained mining experience in Nevada and California Charles Edwin madehis fortunein theTintic mines and built his homein Provo. to them. The school board, of course, accepted thegift. Loose's present did not come withoutstrings attached. He stipulated that the board could usethe land for no other pur- pose than as a playground for Maeserstudents.In addition, Loose re ‘ed the school board to gradethe lot and the sidewalks and plant two rowsof shadetrees on the east, west andnorthsidesof the lot. This generous andunsolicited present from Loose gave the Maeserthe biggest playground of any schoolin Provoatthat time. The teachers and students showed their appreciation at the earliest possible opportunity. On the morning of November 12, the colonelvisited the poten- tial playground accompanied by membersof the school board. A delegation of students and teachers met the group and asked their benefactor to look in on the school. The children BYUPhotoArchives, Workmenfinished thefirst several rooms onthe lowerlevel of the Maeser Schoolin November1898, andthe first classes in that building began. Edwin Loose bought the quarterof a block northof the school anddonatedit to the Provo Board of Education. Hestipulated that the land hadto be usedas the school's playground GET EVEN HIGHER CD RATES WITH ZIONS DIRECT. 1 YEAR 5 YEAR 4.90%" 5.25%" To learn about the advantages of our *brokered, FDIC Insured CDs, comein to any Zions Bank branch, call 1-800-524-8875 orvisit zionsdirect.com. ZIONS Esa ZIONS rh edhis offer. The twoset their marriage date, and they later tied the matrimonial knot in the homeof Leola’s sister The house stood on about 70 S. 900 West. Leola’s niece, Beth, attended the festivities, and because of an unusualincident.shestill vividly remembersthe day of the marriage. Only adults were al- two, causeit was huge. I loved thatcradle. It was just a beautiful room full ofstuffed toys and play- things.” The upstairs bathroom also impressed Beth:“It was ahuge room. It hadone of | those big, huge tubs on legs. | . [rememberhaving a bath | in there and thinking | was a queen, There was also a large sink on a pedestal.” Beth didn’t knowit at the After Beth grew up and married Frois Froisland, she and her husband continued to visit the Looses. They sometimes went during the annual pheasant hunting season. Dean Loose, who loved to hunt, joined his friends and wentafter the big ring necks. They pro- vided the Sunday meal. Dean usually came home with a numberofbirds, and Leola cooked them. The Loosesinvited the Froislandsto help eat these once- feathered friends. Leola set the table with beautiful hand-painted, English din- amused themselves. Dry nerware. Each plate sported a painting ofa different type of bird. A beautiful Creek,a branch of Provo River, flowed nearby. Since waterattracts children like a magnet, the young guests swarmed to the banksof the stream. Somehow,as Beth crossed a bridge over the creek, she slipped andfell inte the water. The young girl emerged covered with green moss.Shelikely looked something like a small Queen Neptune. In subsequentyears, Leola Loose occasionally invited her youngnieceto stay overnight in the Loose house. Bethstill treasures fond memoriesof those visits. Theupstairs nursery be- cameBeth's favorite room. She recently exclaimed: | | time, but she would eventually becomethe ownerof somebeautiful mementoes from the old house. lowed in the house during the wedding ceremony; the children stayed outside and did not give Loose a chance to declinetheir invitation. Two It was beautiful! It had a that was on a stand. I guess a babycould haveslept in there until it was one or pheasant decorated the huge | servingplatter. After Dean died and Leola neared the endofherlife, she decided she wanted Beth | to have the hand-painted plates andplatter. Leola said Beth waslikely the only person who could remember eating dinner from them. Beth received the plates _ shortly after her aunt died, and she has prized themfor thelast three decades. They are among the few known thingsleft in Utah Valley that once belonged to Colonel Charles Edwin Loose’s family. — D.Robert Carter little girls, Miss Berg and Miss which he urged the children to andled him into the building. In anticipation of this event, principal and future Provo his- take advantageoftheir chance to gain a good education. The studentsreplied to Loose’speptalk with what the Deseret Evening News de- thatit would have madea politioa campaignspeaker proud for e” Three small girls spontaneously endedthelittle ceremony by rushing forward and giving Loose “thank youkisses.” The tiger.” (The word “tiger” was recipient of their gratitude appeared “quite overcomeby their Allred, took him by. the hands torian J. Marinus Jensen wrote: several verses, the words of which the children sangto the tuneof “Yankee Doodle.” The words ofthis little song expressed the children’s appreciation to Loose. Their benefactor responded witha little speech in scribed as “three cheers and a often yelled at the end of a enthusiasm.” roundof cheers.) The students’ In addition to his generosity, yells were executed “with such lusty lungs and hearty good will Continued on B3 DAVID HOOT io ETE EXECUTIVE MBA because Ranked 37in the U.S. and66 in the world by London Based ' Fi ial Times «Make an immediate impact with your MBA knowledge Advance your careerin a schedule designed for executives +Learn from highly-ranked faculty *GMATwaived in select cases Recommendation *Intemationally accredited by can only take yousofar. Upcoming Information Sessions: Education with Impact Thursday, April 6, 2006 Thursday, May 11, 2006 5:30 p.m. -6:30 p.m. MemberFDIC - AACSB C. Roland Christensen Center Room 110, UofU Campus t |