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Show V Feature SOUTHERN UTAH NEWS WEDNESDAY AUGUST 3, 1994 10 For the love of Donna By Barbara Pyles Edna, Donna is not going to live. Her lungs are failing her, said the doctor. It was September, 1944 at the University of Minnesota Hospital in Minne- apolis. Edna Shields looked at her daughter, and her world crashed. Donna had been in and out of the hospital for the last six years with chronic asthma. She needed to be in an oxygen tent to breath. Donna was allergic to about 24 types of food, house dust, pollen, and industrial pollutants. The humidity and the low altitude of Minneapolis caused her asthma to flare up. Some days, Donna needed sixteen adrenalin shots just to keep breathing. I have an alternative, said the doctor. He pul led a map down from the wall and pointed to Kanab, 2,300 miles away. Its a very different place, he said. They only have cows and people, but the altitude is high, the air is dry and there is no industry for eight-year-ol- d breathing and needed the adrenalin shots. Shields worried about tight finances. During the day, she focused on keeping the engine running and the wheels rolling. Near North Platte, Nebraska, the car blew a tire. Shields and her son put on the spare and drove into North Platte to the nearest service station. Shields described what happened: This big good looking western man with a Stetson hat andwestern shirt(shehadnever seen anything like this man before) said lady, you look distraught and I was. He spoke with a twang, she said. He looked into the car and Donna was in the front and the others were in the back. He pulled money out of his pocket and told the children there was a store around the corner. He asked them to bring something back for the sick child in the front seat. Then, he put two new tires on the back of the car. He filled the gas tank and had his me The first thing she saw driving into town was Madge and Lester Littles motel. It wasnt long before Madge found out Shields was alone and trying to support three children. She let Shields work during the day for part of her rent. Shields recalled her first night in Kanab. I woke up and it was light. It scared the livin daylights out of me. My heart simply stood still. I started to cry and said she died, she died. My son said, no she just slept. It was the first time Donna had slept all night since she was two, says Shields. The next day she took Donna to see Dr. Witters. Not only did he treat Donna, he hired Shields for the night shift at the hospital, and he let her bring Donna to work. From then on Donna Kanabite Edna Shields moved to Kanab 59 years ago when one of her blossomed. Memories came flooding hack. Shields had opened a window to the past. She recalls in 1944, the population of Kanab was around 1,000. The Ackerman general store was where Duke's Clothing store is now located. There "I have doctor. "It's a was also a barber shop and alternative," said Buntings store. There was a very different place," he said. "They only have couple of service stations and is high, the two restaurants in town, cows and people, End, and Parry is dry and is no for miles." PeachesAsTrails for the Ranchos, it Lodge. was where the cattle roamed. Everyone made their own miles.The doctor explained that chanic go over the whole car. He clothes, and there was no such he had sent two men to Kanab aked me where was going, hut thing as with chronic asthma, and that didnt know where this place Candy was scooped out of jars and allyou needed wasa penny. they had gotten along very well. Kanab was. Shields smiled and continued And there was always the wonDonnas grandmother told Shields shemust go. Her father-in-la- with her story. He wouldnt let derful aroma of baking bread. When Shields arrived, there drove from Wisconsin and me pay. Instead, he wrote his I on He if no banks in Kanab. A man said a card. were name ever An aunt gave her $125 dollars. helped her put her furniture in got to this Kanab, and ever got a would come to Kanab once a couple of spare dollars to send week with a little black satchel, storage. them to him. I thought if he is and go from store to store makThere a was war hit. Reality on and gas was rationed, but any sign of where I am going, I ing change. From her hospital days, nothing stands in the way of a am all for it. Shields said it took mothers love. So, on a Sunday a while, but she paid him back. Shields recalls this event: "We After spending six days on the didnt have a mortician. The morning, with Donnas special of the on the tied road, mother and children ar- first lady who died on me was mattress top in a coma. Her breathing was chilrived in Salt Lake. car, Shields and her three The children thought we in cheyne-stoke- s respiration so dren, Boh, 13, Barbara, 11 and Donna climbed into an old beat would never arrive in Kanab, I didnt know if she would take up 1938 Plymouth and em- but in those days you should another breath. I watched her barked on their journey. Edna, have seen the roads, says closely, but didnt think she Bob and Barbara were united Shields. As we got close to our would make it. After she died, like never before to save Donna. destination, the children just I woke the doctor (he lived in On the long journey, Shields couldntimaginemountainsthat the hospital) and he said, you spent many of the nights awake. were red. In Minnesota it was take care of it. So, I cleaned her up. We put the body on a Donna often had a hard time all flat country. gurney in the back of a pickup and drove her to Dan Frosts' store. The body and the meat shared a large cold room until the mortician came from Ce- the an air but the altitude there industry 1 wash-and-wea- r. w Petrolane Corner Always forgive your enemies - nothing annoys them so much. Oscar Wilde daughters suffered from asthma and couldn't handle the climate jut loved my kids 19 18. Morris and was a real father to them. He wasa fantatic man. He was very musical and played in a band. We enjoyed fLhing together for trout, she said. The couple had a daughter, Mickey. The family lived in a good neighborhood with ordinary folks. It was a whole new life for me, she says. "I had never known such kindness and companion and loe like the people in Kanab and like mv Morris gave to me. Shields, 83, always believed in working hard and didn't retire until the age of 73. While working in thehopital, she also Little Hollywood, Parrys Lodge often served as casting head- quarters..) During the filming of "Westward the Women they needed many extras. We walked along the wagons and wore bonnets and no one saw our faces, she said. Shields is a spirited woman with time for everyone... especially children. Whenever there is a funeral in town, she takes care of the children. She live near the elementary school and the children call her the candy lady. Today, Shields is still active. She is in the hospital auxiliary, a member ofTops, and she helps "It was a whole new life for me," she says. "I had never known such kindness and compassion and love like the people in Kanab and like my Morris gave to me." worked as a hostess at Parrys Lodge on her days off. She next worked for the telephone company. When the telephone office closed, she started a state licensed nursery for the women who worked in the Merritt-Chapmaand Scott Corporation offices in Kanab. Following the closure of the nursery, Shields again worked at the Parry Lodge. She then worked for Bvbees in the laundry, for the Red Hills Motel, for Buntingin thebakery shop and for Boyd Glover in the n meat plant. Shields and her children were also in the movies. When she worked for the telephone company, there were always two costumes hanging in the.closet. On our days off, we didnt even back of the pawn shop where ask. We put on a costume and we use to put the bodies. went over to Parrys, says She married Morris Shields in Shields. (When Kanab wascalled dar City, says Shields. The store was on the corner across the street from the State Bank. A pawn shop is now in that location. Last summer my daughter and I walked into the in Minne- sota. Photo by Barbara Pyles. people in the Program. And what ever happened to Donna and her siblings? Donna is an associate professor at BYU in the Graduate School of Nursing. She is married to Robert Fosbinder and they live in Provo during the school year. They spend summers at their orchard in Orderville and their cabin in Stout Canyon. The couple has three children and two grandAl-An- children. Bob is retired and he and his wife live in Boulder City, Ne- vada. They have one son who is a pilot. Barbara is retired and lives in Lancaster, California. She has two children and three grandchildren. Mickey lives in Bisbee, Arizona. She is active in Community Theater. She has one son in the Marines. |