Wilson May Grant & Marie Mae McGonagle
(Parents of Nelada Marie Grant)
(Parents of Nelada Marie Grant)
Wilson grew up on a farm in Wyoming. They had a herd of 15 to 20 milk cows, up to 12 pigs, and lots of horses. They raised sugar beets. There was always lots of work to do. When he was about 12, his family moved into town. They lived in a log house with an outhouse. “On cold nights,” he said, “I knew that outhouse was a mile from the house!”
When he was in high school, he joined the National Guard. In the summer he went to a Summer Camp and was trained in to ride horses in a Calvary unit. After graduation, Wilson worked in the CCC from August 1935 until March of 1936. This was an organization for needy families, and provided work for needy young men. He cleaned the sides of the road, burned trash, and made pole fences. When he returned home, he had a hard time finding work. He went to college for a while and the University of Wyoming, and then farmed with his brother Nolan.
In the summer of 1937 he met Marie in Powell. They decided they would get married in the spring of 1939 after she graduated, but Wilson had no money. So they waited until fall. He got a job working in a filling station for $2 a day, when they got married he had seven dollars. Five of those went to the minister. That left them with two dollars to start married life together.
Marie
was an only child until she was 8 years old. She always wanted to have a big
family; that’s why she had twelve children!
Marie grew up in a Methodist family. In 1951,
Stake missionaries came to their home every week for a long time and taught her
the gospel. She says she was a “hard nut to crack.” She was very thankful for
their patience and perseverance. She joined the church on May 16, 1954. Her
husband Wilson baptized her. She didn’t have her children come to her baptism
because she was very nervous. She later said she would have changed that if she
could. From that day on, she was very
devoted to the gospel. She was called right away to teach primary, and she
really enjoyed working with the children.
In August, 1956, the family was sealed in the
Idaho Falls temple. It was far from where they lived, but it was the closest
temple. Their ward went at the same time for a “temple” excursion. The Grants
left later than the others because Wilson had to work. They got there late, and
the children were all tired and hungry. When they checked into their hotel
room, they found food in the refrigerator waiting for them. At first, they
thought they were in the wrong room, but they found out later that their ward
family had provided the food for them. Marie said, “I was so happy to think
they would be so good to us that I cried.”
“Wilson and I were very nervous about going
to the temple. We didn’t know just what to expect and we were overwhelmed by
the importance of it… Many ward members were there in the sealing room with us.
It was wonderful to be sealed and have our eight children sealed to us… I
remember that all of the children were perfect in the sealing room.”