Congratulations to Pyper Randall of Bloomington Hills for winning the May 2017 Essay Contest sponsored by the Cotton Mission Chapter of Sons of  Utah Pioneers!  Pyper wrote about her ancestor, Elizabeth Cox Wakefield:

ELIZABETH COX WAKEFIELD 

My Ancestor report is about my Great-Grandma Elizabeth Cox Wakefield.  She was born March 2, 1928 in Orangeville, Utah.  She was the youngest of seven kids. 

Some interesting facts that I learned about my Grandma Great are that she walked to and from school just like I do. Except where she lived it was very cold and snowy in the winter.  Elizabeth loved school and when she had to leave first grade, she cried because she loved her teacher so much.  Her dad died when she was just 8 years old. 

In her journal she says that the 4th of July was the biggest celebration in her town.  Early in the morning they set off dynamite to wake up the whole town.  Also there was a band that would ride around town playing patriotic tunes.  For several years the band would come to Elizabeth’s home for breakfast.  The town played games like running races, three legged races and many others.  It was a great celebration and Elizabeth always got a new dress. 

When Elizabeth went to high school there weren’t very many teenagers in her town because the boys had gone to fight in World War II.  So they had to be bussed to a different town.  She was a baton twirler and marched in the band. Shealso sang with five girls and they called themselves the quintets.  They sang at lots of events. 

At a school dance she met Wells Wakefield after he had come home from fighting in the Navy.  She really liked him, but he left to serve a mission in Hawaii.  Three weeks after he got home from his mission they got married.  It was June 21, 1948.  They were married in the Manti Temple.  Elizabeth and her Mom made her wedding dress.  Elizabeth loved to sew.  She made beautiful quilts dresses and other things. 

Wells and Elizabeth had four kids.  Two boys and two girls.  Their oldest was my grandma Roma.  They ended up having 18 grandkids.  Spending time with their family was always important to them.  My mom remembers going on lots of camping trips with the whole family. 

Elizabeth was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  She had lots of church callings and loved serving in the gospel. 

Some things that I remember about my Grandma Great are:  playing in her basement with all the toys she had, and having BBQ’s in her backyard.  Every time we went to her house she would give me a hug and I loved her very much. 

Elizabeth Wakefield died on July 21, 2013.  She was 85 years old.