By Carl Call (son of Charlie) –
November 23, 2024
These are some of the things I remember about Grandfather Anson Bowen Call. He was an old man all my life. First, he always used one cane, then 2 canes and then crutches, then a wheelchair. Don’t remember ever seeing him walk without a cane. He had a very strong voice. When he wanted to go to church, he would call “O, Arnold, we are late for church.” He was very much on time. He always sat by the pulpit in church with his hand cupping his ear to hear what people said. When they were wrong, he would correct them, even though he wasn’t Bishop.
When he was Bishop, he wanted everyone to fast on Fast Sunday, and one time he asked who all had their family prayer that morning. Everyone raised their hand but his son Charlie, my father. Grandpa shouted out, “What’s the matter with you, Charlie, why did you not have family prayer?” Everyone looked at my dad and us kids. Charlie said, “No eat, no prayer.” My grandpa just shook his head at him.
Grandpa had a very good memory. People would make their donation and tell him how much was tithing. He would just put it in his pocket and did not write anything down. When he got home in his office, he would count it out and remember what everyone paid him individually and would write a receipt out for them to hand out next Sunday.
He also was in charge of the water in town. Anyone that wanted the water had to come to him, pay for the water, and take a receipt to the Water Master. Grandpa kept track of that for everyone in town. Non-members and members would call him Bishop Call.
I remember he wanted me to do something for him and when he would see me pass by the window without my shirt on, he would get after me. When nylon see-thru shirts or blouses came into style, he would sort of condemn them and try to make us put something else on. He thought we all should be modest in dress.
I remember he wanted me to mail some letters for him. I told him I would take them for Arnold to mail because I was not going up town yet. He said, “No, I want you to promise me you will take them now. I do not want Arnold to take them.”
When I was in the first and second grades of school, my teacher would always take the students to Grandpa’s house and listen to him tell us about the Pancho Villa days. And recite from memory all of his poems that he had learned during his life. We always looked forward to going there.
I remember when I was baptized a member of the Church when I was 8 years old. My brother Waldo was a priest and Grandpa the Bishop. Our family would go to Grandpa’s pilla (a masonry water catch structure) for me to be baptized. When he got there, he saw me swimming around the pilla. He was upset about that and gave me a little speech. I don’t remember what all he said. Then Waldo baptized me. The next fast Sunday, my dad confirmed me. A few months after that, we were walking home from Church and my dad told me and my brother Mac not to change our Sunday clothes because we were going to Grandpa’s to get our patriarchal blessing. It was a surprise to me. When we got there, he was sitting in his big chair with a little stool by his feet. I sat down and he gave me my blessing. I did not know anything about it. My mother always typed up his blessings for him. He placed his hands on my head and gave me the blessing. I did not know much about it at that age. When Uncle Arnold married Glenna, she did the typing for the blessings. When my mother was typing them, she would always read them back to him. He would correct her spelling and all for her. Then he would give us, on paper, our blessings.
I always remember he kept up on the world news. He never missed one day that I remember, never going to bed without listening to the 10 o’clock news (on KSL radio). He always wanted anyone coming from El Paso to bring the New York newspaper. He liked to keep up on the world news.
He always had his garden and plenty of watermelons. He always would eat the heart and give the rest to everyone around. That always bothered us. My dad told him, “The rest of us would like some of that heart also.” That did not change my grandpa!
One day I asked him about his childhood. He told me he was always nice to his Aunt Mary, his stepmother. He never mentioned anything to me about his father and mother, just Aunt Mary. I asked him if he was nice to other people in school when he was young. He would never tell me anything about that but I think he was quite mischievous.
I always admired his knowledge of the scriptures. I always wanted to have that knowledge and be able to give talks in Church without notes or reading anything. He said to me that if you read it, it was not a talk but a reading. He did not encourage that.