Merrill Kerr Gee

by Loni Gee Hackworth (daughter)

 

Part Two

 

School was not the only thing that kept Merrill busy as he was also the deacon’s quorum president for two years, as well as the scout patrol leader.  During this time, he also had an appendectomy in May 1931.

 

Music continued to be a part of Merrill’s life when he went to Pocatello High School where he was principally involved in band and orchestra. He won 1^st place in saxophone solo, and played the alto clarinet as well.  Some of his high school activities were: took part in the operetta, SHOGUN, had the lead in the production of LOOK WHO’S HERE, was a member of the Glee Club, band,  orchestra, Boys’ Council, Orpheus, and Latin Club. 

 

Once again, Merrill rose to the top with his sax playing as he won 2^nd place in Logan, Utah out of a field of 16 contestants.  He also began singing in a high school quartette called the Merrie Men, which performed in Boise for the Idaho Education Association convention.  He was a member of the dance orchestra.  He won first place in oratory, bass and sax solos and won first place in an interstate competition in Salt Lake in bass solo, third in sax solo.  He was also taking vocal lessons from Rampton Barlow.  During this busy time, he was secretary of the Teacher’s Quorum in the Pocatello 3^rd ward. 

 

In spite of all these many activities, he was able to complete his high school career in the middle of his senior year.

 

Merrill assumed his grades had been pretty good until his younger brother, Vernon, brought home straight A’s.  Merrill enjoyed literature and history, but he was afraid of mathematics.  While Merrill did not feel he had too much homework, he did a lot of reading.  He read anything he could get his hands on.  He was on both class and all-school honor rolls during his high school years.

 

The boys all had jobs to do, and Merrill’s job once the family had moved to Pocatello, was to milk the cows in the evenings.  Since he was very involved in music and debate in his school years, his older brother, Ivin, would often do the late night milking for him. 

 

One night, to teach Merrill a lesson, when he came home from a late-night at school studying with his debate partner, Eugene Grady, Ivin said, “I’m not going to milk the cows for you anymore!”  Even though it was 11:00 at night, Merrill had to milk the cows.  He nearly froze to death, but it certainly made him appreciate what his brother, Ivin, had been doing for him! 

 

Shortly after this experience, fortunately for Merrill, the family cow was sold.  To replace the cow, the family had to buy eight quarts of milk a day!

 

When working for the bank, Merrill’s father drove a luxurious automobile called the “Oakland.”  When Merrill was 14, he delivered newspapers and earned the money to buy his own 1923 Model T Ford.  “It was a beauty!” Merrill said of this car.  It didn’t have a top, but it did have a rumble seat.  Another unique feature of this car was that it had three different sizes of tires!   Later on the family had a Model T Ford. 

 

Merrill put the smallest tire on the front because it made the car look like it was going downhill!  He was forced to sell the car when he couldn’t afford to get it fixed.  So, he sold it for the same amount that he had paid for it - ten dollars!  But, by the time he sold it, he had really jazzed it up!

 

Since Merrill had graduated from high school early, he entered the University of Idaho Southern Branch (now Idaho State University) on Feb 2, 1934.  During this year, he also won second place in the Pocatello Stake M Men Oration contest.  He was a member of the church-wide M.I.A. chorus which performed in June 1934. 

 

During his first year at UISB, in 1934-1935, Merrill was a member of the debate team which participated in a meet in Salt Lake City  of 29 western colleges .  In November of 1934, Merrill won first place at a debate tournament held in Pocatello at the University.  In March of 1935, Merrill attended a debate meet at Linfield College in McMinville, Oregon with his partner, Eugene Grady.  They won five matches, and lost two which gained them a place in the semi finals.

 

In April of 1935, Merrill made a ten day tour of California, debating at the University of Southern California, Stanford University, University of California at Los Angeles, University of San Francisco, California Institute of Technology, Fresno State, San Mateo, Sacramento, Glendale, Redding, Visallia, and St. Maries College.  He traveled over 5,000 miles.

 

In Merrill’s spare time, he was a member of the 3^rd ward Dance Orchestra, and the leader of the Stake Orchestra.  He was “Prince Manhood” in the M.I.A. Pageant at the Gold and Green Ball. 

 

Merrill went to one semester and one year at the University of Idaho Southern Branch.  He then asked his father if he could help him go to the University of Idaho in Moscow where his cousin, Bob Kerr was enrolled.  Merrill’s father answered, “I’m very sorry, but I can’t raise a dime.”

 

Needing work to attend school, Merrill took the Government’s Civil Service Exam in March or June of 1935.  In July of that same year, he received a telegram from the public printing office of the United States Government in Washington, DC. requesting that he accept a position in the government printing department as a pressman’s helper.  This job was only a temporary job, but Merrill didn’t know that.  He had wanted a permanent long-term job and learned there were no such jobs.  However, his only choice was to accept the position and head to Washington, D.C.

 

Merrill borrowed $35.00 from his father and rode to Chicago by bus. In Chicago, Merrill contacted the institute director from Idaho - J. Wylie Sessions - who was spending time in Chicago.  Brother Sessions and his wife were heading to Washington, D.C. for a job interview and invited Merrill to cash in his bus ticket and ride with them. The group stopped at night at a tourist home, and Brother Sessions paid for Merrill’s lodging.  When the group arrived in D.C., Merrill said that he would live at the YMCA for awhile.

 

Brother Sessions had had two young men as students at Moscow Institute of Religion and they were attending medical school at George Washington University, so he told Merrill about them.  One of them, Dr. Alden Tall and his wife allowed Merrill to stay on a cot in their living room.  Merrill would eat breakfast with the Talls, then ate his other meals at the printing office or a drugstore.  His stay with Dr. and Mrs. Tall lasted from August or September until the following May.  During this year, he became acquainted with Don Ippson from Utah and in the spring of 1936, Merrill moved in with Don until his marriage to Dorothy Merrill in October 1938.

 

Merrill went to school at George Washington University during the day in pre-law and worked the four p.m. to midnight shift in the government printing office.  An accident on the press necessitated the amputation of part of Merrill’s big toe during which time he spent a week in the hospital.   Following this accident, Merrill left the government printing office...he had also become allergic to the chemicals he worked with.  He took another civil service exam and was offered a job with the social security department.

 

Once again, Merrill’s love and talent for music appeared, and he sang in the church choir with directors Edward P. Kimball and D. Sterling Wheelwright. 

Merrill received his junior college certificate (now called associate degree) on June 10, 1936. 

 

Merrill’s parents and younger brother, Vernon, drove out from Idaho to visit the law student in the summer of 1937.  During that time, the four of them visited Washington, DC, New York, Cleveland, and Chicago.  The summer of 1938, Merrill was able to travel home to Idaho for a brief two-week stay.

            

While Merrill was attending college, his mother told him about a red-headed girl from Idaho who was also in the D.C. area.  This beautiful red-headed young lady had gone to Washington D.C. to find work as her brother, LaVaun, had told her there were plenty of jobs in the nation’s capital.  One day in choir practice, as Merrill was handing out the hymn books, he handed one to the fellow Idahoan, and said, “Would you like a book, Dorothy?”  Dorothy was shocked that this handsome young man knew her name, but that was the beginning of their romance.

 

The beautiful young couple was married on October 29, 1938, in the Washington, D.C. Chapel.  Many friends had helped put together the wedding as both sets of parents lived too far away to attend the ceremony.  The night before the wedding, the young couple stayed up late in the early morning hours squeezing orange juice for the reception.  

 

The just marrieds had to postpone a honeymoon for two weeks, and when they did go on their honeymoon, it was with another couple.  The other couple volunteered to pay for the gas in Merrill’s car, if Merrill and Dorothy would drive them to Michigan to pick up a new car that was waiting for the couple.

 

In July of 1939, the newlyweds returned to Idaho and Utah, where they were able to receive their endowments in the Logan Temple on July 12, 1939.  Accompanying them to the temple were both sets of parents - William and Mary Gee, and Preston and Alice Merrill.  Merrill was asked by his father to sing a song during the ceremony which he did.

 

Passing the law bar was a challenge that Merrill completed when he passed the bar exam for the District of Columbia in December of 1939.  Merrill Kerr Gee was admitted to the practice of law in Washington, DC on April 12, 1940 - his twenty-fourth birthday!

 

Graduation from George Washington University was on June 12, 1940.  He had earned his LLB degree.  The commencement exercises were held in Constitution Hall, with baccalaureate being held in the famed Washington Cathedral.  Both his father and mother, and a sister-in-law, Virginia Merrill, were able to attend the ceremonies.  In June of 1940, Merrill was offered a job as office manager for the social security office in Arizona.  After Merrill accepted the job, the Regional Director called and apologized to say that the Senior Senator from Arizona would not allow an Idaho potato to take the job as long as there was ANYBODY from Arizona who could read or write and do the job!

 

Merrill continued his education during the year 1940-41 by enrolling in post graduate studies in labor and administrative law.  He held a position in the social security bureau.  During this time, he and Dorothy built a new home in Annandale, Virginia.  They lived in this home for only about six months...long enough to earn them a profit of 40 cents! 

 

Lowell Merrill - a lawyer from Idaho who had achieved some fame told Merrill’s parents that Merrill was going to be the next manager of the Social Security office in Pocatello, so his parents knew about his appointment before Merrill did.  Lowell Merrill had learned of the appointment from the FBI agent who had investigated Merrill’s background.

 

In September, 1941 Merrill and Dorothy moved to Pocatello, Idaho as the district manager of the Social Security Board.  This position covered sixteen counties in Eastern Idaho and his job was to do field work by visiting people and places dealing with social security problems.

 

Recognizing his tremendous leadership skills, Merrill was called to be a member of the Stake Sunday School Board.  He was chosen as second counselor in the stake YMMIA Board. 

 

In June of 1942, he was called to one of his favorite callings - that of choir director of the Pocatello Third Ward.  And in December of that year, Merrill and Dorothy had their first child - a son - Merrill Kerr Gee II.  This young man would be a blessing to their lives in many ways.