By Their Children
Elwood F. (Dick) Skeen was born April 14, 1908 in Plain City, Utah, the last child of Lyman Stoddard and Annie Skelton Skeen.
Dick had a rich heritage. Lyman, his father, was a prominent farmer and stockman. He was also well-known for his beautiful Shire Horses. Lyman did a great deal of construction work on canals and railroads and was a great organizer. From his example, Dick learned the value of hard work. The Lyman Skeen family lived in a beautiful home located at 2338 North 4575 West, Plain City.
Dick’s Grandfather was Joseph Skeen who was in the Mormon Battalion. He was also one of the original settlers of Plain City.
The Lyman Skeen family consisted of five boys: Stephen, who died as a baby; Blaine, Wilford, George and Dick. The girls were Ivy (Marsden), Lenora (Freestone), and Jennie (Cook).
Working hard, Dick helped his family on the farm, helped with the horses and also with the construction business. He was very big and strong and from the stories we’ve heard, he was also mischievous. Harold Rhead told Archie that one day he was teasing Dick and then he’d run, but Dick caught him and hung him by his back overall straps on the harness hooks in the barn and left him there for awhile. Harold couldn’t get down. Another thing we heard, Nellie Ward (Neal) lived at the Lyman Skeen home when she was a teacher at the Plain City School. In the winter when the snow was deep, Dick would wait for her to come out of the house and when she got under the big trees, he’d throw a snowball in the trees and she’d get covered with snow. We talked with her later when she worked in the Ogden Temple and she said how much she enjoyed staying in the Skeen Home.
Our Mother, Luella Hunt Skeen was born January 18, 1908 in Plain City, the daughter of William and Florence Snell Maw Hunt. She had four sisters: Maviene (Hipwell), Rosetta (Hipwell), Margaret (Jones), and Norma (Folkman).
Luella said that when she was a teenager working outside in the fields, Dick would ride by in his fancy horse and buggy and whistle at her.
They were married on May 18 1926. For a while they lived in a few rooms in the Lyman and Annie Skeen home. Luella said what a hard worker Annie was and also how kind she was to her.
Most of their life, Dick and Luella lived at 2725 North 4275 West in Plain City.
Their three children are Wayne, LaRae and Archie. Wayne married Anna Jean Robson, LaRae married Robert Montgomery and Archie married Sharon Powell. They all have said how loving and caring their parents were and also the love they showed to their grandchildren.
Dick was employed by American Packing and Provision Company where he delivered meat to the grocery stores. He was so strong he would carry 1/2 beef on his back into the stores all day long. He then worked for Pacific Intermountain Express Truck Lines (PIE) as a dock foreman. He retired from Defense Depot Ogden.
Dick was a big man and one of the best, if not the best, baseball player in Northern Utah during the 1920’s and 1930’s. He was a Power-Hitting Catcher and had such a strong throwing arm that he could throw runners out at second base from the crouched position. He played for Plain City in the Farm Bureau League and was on several “All-Star” Teams. It was nothing to attract 3000 to 4000 fans for those games.