Ted & Martha Kimber

Joseph Edwin Kimber, known as Ted to all, was born on November 9, 1903 at Grouse Creek, a son of Charles and Persis Josephine Laird Kimber. He was the sixth of twelve children born of this union. Charles’s first wife Sarah died after having nine children, giving Ted an additional nine older brothers and sisters.

Ted’s childhood, youth and early manhood years were spent working at various jobs in the area and working with his father, Charles Kimber, brothers and other relatives, in the ranching business.

One of Ted’s interests was playing basket ball and he was a star on the town team for many years. So interested were these team members in the sport, they rode horseback through deep snow across the mountains to Almo, Idaho, fifty miles away to play games with various teams in the area. Later the automobile aided them in these expeditions.

Ted, JoAnn & Lee Kimber

Ted was a handsome young man, known and respected for his clean living. Naturally young ladies were interested in him, particularly after he came home one day driving a new 1928 Chevrolet coupe. After various associations with young women, he became seriously interested in Martha Amanda Hart, a young woman who had been in his class at Grouse Creek School. They were married on November 28, 1932 in Randolph, Utah.

Ted went to work for Ralph and Val Tanner, feeding cattle at Naf, Idaho and Martha stayed at Grouse Creek for a year. During the next three years Martha joined Ted  in the winter months at Naf and they came back to Grouse Creek in the Summers.
Ted and his brother Ray leased their mother’s place. Things weren’t good for a drought was just ending and the fields had to be plowed and re-seeded. Ted and Ray took over their Father’s debts for the few head of cattle he had. Ted sheared sheep, contracted hay jobs and did everything he could to keep the family going. Many times the money was very low and they didn’t have enough to buy a stamp. They never went hungry, as they always had a garden, cows, chickens and pigs. Martha sewed the children’s clothes which were made out of old things and Ted once told Martha, “If you could only make the children’s shoes we would be O.K..”

December 7, 1941 was the terrible Pearl Harbor disaster, and World War II started. The country boomed for a while,  prices were better and work was plentiful. After Ray was inducted into the Army in October 1942, Ted leased his Mother’s place alone and continued to shear sheep and do other things to help out.

When Ted’s mother moved to Brigham in 1945, the family moved into her home and bought the eighty-acre ranch instead of leasing.

In June 1946, Ted took his family to the Salt Lake Temple and had the family sealed for time and eternity. That was a big turning point in their married life. Things seemed different. They had good prosperous years, building up their cattle and buying a lot of range ground. Cattle reached an all time high, bringing thirty-two cents a pound for steers in the fall of 1950. Then came the slump. Cattle prices fell, crops failed and a real depression hit the community. They practically went under.

Keith, Ted, Norman, Martha, JoAnn, Carolyn & Lee Kimber

In November 1951 the last of their family was born. The family was now complete with three boys and two girls:  Lee Hart, JoAnn, Norman D., Carolyn and Keith Edwin.

Ranching provided the outdoor life loved by Ted. One of his hobbies was fine horses, and he had many of them around for his children, grandchildren, relatives and friends to enjoy.

Opening day of deer season generally presented a small Army of family, relatives and friends ready to pursue the buckskin on Ted’s horses.

Life in Grouse Creek provided Ted the opportunity to experience a special way of life that was passed on from generation to generation. In the spring they became cowboys rounding up the cattle, in the summer they became farmers and put up hay, and in the fall they would round up the cattle again and bring them closer to home and market enough to make it until the next year.

Ted had teams of horses that would pull the plow in the summer months and pull the sleigh that fed the cattle in the winter.

Back – Charles, Jim, Ted, Middle – Kayleen, Jimmy Front – Connie, Chuckie, Grandma Josie, Josie, Keith Kimber

The horses were also used for recreation. Grouse Creek held a town celebration each Fourth of July and part of the celebration would be horse races. Ted loved to race his horses and he especially enjoyed winning.
Ted was interested in community affairs. Service was his motto, and he rendered it wherever and whenever he could in a manner appropriate to the situation. He served as President of the East Grouse Creek Water Pipeline Company and secretary and member of the Board of Directors of the East Grouse Creek Water Irrigation Company. He served as a member of the Bureau of Land Management advisory Board for twenty-five years beginning in 1947.

Intensely interested in the welfare of his Fellow man, Ted would quietly and seriously consider all aspects of a situation. When his decision was made, he pursued his course unwaveringly and with deep conviction that the decision was right.

Fern, Charles, Chloe, Vera, Elmer, Elsie, Winfred, Josie, Ted, Louie, Ray, Nell, and Oren Kimber

Ted was a compassionate man, and loved doing things to make other people happy. He and Martha would remember birthdays and special days and send cards to children, grandchildren and others in remembrance of these special times. Every year Ted would take beef from his ranch and send it to be cut and wrapped into steaks, roasts and hamburger for each of his married children. The children never had to buy any meat from one year to the next.

Believing devoutly and completely in the church, Ted had an illustrious life of service in the church. He served as second assistance in the Sunday School Superintendency, served as second counselor to two different bishops and served in the Young Mens Mutual Improvement Association. He also served as High Priest group leader and was a home teacher. He made a conscious effort to learn the names of all the little children at church and call them by their first name.

Martha passed away on July 27, 1969 after Ted gave her a priesthood blessing to relieve the pain and suffering of cancer she had experienced for over a year.

Ted continued to work on the ranch even though he knew his heart was bad and hard work on the ranch was not recommended by his doctor. He died in the early morning on July 11, 1972, while lifting a bail of hay. His sons, Norm and Keith, were working with him at his ranch at Grouse Creek. He was sixty-eight years old at the time of his death, which was attributed to a heart ailment. He is buried in the Grouse Creek Cemetery.