Kendall Kimber was born on March 22, 1921 in the Kimber ranch house, twelve miles south of Grouse Creek. He was a premature baby and was kept alive on a pillow on the oven door. It was only through the blessings of the Priesthood that he lived. His father is Thomas Edward Kimber and his mother is Emma Barlow Kimber.
When it was time for him to enter school, he lived with his Grandma and Grandpa Barlow in Grouse Creek. His folks moved from the ranch when he was nine years old. He went to school in Grouse Creek until the tenth grade, then went to high school in Brigham City and lived with his cousins for two winters.
He joined the Army Air Force with his cousin Mervin Tanner in 1941, before World War II had started and was in for five years during all of the war. He went to Cook and Baker School in San Francisco, California. He liked to cook, as his Dad and Mother had taught him when a kid. His mother was Relief Society President for twenty years and was not always home when meal time came around.
Grouse Creek 4th Grade Class-1934
Front Row: Wilda Frost, Edward Frost, Delmar Jorgensen, Max Hadfield, Dorothy Kimber, LaGrande Horsely (Teacher)
2nd Row: Velma Kimber, Evva Lee, Barbara Kimber, Emma Paskett, Uknown, Virginia Warburton
3rd Row: Clifton Kimber, Viril Kimber, Chester Blanthorn, Max Tanner, Gerald Warburton
4th Row: Effie Kimber, Marie Roberts, Virginia Richins
5th Row: Theron Simpson, Dale Warburton, Rulon Kimber, Russell Kimber, Uknown, Kendall Kimber, Leland Wakefield
He spent six months in San Francisco at Moffet Field. He helped organize the Mormon Men of Moffet. He was then transferred to Chico, California to the Air Force Flying Cadet School. The Mormon boys would get together and go to Gridley to Stake Conference. That is where he met his future wife, Eva Mae Gerber. They were married in the Salt Lake Temple November 18, 1943. They lived in Chico for six months then he was sent to Kearns Army Base near Salt Lake City for training to go overseas. He was sent to the South Pacific in 1944. Eva Mae was four months pregnant with their first child, Christina. She stayed with her parents while he was gone for eighteen months.
He was in six battle areas and earned six battle stars. Sometimes if they were short of men, he flew with them into battles. He was in the South Pacific, Western Pacific, China Theater, Eastern Mandates, New Guinea, South Philippines, and the Luzon Liberation battle zones. He was discharged on October 19, 1945, having spent five years in the service. His little girl, Christina, was ten months old when he first saw her.
He started college in Logan, Utah in January 1946. They bought their first home in River Heights, a suburb of Logan, Utah. They had two children while going to school there, Franklin Edward and Mary Louise. Franklin lost his life in the irrigation ditch that ran past their home on May 13, 1949. He was two and one-half years old.
Kendall Kimber & Eva Mae Gerber-1944
While Ken was in college, he learned to show cattle, which he did professionally for nine years. He was on the judging team and helped with cattle research and learned a lot about veterinary science from Dr. Binns. He became interested in quarter horses and studied range management and plant community. The most important thing he learned was, “Become a professional at something. Then become the authority in some phase of the profession.” This he has done. He knows more about Western Box Elder County and Pioneer Trails in that area than any man living in his time.
After leaving school, they moved to Salina, Utah on a ranch, then he was offered a job at the University of Arizona in Tucson, He took their show cattle to the California State Fair and won grand champion pen of bulls. Then Kendall and Eva Mae moved to a ranch out of Stockton, California and showed cattle at the California State Fair. While there he met a man who offered him a job at Firebaugh, California, where he was foreman of a feed yard.
They had to go to Fresno to church, which was forty miles away. They went every Sunday, as it was the only contact with the church they had. They had the missionaries stay at their house and went with them to see investigators.
When the feed yard closed down, they moved back to Brigham City, Utah and Kendall was foreman for the feedlot in Ogden, Utah.
On December 13, 1952, Kendall was hit by a train while hauling hay. It broke three disks in his back and he had several bad cuts, but the skin wasn’t broken where his garments were. A testimony to him that we are protected when we wear them.
His first job after his accident was State Brand Inspector at the Ogden Feed Yard. Then he got a job for the Glassman Cattle Ranch in Ogden. It was too hard on his back, so he went to work for the Laketown Cattle Association.
They moved to Logan where they lived for three years before getting a job with the Utah Fish and Wildlife and they wanted him to take the Western Box Elder area, so Kendall and Eva Mae moved to Snowville, Utah. Kendall went to work in February of 1957, but the family didn’t move out until school was out in the spring.
They had four children when they moved there, and had Kathryn Marie on March 27, 1963. The girls were all married in the Logan Temple. What a thrilling experience each time.Kendall was very proud of his family.
Christina, the oldest girls, went on a mission to Mexico and learned the Spanish language. She attended BYU before going on her mission. Mary and Diana went to Utah State University in Logan before getting married. Fred went to Dixie College in St. George. He was married in the Snowville church and a year later they got married in the South Jordan Temple. Kathy graduated from Ricks College and BYU before going on a mission to San Diego, California. When she came home, she went to BYU and got her masters degree.
Ken was Elders Group Leader in the Snowville Ward, then first counselor in the Stake Elders Quorum, including Howell, Curlew and Park Valley Wards. Later he was made President of the Quorum, during which time they put on several rodeos and built many miles of fence to earn money for the new chapel in Snowville. He was ward clerk and after being ordained a Seventy by Brother Bruce R. McConkie on March 29, 1970, he was set apart as the Seventies group leader. On June 9, 1974, he was ordained a High Priest by President White and set apart as a High Counselor. He was assigned on the Priesthood Committee and given Park Valley as his Ward. He served until 1981, almost eight years.
He was privileged to be one of four from the Stake to sing in the priesthood choir at a solemn assembly in the Logan Temple. It was a thrilling experience to meet President Spencer W. Kimball, Elder Marion G. Romney, Elder ` Tanner, Apostles Ezra Taft Benson and Mark E. Peterson, who were in attendance.
He suffered several heart attacks before he underwent open heart surgery on March 13, 1978. The operation was performed by Dr. Russell Nelsen, now an apostle. He had to retire from the Fish and Game Department with a medical retirement, having worked for them for twenty-two years.
He was proud of his pioneer heritage and tried to keep their traditions. His ancestors walked across the plains with the Martin Handcart Co., who suffered so much in the snows of Wyoming. He was proud of his membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and wanted to live to see all of his grandchildren go on missions.
Many times his prayers have been answered and he has been healed through the power of the Priesthood. He was not wealthy by worldly standards, but rich in the things that brings joy to ones life. He was well educated, having attended three colleges. He saw that all his children attended college. He was a friend and pal to his grandchildren and they would come and visit him often in the summer. He taught them how to camp and shoot and hunt. He was promised in his patriarchal blessing that he would have many friends and he lived to enjoy this blessing.
Kendall died on September 13, 1991 in the Tremonton, Utah hospital. He is buried in the Snowville Cemetery, Snowville, Utah. He has six children, twenty-two grandchildren, and four great grandchildren.