The following was taken from the tribute I gave to my Grandmother, Helen at her funeral in Salt Lake City, Utah. She passed away in California, but came home to Salt Lake City, Utah to lay to rest next to her sweetheart, Bob, in the Draper cemetery.

I feel it an honor to give this tribute to my Grandmother, Helen K. Orgill. I'm thankful today that Grandma can stand straight again, that she can see again, and that she can see Bob, her husband and sweetheart.

My name is Joe Orgill, one of 15 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren. When my mother divorced my father in 1948, my mother and I came to live with my grandmother in Hawthorne, California. I lived there for about 3 years. I came face to face with that loving grandma that wanted us all to get to the Celestial Kingdom. That dear grandma with so much courage and fortitude, who never complained, and only looked for the silver lining. In her own words, I think she described the person she strove to be:

(FORTITUDE)

"The greatest heroine is she
Who can through life's monotony,
With resolute, undaunted grace
and cheerful mien, future face".

At a young age of 10 or 11 my grandmother taught me the virtues of work, and encouraged me to get a job selling newspapers. What stood out in my mind: what a strong and tenacious person.

Arleta Betts, her close friend: "When I first met Helen, I noticed something in her right away: she was wanting what I was wanting. We both wanted to reach the Celestial Kingdom some day. And she was really enduring to the end, doing everything she could."

Her bishop in California, Bishop Miller, gave this account of her: " Helen Orgill is testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ iwthoin herself, all you have to do is listen to the spirit that comes out of her, for she testifies of Jesus Christ in everything she says and everything she does."

At 67, Grandma prefaced her own autobiographical sketch with this remark: "In looking back over the years, to write this story of my life, I see pulsing through the warp and woof of the days, shades of light, woven into gray and darker hues, pleasures, disappointments, sorrows and joys."

Arleta Betts, her friend had said: "I remember in one of her stories in the Improvement Era, "Northward, Ho the Prairies", it was really the story of her life, but she didn't use her name or anything in it. It talked of her being out on the wind swept prairie with the dirt blowing in her face and hair, and thinking of what she had left. You know, I think this creates the artist in us, when we're put under stress…".

I would like to describe this artist, Helen Orgill, who chose to grow by her obstacles instead of shrink from them. Grandma begins: "I was born December 14, 1885 in Mesa, Arizona. My mother was Ursula Pomeroy and my father, Solomon Farnham Kimball. They were among the sturdy pioneers of that land of desert and cactus. The curtain first rose in my life in a small cabin which they had built. They moved back to Salt Lake City, when I was 18 months old.".

In those early days of Salt Lake City, when medicine was still not wide spread for many diseases, and doctors were few, many families lost loved ones. Grandma's childhood was not without memories of such losses. While still very young, Grandma lost a brother, Roy to diphtheria, a small babe: Sarah Vilate, and then later her mother, while giving birth to twins, also died. Grandma herself, caught typohoid fever and Farne, the dreaded diphtheria. But they survived.

Grandma gew up in the old 18th Ward, in SLC. It was there that she made the acquaintances of many General Authorities and Church leaders. Her time there was not without its joys. Helen recalls,

"We children had many happy times. We had playmates, who with us wandered over the hills and through City Creek Canyon, up as far as Natural Bridge and sometimes into Little Valley. We often took lunches and stood beside the rushing creek in the cool of the overhanging trees. We loved to gather wild flowers and knew where they grew from year to year. Once a summer we spent our vacation on our stepmother's farm near Provo. We could never forget the taste of the strawberries picked from the patch, the new green peas, the honey just gathered from the bees, the red currents and the new potatoes, just to name a few of the delicious things we ate. The rides to Church in the buggy and occasional trips to Provo were a real treat to us. My greatest sorrow in that regard, was that my father made me wear leather shoes instead of the kid ones the other girls wore. He said he could not afford kid shoes to be scuffed out on the stones and pebbles. Otherwise I was quite satisfied with my clothing except that I wished that my stepmother would put a few fancy touches on my underclothing, like most of my friends had."

One of her poems describes the pleasant childhood memories she had playing along City Creek Canyon: "When June Comes Back":

In 1897, when Helen was 11, she was a member of the Primary Chorus in the SL Tabernacle celebrating Pres. Woodruff's 90th birthday. When Grandma herself was in her 90's, she began giving her recollections of all the Church Presidents from Pres. Woodruff down to our present Prophet Spencer Kimball.

Three years later at the age of `14, she entered the LDS University in SLC. Writes Helen: "After graduating from Lowell School, I was very happy to enroll in the Latter Day Saints University. My favorite teacher was Professor John M. Mills. Our Book of Mormon class was really wonderful to us young people. The testimony meetings once a month were spiritual treats to me. There were 130 students in the class. Once Prof. Mills told me that I was the most spiritual minded of all my classmates. He said that he always enjoyed my testimonies. This filled me with a great happiness, and an ambition to amount to something in life."

At the age of 18 after graduating with a teaching degree, she began her first teaching experience in Midway and Layton, Utah. During this time she also taught Sunday School in her wards.

Four years later in 1907, Helen went to Canada to spend two weeks visiting with her brother Farne. Farne had struck off to Canada with a tam of horses and wagon at 17 years old to pioneer Alberta, and was then married at 19 and living there. This two week visited lasted 31 years.

In 1909, she met my grandfather, Robert Shipley Orgill, who had pioneered in Canada with his family from Draper, Utah. Says Grandma: "I first met my future husband in Raymond, Alberta, after having completed teaching in the little village of Kimball. I had come to live with my brother Farne and family. I secured a job in the post office. I met Bob as he came in to get his mail and buy stamps. The opening night of the new Opera House was celebrating Dominion Day, the date of Canada's national birth. I danced with Bob and he asked to take me home. This was followed by dates when the Brandon Theatrical Company gave a few performances. We chatted about various things as couples do and he said, 'Let's get married and live at the Kirkeldy' We were talking jovially and I didn't take it seriously." Robert and my grandmother were married in 1910 and later purchased a ranch of their own 11 miles south of Raymond

The excerpt describing their temple marriage is worth reading:

"Finally the Temple was completed with the dedication in 1923. Then came the day we were to take our little family for our endowments and sealings. Bob had always been liked by both Church and non-members. When the morning arrived we were up before 4 o'clock, to get ready to meet the others in Raymond. Prayers and trying to live worthily were paying off. I had white dresses for the girls and Bob and I were to rent our Temple clothes. What a glorious occasion it was ! I sat through the ceremonies beside a neighbor member who was also expecting her child in a month as I was. We shared a happiness together. I looked at my husband on the men's side and noticed that he was listening with interest to the ordinance worker who was officiating. My dear friend, President Edward Woods did the sealing of our dear little family. It was indeed the happiest day of my life!" This Temple marriage had taken place 13 years later. In the meantime four of their five children had been born. Eldon, who was drowned at the age of four, Maurine, Melba, and Margaret. Lindy was born the following year after their Temple marriage in 1924. Said Grandma "When they handed me my husky little baby, I breathed: "What can I ask of thy Providence more?"

I think that the endurance and tenacity that Helen showed in her later life, she learned from surviving the harsh life and disappointments in Canada.

While her children were still small Helen first expressed the need to draw near to the Church and vent her courage by writing poetry. She said: "In the midst of my tribulations while my children were very small, I felt that I had to do something to keep up my courage and feel that I was working in the Church even though I couldn't go to Church as much as I wanted. My father had in my youth urged me to write poems and stories. I hadn't heeded his advice, but did so in time to have the first ones in print in a Church publication in the year 1919. This I continued to do over a period of 20 years. I finally had a group of my poems published, in book form entitled "Songs of Courage". For three years I have been working on a novel (1953), a romance of the pioneers which I called "Handcarts Westward". It has been accepted by the Improvement Era for a serial. It has been a long hard task writing and rewriting this book, but I had to do it. Something over which I had no control kept me going in the face of many discouragements. I hope it will be read with interest and someday be made into a movie. I think it would make an impressive moving picture."

Grandma was later interviewed on television in SLC in 1962. At that time, her story, "Handcarts Westward" was about to me made into a movie and directed by Cecil B. Demille to tell the real story of the Mormon Pioneers. She had an agent at that time, who was a member of the Church, and he knew Cecil B. Demille very well. The movie was never made due to financial problems at the studio, and then finally Cecil B. Demille, himself passed away.

Of their life on the farm, Lindy recalls of his mother: "Up till the time that I went to school, there wasn't a day that I didn't come in from playing there on the ranch and ask my mother to tell me a story. And of course I knew that she had ample stories and she never wearied of telling them. She was never too busy to tell me a story and usually they were stories of the Mormon pioneers and stories about the Church. I really learned the Gospel from her. I can remember having very deep feelings about the Prophet Joseph when I was five years of age. That deep feeling and testimony of the Prophet Joseph has never left me."

Further he writes: "Up in Canada, where we lived, there's a cold belt and frequently the temperature would be 40, 50 and I remember at times even up to 60 below zero F. The north wind would blow drifts as high as the roof of the house and there were times that not even a sleigh could get through. We had a little Mormon Sunday School about a mile from our ranch. There were many times that we couldn't get there because it was too cold or the drifts were too high. But that didn't stop my mother. She had a Church meeting anyway right at home, and she even had Sunday School classes, with my sisters and me. I can remember those meetings with the snow blowing outside and cold, my mother would gather us together on Sunday and we would have our meetings.

Her daughter Maurine, my mother, records this incident regarding the birth of her sister Margaret in 1919.

"The winter Margaret was born in Feb 1919, we went to Raymond and rented a place. I remember 'cause Melba and Dad slept in the same bed and I knew my mother was going to have a baby in the next room, she was having Margaret. The flu epidemic was on at that time, Mother had the flu while she was giving birth. I heard the cry (we had wanted a boy because Elden had died and we already had two girls), and I said to my Dad, "it cries like a boy", and he told us to go back to sleep and we did. That winter so many babies died with the flu and mothers also. Dr. Greenaway was the doctor. Melba nearly died with the flu and Mararet as a baby caught it also. I remember going in and seeing her with a little pneumonia jacket to keep her warm (made out of gauze). Margaret and Mother pulled through, but Melba took it so hard. They had several doctors come from Lethbridge, that's 20 miles away, and they said "We've done all we can". Melba was in a coma, just two years old. I remember Mother in bed, she stayed in bed about two weeks after having Margaret. She crawled down to the foot of her bed, and said, "I wanted to get a glimpse of her." And there's that little dark curley-haired girl, that lay so still for so many days and the doctor said, 'There's no hope for her, we've given up on her." So they called the Elders to come in, Mother wanted the Elders to come in, and they came in and they administered to Melba. And mother said they promised the Lord that it Melba would be spared, they would always keep the commandments of the Lord. They made a promise, Dad made the same promise. I don't know how long it was after that (I took a mild dose of the flu), a few days, one morning we heard Melba saying "cocoa", and Mother said that that was music to her ears, she heard that little voice saying "cocoa", and they knew that she was getting better."

Maurine recalls also the harsh winters there in Alberta:

"Then we went to Charlie Kinsey's ranch. We stayed there for two years till I was seven. Margaret was a baby. That was a bad winter, it got 55 below zero. Cattle were dropping dead all over. My dad had lost the rented crop both years with drought. So my dad asked Ray Knight (He's the one who owned so much land up there, who my dad worked for at the BAR K2) if he could skin all those dead cattle and sell the skins for a living, 'cause we had no money.

So my dad went and took his horse and was gone a long time…six weeks. And he said he found lots of cattle dead, and he would skin them and get their hides. Mother was left alone with us three children on the ranch. All we had to eat was cerial, milk, beans and bread. We had one cow then, which would kick and Mother had to go out and milk it. And one night it kicked the pail over and Margaret cried all night long because there was no milk for her." While at the ranch of their own, Robert and Helen erected a comfortable house in Raymond, they had many reverses: sometimes crops failed and sometimes the rain failed to fall. At that period of her life my grandmother wrote some verses expressing her feelings, and I would like to read them:

Because of the ranch life, Bob and Helen gradually realized that their children were not receiving the benefits that some others were receiving, many opportunities for growth for the children were not had. So they sold the ranch and bought a small filling station or the 'oil business' as they called it. But this was the depression now, farmers were charging all of their purchases and were not able to pay back their debts when they had crop failure. The oil business went broke. So in an old broken down car with no money to their name, Bob, Helen and their family returned to Salt Lake City, 31 years later. Farne relates: "I remember how happy they were to be here, how happy the prospects of living in Zion and associating with their loved ones and friends. Bob got a job at the Mt. Olympus Bottling Works. Meanwhile, Margaret had married a shoe salesman, Albert Christianson in 1939 and Melba went to Los Angeles and married Marshall Burroughs.

Bob then went to the employ of Louis Bros Stages, driving. With almost a premonition that he would leave Helen soon, they began saving for a home and had $1000 saved. It was a triumph for Helen and Bob to buy a home in Zion and live in peace. They had come to the end of a long journey and were ready to settle down. Grandma was 58 and Bob was 55. On the 17th of April, 1944, Bob took a heart attack and passed away without even missing a days work (I remember the call to Vancouver B.C. on East 61st Ave when my mother heard of his death, she broke into tears after the call, I had never met my Grandfather Orgill). Bob was laid to rest in Draper, Utah.

Lindy was now stationed in Florida and Maurine was in Canada. After a six month visit to Maurine, Helen left Vancouver, B.C. for California to help Margaret giving birth to her son Pat. With that $1000 she and Bob had saved, Helen bought a house in Hawthorne, California where she would remain till she passed away.

Most people would probably have withdrawn into depression and self-pity after the loss of her spouse, but Grandma began a trek in her life of more service to the Lord and her fellow man.

Besides being industrious and paying off her home in 5 years through nursing at the Hawthorne Hospital, she fulfilled many jobs in the Centinela Ward. She taught Relief Society theology for 7 years, the Gospel Doctrine class, genealogy classes and was called on a stake mission in her 70s. Imagine! When most people are ready for a walking cane and rocking chair, Grandma was filled with more energy and enthusiasm than ever to build up our Heavenly Father's Kingdom.

Then in her 90's, Grandma was called on a mission to the elderly people in the Huntington retirement Center (Huntington Beach, California). She was on this mission when she passed away. Arleta Bets describes Helen's dedication: "Not only has she really extended service and love to the people at the Huntington (retirement center), where she lives, she has gone to this blind lady and comforted and even sung hymns to her. She's a member of the Church and Helen would rub this lady's back. At her age, can you imagine, and she would kiss them and put her arms around them and love them. She created such a love that she had such a pure love of Christ in her that she has really made us all grow from it." At the time of Helen's 95th birthday, Arleta writes: "Just recently we have opened up a little branch there at the Huntington, and we have a Huntington Sunday School there where every Sunday every non-member and every member can have the sacrament and the ones that are bed-ridden, through the convalescent part in the hospital care taken the sacrament that day.

I have mostly quoted other people, what they thought of Grandma, but I would like to tell you of what I feel about Grandma. Grandma endured to the end in the fullest sense of the word. Her desire was to get to the Celestial Kingdom with her family, and every fiber of her body testified of it in all her actions and words. She was and is a living testimony that God lives and the Gospel is true. Instead of the Lord asking her, "Why didn't you do more to help these, or those people accept the Gospel…or return to the Church?" His only phrase to her will be "Well done, my good and faithful servant".

Grandma's crowning achievement in poetry that she wrote in her 90's was a poem called "The Priesthood". This poem was put to music and sung in her Stake Priesthood meeting. She being the only woman present.

May we profit from this beautiful woman's example in the Gospel, that we may show her same courage when faced with problems, that we may hold our head up high when we next meet her, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Helen K. Orgill was laid to rest next to Bob Orgill in the southwest end of the Draper, Utah Cemetary