Page 67 - Life Legacy Project

A Time for Reminiscence
My Grandpa Fred is the man that makes you smile. The man that tells stories, not your average happy ever after stories either. The stories that make you stay, and beg for the ending. He’s the man that makes you laugh. The man that dreams, and sticks to it, through the thick and thin. The good, and the bad. The man who sticks to his promise. The man that comes through. Without him, there would be little to no ideal figures to look up to. No legacy to set. He is the type of man who deserves to be honored. Without him --it is hard to imagine what it would be like without him.
Fred Mertlich. He was born in 1936, in Cedar City, Utah. In his childhood, his father served in the US Navy during World War II, with himself to serve later in the War. At age 12, he worked on a farm. The idea of worked was taught to him young, and he would never forget it. He knew this because his father, told him that art was a fun thing, to be done when play was to be done, after the work. This prompted him to work harder, in which at school, he would finish his notes so that he could doodle on the sides. Work hard, play lightly was a common mantra. On the dairy farm, he would learn to milk and feed the cows, which became later 20 cows, day and night, each day. They later moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, when the war was started and put into swing, and when his father joined the Navy in 1937. From here he would look up to his father, who was preparing planes to fly off of aircraft carriers (ironically), in Kansas City, Missouri. His father had always appreciated the idea of work. Grandpa Fred’s mother however, appreciated play, a little bit more. He recalls his mother taking him to every major Broadway show and musical, ever produced, as this is one of his multiple dear childhood memories that he remembers.
After he moved to Washington, he worked for close to 40 years as a high school counselor along with teaching, at Rogers High School, in Puyallup Washington. Since then he has retired and lived in Heber City, Utah, and moved recently to Springville, Utah (just south of Provo), where we visit him frequently. He now is long retired and draws and does art for fun, where he is famously known for drawing exotic, and older cars from the 20th century, and LDS Temples.
Among his wishes for his family now is for his family to be happy, and loves to visit with family, and go to church. He loves to be able to telephone his kids and grandkids from 1,000’s of miles away, and loves to chat with them. The things that are most important to him are cars, friends, family, and chocolate cake. Among his proudest moments are those when he retired from teaching. My grandfather would say that if our generation would need to know one thing, it would be to leave things better than we found them. His wish for the world, would be for people to think of others first.
I love my grandfather. He is a patient, loving, kind, and overall an amazing man, thank you for being such an amazing person and amazing father, and grandfather.
”Keep your eye on the donut, not the hole-” -Fred Mertlich Written by Ian Miller
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