The Honorable Life of Quinn D Arave-- Research Paper

The Honorable Life of Quinn D Arave

After living a life like my grandfathers, I couldn’t help but be proud of my full and honorable history. Quinn D Arave was born on September 20, 1922 on a family farm in Taylor, Idaho. He grew up on that same farm with his older sister Nola, and his younger sister Donna. His parents were Herchel Dell and Mae Clark Arave. While raising all varieties of crops including beets, wheat, and a fruit orchard, he also took care of chickens, pigs, bum lambs, horses and milked cows starting at an early age. The many times he spent riding his horse ‘Dynamite’ were also unforgettable memories that he never got tired of telling about. In his youth, Quinn also helped his father herd cattle on the ranch. By the way Quinn was raised and by the way he lived from then on, it was apparent that he truly had a love and respect for nature and animals.
In the late twenties and early thirties, America’s economy was at its worst. This historic time is known as the Great Depression and Quinn was a child was at that time. This time in history was extremely hard for many American families, but luckily, Quinn’s family was prepared. They had enough livestock and crops to take care of themselves without being too affected by the terrible economy. His father actually gave jobs to poor and less fortunate people to work on their farm. It was truly a blessing for his family to be self-sufficient during this difficult time in America’s history.
Quinn went to Shelley High School as a teenager in Shelley, Idaho. Because he grew up with the majority of his large family around him, he had many peers who, he soon found out, were his cousins. So he obviously had to be very careful about whom he dated! Lucky for him, he fell in love with Byrle Bigelow who was two years younger, and much to his relief, not his cousin! When Quinn was eighteen and Byrle was sixteen, they were married at his home in Taylor, Idaho on November 30, 1940. For the first two years of their marriage, Byrle and Quinn lived in Idaho Falls. While Byrle was working as a waitress, Quinn worked as a handyman at a hardware store. Soon he began machine school in Idaho Falls, and after six weeks, he and Byrle moved to Bremerton, Washington in April of 1942. Here he worked for the U.S. Naval Shipyards (also known as Puget Sound Navy Yards) and soon had his first child, Kathleen. Kathleen was born September 9, 1942.
At the shipyards, Quinn manufactured and inspected parts for ships going out to war. He used lathes and bullards for his work. As he gained the favor of his bosses, he quickly earned more responsibilities. During an Air Raid Drill, which they did at the shipyards, it was also Quinn’s responsibility to be a fireguard. He watched over the dry dock and would immediately scoop up and get rid of any bomb debris that might fall from the sky.
In June of 1944, during the height of World War II, 21-year-old Quinn was drafted into the U.S. Army. His experience began in England, then on to France, and later to Belgium, Germany, Bavaria, Czechoslovakia, and Austria. He was a Rifleman in the Ozark Battalion, and in addition was also called to be a messenger for the 406th Infantry. Radios were also used for communication, but messengers on foot sent some of the most important messages. He was required to move from unit to unit, giving messages that he had to memorize. These messages could not be written out in case an enemy intercepted him. Not only did he have to memorize locations, dates, times, and other information, but he also had to find his way around in the dark without a flashlight so that he was less likely to be seen. This important job gave him an enormous amount of responsibility, causing many people to rely on him.
Near the time that America dropped the atomic bomb on Japan and the war ended, Quinn was assigned to be a Sergeant in the Infantry. He and others were to sweep Germany at the end of the war to “clean up” and clear out any lingering enemy troops. One particular time when he was storming the house of a Nazi troop, he saw the Nazi flag hanging on the wall, and in anger he tore it off the wall onto the ground.
Once he returned home in 1946, Quinn had earned many awards for his devotion to his country. He said, “I was in the fighting zone for about five months, and I had two Battle Star medals and an Infantry Man’s Badge…several service ribbons and a Good Conduct medal. I am proud of that.” He sincerely loved America and everything that the flag represents and symbolizes along with the many privileges of living here. He was everything you could expect from the ideal patriot.
Quinn was a very talented man with many abilities. He had a variety of jobs and temporary occupations once he returned from the war and began raising a family of his own. He worked as a Potato Warehouseman, gas station attendant, salesman, truck driver, and auto mechanic. His resourcefulness and intelligence allowed him to work hard in many different fields. Quinn also raised his own farm with his family. When Quinn was young he picked up many skills of construction and woodworking, learning from his father, skill after skill. In 1964, Quinn was called on a Building Mission to build LDS church buildings. He worked as a superintendent for the church buildings all over the Northwest. For those 10 years he was a superintendent over multiple churches built in Montana, Alaska, Washington, Idaho, and Oregon. The work he did was always precise and he never settled for anything less than the best. After a church building project in Alaska, Quinn’s wife, Byrle Arave, wrote down a story of a time when he demonstrated this commitment to doing things the right way:
We were in Alaska when the brick masons, a motley crew, were starting a wall inside. They were up about four feet. Quinn walked toward the wall and saw that it was not straight. He told the masons that they would have to straighten the wall, which would involve going down to the aria where the problem began, right to the bottom course. The masons argued that it was good enough. No one would notice. They’d already gone too far to change it. It was good enough. Quinn insisted that it had to be fixed, that it was not good enough and he would not accept it. The foreman finally said, “I’m not going to change it, so what are you going to do about it?” He should never have said that. Quinn picked up a nearby sledge hammer and forcefully leveled the wall. Quinn said, “That will do it. Now put it up right or take your crew and get off the job.” The foreman was working out of Salt Lake and understood completely what he had to do, so he finished.
After the Building Mission, Quinn became a General Contractor in 1974 and started his own business called Arave Construction Company. From there his sons also helped with the business, and when Quinn passed away, his son, Spencer, continued the business.
Quinn always loved to spend time with his family. He knew exactly how to make the kids laugh and have fun. Together his family enjoyed all kinds of outings including picnics, campouts, hiking, and fishing. He would often tell many stories from his past also. Water fights were also another activity that were never really planned, but something he himself usually started. His children included Kathy, Stephen, Spencer, Susan, Helen, and Cindy.
Quinn had a massive stroke in January of 2002 at the age of 81, causing the entire left side of his body to be paralyzed. Although this greatly affected his physical abilities, Quinn never lost his good attitude and intelligent mind. With the help of loving family, Quinn was able to basically continue his normal life. After moving to a nursing facility in 2005 with his wife Byrle, Quinn passed away on April 11, 2006.
The life of Quinn Arave truly left an unforgettable and honorable legacy. Everything he did proved himself to be trustworthy, fun, responsible, and extremely talented. Things like his work ethic and his devotion to his country and family are things that everyone should look up to and admire. The kind of man he was is the kind of man that I want to grow up to become. I am proud to carry the name Arave as my middle name. His legacy will forever be remembered.