DCCS BIOGRAPHIES

Burton Clifford Dye

May 29, 1909  to  May 5, 1972

Burton Clifford Dye was born on May 29, 1909 in Firth, Idaho to James and Mary Elizabeth Dye.  He was the younger of a set of twins with his sister Beatrice being born first, making him the 10th child of the family.  He was sickly as an infant and on several occasions hovered between life and death.  At 6 or 7 years old, he remembers riding in an automobile for the first time that belonged to a Dentist in town.

Burton and his twin sister Beatrice

Burton was very active in the LDS Church, so much so that when he was ordained a Deacon as a boy, people who knew him started calling him "Deacon" because he was always talking about religion and scripture.  He progressed as a young man was expected to in the LDS church, eventually being ordained an Elder.  He considered every one of the callings he had received profoundly serious and tried to always do what was right.

He graduated high school in May of 1928.

In 1930 when the Great Depression hit, the only job he could find was in a potato house working 10-hour days for only $1 per day.  It was while he worked here that he met his wife Cora Vivian Frandsen and married her on September 24, 1931.

Burton as a Deacon

During the winter of 1934, a stir arose in Firth, Idaho concerning several religious topics.  Vivian’s father Perry Frandsen and her uncle Burke Frandsen started to become acquainted with people like Charles W. Kingston (from Idaho Falls) and Marion Brown (from Rexburg). Burton initially believed these men were leading his wife’s family astray and he became quite concerned.  One day, Burton and his wife Vivian along with her parents met with Bill Whitmill in his home.  At one point in the meeting they were visited by Charles Kingston, who told them of the experiences he had and taught them some of the things he had discovered about the church.  Burton was very impressed by Charles and his message.

It was during this time that Burton found himself conflicted between two viewpoints.  On the one hand, he had his firm belief in the LDS Church and its teachings.  On the other, he had Vivian and her family, who felt that the things they had covenanted to live while going through the temple weren’t being lived by them or anyone else on the earth at that time.  While Burton was pondering these things, Vivian had a dream where she believed she saw a man of the Lord who from a distance looked like an old man but up close, he was quite young and had a thick black mustache.  While she was telling Burton her dream, a truck driven by her father Perry pulled up to their house to deliver wheat and there were several men riding in the back.  One of these men was hunched over in a black overcoat trying to keep warm and from a distance, looked to be quite old due to his graying hair.  Upon closer inspection however, he was revealed to be a younger man in his 20s and sported a thick black mustache beneath his nose.  The man in the truck was Elden Kingston.  Vivian felt like her dream had portrayed Elden Kingston, who was the Trustee of the Co-op at the time, and helped her to know what kind of a person he was.

Burton's High School Graduation

In June 1935, Perry Frandsen moved his family to Bountiful and earlier that year, Burke Frandsen had moved his family to Bountiful also.  Vivian encouraged Burton to move with them, but he still hesitated as he did not want to join the Co-op unless he knew with a certainty that it was the right place for him.

In March of 1935, the Shelly Stake Conference was held at Firth, Idaho so that LDS President Heber J. Grant could dedicate the chapel that had just been built there.  To see if the church still felt like the right place for him, Burton decided that he would shake hands with President Grant and see what feeling he carried with him.  Burton fasted for 3 days and prayed that his mind would not be deceived.  When the day of the conference came, he was able to shake hands with the President but was not able to feel what he expected he would by this opportunity.  He also wrote a letter to President Grant inquiring about the revelations he had received.  Grant wrote back saying he had only ever received one when he was called to become an apostle in the church.  Grant's letter was quoted in a private publication called "Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1910-1951", Salt Lake City, Utah 2010.

With all these things weighing on his mind and his wife’s family continuously pushing him to join the Co-op, Burton still resisted as he did not want to risk ever being led astray.  In October of 1935, at the advice of Burke Frandsen, Burton quit his job and decided that he would be moving down to join the Co-op.  That night as he lay in bed, he felt he could see his sister Edith (who had died 5 years prior) looking at him with a warm and happy smile and he felt that this was his confirmation for the decision he’d made.

Burton Planting at the Elmo Farm

On October 22, 1935, Burton Dye and his family joined the DCCS.  He was happy to be able to turn into the Co-operative about $900, a cow, a used car, a few household furniture items, and some fruit that Vivian had bottled.  He also worked several jobs for the Co-op in its early days including chopping wood, milking cows, thinning beets, and working on the Idaho Dry Farm.  

On November 2, 1939, Burton married Clara White as a plural wife.  Around Thanksgiving time, he was asked to help Elden Kingston plaster and fix up a home in Elmo, Utah.  During the Spring of 1940, Burton felt impressed to ask Elden if he could trade homes with him and to take on the responsibility of the farm.  Elden agreed to this and both families ended up switching homes.  Burton also worked in the coal mine which was managed by Charles W Kingston.  He grew a large garden of vegetables on this property to provide to the other members at the mine.

Burton Carrying Old Dynamite Crates from the Mine to use as Benches for Church

In 1950 Burton built a Kitchen on to the Elmo house, making more room for the kids to sleep.  He continued to improve the house and the land he was given charge of.  In 1953, the Co-op acquired a 9-acre plot of property on the Cleveland Highway that had a chicken coop on it.  Burton later poured a cement floor in the old coop and made walls for 3 additional bedrooms and a kitchen.  They now had electricity and a phone, but still no running water or indoor bathroom.  

In 1965, Burton’s family consisted of himself, 2 wives, and 23 children.  

Around this time, him and his family moved to Kearns, Utah and he started working for McDonald's Candy Company.  He was soon after diagnosed with a disease called Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease.  This dreaded disease rendered him unable to feed, dress, or care for himself, eventually even taking his ability to speak.  He maintained his loyalty to the Co-op and his family throughout all of the challenges of this disease.  

He passed away peacefully on May 5, 1972 surrounded by his loving family and other members of the Co-operative.

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