HAZEL MASSEY GURR

Hazel Massey was born Feb. 15, 1908, the fifteenth child, to John D. Massey and Cynthia Frances Jarrell Massey. She married Gates Bascum Donaldson on October 3, 1928. They divorced.

She then married William Wiley Gurr on February 28, 1932 at Meeker, Colorado. The marriage was later solemnized in the Salt Lake LDS Temple.
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HAZEL MASSEY GURR

The Masseys moved to Dry Fork when Hazel was five. When her father died, the family moved into town, but Hazel stayed with George's and Viola's families to finish the eighth grade. She attended high school until she was a junior and the whole family got the measles. Hazel lost most of the hearing in her left ear. Upon returning to school she couldn't hear the teachers and since she had no shoes to wear and only Merle's hand-me-down dresses, she finally quit school.

Viola taught in Watson the next year and Hazel went out and took care of Lynn and did the housework. A year later she went to Wyoming. After staying with Millard's family for several months, Hazel and a friend went to Denver and worked. While in Denver she met Gene Donaldson, whom she later married. They moved to Vernal, but the marriage was short lived. He was a prize fighter and a traveling salesman.

The Depression had started and Hazel had to leave 'Joye' with her mother while she worked taking care of Viola and Charlie Pope's children, doing their housework and cooking for $5.00 a week, only able to come home on weekends.

In 1932 Hazel married Bill Gurr. He ran a gas station and was good friends with Hazel's brother, Sewell, who got them dating. Bill was raised out at Kennedy Station, Nine Miles and White River Station. He loved the outdoors, horses and Indians. While attending high school in Vernal he played on the basketball team. After quitting school he joined the Army and because of his athletic ability was sent all over the States playing basketball, baseball (his favorite) and boxing.

Returning to Vernal, he started driving trucks. He and Hazel tried farming in Ashley during the depression: Joye was sent to live with her grandmother because it was so far to go to school. She got scarlet fever and exposed the rest of the family. Cherie got pneumonia and nearly died. Bill and Hazel both got sick and this time Hazel lost all of the hearing in her right ear. They moved into town and bought a house. It burned down and they lived in a tent while a new one was being built.

Hazel turned the gardens into a showplace. There was almost nothing she couldn't, and didn't, grow. Visitors never went away hungry or empty handed. Hazel was an excellent cook, her house was always spotless and she was always perfectly groomed.

The family's favorite times were when they went camping, fishing or hunting. They would load all the camping gear and gallons of ice cream packed in dry ice into the truck and take off, sometimes for as long as a month. Hazel and Bill also visited all 48 continental states, as well as Canada and Mexico.

Bill bought a dump truck and did contract work. During World War II he worked on government contracts and the family moved to Salt Lake, Provo and Clearfield, before returning to Vernal after the war. They ran a restaurant called the Parachute Inn for awhile. Bill then bought Ready Mix Cement Company. In 1955 he bought the Travel Lodge Motel in Needles, California which he and Hazel ran for two years. While in Needles Bill served a stake mission for the LDS Church. They couldn't stand being away from their beloved mountains, so they sold the successful motel and moved back to Vernal. Bill sold real estate and Mason Shoes and helped Hazel with the heavy work in the garden.

They also became active again in the LDS Church and were sealed in the Temple on the 24th of September, 1964 and had Joye sealed to them. Bill died of a heart attack April 18, 1970.

Uniting of the Masseys and the Jarrells
The Massey Family Association
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Relatives: Massey, Cynthia Frances Jarrell (Mother)
Massey, John D. (Father)

Spouses
1) Donaldson, Gate Bascum, 3 Oct. 1928 (DIVORCED)
2) Gurr, William Wiley, 28 Feb 1932 Meeker, Colorado
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Hazel Massey
United States Census, 1910
Name: Hazel Massey
Event Type: Census
Event Year: 1910
Event Place: Vernal, Uintah, Utah, United States
Gender: Female
Age: 2
Marital Status: Single
Race: White
Race (Original): White
Relationship to Head of Household: Daughter
Relationship to Head of Household (Original): Daughter
Birth Year (Estimated): 1908
Birthplace: Utah
Father's Birthplace: West Virginia
Mother's Birthplace: West Virginia
Household Role Gender Age Birthplace
John D Massey Head M 52
Cynthia F Massey Wife F 46
Viola Massey Daughter F 21
John Massey Son M 20
Millard Massey Son M 17
Arthur Massey Son M 16
Jessie Massey Daughter F 14
Sewell Massey Son M 11
Merle Massey Daughter F 8
Everett Massey Son M 5
Hazel Massey Daughter F 2
Thelma Massey Daughter F 0
District: 179 , Sheet Number and Letter: 18A , Household ID: 344 , Affiliate Name: The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) , Affiliate Publication Number: M1283 , GS Film number: 1375622 , Digital Folder Number: 004454951 , Image Number: 00228

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Hazel Massey
United States Census, 1920
Name: Hazel Massey
Event Type: Census
Event Year: 1920
Event Place: Mountain Dell, Uintah, Utah, United States
Gender: Female
Age: 12
Marital Status: Single
Race: White
Race (Original): White
Can Read: Yes
Can Write: Yes
Relationship to Head of Household: Daughter
Relationship to Head of Household (Original): Daughter
Birth Year (Estimated): 1908
Birthplace: Utah
Father's Birthplace: West Virginia
Mother's Birthplace: West Virginia
Household Role Gender Age Birthplace
John D Massey Head M 62
Cynthia F Massey Wife F 56
Annie Merle Massey Daughter F 16
Evertt E Massey Son M 14
Hazel Massey Daughter F 12
Thelma Massey Daughter F 10
District: 132 , Sheet Number and Letter: 13B , Household ID: 230 , Line Number: 68 , Affiliate Name: The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) , Affiliate Publication Number: T625 , GS Film number: 1821868 , Digital Folder Number: 004390822 , Image Number: 00103

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Hazel Massey
mentioned in the record of William W Gurr and Hazel Massey
Name: William W Gurr
Event Type: Marriage
Event Date: 28 Feb 1932
Event Place: Meeker, Rio Blanco, Colorado, United States
Age: 31
Birth Year (Estimated): 1901
Spouse's Name: Hazel Massey
Spouse's Age: 24
Spouse's Birth Year (Estimated): 1908
Page: A 11
GS Film number: 001690083 , Digital Folder Number: 005203163 , Image Number: 02292

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