Vawn Blackham Guymon
Born 20 Sep 1914 – Died 3 May 1992

All of my Aunts and Uncles were favorites each in their own ways.  One that I’d like to share with you at this time is Aunt Vawn – (my Dad’s sister).  She was so much fun.  At one time, we lived kitty-corner across the street from her, we later moved into another house a few blocks away. 

Everyone loved Aunt Vawn.  She was always happy and bubbly and fun.  She was short and a little pleasingly plump.  She was always doing something for somebody else.  She was really into genealogy and I remember going to her for help when I took a class at Brigham Young University on Genealogy.  I really got hooked on it for several years and Aunt Vawn had lots of documentation on many names that were already entered into the system.

She was also a great cook and always had a sink full of dishes.  I used to go over to her house and do them for her sometimes.  I didn’t expect anything, but most of the time she would give me some money from 10 to 25 cents anyway.  I also babysat sometimes for her – it was for her grandchildren.  Onetime I remember trying to surprise her in cleaning her whole house before she got back.  I vacuumed and mopped and cleaned bathrooms and did dishes.  She was always so appreciative.  Aunt Vawn worked at the turkey plant for many years. I loved being able to help her a little because she had to work so hard.

I loved it when we went to her house to eat for a holiday.  A huge table was setup in the living room.  Everyone helped and brought food.  It was all so delicious!  But………...the most favorite part of it was clearing the table and playing card games with everyone.  I can still envision us sitting around the large table today playing Flinch.  Everytime I see that card game, I think of Aunt Vawn.

She was married to John Guymon and raised 5 children, Boyd, Lou Ann, Eddie, Bruce and Jay.  Aunt Vawn also worked with the Church Indian Placement Program to have a boy or girl come from the reservation to live with a family to help give them a better education.  I remember a girl that I used to play with was “Queenie”.  We had lots of fun together.  

Another story I’ve remembered through the years and one I think of often, is the service she gave to others.

One year her neighbors across the street, George and Afton Anderson had gone on a church mission.  Aunt Vawn always had one of the best vegetable gardens in town.  George and Afton also had nice gardens.  The year the Anderson’s were to come home was too far into the growing season to be able to plant a garden. Unbeknownst to anyone else, Aunt Vawn went over into their yard and planted and took care of a very nice garden for them to have when they arrived home from their mission.  Aunt Vawn really took care of it well.  An early frost had come and everyone’s gardens intown were hurt by the weather – only the garden that Aunt Vawn had grown for the Andersons was untouched by the early freeze.  The Anderson’s came home to a beautiful garden filled with many good vegetables to can away for the winter.

When I got married, I moved from Utah to Arizona and lived there for 40 years, so I missed getting to be around my Aunts and Uncles very much during that time.  I loved it when I came home and sometimes was able to go visit with them.  I will always have a tender spot in my heart for Aunt Vawn.  She passed away May 3rd, 1992 at the age of 78 years with Ovarian Cancer.

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