Introduction

Childhood

Courtship and Marriage

Education

Teaching

Touring

Scouting

Theater

History and Politics

Farming

Church Service

Mission President

Temple Presidency

Ashcroft Observatory

Family

Funeral

Photo Gallery

Teaching

“The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles but to irrigate deserts.”

― C.S. Lewis

Theron joined the full-time faculty at the Branch Agricultural College in the fall of 1939.  He taught there for 31 years.  During the years he taught at the school it grew a great deal.  The Branch Agricultural College became the College of Southern Utah in 1951, then Southern Utah State College in 1969, and today it is Southern Utah University.  During the early years at BAC, Theron was one of only a handful of faculty members and at one time or another he taught most, if not all, of the science and math classes offered at the College.

As part of his original contract Theron also did surveying for the city in the evenings and on Saturdays.  The city paid the college $800 or $900 a year for his services.  The Experiment Station also paid the college $700 a year for his work testing the efficiency of pump wells in Cedar Valley, Parowan Valley, and Escalante Valley, and doing some research work on canal linings in the Delta area.  This meant that the college had his services for very little outlay.  When the war started, the city asked Theron to stake out the airport, and he spent one full summer doing that.

When they first moved to Cedar City, Theron, Lucretia, and their four children lived for three months in the upstairs of the Will and Claire Jones home on 100 West. They then rented a house from Oscar Larson on 200 South and about 400 West (directly west of the Thorley home). This home was just across the street from the campus and was very convenient for Theron. It was a nice brick, four-bedroom house and it rented for $45 a month. They lived there for three years. The only other house Theron owned was the home he and Lucretia purchased at 369 South 200 West. It had been built by a Mr. Udell, but he had been called back to active service and was to be stationed at Bremerton, Washington. He was desperate to sell the house. Theron and Lucretia didn't think they could afford it, but he kept cutting the price until they didn't think they could afford not to buy it. The selling price was $6200

When Theron first arrived at the Branch Agricultural College, it was a rather small school. The campus consisted of the old library building (Old Main), the old science building, the old chemistry building (which was very small and held only one class), the old shop where Ben Cooley taught his woodworking classes, and the old gymnasium where all the games and dances were held. They were excavating for the girl's dorm when he arrived and it was completed the first year he was on campus. The 'B' dorm, for boys, down under the hill was also in use, and the old barn west of the football stadium where Eldro Rigby did chores and milked cows. The Ashcrofts got their milk there some of the time, mostly when their cow was dry.

There were very few faculty members at that time.  The science faculty consisted of Theron and Parley Dalley.  Parley taught all the chemistry, geology, and part of the math, (calculus and analytical geometry), and Theron taught all the engineering, drafting, physics, and the rest of the math, (algebra, geometry, statistics and trigonometry).

 Theron was a good teacher and was loved by his students and his faculty colleagues. Bill Lewis, one of his students, wrote the following:

“In 1962, I enrolled in a drafting class taught by Theron Ashcroft. This course was an exercise in mental manipulation and physical representation of points in 3-dimensional space to determine true length and relative positioning from three or four points of view – top, front and side, and in some cases diagonally parallel to a random line in space.  Our text presented problems and we struggled to 'see' through the 'fog' and find ways to draw our abstract thoughts.   Sometimes I wondered if I would ever find the solution.  It was tough.

“Never once do I remember Professor Ashcroft telling me the solution, or even hinting at it.  His corrections on our assignments encouraged good work and complimented neatness and clean effort.  His restraint in not taking away our struggle was tempered with his smile.  It was a smile that spoke the words ‘You are on the right track and will soon discover what you are looking for.  Open your eyes, the answer is right before you!’

“On one occasion I was in his office and he shared with me some of the ways he uses the things we were learning in his class.  He contracted jobs from local heating shops and other engineering services to make templates for odd shaped ductwork.  When a round duct ran into a rectangular duct at an angle, they needed a template to be able to cut that fixture out of a piece of sheet metal.  Sometimes a round duct blended into another round duct of different diameter.  He was a master at making those kinds of templates and had several jobs he was working on for local contractors.  I was impressed with what he showed me and I could see where the things we learned in that class were of use.  I couldn't wait to have the chance to try my skill at it.  Later in my life I had that chance many times making ductwork for roof jacks and other applications.  I also learned that the same principles apply with compound angles in woodworking.  Compound angles seem to be the test of a good carpenter.  I have learned how to apply those drafting principles to compound angles and have found a lot of satisfaction in doing so.  I will always be grateful to Professor Theron Ashcroft for igniting my curiosity the way he did that day.

“I loved that class.  I have used things I learned that year many times over the years.  Thank You Professor Theron Ashcroft, teacher, mentor, motivator and friend.”

Larry Adams was also a student at CSU during the 60’s.  He played on the basketball team and allowed basketball to become more important than his school work.  At the end of the year he found himself in academic crisis and was asked to appear before the academic probation committee.  Larry presented a story which suggested his poor grades were caused by things beyond his control and assured the committee that the situation would never occur again.  The committee seemed reassured with the exception of one member -- Theron Ashcroft.  He said he didn’t believe Mr. Adams was sincere -- that he had come to CSU to play ball and not to get an education, that he would promise whatever was necessary to get him through the next basketball season, but there would be little, if any, change in his academic performance.  Larry said he was shocked to hear Professor Ashcroft say that, but had to admit to himself that what he said was true.  It was the beginning of a change of heart for Larry.  He worked hard to be a better student (and played that second season of basketball), and became a teacher and coach himself, spending a lifetime helping young students be true to themselves on and off the court.  He said that although he had never taken a class from Professor Ashcroft, Professor Ashcroft had made a bigger impact on his life than any other teacher.

Theron was known for his stories, which he used extensively in his teaching.  He had almost photographic memory and could recall the interesting details of anything he had read.  He used storytelling in every aspect of his life

 Harold Shirley recalled:

“Theron was the storyteller’s storyteller. His wry sense of humor, keen wit, and prodigious memory helped him come up with a story for all reasons, whether as college teacher, bishop, stake president, mission president, or just neighbor. Once he warned ‘You’d better not miss church because you’d never know what might happen to you if you did.’ To illustrate this point, he told of missing a meeting {I can’t remember whether this was late April or early May 1943} because Lucretia had just given birth to Judy and was home, so he went down to the college barn a little late to milk the cows, causing him to miss church. Just as he came up the hill dressed in his overalls and wearing irrigation boots and carrying a bucket full of milk in each hand, he passed the Second Ward chapel just as church was getting out, and people were congratulating him; he figured they were talking about the birth of his new daughter. Then one of the Second warders gave him pause, saying that he’d been sustained as a counselor to Bishop Lehi M. Jones, and Theron, thinking they were just kidding, said, “I’d make a damn good one, too,” and trudged on up the street. Only later in the day did he discover that the joke was on him.

“We moved into the Second Ward about 6 weeks after Theron and Lucretia began serving in Ireland as Mission President. We heard many stories about them before we met them three years later. After they’d been home about a month, Theron spoke in a young marrieds fireside at Ed Matheson’s home. When someone asked him how the mission was, in his typical style, he replied, “It was like herding several hundred scouts on a three-year camping trip.”

“His little folksy stories added a Will Rogers’ flavor to every gathering. He was fun and funny, bright and intelligent, and loved by everyone who knew him.”

Theron had hundreds of stories. The following is one he loved to tell about Will Flannigan (a Cedar City man who cared for the grounds at the college.). It is very typical of the kind of stories he told -- short, to the point, and very funny.

“The thing I remember about Flannigan was he had an old dog that came up with him every day and lay on the front steps of the science building while he worked and then would go home with him at night.

When the movies finally came to town they were hiring a lot of people and Flannigan went down and got a job with them for a day or two.  They said they’d pay fifty cents a day for animals (cats and dogs).  They needed quite a few animals.  Flannigan said he had a dog that had gone to college for many many years, and he wanted the same price for the dog as he got for an individual.  They were paying $7.50 for individuals.  All this while that the interviewing was going on at the Escalante Hotel the old dog was out by the front door just yapping and barking like everything.  Flannigan went to the door and hollered, ‘Keep quiet, Rover.’  He came back in and the dog kept on barking.  The old man that was hiring said, ‘Your dog doesn’t mind you.  If he minded you we would pay $7.50 a day.

Flannigan said, ‘He’ll mind.  He went to the door and said, ‘Keep on barking, Rover.’  He came back in and got the $7.50 a day. "

The faculty were never allowed to leave campus between the hours of 8 and 5, unless they left a note on the director's desk telling him where they were going and when they would be back, as well as what they would be doing.  Everyone taught at least five classes a day, many six or seven, and that was every day of the week, as there were no Tuesday-Thursday or Monday-Wednesday-Friday classes.   The faculty were required to attend every student dance.  The director checked, and if you were not there (and dancing) you were to have a very good excuse.

Conrad V. Hatch was one of Theron’s students, and later returned to Cedar City as a faculty colleague.  The two of them had a long and close relationship.  Con remembered:

“I first met Theron when I came to school at the BAC in the fall of 1940, which is nearly forty years ago. At that time the College was quite small, most of the divisions were one and two-man departments. I remember in the engineering and physical science area Parley Dalley and Theron were the two teachers. Parley taught geology and chemistry. Theron, taught engineering and physics, was the City Engineer also, and in between them they shared the teaching of the mathematics courses. I thought Theron was a great teacher. He had a great way of explaining things so that even I could see more clearly what they were. He made learning fun and hard problems seem easy. He used to occasionally tell us little interesting things—puzzles I suppose they were—new ways of looking at things. I remember one day he showed us that 7x13 was equal to 28. So 7x3 was 21, 7x1 was 7, 21 plus 7 equals 28. You can even prove that by saying, ‘well if that’s true, seven 13s ought to equal 28, so seven 13s. 3,6,9,12,15,18,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28. And then to make sure that we believed what he was saying, he took the third thing and said, ‘now, I can divide 28 by 7 and get 13. So we say 7 into 8 will go once and one over. Seven into 21 will go three times.’ I remember on another occasion he told us about a farmer who had 17 cows and three sons. He wanted to give the first son half of the cows, the second son a third, and the last son a ninth. He couldn’t figure out how he could do that with 17 cows, so he went over and borrowed one from his neighbor. That made 18 cows. He gave the first son half of them, which was 9. He gave the second son a third, which was six. He gave the third son a ninth, which was two. Nine and six plus two are 17. He had one cow left over, so he returned it to his neighbor. Well, I thought Theron was a master teacher. However, it wasn’t until I returned back to BAC in the fall of 1948 that I really became acquainted with Theron and recognized his greatness and his great humor and his compassion for others and his interest in a lot of other people. By then I think we had double the number in the department. I was the fourth member then. George LeBaron had joined the faculty two years earlier teaching physics and mathematics. To be around Theron was really a delight. He could lift your spirits like no one else I ever saw with his jovial nature, with his positive attitude. He was called upon by the faculty to be MC at faculty parties, banquets and other events.

He participated in faculty assemblies and even faculty plays. He could become a one-man show as he entertained us with his great wit, his interesting stories and his slight-of-hand performances.”

The faculty was known for its fun parties. They were never catered, but were pot-luck, or otherwise prepared by the group. The two most famous parties were the Venison Party in the fall and the Spring Breakfast at graduation time. The faculty had some great deer hunters. After the fall hunt, they would each bring a nice venison roast or a fry of venison. Those faculty who didn't hunt, would bring the rest of the dinner and a wonderful time was had by all. The Spring Breakfast was held up Parowan Canyon and the two main items on the menu were dutch-oven chicken and strawberries.

During the war, 500 air force cadets were on campus.  They lived at the Escalante Hotel and would march from there to the campus every day.  They sang as they marched and it was a thrilling thing to see and hear.  There were four men who taught the cadets physics, and Theron was one of them.  During that time, Theron rotated between two rooms as he met each new class.  While he was teaching in one room, Reid Cox would set up all the experiments in the room he would use for the next hour.  The air force paid the college much more than the teachers were ever paid.  The surplus went to purchase the College Ranch up Cedar Canyon.

Theron was a Do-er.  He was strong physically (he took after his father who demonstrated his strength by securing a full deck of cards into a vise and then tearing the deck in half with his hands) and could work hard.  Whenever there was a project to be done (whether it was the church welfare farm, on campus, or helping someone else with a project), Theron was there.

Theron served as president of the faculty organization for three or four years and was chairman of the athletic committee for at least eight years during his tenure on campus. He took a one-semester sabbatical when he and Lucretia traveled across the United States in preparation for taking tour groups on U.S. or Church History tours.

Theron retired in 1970 when he was called into the presidency of the St. George Temple.

Seven years later in 1977 he was chosen to be the Grand Marshall for the SUSC Homecoming Parade and he and Lucretia were honored at the many homecoming events.