Theron Duvay Sainsbury

Theron Duvay Sainsbury was born June 13, 1930, in Rexburg, Idaho to Hazel (Strange) and Duvay Herbert Sainsbury on a ranch in the Teton Basin. In 1935 they moved to Toppenish (Yakima area), Washington to work in the fruit harvest. In 1941 they moved to a ranch in the Flathead Valley (Saint Ignatius, Montana) where they had milk cows, raised Angus bulls and farmed hay. Theron became an expert trapper, catching hundreds of muskrats, beaver and mink which he skinned and sold for a nice profit. In 1947 they moved back to Toppenish, Washington where Theron reunited with his fourth-grade classmates for high school graduation in 1948. After graduation Dad joined the Navy, serving four years aboard the USS Higbee DDR806. He fought in the Korean War (Company 535) where he earned several medals for bravery. In 1954 Theron attended BYU and in 1956 served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Rarotonga (The Cook Islands) and developed a great love for the Polynesian people. When he returned he bought a farm south of Moses Lake and raised cows and wheat. He worked at the sugar beet factory and even served as a deputy sheriff for Grant County for a short duration.