ST. GEORGE — Utah in the 1950s was vastly different from the one enjoyed by more than 3.4 million residents today.

The state’s population stood at 680,000 and roughly half of the households had access to a television. In small towns, riding a horse to school was still a thing.

On July 21, 1953, in The Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints Manti Temple, a World War II veteran married the woman he met after graduating college.

On the same date, 70 years later, St. George residents Robert and Claire Nuttall met with St. George News to tell their story of perseverance.

Several messages stood out in every response to the questions they answered: good communication, live within your means — family and faith.

Robert, now 98, trained with the United States military during WWII, just before the Germans surrendered to Allied forces but was saved from combat due to a foot injury just before deployment.

“Our group flew directly to the Battle of the Bulge, which is the last big battle of the second world war,” he said. “To my knowledge, I don’t know of any of them that came back alive, but I am sure there must have been some.”

After serving as a military guard in Germany, Robert took advantage of the GI Bill while earning an engineering degree from the University of Utah. After graduating, he met a junior education major attending Brigham Young University in Provo.

“I talked to him on the phone,” Claire said. “I guess he was kind of interested. Must have been because they set up a date for us.”

Both Robert and Claire grew up on small farms, so the conversation was easy. After marriage, they raised three daughters on one salary so Claire, now 91, could stay home with the children.

“We tried to live within our means,” Claire said. “We were raised during The (Great) Depression too, so we know you just can’t have everything in your life that you want — you make do with what you have.”

The couple’s first apartment, on 300 South in Provo, cost $50 a month. Robert worked during his lifetime of employment as an engineer in the steel industry, locally at Geneva Steel and then with US Steel in California.

Their daughters have given them 16 grandchildren, 23 great-grandchildren, with three on the way, which almost didn’t happen due to her ancestor’s tumultuous history, Claire said.

She is descended from Stephen Markham, who first moved with the Latter-day Saints from New York to Illinois and Missouri, then survived the mob that claimed the life of their prophet, Joseph Smith.

Robert’s family joined the church in England and moved to Utah not long after the handcart movement eastward. The family says their ties to the church contribute greatly to their relationship spanning seven decades.

“I’m real glad, because if we needed something we could talk it over,” Robert said. “Not that we had everything happen the way that it should, but we worked good together.”

Daughter Cristine Holdaway, along with her husband Richard, recalled a whitewater rafting trip the family took when Robert was 85.

“Dad jumped overboard halfway through and caused a scene,” Richard Holdaway joked.

Granddaughter Laurel Cottam said she loves to hear the stories of her grandmother riding a horse to school, growing up on a farm and working hard for what they needed as a family.

“They have always been really good at just showing that they love you,” Cottam said. “And I think they are that way with everybody, honestly.”

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