At 100 years old, Dorothy Switzer told KSTU she hadn’t been back to her childhood home in Utah since the 1940s.That all changed after Steven Park, who is working to turn the family’s old home into the Jolly Circle Bike Shop, found an old note hidden in a wall during the renovation project.Getting a chance to read and hold the note, written by her late brother, was reason enough for Dorothy to head back home to Springville, which is a little over 50 miles outside of Salt Lake City, Utah.The trip down memory lane to her old family home brought back a lot of memories for the centenarian, and she seemed to find it interesting to see how things were changing as the home changes over to a business.”I can’t imagine what Mom and Dad would think about having a rack of bicycles in their bedroom,” Dorothy joked as she toured the house while some renovations were still going on.Dorothy’s father remodeled the house in the 1930s after her mother wanted the bathroom door moved.”You could look the length of the front door. And see the door to the bathroom,” Dorothy said. “Mother didn’t like that arrangement.”As part of the new layout of the property, Park is putting the door back in its original location. “You moved the door?” Dorothy asked Park, later joking that “Mom would never allow it.”While doing the work to move the door, Park found the note inside the wall. It was written by Dorothy’s brother, whom she called Bob. It seems to have been placed in the wall in 1932.The note reads: “Robert Maughan Barron. Moved in house when nine months old. In fall of 1922. Placed note here September 6th, 1932.”Park said that although he didn’t know Switzer or her brother, finding the note took him back to his own childhood.”It just reminded me when I was a kid and my dad would build things,” Park told KSTU. “I remember marking on 2x4s while he’s building and thinking ‘Oh, what if someone sees this in the future.'” Getting a chance to read the note and see Bob’s handwriting meant a lot to Dorothy. That’s because her brother, whose full name was Sgt. Robert Barron, died while serving in Italy during World War II. “He was leading a group of men up the side of the mountain to clear out a machine gun nest,” Switzer explained of her brother’s death.Dorothy was grateful for the chance to visit the family’s old home and to bring her daughter and her grandchildren along for the adventure.”Brings back a lot of memories,” Dorothy said.See more in the video player above.
At 100 years old, Dorothy Switzer told KSTU she hadn’t been back to her childhood home in Utah since the 1940s.
That all changed after Steven Park, who is working to turn the family’s old home into the Jolly Circle Bike Shop, found an old note hidden in a wall during the renovation project.
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Getting a chance to read and hold the note, written by her late brother, was reason enough for Dorothy to head back home to Springville, which is a little over 50 miles outside of Salt Lake City, Utah.
The trip down memory lane to her old family home brought back a lot of memories for the centenarian, and she seemed to find it interesting to see how things were changing as the home changes over to a business.
“I can’t imagine what Mom and Dad would think about having a rack of bicycles in their bedroom,” Dorothy joked as she toured the house while some renovations were still going on.
Dorothy’s father remodeled the house in the 1930s after her mother wanted the bathroom door moved.
“You could look the length of the front door. And see the door to the bathroom,” Dorothy said. “Mother didn’t like that arrangement.”
As part of the new layout of the property, Park is putting the door back in its original location.
“You moved the door?” Dorothy asked Park, later joking that “Mom would never allow it.”
While doing the work to move the door, Park found the note inside the wall. It was written by Dorothy’s brother, whom she called Bob. It seems to have been placed in the wall in 1932.
The note reads: “Robert Maughan Barron. Moved in house when nine months old. In fall of 1922. Placed note here September 6th, 1932.”
Park said that although he didn’t know Switzer or her brother, finding the note took him back to his own childhood.
“It just reminded me when I was a kid and my dad would build things,” Park told KSTU. “I remember marking on 2x4s while he’s building and thinking ‘Oh, what if someone sees this in the future.'”
Getting a chance to read the note and see Bob’s handwriting meant a lot to Dorothy. That’s because her brother, whose full name was Sgt. Robert Barron, died while serving in Italy during World War II.
“He was leading a group of men up the side of the mountain to clear out a machine gun nest,” Switzer explained of her brother’s death.
Dorothy was grateful for the chance to visit the family’s old home and to bring her daughter and her grandchildren along for the adventure.
“Brings back a lot of memories,” Dorothy said.
See more in the video player above.
