"We heard of a death notice in the Herald today for a 'Eugene Trotter'. Your dad knows the name but we were wondering if you knew the connection."So I thought I would take a look. I know that my parents live in Provo, Utah and that they probably read the Death Notice in the Provo Herald. I jumped on to the website and did a search in the obituaries for Trotter. I could not find an Obituary. Realizing that my mom mentioned a death notice I did a general search of the website for Trotter. The first result was Death Notices. I clicked the link and then the Crtl+F keys and searched for Trotter in the text on the page. The very last notice on the page was the one I was looking for. It says that Eugene died 15 Nov 2015 and that services will be held on 21 Nov 15 in Provo, Utah.
With this information I did a search on google for Eugene Waldon Trotter. It looks like the first seven results are for relatives of this Eugene and the eighth result is the death notice for Eugene I had just found.
The first result was for an Elouise Trotter's Obituary.
Elouise Griffin Trotter left this mortal realm to return to the arms of her Beloved Savior on December 23, 2013. Elouise was born June 1, 1927 in Clarkston, Utah to Joseph Donald and Grace (Fisher) Griffin. She later moved to Sugarhouse in Salt Lake City where she graduated from South High School. At the age of 17, she started working for the Army. She later moved to San Francisco where she continued working for the Army as a clerk and statistician in the headquarters of the Sixth Army in the Presidio of San Francisco during World War ll.I have highlighted the Family History information from this Obituary. I believe this is the right person because they are both from Provo and his will name is in the obituary. I will keep cross checking to make sure this is the correct obituary.
She later returned home and subsequently served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Texas Louisiana Mission.
There she met and taught the Gospel to her future husband Eugene Waldon Trotter on the campus of Texas A&M. After her mission, they were married August 25, 1952 and the marriage was solemnized in the SLC Temple one year later. She continued to serve the Lord and His church throughout her life while raising six children despite severe health limitations.
She also was active in the PTA, in politics and in community service. She was an excellent seamstress, painter, poet, and calligrapher and enjoyed cooking and gardening. She was also an avid BYU football and basketball fan.
Our mother was a light to all who knew her and she lived her love of the Savior by serving her brothers and sisters, no matter the sacrifice or humility of their circumstance. Our home was always a refuge to those in need and her door was ever open to the lonely and outcast. It can surely be said of her that she loved us unconditionally, never wavering. She was an astonishing example of enduring in her faith despite much pain and suffering.
She is preceded in death by her beloved parents, her brother, Donald Clain Griffin, and her sister, Barbara Ann Griffin.
She is survived by her beloved husband, Eugene Waldon Trotter and her six children: Sheridan (David) Arnall of Jonesborough Tennessee; Nick Trotter of Salt Lake City, Utah; Robin (Richard) Pedersen of Seattle, Washington; Rebecca (Russell) Boshard of Provo, Utah; Claudia (Jeffrey) Loertscher of Salt Lake City, Utah; and Malinda (Mark) Bramwell of Provo, Utah.
She has twenty grandchildren and twelve great grandchildren. She is also survived by her sisters, Leanor (Paul) Densley of Leeds, Utah and Rebecca (Gene) Mann of Farminton, Utah.
Memorial Services will be held at the Oak Hills Hillside Chapel, Saturday December 28th at 11:00 am, 1960 North 1500 East, Provo, UT where a viewing will also be held Friday December 27th from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm as well as prior to services on Saturday from 9:30 am to 10:30 am. Interment in the Clarkston Cemetery, Clarkston UT.
Funeral Directors: Utah Valley Mortuary. Condolences may be expressed to the family at www.uvfuneral.com.
Although I began my search or Eugene Waldon Trotter, in two searches I think I have found his wife's birth and death dates as well as the names of his children. I also have Elouise's parent and siblings names.
The second and third records were from ancestry and required working through that site for information. Since I am just doing an internet search I am trying to cover the basic information I can find so I do not use these two results.
The fourth result from my initial google search get me to the Fold3 website and a Eugene Waldon Trotter's birth certificate. When I got my free account to Ancestry.com and stopped payinf for that subscription I registered for a much less expensive Fold3 account. I am not sure if you can view this from their website without a subscription or not. This is one of the big three documents you can try and find for a person. For now I am not positive this is our Eugene Waldon Trotter. This seems to fit with Elouise's obituary because it says she met him while serving her mission in Texas. Eugene also has one older sibling.
The fifth result is an index of the Sterling County, Texas Birth records from 1927. This index includes the birth certificate found from result number four.
The sixth result is for The David and Sheridan Arnall Family website. Sheridan Arnall was born Sheridan Brooke Trotter to the above mentioned Eugene and Elouise Trotter. Sheridan is also one of the daughters mentioned in the above obituary.
The seventh result is the same obituary as the above Elouise Griffin Trotter but from the Daily Herald website.
I then searched FamilySearch for Eugene. I found his name in the Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997. He is listed as the father to Sheridan Brooke Trotter, born 13 Sep 1953 in Brazos, Texas. The mothers name is listed as Floise Griffin, I can see this is a fat fingered Eloise or Elouise. I also found a U.S. WWII Army enlistment record for a Eugene W. Trotter from 20 Jun 1945 in Ft. Sam Houston, Texas. His birth year is listed as 1927. Same birth year and state as as the birth certificate, this information is backed up by the obituary.
This 1930 U.S. Census shows the Marcus Trotter family in Tom Green county, Texas. The baby Eugene is three years old and has one older sibling. His mother's name is Mable. This record supports the birth certificate found earlier.
My response to my mother was,
"I don't think we can prove how he is related to us. His Father's name was Marcus W. Trotter, the W is probably for Waldon. It looks like Eugune was probably born in Sterling City, Texas February 1, 1927. Eugene's wife's name is Elouise Griffen Trotter and she passed away December 23, 2013. She was a missionary at Texas A&M and taught him the gospel before they were married. Their children are Sheridan, Nick, Robin, Rebecca, Claudia, and Malinda."I also added the above information to my Legacy database so in the future if I can find more information to tie these Utah Trotters to my Trotters.
