Junius Covington
Comments by Gene Covington, Son of Junius
When Gene Covington viewed his fathers birth certificate of birth and on the certificate it shows his Dads name as Junius Gilbert Covington, being a white man, 46 years old, born in Orderville, Utah, Usual occupation: Farmer. Mother as Florence A. Pectol, White, age 42, housewife in own home.
He probably wasn't sure how to spell it himself. He named me Gene cause he thought it was spelled with a "J" to match his first initial and cause he liked "Jean" Gene Autry the old singing radio cowboy, so it doesn't surprise me that he'd spell it on the tree as Junious.
As you know, I was about as close to Dad as a son can be, up until he left us. I spent all my summers in the mountains on the sheep herds with him. Guess Mother figured she'd raised all the others, he could take care of me. Which was great by me. He was my hero and teacher. And boy do I hope to be with him in the hereafter.
He, like Mother had a way of making each kid and grand kid an individual and how to make each one feel like the one and most important. He would have loved to have ridden with you and I'm sure he did.
Dad was not like a sheep. As I indicated I was with him when he was sworn in as a deputy sheriff and lived with him in the cabin in Fish Lake where he patrolled. I saw him confront a couple of poachers and take their guns away from them. I also saw him do, and I counted them, 100 pushups with one arm. I think the thing that got his heart was probably fat and cholesterol - they never knew about that stuff back in those days and boy could he sop up the bacon grease with one of his sour dough biscuits and for desert it a melted brick of cheese from the frying pan.
The men in the saw mill on boulder and the other mountain men around, all spoke of respect and affection for him. On the sheep herds, other sheep and cattle men would stop by and talk story and take supper with us whenever they could. They came to him, I never saw him go to them, except in their need.
Boulder Mountain, Utah
I can never remember him raising his voice in anger and never saw him as much as make a threatening gesture with his hand, i.e. to spank any of us. Mother didn't like that about him, he kind of made her the disciplinarian of the family. But, for me all he had to do was speak and I would listen -- he through natural abilities commanded your respect and just made you want to do what he ask and what was right. You could never find anyone that would speak ill of him throughout the whole of Wayne County. In fact I overheard some one time say "that June Covington, he'll give the shirt off his back if you just ask him.", and I suppose mother didn't care for this either cause, he probably gave away more candy to the kids in her store than she sold.
Gene Covington
