Nonagenarian, Walt Messinger, Fondly Remembers His BAC Days

At 97-years young, Walter Messinger is among an elite group of alumni who are graduates of the Branch Agricultural College, now known as Southern Utah University. With a constant smile and a strong handshake, he credits much of his good life to the experiences he had at the BAC.

Born October 3, 1920 in Beaver, Utah, of strong pioneer heritage, Walt spent the majority of his life in and around the Beaver and Cedar City areas. Growing up during the Depression and out of necessity, he learned the importance of hard work at a young age. He remembers helping the family pitch hay, deliver newspapers, cut wood, milk cows, and anything else that was needed to survive. At the age of 13, Walt began working at his father’s flour mill, the only one in Beaver. He went on to graduate from Beaver High School in 1938 with a class of 38 students.

Walt began his studies at the BAC in 1939 and faced many of the same issues that students face today. Tuition back then was $40 a quarter or semester, and while there was a shortage of student housing at the time, he found a room to rent at the Ambassador Arms Apartments with 28 other students for $30 a month, which included a bed and 2 meals a day.

The country was beginning to recover from the Great Depression and like most students of that era, Walt had to find work to pay for his schooling. There was no FAFSA or other financial aid programs like there are today, but there was the National Youth Administration (NYA), a program established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as part of the New Deal. NYA gave unemployed youth the opportunity to work and earn money for their education and was the forerunner of future student financial aid programs. Walt’s work group did construction around the BAC campus and built six tennis courts and laid concrete sidewalks, many of which are still in use today. He also worked at the Cedar City plant that processed turkeys from Moroni, Utah.

Walt remembers only four buildings on campus when he began his studies at the BAC and the buildings were shared with the local high school. “We met more high schools girls then college girls,” Walt says. “It seems the college girls chased the upper classmen and fratmen (fraternity)”.

He enrolled in the college’s auto mechanics and welding programs and learned valuable skills that helped him throughout his life. During one winter quarter, his welding class was asked to submit a drawing and a bid to replace the fireplace grill, screen, and irons at the home of the BAC director. Walt and his partner Fay Raye won the bid, and over the following month they created a product that pleased Director Henry Oberhansley.

In 1941, Walt’s college education was cut short when his National Guard unit was activated to fight in World War II. Along with 500 other men from southern and central Utah, his unit was sent to San Luis Obispo for Army training.

On December 7, 1941, after basic training was completed, they were in the process of boarding a ship in San Francisco to be deployed to the Philippines when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Walt’s ship was not allowed to proceed to its original destination. His battalion was reassigned to the San Francisco Presidio to defend the western coast of the U.S. in the event of an attack. Walt was assigned to the Color Guard that honored many of the service men who lost their lives at Pearl Harbor and were buried in the National Cemetery at San Francisco.

Once the threat of an attack on the U.S. mainland passed, Walt’s ship was sent to Europe to take part in the June 6, 1944, invasion of France known as D-Day. His battalion was assigned to Utah Beach. When the war ended in 1945, Walt and his National Guard Unit returned to their homes with numerous injuries, but only one life was lost.

In August 1952, Walt’s National Guard Unit was reactivated to fight in the Korean War, where he experienced many more life-changing experiences. Walt grew up in an era when patriotism was what you did and one didn’t have to think twice about serving their country.

When he returned from Korea at the age of 32, Walt met a lovely young widow from Minersville, Utah, named Barbara Gressman, who had a nine year-old son named Robert. They dated on and off for two years and married in 1954. They eventually settled in Cedar City and built a modest home and resided there for 54 years. They eventually added two more sons to the family, one of which passed away at birth.

Walt had several Cedar City business ventures, the most successful being the Husky Service station on the south end of Main Street which he sold in 1981 after running it for 16 ½ years. He went on to work for the Iron County School District as a custodian for four years, retiring in 1985.

No matter what Walt did or where he worked, the skills and knowledge he gained at the BAC were always a benefit. After his final retirement, he worked at the Centrum Arena for 15 years as a “Red Coat”, which kept his ties to the University active and fulfilling.

At the age of 90, he and his wife Barabara, who passed away in 2012, moved to Riverton, Utah, to live with their son Robert and his wife Margie, and to be close to grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Despite his age, Walt’s memories of attending the BAC are as clear as when he was a student here. And being in the shadows of SUU while living in Cedar City for 54 years, was a constant reminder of the life changing experiences he had here.