Madge Shumway: Matriarch and model of longevity and love

by Janet Wilcox
Madge Metro Shumway is likely the oldest person in Blanding but her memory and opinions are still sharp and vivid.
She was born in 1927 with family ties to Yugoslavia. Her grandparents Charles and Pauline arrived in Ellis Island in 1907.
Her grandfather Charles Metro (Metrovondavich) was a barber who spoke seven languages and he could carry on a conversation with practically everyone he met while working in New York.
This gift of gab and story telling runs deep in the Shumway family. His wife Pauline Brauch was an only child and her father John was a holistic chiropractor, keen on healthy living and exercise. These traits were also influenced Madge’s choices in life. 
The Metro family eventually moved to Phoenix, then Tuba City. Because her mother knew shorthand, she was able to get a job with John Walker who was a lawyer in Tuba.
This was during the Great Depression and women were beginning to break out of traditional roles and work outside the home. 
The family eventually ended up in Bluff, where they lived in the Decker home for 13 years. Her grandparents were strong southern Baptists and they weren’t happy when Madge was baptized in the LDS religion (in the Bluff swimming pool).
However, her mother did play the piano for LDS church meetings. Madge attended grade school in Bluff.  
“Bluff was a fun place to live. There was fresh artesian water and lots of things for children to do and explore,” she said. 
When Madge started high school in Blanding, she boarded with John and Luella Rogers and she would catch a ride with the mail carrier to get back and forth on the weekends.
She was active in pep club and other school activities. She met DeVar Shumway at this time through his sister Dixie, who was her friend. However, he had turned in his mission papers and served for two years in Georgia.
When World War II broke out, dozens of San Juan County men enlisted, including DeVar, Rex Nielson, Aroe Brown, Prock May, Edward Keele, Bo Montella, Dee Galbraith, Devon Hurst, Frank Beeson,  Lyle Johnson, Melvin Hurst, Spin Jones, Billie Eichenberger, Willard Guymon, Joe Albertano, Tex Bradford, Jess Grover, Dave Guymon, Dee Black, Ben Black, Aaron Harvey, Glen Shumway, Tex Bradford, Samuel Holliday, Frances Bayles, Platt D. Bayles, Jack Hunt, Wayne Laws, DeReese and Rex Nielson, Keith and Kent Redd, Bart Lyman, Keith Harvey, Carlie Carroll, Toddy Wozniak, Sylvan Johnson, Leonard Jacobs, Dean Butt, and Kline Black.  (Many of their experiences are in Issue #20 of Blue Mountain Shadows. At least 56 veterans are buried in San Juan County.)
While DeVar was serving in the Navy (on the USS O’Brian), Madge worked for Zenos Black in the San Juan High office.  When Devar returned home on a 30-day leave he went straight to the SJH office, telling Madge, “I’m here to propose!” however, she had planned to go to Utah State! 
Not one to give up, he drove down to Mexican Hat to talk to her parents. Her mother wasn’t too excited but the wedding plans proceeded. They caught a ride north with Cleon Shumway to Salt Lake. Unfortunately, they ran out of gas in Price and had to siphon some in order to finish the trip! (In those days gas was rationed.) They were married in the Salt Lake Temple on April 4, 1945 along with ten other couples. After 65 years of marriage, Madge’s advice to others is “Never go to bed mad!”
Their first home in Blanding had a tarpaper roof, which didn’t fare well in unexpected hailstorms. DeVar started mining in Cottonwood and was often gone. In 1955, they moved to Colorado with their eight children, where he continued his mining business.
By 1975, mines were being shut down, so they sold their Colorado ranch and moved back to Utah and built a new home in 1991 on the east side of town. They ended up with 12 children, which included two sets of twins. Jim and Joe were born in 1947 and Jill and Jane in 1959. Their other children include Dan, Casey, Sallee, Clark, Kerry, Alan, and Jason. 
It was always a lively household and the children had weekly cleaning assignments. They were taught to work and not complain.
Madge often told her kids, “Tell me when your siblings do something good, not just what bothers you!” 
Madge did most of the cooking but the kids and Devar often helped. Favorites were biscuits and gravy and meat and potatoes. Allan has the title of “cooker man” and is considered a gourmet chef. (He also served 12 years in the Navy.) Three boys served missions.  Five kids live in Blanding and check on their mother often.   
Madge has over 100 descendants which includes lawyers, teachers, a doctor, CSI, military service, national AARP program, coaches, police officers, musicians, fire fighters, arson investigations, cooks, medical professions, teachers, airline mechanics, poets and writers.
The Shumway family has not only served one another but also our community and our nation, a lasting tribute to good parenting.