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Our Family
Genealogy Pages
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 1888 - 1952 (63 years)
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| Name |
Lorenzo Joseph Coles |
| Born |
18 Nov 1888 |
Pontypridd, Glamorgan, Wales, UK  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Also Known As |
Laurie Coles |
| FindaGrave ID |
203397206 |
| Occupation |
Electrical Contractor |
| Died |
2 Aug 1952 |
Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA |
- Lorenzo Joseph Coles was born to Edith Elizabeth Coles and Joseph John Coles on November 18, 1888 in Pontypridd, Wales. Lorenzo, his two brothers and two sisters, and his parents immigrated to the United States when he was about 1 year age. They settled in Wyoming for a time but eventually moved to Salt Lake City, Utah. Not much was known of Lorenzo's childhood, except he seemed to be close to his brother Burt. Once, in his teens, his brother Burt had moved to California. The family did not hear from him for over 2 years, so Laurie (as he was called) and a friend decided to go find him. They hopped a freight car at the railroad yard, made their way to California and found him doing well. Laurie's parents just about disowned him for disobeying them and going to California at such a young age.
Laurie and his brother Burt opened a bicycle shop in Salt Lake at 76 Richards Street. Burt eventually specialized in fixing the new automobiles and Laurie taught himself how to be an electrician. For a brief period of time he built stokers (for the coal furnaces). He seemed to be very gifted in fixing things. He fixed the clock on the corner of First South and Main Street many times. In fact he is the one that electrified the clock (changing it from the old wind up type) and he is the one that put a light behind the face so it could be read at night. At least once he was called upon to break into the safe at the Zion's bank on the same corner, because the new timed lock failed to function right and the safe could not be opened. He also used to fix and maintain the furnace motor at the LDS Hospital.
One of the things remembered about the antics of Laurie and his brother Burt was when they built a cannon. This cannon was apparently shot off at least twice. Once it was filled with shot and set off somewhere on South Temple Street, and once it was shot off on Armistice Day. On that occasion it left a ramrod sticking through the sign on H Street and 9th Avenue.
Grandpa Coles or "Pop" as everyone called him, loved to go duck hunting. One of his pastimes was also playing cards, he, and the rest of the family, played a lot of cards. His favorite color was "yeller" and his favorite food was good ole meat, potatoes and gravy. His absolute most favorite food, however, was Julia's baking powder biscuits. His favorite sport was horseshoes and he was apparently quite good at it. He like to drive Fords and he and the family loved to go camping. Millcreek Canyon was their favorite camping spot and they would spend up to three weeks at a time camping there. Since Laurie was a very hard worker, he would drive up to the campsite after work and then get up early the next morning to get back to work on time.
Pop cut everyone's hair. This is my one memory of Grandpa Coles while I was a youth--being taken downstairs for a hair cut. He cut all of his son's hair, and eventually all of his sons-in-laws hair. This was in addition to everyone else in the neighborhood that came over for a free haircut.
Pop also smoked a cigar. Julia did not like it, so it didn't happen in the house very often. Once in a while he was permitted to smoke downstairs, but nowhere else. He smoked his cigar mostly outside or down to the shop, but the cigar was to be left on the windowsill of the kitchen window before he came in the house. The next day it would still be sitting there for him as he left it.
He believed it was a mans place to drive, not a woman's, so he never allowed his wife Julia to learn how to drive. Nor did any of his daughters drive until after they were married. The same was to be said of bicycles. The boys were allowed to have bicycles, but not the girls. The daughters apparently used to "borrow" their brothers bikes to ride when Pop wasn't around.
When each child was born Pop used to give them a dime with the same year as their birth on it Elaine and Melba seem to be the only ones that kept those dimes over the years.
Laurie always went to Sacrament Meeting, but he did not go to any other meetings. He supported all of his sons that went on missions, some of the neighborhood boys who went on missions and he donated countless hours and supplies to the church. He seemed to have a great character as well. Many times during the depression hobos used to knock at the back door of the Coles home looking for food. It was always available for them, but one time one of the hobo's was looking for a suit in order to go find a job. Pop never put much stock into clothes, but at this particular time he happened to have two suits, a new one and an old one. To the consternation of Julia, he gave the hobo the new suit instead of the old one. When Julia asked him why he replied simply, "the hobo needed a new one worse than I do, my old one is just fine."
When the grandkids started to arrive, Pop always made sure they got one dollar for Christmas and birthdays. Of course he also made sure he cut all of the hair of the boys as well. One of the great remembrances of all of the Coles kids was that every Sunday Pop would either give them a nickel (to go buy two ice cream cones) or the family would make a batch of homemade ice cream. Pop had rigged an ice cream maker up to the electricity so no one would have to turn the crank. The kids, who were instructed to break the icicles off from around the outside of the house, provided the ice for the ice cream maker. Ice cream seemed to be a favorite around the Coles home. After Julia died in 1944 Laurie was lonely and seemingly lost. He fell in love with and married Laura Andersen Burnham. They lived together in the house on I street until his death.
Lorenzo Joseph (Laurie/Pop) Coles died of a heart attack on August 2, 1952. He is buried in the Salt Lake City cemetery with his wife Julia and two of his sons, Lewis Emit and Dick Johnson Coles.
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| Buried |
Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA |
Address:
Salt Lake City Cemetery, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA |
| Person ID |
I31563 |
Lasbury Family |
| Last Modified |
10 Jan 2024 |
| Father |
Joseph John Coles
b. 20 Aug 1861, Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales, UK
d. 20 Jan 1941, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA (Age 79 years) |
| Mother |
Edith Elizabeth Lewis
b. 22 Jan 1866, Lydbrook, Gloucestershire, England, UK
d. 30 May 1940, Santa Monica, Los Angeles, California, USA (Age 74 years) |
| Married |
28 Jul 1883 |
Pontypridd, Glamorgan, Wales, UK |
| Family ID |
F12113 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Wife 1 |
Gerda Julianna Jansson
b. 9 Jul 1889, Knutley, Upsola San, Sweden
d. 15 Oct 1944, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA (Age 55 years) |
| Married |
29 Sep 1909 |
Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA |
| Children |
| | 1. Joseph William Coles
b. 18 Jun 1910, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA
d. 3 Aug 1980, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA (Age 70 years) |
| | 2. Chester Lorenzo Coles
b. 19 Oct 1913, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA
d. 17 Nov 1994, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA (Age 81 years) |
| | 3. Melba Ruth Coles
b. 17 Mar 1915, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA
d. 24 Aug 1994, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA (Age 79 years) |
| | 4. Julia Elaine Coles
b. 8 Sep 1917, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA
d. 17 Dec 2007, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA (Age 90 years) |
| | 5. Dick Johnson Coles
b. 26 Mar 1921, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA
d. 24 Mar 1976, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA (Age 54 years) |
| | 6. Kyle Ralph Coles
b. 3 Jan 1923, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA
d. 6 Jul 2001, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA (Age 78 years) |
| | 7. Laurie Bruce Coles
b. 11 Sep 1927, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA
d. 29 Oct 2019, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA (Age 92 years) |
| | 8. Beverly June Coles
b. 23 Jun 1929, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA
d. 28 Jun 2013, Yorba Linda, Orange, California, USA (Age 84 years) |
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| Last Modified |
10 Jan 2024 |
| Family ID |
F12114 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Wife 2 |
Laura Green
b. 18 Oct 1900, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA
d. 17 Apr 1987, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA (Age 86 years) |
| Last Modified |
10 Jan 2024 |
| Family ID |
F28044 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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| Event Map |
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 | Born - 18 Nov 1888 - Pontypridd, Glamorgan, Wales, UK |
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 | Married - 29 Sep 1909 - Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA |
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| Died - 2 Aug 1952 - Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA |
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| Buried - Address:
Salt Lake City Cemetery, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA - - Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA |
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