George Peter Garff, 17 Jun 1870 to 21 Feb 1928, was born in South Jordan (now Riverton), Salt Lake County, Utah. Both parents being Danish emigrants we must imagine the home he grew up in as one like others of that time in Denmark, except... except that this was a pioneer home in Utah.
The first family home, described by Wayne B. Garff, a son of George, was a one-room home using logs to complete the room dug back into a low hill. It was furnished with a bed, some chairs and a table. This home had a stove and improvements to the homestead brought fresh cold water from a spring that had been had been found on the 137 acres Peter had acquired. George and his next two siblings were born here.
Peter, George's father had completed Bible studies before leaving Denmark. Antomina, his mother, had spent her early childhood, as Peter had, in a successful farm. Piety and industry can be presumed. Both parents had a positive sense of their abilities and place in their community. Tidy homes being the reflection of early upbringing we might wonder how a home dug from a hill effected this young family, but the reports of their children and grandchildren let us know that this and every successive home was maintained in a manner that established pride and confidence in the children. The family account notes that in spite of the hardships of pioneering life, Peter and Antomina Garff were refined, well-mannered folk, always neat and clean.
When George was about seven years old his father was called to go on a mission in South Dakota and Minnesota. Being the eldest George stepped up to the expectations placed on him. We will see over and over in this family how expectations were always up, and it seems were always met. His father had planted one of the first orchards in the Riverton area, and later had successful farms in Draper. The entire family contributed to this successful stewardship and industry, and George learned the skills that would be the seed of his own success later.
George had outstanding athletic abilities as he grew up and was active in ball and track sports. He attended the University of Utah and Utah State Agricultural College. After his studies he became a teacher.
George Peter Garff married Tryphena Mayer Brimhall on December 19, 1895 in the LDS Salt Lake Temple. They served a teaching mission in the Hawaii islands where their first child, Rachel Minnie was born. He wrote later that a very important event while in the islands was attending a conference in the leper colony on Molokai where he found the ability to speak in the language in tongues "through fasting and prayer." He would have other significant spiritual experiences during his life, as during an emergency while lumbering above Wallsburg when he was shot by a falling revolver. These stories are learned from How Beautiful Upon the Mountains, A Centennial History of Wasatch County compiled by William James Mortimer and published by Daughters of Utah Pioneers.
When they had returned to Utah they heard of a teaching position in Wallsburg. A year later George accepted the principal position and a family home was built in that community. George and Tryphena, now with two girls after Grace Thelma's birth in Draper, were active in church and municipal activities. George served as postmaster and was ordained Bishop for the Wallsburg Ward. Five children would be born there: Mary, George Lynn, Mark Brimhall, Major Peter and Ina Tryphena.
George left the educational field and entered the business and farming fields. His church activity continued. Always musically gifted, he encouraged neighbors and youth in music, drama and also in sports. He organized celebrations for Pioneer and Independence day.
In 1911 the family moved to Lehi, Utah County where George continued in mercantile businesses. The last of his children were born here: Wayne Brimhall and Joseph Elmo. In 1928 George succumbed to a tumor- possibly sarcoma- in Salt Lake City. Tryphena followed in 1961 and they are buried at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park.
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