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When Mavis was 15 years old, she married Ervin Sessions who was then 30 years old. They were married 26 April 1941 at Coalville, in Summit County, Utah. Ervin was ready to settle down. His work in the mines, and doing the chores, did not give him much time to rest. He enjoyed just staying at home. However, Mavis was young and liked to go and do things. It was hard for her. She became pregnant and on April 6, 1942, she had Clifton Ervin Sessions, then on March 28, 1943, Raymond Sidney came along. Ella May was born May 3, 1944, Judith Anne was born April 5, 1946, Rose Marie born July 19, 1947, Steven born April 23, 1949, and Mark in 1950
On November 15, 1951, Ervin had returned home from the night shift at the mines and was out milking his cows, when he looked up and saw smoke coming out of the roof. He ran to the house, opened the upstairs door and ran up the stairs. He had put aluminum siding around the outside of the house thinking it would keep the house warmer, but the smoke could not get through the metal so when the door was opened, and oxygen got in, it was like an inferno. The fire almost gutted through the building before it burst through the roof. The four younger children were upstairs playing. Ervin rolled the baby down the stairs to his mother who was washing clothes. She quickly placed Mark outside the house. He was not injured. He rolled Rose Marie down the stairs. Mavis tried to quench the flames that had enveloped Rose Marie. Ervin ran for Judy and Steven. Before he could reach them, he fell to the floor and the three of them were burned to death. He got to within arms reach of one child. Rose Marie had 2nd and 3rd degree burns all over her body and died later in the Heber Hospital.
Mavis was hysterical and in a state of shock. She could not give a coherent answer for some time. She was taken to the hospital, treated for shock and released. Later she told the officers, as best she could, what had happened.
Investigators stated the fire probably started by an overheated chimney. The town rallied to help. School children donated money and clothes, miners gave a days pay to help with expenses and hopefully to save for the children's future.
Joint funeral services were held in the LDS tabernacle.
Authorities felt the environment was not good for the children because of Mavis drinking problem and so the children were taken away from her. Cliff and Ray went to Oakland, California, to live with Cordon and Pearl. Ella went to San Francisco to live with Rose and Dick. Mark was given to Lizzie and she later adopted him. Pearl wanted to adopt the two boys but Cordon told her point blank, “I’ll not rob my brother of his children.” He wanted to do what he could to raise them right, but he felt they belonged to Ervin eternally. Cordon’s daughter, Eva, wanted brothers and even sisters, but she fully understood how her father felt and knew her father was right, even though she would rather have had it the other way.
Life was hard for Mavis without her husband and her children. The church offered to rebuild her house if she would stop drinking and take proper care of them. She wanted that so much but knew she could not make such a promise.
She later married a man by the name of Jessie North and they lived together at his home for many years before he died. Cordon and Pearl took Cliff and Ray to Heber every year so Mavis could see them and she thanked them for taking care of her sons. After Mr. North died, Mavis took an inventory of her life, and decided she needed to change. She stopped drinking, period. The suddenness was too much for her body. She tried to change her life too fast and at 62 years she died August 14, 1988, at home. For such a happy person with a lot of vitality, she had a hard life with many trials to overcome and disappointments. She really did love her children. It must have broken her heart and she must have cried many times. You could tell this as you talked with her. She had the strength to carry on, with better dreams of future days. She was always so glad when her children came to see her, so proud of their accomplishments. Her Mother-in-law, May, always saw to it that she was included in everything the family did. She let her know that she loved her. Many of Ervin’s brothers and sisters felt the same way. They encouraged the children to visit her, to treat her as their mother, and to let her know they loved her. Hopefully this brought joy into her life.