Joe and Euarda Daniels have been named the Grand Marshalls of this year’s Fourth of July parade.  The couple has been an important pillar of the Malad community for many years, serving in a variety of church, governmental, charity, and community organizations in many capacities.  As they reflect back on their time in the valley, Euarda sums it up nicely with “I can’t say it was easy, but it was worth it.” 

Beyond their status as stalwarts of the community, it’s fair to say that the couple has also served as leaders of many different groups of people, from the very young in the case of Cub Scouts, to the more seasoned in the form of the senior center.  And just about everything else in between.

“We’ve lived here all our life,” Euarda said.  “Joe and I have had a happy life, and we love the people of Oneida County.”  That love has shown through strongly over time, as has the couple’s commitment to each other.  

Euarda was born in Holbrook, and went to school there through the fifth grade.  “Then we moved to Malad,” she said.  “My father bought a house here, and my backyard was up against Joe’s backyard.  I was in the fifth grade, and Joe was in the fifth grade and that is how Joe and I met.”

Euarda came from a school of three students into a classroom of twenty-three.  “And that was quite a shock to me,” she said.  “And Joe being my neighbor, started picking up friendships with me.  And then we got in the same ward—the Malad first ward—and he started catching a little eye to me, and I was scared of boys.  Silly me, huh? When we got to be twelve years old, we had the young women and the young men, and we were square dancing.  The instructors wanted Joe to ask me to be his partner and I said no.  Finally Joe talked me into being his partner, and I finally came out of my bashfulness.”  

Joe’s family was from Malad and Daniels.  In fact, the Daniels area was named named for Joe’s grandfather, who led the first family to settle in the area.  Joe’s dad came from a family of twelve kids and half of them moved up there and homesteaded.  Joe’s great-grandfather was one of the first settlers in Malad, and built the first log cabin. 

After the two graduated, they briefly went their separate ways.  Euarda was at BYU, while Joe went to Snow College on a football scholarship.  Joe used to hitchhike up to Provo to see her.  Eventually, he arranged to catch a ride with a professor who went up for the National Guard.  When he discovered during one visit that Euarda had gone on a date with someone else, he decided then and there that he needed to marry her.  He went down to Miller’s jewelry store to get a ring, and said all he could offer was ten dollars.  The jeweler told him not to worry about it until later.  It turned out his dad had become the second person to buy a bailer in the county, which gave Joe a chance to keep busy making the money he needed.  Before too long, the couple were married on December 16, 1955 in the Logan Temple.  

For a time, Joe wasn’t sure they were going to stay in Malad.  “I graduated in Agricultural Economics.  I didn’t think I was going to come back to Malad,” Joe said.  “Two or three companies offered me jobs, but they all wanted me to go to California, and I said ‘I’m not going to California.’  Then one fellow said, listen they’re building a plant in Tremonton, and that was Thiokol, and they hired me.  I said, ‘well, I’ll only work a little while.  But that’s where I retired from, in 1995.’  I became very prominent out there.”  And the Daniels have had a home in Malad ever since.

Their young family grew, and Joe and Euarda eventually raised six children in Malad: Chad, Barry, Cory, Hutch, Debra, and Collette.  To date, they also have twenty-six grandchildren, and twenty-nine great-grandchildren, with two more on the way.  Most of them are coming up for the Fourth of July.  “This lawn will be packed,” Euarda said.  “This is right on the parade route,” Joe said.  “We’ll have people all along here on chairs and all around.”

As their children grew, Euarda and Joe remember a house that was always full of love and laughter.  From Cub Scouts, to their children’s friends, to the young men and women of their church, they always had activities and food, as well as a welcoming home.  They remember hosting tables full of couples after the junior prom who came to their house to eat.  Euarda remembers having sleepovers with the young women.  They both remember their children’s friends in and out of the house.  “We’ve had so many parties here!” Euarda said. “Every Friday night we’d have kids come and play kick the can.  And I’d make up some cookies, and I’ll tell you why—so I could go check on what they were doing,” she laughed.  ”It’s been a fun house—it’s been full of love.  And not just for our kids, but for their friends.  And we love the people of Malad with all our heart.  Good people.”

Both have also devoted a lot of their time and energy to the community.  After they first married, she was asked to be on the Red Cross Committee and spent 25 years there.  She remembers when the units of blood had to be taken immediately to the airport to be flown out. She has also been a Crisis Center advocate.  She was on call as an advocate for victims of domestic abuse.  She settled many arguments in her time.  She was on the Senior Citizens Board for four years, planning dances.  “It was a big success—Joe and I would be the first ones out dancing, and then everyone else would start dancing.”  She was Activity Director for Oneida County Hospital for 25 years, which is where she retired from.  She also became the Idaho Activity Director.  

“She travelled all over,” Joe said.  “She was one of the most outstanding people at organizing and teaching people how to put on activities.”  She was Vice President and President of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers.  In church, she was the Young Women’s President twice, the Primary President, First Counselor in the Relief Society twice, the Drama Director, and involved with the Cub Scouts.  She used to tell the boys “You want me to bop your bipper?” when they got out of hand.  Some of those boys still walk by and yell that back to her while she and Joe sit on the porch.  "All these years I’ve been doing my charity work in Oneida county, Joe has supported me one hundred percent.  And I have supported him in his politics.”

Those politics have been fairly extensive.  Joe was a county commissioner for six years.  He has belonged to many civic and community organizations over the years, and President of the Wright’s Creek Cattle Association, and served in the Idaho Cattleman’s Association Presidency for many years.  He was named one of the top farmers in the county by the Association of Soil Conservation Districts.  Joe was one of the county’s first honorary deputies, and a longtime member of the local rotary club.  In the church, Joe has been in three bishoprics, served as a stake missionary, sang in the 4th ward choir, and was made a member of the seventies when they were in wards, after which he became a high priest leader.

Together, the two served as missionaries at the Conference Center in Salt Lake for over ten years, and as ushers.  They served a “mini-mission” in Palmyra directing visitors around the area and the pageant.  They were also temple workers for two years at the Brigham temple.

Like anyone else, the couple have had their ups and downs over time, as Euarda mentioned.  She was set back a bit when cancer hit her, though she’s thankfully in remission, and recovering well.  If their past is any indicator, they will continue to thrive and inspire those around them for many years to come.