Harry Felshaw

Biography Harry Goff Felshaw was born Nov. 26, 1927 in the old Morris-Squibb hospital at Safford. He was the youngest of 10 children born to Jacob William Felshaw and Margaret Goff Felshaw. His brothers and sisters are Roxey Bryce, John Paul, Bessie Claridge, Gilbert Alma, Phyllis Merrill, William Wallace, Mary Frances, Julia Hunt, and Warren Clay. Harry Felshaw knew the Gila Mountains as well as he knew his own back yard for they were just that to the native son of the Bryce community. As a little boy he eagerly watched his brother Gilbert and the other men pack up for the cowboy camps and the round-ups in the Gila Mountains. They sat him in their saddles before he could walk. Not much later he was literally running errands on the race horses his father Jake had kept since bringing a string into the Gila Valley cross country from Utah shortly after the turn or the century. Harry learned early the habits and habitat of the Arizona wildlife. This knowledge served him well as a hunter, trapper, guide, conservationist, and cowboy. He was just a teenager when he first went to work for the Bryce Brothers cattle ranch. He and Cliff Bryce, a seasoned old cowpoke, camped together in a tent at Black Point and worked side by side, riding daily to keep close eye on the cattle and each vital water source. At Bryce's, Harry broke the broncos, built fences, branded, and ear-marked as well as rode roundup. Later Harry worked with Bob Bridges, a cowboy who had strung his share of barbed wire across most of Texas and New Mexico before hiring on with Will, Jack, and Andy Bryce. Harry attended school in Bryce, Arizona through all eight of his elementary years. After 8th grade Harry attended, and graduated from, Thatcher High school in Thatcher, Arizona. Harry volunteered for the U.S. Navy in 1946 and served in the Pacific Theater. Harry worked many jobs after he gave up being a cowboy: Long's Furniture in Safford, Fannins bu-gas, mechanic at Shell service stations, and hog farmer. Harry was active as a hunting guide in both Arizona and Nevada until his later years. Harry married Jacqueline Bryant in 1952. They had three children: Gilbert Bryant, Zelda Nan, and Travis Ammon. Harry and Jacque divorced in 1975. Later that same year he married Maria Luisa Carmona. Harry and Maria had two sons: Jacob Harry and Paul Wallace. Harry was active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served in the Sunday School presidency of the Pima 2nd Ward and was also a counselor in the Elders quorum presidency there. He also served on various Boy Scout committees and taught gun safety in the Gila Valley. Harry Felshaw passed away on February 15, 2010 at the Dixie Regional Hospital in St. George, Utah. He is survived by his wife Maria Luisa Carmona of Mesquite, Nevada; son Gilbert Bryant Felshaw of Mesquite, Nevada; daughter Zelda Nan Felshaw Jones of Pima, Arizona; son Travis Ammon Felshaw of Pima, Arizona; Jacob Harry Felshaw of Salt Lake City, Utah; Paul Wallace Felshaw of Mesquite, Nevada; 15 grandchildren, and 17 great-grandchildren; sister Julia Felshaw Hunt, and numerous nephews and nieces that all miss and love him very much.