Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Trips taken 1975- 1984
Sept-Oct 1975- trip to South America (Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina) and Africa- South Africa, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Kenya, Tanzania, and Botswana. Stayed in 9 game preserves, West Africa- Ghana, Liberia and Nigeria (Lagos). I, alone.
1982- 68 yrs old- China (through Tokyo) for 6 wks- traveled all over by boats (3 day Yangtze trip on the Li River and the Grand Canal- in a "Dragon Ship"), planes, trains including overnites and buses- via L. Angeles and Tokyo coming and going. It took 42 hrs to get from Bejing, China to Ft. Myers, Fla. via Shanghai, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Atlanta- a long time with no real sleep.
1984- signed up for a 3 wk tour (via Brigham Young University) of Egypt, Jordan, and Israel. Tour canceled because of terrorist activity associated with the Lebonese civil war and related "wars".
1982- 68 yrs old- China (through Tokyo) for 6 wks- traveled all over by boats (3 day Yangtze trip on the Li River and the Grand Canal- in a "Dragon Ship"), planes, trains including overnites and buses- via L. Angeles and Tokyo coming and going. It took 42 hrs to get from Bejing, China to Ft. Myers, Fla. via Shanghai, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Atlanta- a long time with no real sleep.
1984- signed up for a 3 wk tour (via Brigham Young University) of Egypt, Jordan, and Israel. Tour canceled because of terrorist activity associated with the Lebonese civil war and related "wars".
Nov 1978
310 Washington Ave. Lehigh Acres, Florida
(sold both Bella Vista and other Lehigh Acres house) year round home.
(sold both Bella Vista and other Lehigh Acres house) year round home.
Sept 1963 to Sept 1977
Bethlehem, Pa.- Bella Vista Acres (on Bella Vista Drive in Bella Vista Acres section) - From Feb 1973 to Sept 1977 in summers only. Winters in Lehigh Acres, Florida- Maple Ave. house.
I took classes (evening) at Lehigh University.
Recto- seal and cysts- seal abt 1970. Bethlehem Hosp. (Dr. Flor)
Tumor removed from rt breast abt 1970. Bethlehem Hosp. (Dr. Greenwood- also our neighbor)
Large bone spur removed from lrg toe area (on top of) of left foot abt 1968- Bethlehem Pa.
Don and I (50 yrs old) to Europe in 1964- Drove thru France, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, and England.
Don and I to Europe with Bill and Betty Hittinger- the men on business for "the company" (Western Electric and Bell Labs).
Kirt flown to Josette in Norfolk, Va.
Don retired in 1972 at the age of 63.
1971 (57 yrs old)- I, alone, spent 3 weeks traveling all over Italy.
Kirt took over laundry, shopping, and meals at home for Don and Stan.
Sept-Oct 1973- (59 yrs old)- trip to Soviet Union, East Berlin and East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary. (Don didn't go)
1977 (63 yrs old)- Japan to meet Kirt when he was released from his mission. I, alone.
I took classes (evening) at Lehigh University.
Recto- seal and cysts- seal abt 1970. Bethlehem Hosp. (Dr. Flor)
Tumor removed from rt breast abt 1970. Bethlehem Hosp. (Dr. Greenwood- also our neighbor)
Large bone spur removed from lrg toe area (on top of) of left foot abt 1968- Bethlehem Pa.
Don and I (50 yrs old) to Europe in 1964- Drove thru France, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, and England.
Don and I to Europe with Bill and Betty Hittinger- the men on business for "the company" (Western Electric and Bell Labs).
Kirt flown to Josette in Norfolk, Va.
Don retired in 1972 at the age of 63.
1971 (57 yrs old)- I, alone, spent 3 weeks traveling all over Italy.
Kirt took over laundry, shopping, and meals at home for Don and Stan.
Sept-Oct 1973- (59 yrs old)- trip to Soviet Union, East Berlin and East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary. (Don didn't go)
1977 (63 yrs old)- Japan to meet Kirt when he was released from his mission. I, alone.
Feb 1960 to Sept 1963
Kansas City, Mo. (actually in a spill-over suburb across the state line into Kansas- 6504 High Drive, in the Mission Hills section of K.C.
I took classes at Rockhurst College (Jesuit) and music lessons.
Hemmoroidectomy. The woman who stayed with Kirt and Stan while I was in the hospital was outraged because I was taking a taxi to the hospital. She wanted to drive me but I took the taxi. Don had important business guests that day at the plant.
We drove to San Diego, picked up Josette, took a side drip into Mexico, went to Disneyland and brought her home to K.C. for a visit. Steve was in the Pacific Navy- 7th fleet.
I took classes at Rockhurst College (Jesuit) and music lessons.
Hemmoroidectomy. The woman who stayed with Kirt and Stan while I was in the hospital was outraged because I was taking a taxi to the hospital. She wanted to drive me but I took the taxi. Don had important business guests that day at the plant.
We drove to San Diego, picked up Josette, took a side drip into Mexico, went to Disneyland and brought her home to K.C. for a visit. Steve was in the Pacific Navy- 7th fleet.
March 1959 to Feb 1960
Bethlehem Pa. (transfer)
Wharton Lane
Josette married to Stephen William Carter June 1959 at home (after his graduation and the end of her sophomore year) by the minister for the young people's group at the Presbyterian Church in Westfield, N.J.
They honeymooned for 2 days at a cabin Steve's parents had rented. After the 2 days, his whole family joined them for the other 4-5 days and then Josette and Steve returned to our home and left from there to drive to San Diego, Cal. where Steve was to enter the navy for 2 yrs (He had taken naval ROTC in College and, therefore, automatically was taken in the Navy at graduation). Josette finished college and got her degree from San Diego State University.
Wharton Lane
Josette married to Stephen William Carter June 1959 at home (after his graduation and the end of her sophomore year) by the minister for the young people's group at the Presbyterian Church in Westfield, N.J.
They honeymooned for 2 days at a cabin Steve's parents had rented. After the 2 days, his whole family joined them for the other 4-5 days and then Josette and Steve returned to our home and left from there to drive to San Diego, Cal. where Steve was to enter the navy for 2 yrs (He had taken naval ROTC in College and, therefore, automatically was taken in the Navy at graduation). Josette finished college and got her degree from San Diego State University.
Sept 1953 to March 1959
Westfield, N.J. 230 E. Dudley Ave.
Fistulectomy- April or May 1954 - even though I was pregnant the OB said it was necessary then to prevent problems at childbirth.
Nancy Reynold, the most prominent and largest Real Estate Broker in Westfield offered me a job as a saleswoman (when I was 3 mos. pregnant- with Kirt). Of course I couldn't take it.
In the late summer of 1955 I contacted Rutger University (about 25 miles away) to ask about evening classes to get a dgree in Architecture. I was told I'd have to go from 7:00-10:00 (pm) 5 days a week for 2 years. (I had 2 yrs at the U. of Utah with the equivalent of a minor in both Math. and Art.) I didn't have that much time to devote to it.
Trip to Canada 1956 and to Wash., D.C. same summer.
Fistulectomy- April or May 1954 - even though I was pregnant the OB said it was necessary then to prevent problems at childbirth.
Nancy Reynold, the most prominent and largest Real Estate Broker in Westfield offered me a job as a saleswoman (when I was 3 mos. pregnant- with Kirt). Of course I couldn't take it.
In the late summer of 1955 I contacted Rutger University (about 25 miles away) to ask about evening classes to get a dgree in Architecture. I was told I'd have to go from 7:00-10:00 (pm) 5 days a week for 2 years. (I had 2 yrs at the U. of Utah with the equivalent of a minor in both Math. and Art.) I didn't have that much time to devote to it.
Trip to Canada 1956 and to Wash., D.C. same summer.
July 1951 to Sept 1953
Bethlehem, Pa. 2445 Main St. Extension- we built the house with no general contractor. Jo Illick (contractor) told me to go ahead and be my own contractor after I submitted my blue prints to him for an estimate for him to build it for us. He was committed to jobs for 1 1/2 yrs. in the future.
Don to charm school in N.Y.C for last 8 mos. and then transferred to New York- so he only got to live in the house for a little over 1 yr. The rest of us lived in it for 2 yrs.
Don to charm school in N.Y.C for last 8 mos. and then transferred to New York- so he only got to live in the house for a little over 1 yr. The rest of us lived in it for 2 yrs.
Sept 1948 to July 1951
Bethlehem, Pa. 1218 E. Rosemont Dr. (transfer)
Stan born Aug 25, 1949 in Bethlehem Hospital. Dr. Pearson
Skin cancer removed from forhead (left side) between Nov '49 and Feb '50 in Allentown, Pa. hospital
Stan born Aug 25, 1949 in Bethlehem Hospital. Dr. Pearson
Skin cancer removed from forhead (left side) between Nov '49 and Feb '50 in Allentown, Pa. hospital
Feb 1947 to Sept 1948
336 Edgewood Ave. Westfield, N.J. (couldn't stand New Market neighborhood kids running wild in gang and vandalism while mothers were at work). Edgewood Ave. Bought house from MRs. Lynch (whose husband was a long-gone alcoholic). At this point we still owned the Bethlehem and New Market houses. Within a short time Don also bought a house down the street from us for speculation. It was temporarily tied up in an estate settlement and the heirs (anxious to sell) took us up on a very modest purchase offer. (4 mortgage payments every month). Lots of economy style meals until we sold the 3 extra houses.
Oct 1946 to Feb 1947
New Market, N.J- 14 Hight St.
What a disaster! All the mothers in the neighborhood, except for 2 of us, worked and their children ran wild in a gang fond of bully-ing and vandalism!
What a disaster! All the mothers in the neighborhood, except for 2 of us, worked and their children ran wild in a gang fond of bully-ing and vandalism!
March 1944 to July 1946
Westfield, N.J.- 705 St. Marks Ave.- the first home we owned.
House still not done when we moved in- no furnace and incorrect size double hung windows- they overlapped in the middle.
July 1946- Allenton, Pa.- stayed in the Americans Hotel for 3 1/2 weeks waiting for house to be finished (new house) enough to move into it.
House still not done when we moved in- no furnace and incorrect size double hung windows- they overlapped in the middle.
July 1946- Allenton, Pa.- stayed in the Americans Hotel for 3 1/2 weeks waiting for house to be finished (new house) enough to move into it.
June 1938 to June 1939- Metuchan, N.J.
2nd floor (apartment) of Mrs. Bennett's house, 32 Williams St. (Don decided we'd have to afford a car)
1st child, Josette, was born on Dec. 4, 1938 at Perth Amboy (N.J.) hospital- Dr. Urbansky, my doctor (G.P.) was the "company doctor" for American Smelting and Refining Co., where Don worked. He was very conscientous and seemed to really care about my welfar and best interests. He wouldn't let me nurse a premature baby whose mother had no milk. He said an older woman, also in the maternity ward, (and who had 4 children) should be the one to nurse the premature baby because she already had a "matronly figure".
1st child, Josette, was born on Dec. 4, 1938 at Perth Amboy (N.J.) hospital- Dr. Urbansky, my doctor (G.P.) was the "company doctor" for American Smelting and Refining Co., where Don worked. He was very conscientous and seemed to really care about my welfar and best interests. He wouldn't let me nurse a premature baby whose mother had no milk. He said an older woman, also in the maternity ward, (and who had 4 children) should be the one to nurse the premature baby because she already had a "matronly figure".
Jan 1938- Perth Amboy N.J.
Hotel and trying to find an apartment. No car= lots of waiting for buses and walking in snow after 3 years of living in the tropics.
Jan 15. 1938 to March 1938- Metuchen, N.J.- apartment (entire) ground floor of Mrs. Mooks home on High St.
End of Feb, 1938-lost pregnancy of 3 1/2 mos. after staying in hospital in Plainfield, N.J. for 1 week to try to save it.
Jan 15. 1938 to March 1938- Metuchen, N.J.- apartment (entire) ground floor of Mrs. Mooks home on High St.
End of Feb, 1938-lost pregnancy of 3 1/2 mos. after staying in hospital in Plainfield, N.J. for 1 week to try to save it.
Havana, Cuba Nov. 1934
Angelo-American Hospital (for 4 days) (most beautiful hosp. I was ever in). Was kicked off the "Tevives" (United Fruit Line boat between New Orleans and Havana) because my incision was inflamed from being seasick. Spent other 3 days walking all over Havana. Don said he'd "have had more fun with my kid sister".
Thru Panama Canal, Columbia (Buenaventura), Equador (Guayacyl)
Home via Equador, Columbia, Panama, Havana, Bahamas, Bermuda.
La Oroya- Dec 1934- 13,250 ft above sea level (over top of the Andes at 15,000 ft. altitude and down on the eastern slope of the mountain range.
When we arrived in NYC Dec. 28, 1937- we had 1/2 of everything earned in Peru in a NYC bank.
Thru Panama Canal, Columbia (Buenaventura), Equador (Guayacyl)
Home via Equador, Columbia, Panama, Havana, Bahamas, Bermuda.
La Oroya- Dec 1934- 13,250 ft above sea level (over top of the Andes at 15,000 ft. altitude and down on the eastern slope of the mountain range.
When we arrived in NYC Dec. 28, 1937- we had 1/2 of everything earned in Peru in a NYC bank.
Oct 1934, Dec 1934-Dec 1937 La Oroya, Peru (South America)
Married at 20 yrs old- he was 25 yrs old Oct 28, 1934 to Don Wilkes (the Donald Pierre names were not in his legal records) (Note: After looking at their marriage certificate, this was proven not true. His full name appears on the records) in Salt Lake by Bishop Bowers (in his own home). Reva Young Hoskisson (my sister) and "Doc" Lyon (where Don had been living) (dean of the school of Engineering at the University of Utah) were the witnesses. Bishop Bowers, in filling out the marriage certificate, wrote that we were married on the 28th day of Utah, 1934.
Appendectomy Oct. 29th, 1934 at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake by Dr. Ralph Richards of the Salt Lake Clinic (where I worked) -he gave me the operation as a "wedding gift".
On way to New Orleans ( to S. America) we stopped in Omaha, Nebraska from 6:00 am to late afternoon where I met Don's family for the first time.
Appendectomy Oct. 29th, 1934 at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake by Dr. Ralph Richards of the Salt Lake Clinic (where I worked) -he gave me the operation as a "wedding gift".
On way to New Orleans ( to S. America) we stopped in Omaha, Nebraska from 6:00 am to late afternoon where I met Don's family for the first time.
Early spring 1934 to Oct 25, 1934
Salt Lake City- a generous raise in salary made it possible for me to move to the Delta, Delta, Delta ("Tri-Delta") sorority house (my college sorority while at the University of Utah). The board and room cost more and there was bus fare to and from work.
Now I could come and go as I pleased. At the Beehive House there was an 11:00 pm. "curfew" (even if one had a date on the weekend evening). At the sorority house there was no "curfew" and boy friends were allowed in the living room, dining room, sun-room, and the kitchen- the whole main floor- as they would be in a private home. men did not go into any of the bedroom areas. There was also a "house mother" but her role was as a "mother", not a strict chaperon.
Because of the "Great Depression" (in 1929) and it's after-effects through the 1930's, sorority members who had to leave school for financial reasons, and were now working, were allowed to live in the sorority house because there weren't enough out-of-town members to fill it. It had to be filled to get the money for mortgage payments, taxes, a house-mothers salary, food for meals, utilities and other expenses. The Salt Lake girls lived at home to save expenses. We working girls who were inactive members were most welcome.
The House was on "Fraternity Row" so there were always boys in, around, or near the house. Boys came to see girls and brought boy friends with them to see if other girls were available. There was always someone to play the piano and singers. There was frequently a table of bridge in progress and often guests at the dinner table. The opportunities for casual spur-of-the moment activities and dating were constant- it could become a problem to tactfully decline some of it. One often wished for more privacy to wash and hang out (no dryers, then) laundry; wash, dry and curl one's hair; and to relax in peace and quiet- especially Saturday morning and afternoon- when one tried to "catch-up" on chores and rest. My roommate was about 25 yrs old, a school teacher, and engaged to a student at an eastern law-school (so our room was "calmer" than most). She was from Pennsylvania (near Erie) and was still conscious of Utah accents. She kidded me about Utah "culture" but also "mothered" me in many nice and generous ways.
At the beginning of my sophomore year (Sept 1932) at the University, a sorority sister told me her younger brother wanted to meet me. I was 1 yr. ahead in school (18 yrs old), she was a junior and 20 yrs. old, and her brother was 18 yrs. old (1 month older than I was). He was just beginning his freshman year. Their family were sheep-ranchers in western Wyoming. It was during the Great Depression and all sheep ranchers were hard pressed to pay enough hired help and families made many sacrifices and worked very hard to hold onto the sheep and care for them. Some sheep-ranchers lost everything. Because of this, the younger brother stayed out of school during the spring quarters when there was the extra work of "lambing" and shearing. He also spent summers in Wyoming. He and I dated when we met but we both worked at part-time jobs in Salt Lake to help with school expenses so we only dated on the weekends. When he was in Wyoming we both dated other people (for sorority parties, dancing- holidays and general socializing). However, we did plan to get married, have a "house" in Salt Lake, 3 children, etc. after we finished college. He owned a rather elegant big car (2nd hand, which he had "re-made"). He left it in Sale Lake all the time at their Salt Lake home. In July, 1934, his older sister drove it and wrecked it while he was in Wyoming. Also, in July, a boy who had been in my freshman English class heard I was living at the sorority house. His boy friend dated one of the girls living there. One day when I got home from work, the 3 of them were sitting in the living room. Before the 2 boys left H.R. had asked me to go on a picnic with him and another couple on July 24th, a holiday in Utah. In summer, a favorite "outing" was to drive up one of the canyons surrounding Salt Lake. They were cooler, pretty, had running water, and were pleasant in the way the teach is other places (except wading or "tubing" with large inter tubes of tires instead of swimming). I agreed, having no other plans. In mid-morning of July 24th I was picked up. H.R and I rode in the "rumble seat" and another boy (owner of the yellow Chevy roadster) and his date sat in the front. I was introduced. The boy was Don Wilkes. I don't remember the girls' name. We drove up the canyon, spread a blanket and ate our picnic lunch while we played phonograph records on a portable phonograph. Of course, the boys had to show off a little by seeing who could throw records at the trees with enough force for them to penetrate and stick into the trunks of the trees. After hiking a little we left and returned home. The next day I was walking from the bus stop to home (after work) when a yellow roadster passed me, made a U-turn and stopped alongside. It was H.R. and Don, also after work. H.R. asked if I'd like to go with them to H.R.'s fraternity house to see if there was any beer left from the picnic. I didn't want the beer but the ride would be relaxing so I went. While H.R. was in the house seeing about the beer (to take to the other girl's house for a pre-dinner get-together), Don Wilkes turned to me and asked if I'd like to go to the Coconut Grove on Saturday night. The Coconut Grove was a huge downtown ball-room where the famous "Big Bands" played engagements. One of the nation's top bands was playing there on Sat. night. It was the Vincent Lopez band,
a rather expensive event and I loved dancing so, of course, I said "Yes". H.R. came out and said someone had snitched the beer so I asked them to take me home. When H.R. walked me to the door he asked me for a date Sat. eve. to go to the Coconut Grove. I told him I already had a date. At the dance Sat. eve. I saw him with another girl. When he saw us he glared and disappeared into the crowd. H.R. asked me twice for dates but both times Don had beat him to it. After 3 weeks of seeing each other 3-4 times a week, Don said (one evening when he brought me home), "I plan to go to South America to work. Will you marry me and go with me?" After only 3 weeks! I thought he was just kidding so I kidded and said, "Of course!"
In Sept. my Wyoming boy friend returned to Salt Lake to the University. He was still working part time and sometimes in the evenings, so I dated both boys, after he got his car fixed (which took about 3 weeks). The end of Sept. my Wyoming boyfriend, C., asked me to go to Fish Lake (in southern Utah) for the weekend. His sister, her girlfriend and C.'s boyfriend would drive down on Friday evening (about a 7 hr drive) and rent 2 cabins- one for the boys and 1 for the girls. C. couldn't leave until midnite Saturday when he got off work. He was to pick me up then and we'd leave for Fish Lake, spend Sunday there and leave at midnight Sun. eve. to get back to Salt Lake in time to go to work on Monday. After these plans were made, Don asked me for a date for Sat. eve.. I said, "Yes, if you'll have me home before midnight." He wanted to know why, I told him, and he got upset- "I wouldn't let my sister do that!" I assured him that I'd known the other people for along time- better than I knew him and therefor would trust them more than him. That was the end of the discussion. On the trip to Fish Lake I heard all the reasons I shouldn't be dating Don- from all 4 of them- and the reasons I should stay with C.
About the 1st of Oct. Don told me he had applied for jobs with mining companies (he had a Master's degree in Metalurgical Engineering) in the Phillipines and several South American countries and wanted to be sure I'd marry him and go with him. The jobs were for work contracts of 2-3 yrs. By that time I had decided I'd marry him but I told him I still owed money I had borrowed from The Business and Professional Women's Club to finish my sophomore year. It would be paid by April and I'd marry him then. I had planned to return to school to get my degree but I agreed with Don when he assured me that I'd learn more from living in a foreign country for 2-3 yrs. than in 2 more years of school. The house-mother told me I could have the wedding at the sorority house and several friends said they'd give me showers. I figured by then I could also save enough money for a bridal dress and flowers to decorate the sorority house. Several of my friends could (and would) be bridesmaids. I presumed Don would give me an engagement ring soon.
Now I could come and go as I pleased. At the Beehive House there was an 11:00 pm. "curfew" (even if one had a date on the weekend evening). At the sorority house there was no "curfew" and boy friends were allowed in the living room, dining room, sun-room, and the kitchen- the whole main floor- as they would be in a private home. men did not go into any of the bedroom areas. There was also a "house mother" but her role was as a "mother", not a strict chaperon.
Because of the "Great Depression" (in 1929) and it's after-effects through the 1930's, sorority members who had to leave school for financial reasons, and were now working, were allowed to live in the sorority house because there weren't enough out-of-town members to fill it. It had to be filled to get the money for mortgage payments, taxes, a house-mothers salary, food for meals, utilities and other expenses. The Salt Lake girls lived at home to save expenses. We working girls who were inactive members were most welcome.
The House was on "Fraternity Row" so there were always boys in, around, or near the house. Boys came to see girls and brought boy friends with them to see if other girls were available. There was always someone to play the piano and singers. There was frequently a table of bridge in progress and often guests at the dinner table. The opportunities for casual spur-of-the moment activities and dating were constant- it could become a problem to tactfully decline some of it. One often wished for more privacy to wash and hang out (no dryers, then) laundry; wash, dry and curl one's hair; and to relax in peace and quiet- especially Saturday morning and afternoon- when one tried to "catch-up" on chores and rest. My roommate was about 25 yrs old, a school teacher, and engaged to a student at an eastern law-school (so our room was "calmer" than most). She was from Pennsylvania (near Erie) and was still conscious of Utah accents. She kidded me about Utah "culture" but also "mothered" me in many nice and generous ways.
At the beginning of my sophomore year (Sept 1932) at the University, a sorority sister told me her younger brother wanted to meet me. I was 1 yr. ahead in school (18 yrs old), she was a junior and 20 yrs. old, and her brother was 18 yrs. old (1 month older than I was). He was just beginning his freshman year. Their family were sheep-ranchers in western Wyoming. It was during the Great Depression and all sheep ranchers were hard pressed to pay enough hired help and families made many sacrifices and worked very hard to hold onto the sheep and care for them. Some sheep-ranchers lost everything. Because of this, the younger brother stayed out of school during the spring quarters when there was the extra work of "lambing" and shearing. He also spent summers in Wyoming. He and I dated when we met but we both worked at part-time jobs in Salt Lake to help with school expenses so we only dated on the weekends. When he was in Wyoming we both dated other people (for sorority parties, dancing- holidays and general socializing). However, we did plan to get married, have a "house" in Salt Lake, 3 children, etc. after we finished college. He owned a rather elegant big car (2nd hand, which he had "re-made"). He left it in Sale Lake all the time at their Salt Lake home. In July, 1934, his older sister drove it and wrecked it while he was in Wyoming. Also, in July, a boy who had been in my freshman English class heard I was living at the sorority house. His boy friend dated one of the girls living there. One day when I got home from work, the 3 of them were sitting in the living room. Before the 2 boys left H.R. had asked me to go on a picnic with him and another couple on July 24th, a holiday in Utah. In summer, a favorite "outing" was to drive up one of the canyons surrounding Salt Lake. They were cooler, pretty, had running water, and were pleasant in the way the teach is other places (except wading or "tubing" with large inter tubes of tires instead of swimming). I agreed, having no other plans. In mid-morning of July 24th I was picked up. H.R and I rode in the "rumble seat" and another boy (owner of the yellow Chevy roadster) and his date sat in the front. I was introduced. The boy was Don Wilkes. I don't remember the girls' name. We drove up the canyon, spread a blanket and ate our picnic lunch while we played phonograph records on a portable phonograph. Of course, the boys had to show off a little by seeing who could throw records at the trees with enough force for them to penetrate and stick into the trunks of the trees. After hiking a little we left and returned home. The next day I was walking from the bus stop to home (after work) when a yellow roadster passed me, made a U-turn and stopped alongside. It was H.R. and Don, also after work. H.R. asked if I'd like to go with them to H.R.'s fraternity house to see if there was any beer left from the picnic. I didn't want the beer but the ride would be relaxing so I went. While H.R. was in the house seeing about the beer (to take to the other girl's house for a pre-dinner get-together), Don Wilkes turned to me and asked if I'd like to go to the Coconut Grove on Saturday night. The Coconut Grove was a huge downtown ball-room where the famous "Big Bands" played engagements. One of the nation's top bands was playing there on Sat. night. It was the Vincent Lopez band,
a rather expensive event and I loved dancing so, of course, I said "Yes". H.R. came out and said someone had snitched the beer so I asked them to take me home. When H.R. walked me to the door he asked me for a date Sat. eve. to go to the Coconut Grove. I told him I already had a date. At the dance Sat. eve. I saw him with another girl. When he saw us he glared and disappeared into the crowd. H.R. asked me twice for dates but both times Don had beat him to it. After 3 weeks of seeing each other 3-4 times a week, Don said (one evening when he brought me home), "I plan to go to South America to work. Will you marry me and go with me?" After only 3 weeks! I thought he was just kidding so I kidded and said, "Of course!"
In Sept. my Wyoming boy friend returned to Salt Lake to the University. He was still working part time and sometimes in the evenings, so I dated both boys, after he got his car fixed (which took about 3 weeks). The end of Sept. my Wyoming boyfriend, C., asked me to go to Fish Lake (in southern Utah) for the weekend. His sister, her girlfriend and C.'s boyfriend would drive down on Friday evening (about a 7 hr drive) and rent 2 cabins- one for the boys and 1 for the girls. C. couldn't leave until midnite Saturday when he got off work. He was to pick me up then and we'd leave for Fish Lake, spend Sunday there and leave at midnight Sun. eve. to get back to Salt Lake in time to go to work on Monday. After these plans were made, Don asked me for a date for Sat. eve.. I said, "Yes, if you'll have me home before midnight." He wanted to know why, I told him, and he got upset- "I wouldn't let my sister do that!" I assured him that I'd known the other people for along time- better than I knew him and therefor would trust them more than him. That was the end of the discussion. On the trip to Fish Lake I heard all the reasons I shouldn't be dating Don- from all 4 of them- and the reasons I should stay with C.
About the 1st of Oct. Don told me he had applied for jobs with mining companies (he had a Master's degree in Metalurgical Engineering) in the Phillipines and several South American countries and wanted to be sure I'd marry him and go with him. The jobs were for work contracts of 2-3 yrs. By that time I had decided I'd marry him but I told him I still owed money I had borrowed from The Business and Professional Women's Club to finish my sophomore year. It would be paid by April and I'd marry him then. I had planned to return to school to get my degree but I agreed with Don when he assured me that I'd learn more from living in a foreign country for 2-3 yrs. than in 2 more years of school. The house-mother told me I could have the wedding at the sorority house and several friends said they'd give me showers. I figured by then I could also save enough money for a bridal dress and flowers to decorate the sorority house. Several of my friends could (and would) be bridesmaids. I presumed Don would give me an engagement ring soon.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Oct 1933 to early spring 1934 (19 yrs to 20 yrs old)
Salt Lake City- the "Beehive House"- a boarding house (breakfast and dinner but no lunch) subsidized by the LDS church for Mormon girls (mostly from out of town who had come to Salt Lake to go to the LDS high school or to work). It was cheap and "safe"- $21.00 a month and live in "house mothers" who kept a strict eye on the girls. Any dates were limited to the parlor to either wait for or talk to the girls.
I moved there because it was all I could afford and it was only 1/2 block from the Salt Lake Clinic where I had just been given a job.
After going into every shop, store, office, and place of business for 6 days a week, all day long, from the end of May to October, in the entire downtown area of Salt Lake, I was very discouraged. It was 1933, the depths of the "Great Depression". I was told by everyone that they had no jobs to give but if they did they would hire a man with a family. There were well-dressed men standing on street corners selling apples at 5 cents each to make even a little money. After those 4 months of job hunting I heard that the young woman who had charge of the X-ray dept. for the Salt Lake Clinic had a nervous breakdown after being there for a year. The one who had the job before her had also had a nervous breakdown after a year in the job. I figured I was tough enough to handle it but I had never seen an X-ray machine. I was young, nervy (= desperate) enough and had nothing to lose so I applied for the job. The clinic was composed of 13 of the most prominent doctors in Salt Lake. After 2 interviews I was told the job was mine. Then I told them they'd have to train me. Dr. Snow, who had charge of personnel said, "What do you mean we'll have to train you?" . I told him I'd never seen an X-ray machine. He stared at me a minute and then, angrily, demanded to know why I had wasted his time with the interviews. He was on the Board of Regents at the university so I told him he could look up my record there, that I was a fast learner, a hard worker and would made them the best X-ray technician they had ever had. (Fortunately, I was 19 yrs. old, slim and had a reputation for being attractive to the opposite sex). After a few minutes of staring at me he said they wouldn't pay me while they trained me. I told him they would have to because the cheapest place I could find board and room was the Beehive House at $21.00 a month and no lunch. He said they would only pay me $25.00 a month. He thought I'd refuse it but I didn't. In 2 months they raised it. In the next year they gave me 4 raises.
My office was a very large room containing my desk (in the middle of the room), illuminated viewing cases along 2 sides of the room, a stereoscopic viewer on the 3rd wall, and files and a door to the storage vault on the 4th wall. The vault was a large room with reinforced concrete walls, no windows and a heavy steel door- X-ray film is inflammable and could be explosive. Non-current X-ray were filed there. I also had 2 large X-ray rooms- 1 with machines for soft tissue (G.I.) and fluoroscoping and 1 for chest X-rays and bone tissue. A third room had kidney machines (dyes were used and time sequences. I had a large dark room for changing and loading film in the cassettes, developing and "fifing" the exposed films (I had to make up the solutions of both the Developer and the Fifer) and preliminary vieiwing, as well as drying the finished X-rays. There was a lead lined control booth with a huge open switch-board with copper switches, a rheostat, and a pendulum timer. I also had 4 individual dressing rooms with a coat, chair and window in each room. Connecting all this was a very wide corridor lined with chairs for patients to be taken care of.
As I look back on it- it was almost unbelievable that they were willing to train a 19 yr. old girl and then, within 2 months, put her in charge of the department with 2 nurses I could call on to help when things got really busy.
The clinic was considered the best in the area and we had patients sent to us from all over Utah and the surrounding states.
Before I left to get married, I had talked them into all new X-ray machines which would "up" the quality because the machines they had were getting out-dated. I never got to use the beautiful new machines.
During the first 2 mos. on the job (on the $25.00 a month salary and no lunch) I discovered that, at lunchtime, if I drank as much water as I could, then ate 6 single soda crackers (from a large box of them I kept in my desk drawer), went for a walk, and then drank as much more water as possible that I could "hang on" till dinner. I weighed 120 lbs. when I started working there and lost 6 lbs. during those first 2 mos.- it would have been more except that my boy friends took me out to lunch once in awhile.
Fortunately for me, there was a Radiological society in Salt Lake which the clinic suggested I join. The president was a 35 yr. old bachelor, Elmer Luke, who had charge of the X-ray dept. for the huge new Veteran's Hospital. He volunteered to help me learn. Several times a week for the first 4-5 months I was at the clinic he would pick me up after work, take me to dinner (as his guest), and then take me back to the clinic for teaching sessions. ("Young Dr. Snow" loaned me his key. His father, "the Dr. Snow" questioned this at first but soon approved). Luke would teach me techniques- exact body positions for various bone and soft tissue X-rays and ideal machine settings on my machines and ideal timings for my equipment. He also taught me the finer points of film developing and "fifing" and darkroom management. He was expert, patient, and generous with his time and teaching. Because of him I was able to keep my promise to be a "quick learner". I proved a little less than grateful enough, however, when he asked me to marry him. He was an appreciated teacher but not a potential husband. That was the end of the teachings. By then I had learned a great deal and knew where to find other sources of information.
I moved there because it was all I could afford and it was only 1/2 block from the Salt Lake Clinic where I had just been given a job.
After going into every shop, store, office, and place of business for 6 days a week, all day long, from the end of May to October, in the entire downtown area of Salt Lake, I was very discouraged. It was 1933, the depths of the "Great Depression". I was told by everyone that they had no jobs to give but if they did they would hire a man with a family. There were well-dressed men standing on street corners selling apples at 5 cents each to make even a little money. After those 4 months of job hunting I heard that the young woman who had charge of the X-ray dept. for the Salt Lake Clinic had a nervous breakdown after being there for a year. The one who had the job before her had also had a nervous breakdown after a year in the job. I figured I was tough enough to handle it but I had never seen an X-ray machine. I was young, nervy (= desperate) enough and had nothing to lose so I applied for the job. The clinic was composed of 13 of the most prominent doctors in Salt Lake. After 2 interviews I was told the job was mine. Then I told them they'd have to train me. Dr. Snow, who had charge of personnel said, "What do you mean we'll have to train you?" . I told him I'd never seen an X-ray machine. He stared at me a minute and then, angrily, demanded to know why I had wasted his time with the interviews. He was on the Board of Regents at the university so I told him he could look up my record there, that I was a fast learner, a hard worker and would made them the best X-ray technician they had ever had. (Fortunately, I was 19 yrs. old, slim and had a reputation for being attractive to the opposite sex). After a few minutes of staring at me he said they wouldn't pay me while they trained me. I told him they would have to because the cheapest place I could find board and room was the Beehive House at $21.00 a month and no lunch. He said they would only pay me $25.00 a month. He thought I'd refuse it but I didn't. In 2 months they raised it. In the next year they gave me 4 raises.
My office was a very large room containing my desk (in the middle of the room), illuminated viewing cases along 2 sides of the room, a stereoscopic viewer on the 3rd wall, and files and a door to the storage vault on the 4th wall. The vault was a large room with reinforced concrete walls, no windows and a heavy steel door- X-ray film is inflammable and could be explosive. Non-current X-ray were filed there. I also had 2 large X-ray rooms- 1 with machines for soft tissue (G.I.) and fluoroscoping and 1 for chest X-rays and bone tissue. A third room had kidney machines (dyes were used and time sequences. I had a large dark room for changing and loading film in the cassettes, developing and "fifing" the exposed films (I had to make up the solutions of both the Developer and the Fifer) and preliminary vieiwing, as well as drying the finished X-rays. There was a lead lined control booth with a huge open switch-board with copper switches, a rheostat, and a pendulum timer. I also had 4 individual dressing rooms with a coat, chair and window in each room. Connecting all this was a very wide corridor lined with chairs for patients to be taken care of.
As I look back on it- it was almost unbelievable that they were willing to train a 19 yr. old girl and then, within 2 months, put her in charge of the department with 2 nurses I could call on to help when things got really busy.
The clinic was considered the best in the area and we had patients sent to us from all over Utah and the surrounding states.
Before I left to get married, I had talked them into all new X-ray machines which would "up" the quality because the machines they had were getting out-dated. I never got to use the beautiful new machines.
During the first 2 mos. on the job (on the $25.00 a month salary and no lunch) I discovered that, at lunchtime, if I drank as much water as I could, then ate 6 single soda crackers (from a large box of them I kept in my desk drawer), went for a walk, and then drank as much more water as possible that I could "hang on" till dinner. I weighed 120 lbs. when I started working there and lost 6 lbs. during those first 2 mos.- it would have been more except that my boy friends took me out to lunch once in awhile.
Fortunately for me, there was a Radiological society in Salt Lake which the clinic suggested I join. The president was a 35 yr. old bachelor, Elmer Luke, who had charge of the X-ray dept. for the huge new Veteran's Hospital. He volunteered to help me learn. Several times a week for the first 4-5 months I was at the clinic he would pick me up after work, take me to dinner (as his guest), and then take me back to the clinic for teaching sessions. ("Young Dr. Snow" loaned me his key. His father, "the Dr. Snow" questioned this at first but soon approved). Luke would teach me techniques- exact body positions for various bone and soft tissue X-rays and ideal machine settings on my machines and ideal timings for my equipment. He also taught me the finer points of film developing and "fifing" and darkroom management. He was expert, patient, and generous with his time and teaching. Because of him I was able to keep my promise to be a "quick learner". I proved a little less than grateful enough, however, when he asked me to marry him. He was an appreciated teacher but not a potential husband. That was the end of the teachings. By then I had learned a great deal and knew where to find other sources of information.
Sept 1929 to Oct 1933 (15 to 19 yrs old)
at 1547 Park St., Salt Lake City with Aunt Ruby, Uncle Mercer and their new baby, Jeanne (Anderson). This was the house mother bought and where I had lived with her (and Reva and Don) from fall 1922 to late fall 1924. Grandad had rented it "out" in the meantime and now rented it to Ruby and Mercer- the "rent" was $35.00 a month (an average rent for a house like that) to be credited to my board and room, clothes, and personal expenses. Ruby kept an account of what she spent on me for clothes, school and other expenses. I had to stay within the $35.00 a month (This included 15.00 a mo. at college and 5.00 mo. sorority due).
I was 15 yrs. old and starting my senior year of high school when I moved in. I graduated 2 months after I turned 16 and the family decided I was too young to go on to college. In those days girls went to college primarily to meet potential husbands- so I was sent 1 year post-graduate at the high school in the mornings only and took music appreciation, Harmony (music structure), silver jewelry designing, and silver jewelry making. After lunch I took the streetcar downtown and worked in Auerbach's Department Store all afternoon. When I got home I did the "baby wash"- Jeanne's clothes and diapers. On Saturdays I worked there all day (Auerbach).
I started college at 17 and got 2 years before money problems caused me to quiet- in the middle of the "Great Depression". If I had been allowed to go to college after I graduated from highschool I would have had 3 yrs. of college and could have graduated because I had a little more than 2/3 as many credits at the end of my sophomore year as were required for graduation. I could easily have gotten my degree in 3 years.
Grandmother told me she felt too old to supervise me (when she sent me to live with Ruby). At 15 yrs old and a senior I wanted to do what the older girls (my friends) did- high heels for parties, lipstick and makeup, etc...In those days that was too "old" for a 15 yr. old.
I was 15 yrs. old and starting my senior year of high school when I moved in. I graduated 2 months after I turned 16 and the family decided I was too young to go on to college. In those days girls went to college primarily to meet potential husbands- so I was sent 1 year post-graduate at the high school in the mornings only and took music appreciation, Harmony (music structure), silver jewelry designing, and silver jewelry making. After lunch I took the streetcar downtown and worked in Auerbach's Department Store all afternoon. When I got home I did the "baby wash"- Jeanne's clothes and diapers. On Saturdays I worked there all day (Auerbach).
I started college at 17 and got 2 years before money problems caused me to quiet- in the middle of the "Great Depression". If I had been allowed to go to college after I graduated from highschool I would have had 3 yrs. of college and could have graduated because I had a little more than 2/3 as many credits at the end of my sophomore year as were required for graduation. I could easily have gotten my degree in 3 years.
Grandmother told me she felt too old to supervise me (when she sent me to live with Ruby). At 15 yrs old and a senior I wanted to do what the older girls (my friends) did- high heels for parties, lipstick and makeup, etc...In those days that was too "old" for a 15 yr. old.
Late fall 1924 to Sept 1929 (10-15 yrs old)
1152 Princeton Ave., Salt Lake City, Utah (started in 6th grade- my 4th school)
Mother was hospitalized and Don, Reva, and I went to live with our grandparents (Edmunds). Also living in the home were Irene, Ruby (2 of my mother's younger sisters). Reva went to live with Aunt Grace (and Uncle Howard and Howard, jr.) in less than a year. Clifford came home from his mission (they released him early) to live in the house and go to the University of Utah.
Ruby and Irene got married. Irene and Ed (Olsen) moved into a small house. Ruby stayed at home (Princeton Ave) to honor her teaching contract for the coming year in order to send money to help her new husband with expenses while he went to medical school at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. Ruby left a year later to join Mercer in Washington D.C. and get a job there.
A short time later aunt Anna, mother's only older sister, divorced her husband (no children) and returned home to the Princeton Ave. house.
Every summer as soon as school was out, the grandparents, Clifford, Don and I went to Wales, Utah- the men to work with the sheep and grandmother and I to care for the livestock on the place (2 cows, new spring chicks, the orphaned lambs), the large garden and orchard, the house, and anything needed at the sheep-camps- blankets and the dirty empty jars from home-canned food washed and returned, new fruits and vegetables home canned as they got ripe. Grandmother had given birth to 11 children and had a bad back and poor health. Considering her health and age and my age, I marvel at the work we managed to do!
1925- my first allergy (hives) -when I was told mother would never get well.
In June, 1926, my brother Don was killed. It hit me very hard because at that time he was the only person (I felt) who I was sure really cared anything about me.
Clifford had what was labeled an "uncontrollable temper". I used to worry about my brother when he and Clifford were alone together at the sheep camp during the summer. As soon as I saw him again I looked him over to make sure he was alright.
On weekends in Wales the crowd congregated by "the hall" on the main st. in the evenings to play "run-sheep-run", "kick-the-can", various other such games, and to sing together. Wales had a population of 300- so our crowd had an age span of about 3 years. These evenings were of course after dinner and all evening chores were done.
One day I jumped from the open loft in the barn down into the hay below. Unfortunately, there was a pitchfork in the hay which penetrated my leg. Fortunately, Uncle Dave was at the house for several hours that afternoon- his only visit all summer. He disinfected and bandaged it and that was "the end" of it.
About 4 summers during this period I was taken from Wales, Utah to Ephraim, Utah (about 15-20 miles away) to spend a couple of weeks with Grandmother Young- apparently at her request because it left Grandmother Edmunds to do all the work alone. About 3 of these times Reva came "down" from Salt Lake to be there at the same time (in Ephraim). At that time Grandmother Young lived in "Uncle" Will Armstrong's house with him (her step-brother) and his daughter Jessie Armstrong, an unmarried school teacher in her forties. They all tried to amek our visits pleasant. Jessie had a set of dolls dressed in the costumes of foreign countries (about 20 of them). She had collected them as a visual aid in teaching geography classes. She was generous enough to let me "play" with them. Grandmother Young and 2 of her "Cronies" entertained us some evenings with card games- "Pit", "Old Maid", "Authors", and several others.
Grandmother Young had gone to a "Finishing School" and a college in Baltimore, Md. (where her mother grew up). After college she became the 1st woman telegraph operator in the pioneer western territory. She married Brigham Young Jr., and sometime before Dad was born she went back to Baltimore for his birth. He was her only child. She taught at Snow College (after her husband's death) in Ephraim, Utah- 2 or 3 foreign languages. I think I remember Spanish, Latin and ?German?
She quit there at some point and went to teach on the Washakie Indian Reservation on (or near) the border between Idaho and Utah. My father must have lived there with her. After the U.S. Gov't gave her reitrement (and I presume a small pension) she returned to Snow College as their librarian.
From the time I went to live with my grandparents (for the 2nd time) when I was 10 yrs old I never knew how long I was going to live in anyone's house- whether it was permanent (till I was old enough to be on my own) or for just a few weeks or months until they found it too inconvenient, too expensive, or too crowded to have me there. My mother's 3 younger sisters were all just married or in the early years of their marriages with small incomes and small houses- and small children (and husbands who were more tolerant than most young husbands!). I was allowed about 5 clothes hangers (including a coat hanger) and the use of 1 drawer. I had 1 hat for cold weather and 2 prs. of shoes- 1 for school and church and 1 for around home.
When my grandparents left Salt Lake for Wales before the school year was over or stayed in Wales after the school year began. I lived with Anna at the Princeton Ave. house or went to stay with Aunt Irene. (This was while Ruby was in Washington D.C. and Grace had Reva with her).
Mother was hospitalized and Don, Reva, and I went to live with our grandparents (Edmunds). Also living in the home were Irene, Ruby (2 of my mother's younger sisters). Reva went to live with Aunt Grace (and Uncle Howard and Howard, jr.) in less than a year. Clifford came home from his mission (they released him early) to live in the house and go to the University of Utah.
Ruby and Irene got married. Irene and Ed (Olsen) moved into a small house. Ruby stayed at home (Princeton Ave) to honor her teaching contract for the coming year in order to send money to help her new husband with expenses while he went to medical school at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. Ruby left a year later to join Mercer in Washington D.C. and get a job there.
A short time later aunt Anna, mother's only older sister, divorced her husband (no children) and returned home to the Princeton Ave. house.
Every summer as soon as school was out, the grandparents, Clifford, Don and I went to Wales, Utah- the men to work with the sheep and grandmother and I to care for the livestock on the place (2 cows, new spring chicks, the orphaned lambs), the large garden and orchard, the house, and anything needed at the sheep-camps- blankets and the dirty empty jars from home-canned food washed and returned, new fruits and vegetables home canned as they got ripe. Grandmother had given birth to 11 children and had a bad back and poor health. Considering her health and age and my age, I marvel at the work we managed to do!
1925- my first allergy (hives) -when I was told mother would never get well.
In June, 1926, my brother Don was killed. It hit me very hard because at that time he was the only person (I felt) who I was sure really cared anything about me.
Clifford had what was labeled an "uncontrollable temper". I used to worry about my brother when he and Clifford were alone together at the sheep camp during the summer. As soon as I saw him again I looked him over to make sure he was alright.
On weekends in Wales the crowd congregated by "the hall" on the main st. in the evenings to play "run-sheep-run", "kick-the-can", various other such games, and to sing together. Wales had a population of 300- so our crowd had an age span of about 3 years. These evenings were of course after dinner and all evening chores were done.
One day I jumped from the open loft in the barn down into the hay below. Unfortunately, there was a pitchfork in the hay which penetrated my leg. Fortunately, Uncle Dave was at the house for several hours that afternoon- his only visit all summer. He disinfected and bandaged it and that was "the end" of it.
About 4 summers during this period I was taken from Wales, Utah to Ephraim, Utah (about 15-20 miles away) to spend a couple of weeks with Grandmother Young- apparently at her request because it left Grandmother Edmunds to do all the work alone. About 3 of these times Reva came "down" from Salt Lake to be there at the same time (in Ephraim). At that time Grandmother Young lived in "Uncle" Will Armstrong's house with him (her step-brother) and his daughter Jessie Armstrong, an unmarried school teacher in her forties. They all tried to amek our visits pleasant. Jessie had a set of dolls dressed in the costumes of foreign countries (about 20 of them). She had collected them as a visual aid in teaching geography classes. She was generous enough to let me "play" with them. Grandmother Young and 2 of her "Cronies" entertained us some evenings with card games- "Pit", "Old Maid", "Authors", and several others.
Grandmother Young had gone to a "Finishing School" and a college in Baltimore, Md. (where her mother grew up). After college she became the 1st woman telegraph operator in the pioneer western territory. She married Brigham Young Jr., and sometime before Dad was born she went back to Baltimore for his birth. He was her only child. She taught at Snow College (after her husband's death) in Ephraim, Utah- 2 or 3 foreign languages. I think I remember Spanish, Latin and ?German?
She quit there at some point and went to teach on the Washakie Indian Reservation on (or near) the border between Idaho and Utah. My father must have lived there with her. After the U.S. Gov't gave her reitrement (and I presume a small pension) she returned to Snow College as their librarian.
From the time I went to live with my grandparents (for the 2nd time) when I was 10 yrs old I never knew how long I was going to live in anyone's house- whether it was permanent (till I was old enough to be on my own) or for just a few weeks or months until they found it too inconvenient, too expensive, or too crowded to have me there. My mother's 3 younger sisters were all just married or in the early years of their marriages with small incomes and small houses- and small children (and husbands who were more tolerant than most young husbands!). I was allowed about 5 clothes hangers (including a coat hanger) and the use of 1 drawer. I had 1 hat for cold weather and 2 prs. of shoes- 1 for school and church and 1 for around home.
When my grandparents left Salt Lake for Wales before the school year was over or stayed in Wales after the school year began. I lived with Anna at the Princeton Ave. house or went to stay with Aunt Irene. (This was while Ruby was in Washington D.C. and Grace had Reva with her).
Late fall of 1922 to late fall of 1924 (8 yrs old to 10 yrs)
Salt Lake City with mother, Don, and Reva at 1547 Park St.
Mother sold the Ephraim house to buy (with additional help from Grandad?) the above house. (At some point Grandmother Young bought back the Ephraim house mother sold because later Grandmother Young was its owner.)
It (1547 Park St) was a 2 bedroom, 1 bath house. There was no central heating system. The only sources of heat for the cold S.L. winters were the coal stove for cooking in the kitchen (with an attached hot water tank) and a fireplace in the living room.
Mother gave a "party" (refreshments) for Don's friends who came to help him "spade up" the front yard and rake it smooth so mother could plant grass.
One of Don's first days at the new school included a physical "contest" by the strongest boy in the class. When Don came home it was obvious there had been a fight- a tear in 1 knee of his trousers and a bruise on his face. Mother decided something needed to be done so she told him that if he came home "licked" he'd get another "licking" when he got home. The threat of 2 "lickings" apparently spurred him to more determination because he won the next fight and had no more trouble.
When Don wanted a bicycle there was no way mother could afford one and she told him he'd have to find a way to earn the money to buy it himself. He heard one of the older boys mention that he caddied at the Country- Club to earn money. On weekends Don walked about 4-5 miles to the Country-Club, caddied all day, and then walked home. He finally bought a bike.
I had many sessions of tonsillitis and earaches and lost much time at school. Finally, Uncle Dave removed my tonsils.
Mother did not "work" or have boarders in the Park St. house. Grandad took car of all her expenses except for occaional help from her older brother, Uncle Dave (Dr. David G. Edmunds), who had 6 children of his own to take care of. Uncle Dave went to a 2nd hand furniture store and bought enough furniture for our house and had it delivered the day we moved in. Many times, when Grandad was at the sheep camps in south-central Utah, mother went to a neighbor house to call Uncle Dave and let him know we were almost out of coal. A load would soon arrive already paid for. Aunt Grace was very good about trying to help mother, also, but was much younger and just married so her help was mostly emotional and social support. Grace, Irene, and Ruby gave their mother their older clothes and mother made them over for herself and Reva and me. She had a good eye for style and sewed beautifully. She could copy any dress or coat. At this time Grandad still had 3 daughters living at home (who paid no board and room) and was paying all expenses for a son on a (Mormon) mission. He also maintained 2 homes- 1 in Salt Lake for the family and 1 in Wales, Utah where he and Grandmother spent the summer. The Wales home was their original home and ws still "headquarters" of the sheep camps. They started marriage with nothing and only 4th grade educations (all that was available where they lived). They were very hard workers, "sacrificed" themselves to give their children good educations for better lives, and planned well.
Had tonsilectomy at 8 yrs old by Uncle Dave (Dr. D. G. Edmunds), my mother's older brother- in his office, not in a hospital.
Mother sold the Ephraim house to buy (with additional help from Grandad?) the above house. (At some point Grandmother Young bought back the Ephraim house mother sold because later Grandmother Young was its owner.)
It (1547 Park St) was a 2 bedroom, 1 bath house. There was no central heating system. The only sources of heat for the cold S.L. winters were the coal stove for cooking in the kitchen (with an attached hot water tank) and a fireplace in the living room.
Mother gave a "party" (refreshments) for Don's friends who came to help him "spade up" the front yard and rake it smooth so mother could plant grass.
One of Don's first days at the new school included a physical "contest" by the strongest boy in the class. When Don came home it was obvious there had been a fight- a tear in 1 knee of his trousers and a bruise on his face. Mother decided something needed to be done so she told him that if he came home "licked" he'd get another "licking" when he got home. The threat of 2 "lickings" apparently spurred him to more determination because he won the next fight and had no more trouble.
When Don wanted a bicycle there was no way mother could afford one and she told him he'd have to find a way to earn the money to buy it himself. He heard one of the older boys mention that he caddied at the Country- Club to earn money. On weekends Don walked about 4-5 miles to the Country-Club, caddied all day, and then walked home. He finally bought a bike.
I had many sessions of tonsillitis and earaches and lost much time at school. Finally, Uncle Dave removed my tonsils.
Mother did not "work" or have boarders in the Park St. house. Grandad took car of all her expenses except for occaional help from her older brother, Uncle Dave (Dr. David G. Edmunds), who had 6 children of his own to take care of. Uncle Dave went to a 2nd hand furniture store and bought enough furniture for our house and had it delivered the day we moved in. Many times, when Grandad was at the sheep camps in south-central Utah, mother went to a neighbor house to call Uncle Dave and let him know we were almost out of coal. A load would soon arrive already paid for. Aunt Grace was very good about trying to help mother, also, but was much younger and just married so her help was mostly emotional and social support. Grace, Irene, and Ruby gave their mother their older clothes and mother made them over for herself and Reva and me. She had a good eye for style and sewed beautifully. She could copy any dress or coat. At this time Grandad still had 3 daughters living at home (who paid no board and room) and was paying all expenses for a son on a (Mormon) mission. He also maintained 2 homes- 1 in Salt Lake for the family and 1 in Wales, Utah where he and Grandmother spent the summer. The Wales home was their original home and ws still "headquarters" of the sheep camps. They started marriage with nothing and only 4th grade educations (all that was available where they lived). They were very hard workers, "sacrificed" themselves to give their children good educations for better lives, and planned well.
Had tonsilectomy at 8 yrs old by Uncle Dave (Dr. D. G. Edmunds), my mother's older brother- in his office, not in a hospital.
Summer 1921 to late fall of 1922 (7 yrs old to 8 yrs)
Salt Lake City, Utah- with mother, Don and Reva
For several months in the Richmond Apartments (between Maine and State streets and 1 short block north of south Temple st. (but not as far north as North Temple st.).
After that we moved to a furnished apt (2nd floor) on B St. I went to 3rd grade there.
The summer of 1922 I spent with Aunt race and her husband (Howard Haynes) at their home in Hunter, Utah. Their first child (Howard Haynes, Jr. and later Dr.) had been born May 20th and I "helped" with him and baby-sat him occasionally while Grace and Howard went into Salt Lake to an evening movie. At that time, it was not unusual for an 8 yr old to be given the responsibility of baby-sitting (alone) a baby.
For several months in the Richmond Apartments (between Maine and State streets and 1 short block north of south Temple st. (but not as far north as North Temple st.).
After that we moved to a furnished apt (2nd floor) on B St. I went to 3rd grade there.
The summer of 1922 I spent with Aunt race and her husband (Howard Haynes) at their home in Hunter, Utah. Their first child (Howard Haynes, Jr. and later Dr.) had been born May 20th and I "helped" with him and baby-sat him occasionally while Grace and Howard went into Salt Lake to an evening movie. At that time, it was not unusual for an 8 yr old to be given the responsibility of baby-sitting (alone) a baby.
Late Summer 1916 to Summer 1921- Ephraim, Utah with Mother, Don and Reva (4 yrs old to 7 yrs old)
Late summer 1916 to late summer 1918 (2 1/2 yrs old to 4 yrs old)
Salt Lake City with Grandparents- on 8th south between 9th and 10th E. (house torn down later for apartments)
Thomas (Tommy) and Lydia Edmunds and aunts-
Grace- abt 19-20 yrs old and at the University of Utah
Irene- abt 18 yrs old and at the University of Utah
Ruby- abt 16-17 yrs old- in highschool
and uncle- Clifford (Cliff) abt 14 yrs old- in jr. highschool
- many memories about this period- will add them later (note: memories were never added)
1918-1921
I slept in a double bed with Mother. One night (fall 1918) I woke up and she wasn't in bed so I went to look for her. I found her in the darkened parlour. She was in her night gown with her long hair down and sitting in the rocking chair and crying quietly. I felt so sorry for her and wanted to distract her so I climbed into her lap, and hugged her, and asked her to tell me what school would be like. After a short time we went back to bed.
The house (of adobe brick in colonial style!) was old and the porch had never been added so there was a door on the second floor that opened into space instead of the balcony formed by the roof of an entry porch below. We kids sometimes waited for mother to go downtown (4-5 blocks away) and then we'd throw the "feather tick" (a homemade mattress filled with feather) out the door and take turns jumping down onto it. It's surprising that there were no broken bones or injuries. Finally a neighbor lady saw us and told mother. The door was nailed shut.
We had a swing between 2 close plum trees near the kitchen back door, a "play- house" in the middle of a circle of lilac bushes. One bush was missing so we made that space the door. There was a shed so we could use 1 interior wall for a "blackboard" to play school. Ours was a large corner lot and 1 side was lined with holyhocks from which we made dolls. An old low-spreading apple tree (1 limb was almost horizontal) was my favorite hiding and reading spot.
I got my arm caught in the wringer of mothers new electric washer (with the tub made of wood). The muscles in my lower forearm and hand were permanently pushed out of place but I learned to favor the right arm for carrying (as much as possible)- otherwise I ignored the difference.
Don had a best friend, Kenton Armstrong, who lived beyond town at the mouth of the canyon. One day, while Don was at his house, we had a "cloudburst" above the canyon and a flood. We could hear it roaring down the canyon. Mother had us kneel as she prayed for Don's safety. He arrived home with the flood a few feet ahead of him. It spread out so he only had wet feet and legs.
One day mother sent him downtown to buy a few groceries. A young girl who was just learning to drive ran into him. He was brought home unconscious and stayed so for 3 days. Gradually, in about 3 weeks, he recovered.
We had 1-2 young men students at Snow College ( out of towners) as boarders during the school year. They were very good to us kids and helpful to mother.
One day the bishop of the ward (note: church congregation) brought a man to our door. He was ill and needed a place to stay and rest to recover (no hospital near). His name was Johnny Bulascus and he was a vaudeville. He was a gentle, kind person- very gentle- manly and respectful to mother. He used to rock me and tell us stories. He tried to talk mother into letting him take Reva (then 7 yrs old) into his vaudeville acts. He would send mother money for her "wages". Mother refused to consider such an idea. Reva later said, "Thank heaven mother wasn't "stage-struck"!"
In 1918 Mother, Don, and Reva all had "the flu"- the famous epidemic with so much loss of life. They figured I'd get it anyway so I continued to sleep with mother. Mother was pronounced dead once by the doctor but when he returned to the room a little later she was alive. I never did get the flu.
In winter mother made ice-cream and froze it with ice made in a pan and broken up. A pan was set in the ice and the pan handle turned till the ice-cream was frozen.
Salt Lake City with Grandparents- on 8th south between 9th and 10th E. (house torn down later for apartments)
Thomas (Tommy) and Lydia Edmunds and aunts-
Grace- abt 19-20 yrs old and at the University of Utah
Irene- abt 18 yrs old and at the University of Utah
Ruby- abt 16-17 yrs old- in highschool
and uncle- Clifford (Cliff) abt 14 yrs old- in jr. highschool
- many memories about this period- will add them later (note: memories were never added)
1918-1921
I slept in a double bed with Mother. One night (fall 1918) I woke up and she wasn't in bed so I went to look for her. I found her in the darkened parlour. She was in her night gown with her long hair down and sitting in the rocking chair and crying quietly. I felt so sorry for her and wanted to distract her so I climbed into her lap, and hugged her, and asked her to tell me what school would be like. After a short time we went back to bed.
The house (of adobe brick in colonial style!) was old and the porch had never been added so there was a door on the second floor that opened into space instead of the balcony formed by the roof of an entry porch below. We kids sometimes waited for mother to go downtown (4-5 blocks away) and then we'd throw the "feather tick" (a homemade mattress filled with feather) out the door and take turns jumping down onto it. It's surprising that there were no broken bones or injuries. Finally a neighbor lady saw us and told mother. The door was nailed shut.
We had a swing between 2 close plum trees near the kitchen back door, a "play- house" in the middle of a circle of lilac bushes. One bush was missing so we made that space the door. There was a shed so we could use 1 interior wall for a "blackboard" to play school. Ours was a large corner lot and 1 side was lined with holyhocks from which we made dolls. An old low-spreading apple tree (1 limb was almost horizontal) was my favorite hiding and reading spot.
I got my arm caught in the wringer of mothers new electric washer (with the tub made of wood). The muscles in my lower forearm and hand were permanently pushed out of place but I learned to favor the right arm for carrying (as much as possible)- otherwise I ignored the difference.
Don had a best friend, Kenton Armstrong, who lived beyond town at the mouth of the canyon. One day, while Don was at his house, we had a "cloudburst" above the canyon and a flood. We could hear it roaring down the canyon. Mother had us kneel as she prayed for Don's safety. He arrived home with the flood a few feet ahead of him. It spread out so he only had wet feet and legs.
One day mother sent him downtown to buy a few groceries. A young girl who was just learning to drive ran into him. He was brought home unconscious and stayed so for 3 days. Gradually, in about 3 weeks, he recovered.
We had 1-2 young men students at Snow College ( out of towners) as boarders during the school year. They were very good to us kids and helpful to mother.
One day the bishop of the ward (note: church congregation) brought a man to our door. He was ill and needed a place to stay and rest to recover (no hospital near). His name was Johnny Bulascus and he was a vaudeville. He was a gentle, kind person- very gentle- manly and respectful to mother. He used to rock me and tell us stories. He tried to talk mother into letting him take Reva (then 7 yrs old) into his vaudeville acts. He would send mother money for her "wages". Mother refused to consider such an idea. Reva later said, "Thank heaven mother wasn't "stage-struck"!"
In 1918 Mother, Don, and Reva all had "the flu"- the famous epidemic with so much loss of life. They figured I'd get it anyway so I continued to sleep with mother. Mother was pronounced dead once by the doctor but when he returned to the room a little later she was alive. I never did get the flu.
In winter mother made ice-cream and froze it with ice made in a pan and broken up. A pan was set in the ice and the pan handle turned till the ice-cream was frozen.
Dec 1915 to late summer 1916- Ephraim, Utah (1 1/2 to 2 1/2 yrs old)
Grandmother Young gave mother a house to live in (it had been her house which she had "rented out"). I remember entering this house (it was so cold) for the first time then.
Grandmother Young lived 2 doors east of us with her step-brother "Uncle Will" and his daughter Jessie, an unmarried school teacher. (their last name was Armstrong).
I was taken to the above Armstrong house and held up to see a man lying in a coffin. I remember thinking "That isn't daddy- he's gone." and squirmed to get down. Some woman said, "she just doesn't realize". This reaction on my part was surely the result of the incident (or vivid imagination) I told mother about before we left Montpelier.
It was decided that mother should go to Snow College, which was just across the street from our house. She would taken Home Economics so she could take in boarders (to help with her living expenses). I was to stay with my maternal grandparents. Don and Reva would start in 1st grade, freeing mother for her classes.
The house had no bathroom, or water. Water came from an outdoor "hydrant" about 20-30 ft. from the outside kitchen door. Baths were in a round galvanized "wash tub" and cleanups with a "washbasin and pitcher". The "privy" (toilet) was about 40-50 ft. from the back door in a clump of large bushes. In very bad cold weather and some nights we used a "chamber-pot"- very common in those days. There were coal stoves in the kitchen for cooking, heating water, and heating that area of the house and a coal small stove in the "parlour" for heating in the winter.
Mother warmed "flat irons" (used to iron clothes) on top of the coal stoves during dinner and until we went to bed, at which time they were wrapped in towels and taken to bed to keep our feet warm (and warm the bed a little).
Grandmother Young lived 2 doors east of us with her step-brother "Uncle Will" and his daughter Jessie, an unmarried school teacher. (their last name was Armstrong).
I was taken to the above Armstrong house and held up to see a man lying in a coffin. I remember thinking "That isn't daddy- he's gone." and squirmed to get down. Some woman said, "she just doesn't realize". This reaction on my part was surely the result of the incident (or vivid imagination) I told mother about before we left Montpelier.
It was decided that mother should go to Snow College, which was just across the street from our house. She would taken Home Economics so she could take in boarders (to help with her living expenses). I was to stay with my maternal grandparents. Don and Reva would start in 1st grade, freeing mother for her classes.
The house had no bathroom, or water. Water came from an outdoor "hydrant" about 20-30 ft. from the outside kitchen door. Baths were in a round galvanized "wash tub" and cleanups with a "washbasin and pitcher". The "privy" (toilet) was about 40-50 ft. from the back door in a clump of large bushes. In very bad cold weather and some nights we used a "chamber-pot"- very common in those days. There were coal stoves in the kitchen for cooking, heating water, and heating that area of the house and a coal small stove in the "parlour" for heating in the winter.
Mother warmed "flat irons" (used to iron clothes) on top of the coal stoves during dinner and until we went to bed, at which time they were wrapped in towels and taken to bed to keep our feet warm (and warm the bed a little).
Summer 1915 to Dec 1915- Montpelier, Idaho
With parents, brother Don, and sister Reva.
Reva tells me she remembers my learning to walk- also, that she was jealous because my parents gave me lots of attention and affection.
Dad taught mathematics in the high school in Pocatello (neighboring town)
Don did not go to school that year on schedule because there was too much snow that year for children to walk and the schools were closed much of the winter. He started again the next year (in Ephraim) in the first grade with Reva.
Dad died in Dec. 1915 of peritonitis from an infected, ruptured appendix.
Mother later told me that one early afternoon after Dad died I cam running into the house from outdoor play and said I had just seen Dad. Mom tried to explain to me that sometimes someone a distance away might look like someone we know but that Dad was not anywhere near us, he was gone. I said "No, he was on the path leading to the back door, where I was playing, and he told me that he had to leave us and be gone but everything would be alright."
We left to return to Utah soon after.
Reva tells me she remembers my learning to walk- also, that she was jealous because my parents gave me lots of attention and affection.
Dad taught mathematics in the high school in Pocatello (neighboring town)
Don did not go to school that year on schedule because there was too much snow that year for children to walk and the schools were closed much of the winter. He started again the next year (in Ephraim) in the first grade with Reva.
Dad died in Dec. 1915 of peritonitis from an infected, ruptured appendix.
Mother later told me that one early afternoon after Dad died I cam running into the house from outdoor play and said I had just seen Dad. Mom tried to explain to me that sometimes someone a distance away might look like someone we know but that Dad was not anywhere near us, he was gone. I said "No, he was on the path leading to the back door, where I was playing, and he told me that he had to leave us and be gone but everything would be alright."
We left to return to Utah soon after.
1914
Salt Lake City, Utah- Born April 12, 1914 in a little house "upon the avenues". My father was Joseph Angell Moses Young and my mother was Harriet Edmunds Young. I had an older brother, Don Earl, about 4 yrs. old, and an older sister, Reva, about 2 1/2 yrs. old. Dad was at the University of Utah in his junior year.
Mother and Dad were married soon after high school in Ephraim, Utah. My mother lived in Wales, Utah (a smaller neighboring town which had only a grade school, no high school) but went to high school in Ephraim. At the time my father's mother taught foreign languages at Snow College (in Ephraim). Dad and mother were allowed to get married because they were "in love" and threatened to elope. They were both going to Salt Lake to the University of Utah and "I can live cheaper together than individually". Granddad Edmunds paid their expenses, including their schooling. Grandmother Young was a widow on a very modest income. Granddad also had a son and another daughter in college and 5 other children and 2 homes to maintain (one in Wales, Utah and one in S.L.C) and the sheep ranching business. My brother, Don, was born and Granddad hired a housekeeper so mother could continue in school. He was determined that all of his children (girls included- unusual in those days) would be college graduates. When Reva was born 1 1/2 yrs. later he gave up on mother's education.
Dad continued school and earned a little money as instructor in lower math classes, his major. This meant that he could not take a full schedule of classes toward graduation so it took him longer to get his degree.
While still a baby (until I was over a year old) I had some gastro-intestinal problems and spent some time in the hospital.
Mother and Dad were married soon after high school in Ephraim, Utah. My mother lived in Wales, Utah (a smaller neighboring town which had only a grade school, no high school) but went to high school in Ephraim. At the time my father's mother taught foreign languages at Snow College (in Ephraim). Dad and mother were allowed to get married because they were "in love" and threatened to elope. They were both going to Salt Lake to the University of Utah and "I can live cheaper together than individually". Granddad Edmunds paid their expenses, including their schooling. Grandmother Young was a widow on a very modest income. Granddad also had a son and another daughter in college and 5 other children and 2 homes to maintain (one in Wales, Utah and one in S.L.C) and the sheep ranching business. My brother, Don, was born and Granddad hired a housekeeper so mother could continue in school. He was determined that all of his children (girls included- unusual in those days) would be college graduates. When Reva was born 1 1/2 yrs. later he gave up on mother's education.
Dad continued school and earned a little money as instructor in lower math classes, his major. This meant that he could not take a full schedule of classes toward graduation so it took him longer to get his degree.
While still a baby (until I was over a year old) I had some gastro-intestinal problems and spent some time in the hospital.
A Memoir written by Thelma Y. Wilkes
The following is a memoir that Thelma Young Wilkes wrote about her life, documenting events that occurred from the time of her birth to approx. age 59. It will appear on this blog word for word the way that Thelma wrote it out on paper. It's my hope that by putting it up in blog form, it can reach many more family members then it otherwise would through copies and the mail. As my Mom said, Grandma didn't write this journal so it could just sit in a file collecting dust! I know that I've learned so much about her life and her character by reading these entries, and I hope that everyone can gain a better appreciation for her and the life she led by reading her memoir.
The archives located on the right side of the blog are listed in chronological order, starting at her birth, as to make it easier to read the entries in the right order.
This blog will be kept on private mode, so if you know of other family members that would be interested in viewing this blog, please email me their email address at rowdyrudy2@hotmail.com or leave the email address in the most recent post's comment section.
The archives located on the right side of the blog are listed in chronological order, starting at her birth, as to make it easier to read the entries in the right order.
This blog will be kept on private mode, so if you know of other family members that would be interested in viewing this blog, please email me their email address at rowdyrudy2@hotmail.com or leave the email address in the most recent post's comment section.
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