Oral History Program LeeAnn Chambers Interviewed by Karla Chambers 24 August 1980 Oral History Program Weber State University Stewart Library Ogden, Utah LeeAnn Chambers Interviewed by Karla Chambers 24 August 1980 Copyright © 2012 by Weber State University, Stewart Library Mission Statement The Oral History Program of the Stewart Library was created to preserve the institutional history of Weber State University and the Davis, Ogden and Weber County communities. By conducting carefully researched, recorded, and transcribed interviews, the Oral History Program creates archival oral histories intended for the widest possible use. Interviews are conducted with the goal of eliciting from each participant a full and accurate account of events. The interviews are transcribed, edited for accuracy and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewees (as available), who are encouraged to augment or correct their spoken words. The reviewed and corrected transcripts are indexed, printed, and bound with photographs and illustrative materials as available. Archival copies are placed in University Archives. The Stewart Library also houses the original recording so researchers can gain a sense of the interviewee's voice and intonations. Project Description The Weber State College/University Student Projects have been created by students working with several different professors on the Weber State campus. The topics are varied and based on the student's interest or task for a specific assignment. These oral history assignments were created to help Weber State students learn the value and importance of recording public history and to benefit the expansion of the Weber State oral history collections. ____________________________________ Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account. It reflects personal opinion offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ____________________________________ Rights Management University Archives All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to the Stewart Library of Weber State University. No part of the manuscript may be published without the written permission of the University Librarian. Requests for permission to publish should be addressed to the Administration Office, Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, Utah, 84408. The request should include identification of the specific item and identification of the user. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: LeeAnn Chambers, an oral history by Karla Chambers, 24 August 1980, WSU Stewart Library Oral History Program, University Archives, Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, UT. iii Abstract: The following is an oral history interview with LeeAnn Chambers (b.1963.) It was conducted in the family home on August 24, 1980. The interviewer is Karla Chambers. In this interview, LeeAnn discusses her recollections and experiences growing up in a large Mormon family. KC: This is Karla Chambers and I’m interviewing LeeAnn Chambers on August 24, 1980 at 2660 North 450 East in North Ogden. We’ll be discussing life in a large family. Thanks for coming LeeAnn. Could you please tell me your given name and where and when you were born? LC: My full name is LeeAnn Chambers and I was born in Ogden. KC: Who are you parents and what can you tell me about each of them? LC: My mother is Marva Hale Chambers and she’s just a super neat lady. If there’s anything I would want in life, it is to be just like her. She never thinks about herself and she’s always concerned for other people. She has a cute sense of humor and she’s so much fun. My dad is Leo Joseph Chambers. He’s also a really super neat guy. He’s very strong in the church and honors his priesthood. He was always the head of our home and helped us out any time that we needed and I respected him. KC: What can you remember about your early childhood? LC: I always remember having a lot of fun, but thinking back I think it must have been pretty bad. I don’t remember too much with my brothers and sisters because I was the youngest and I guess I must have just played with the neighbor kids. We lived right across the street from some apartments, so there were always 1 different people living there. We’d always make friends and play around. I remember always having to share a room with one of my siblings. That was fun to be with them because I was afraid of the dark. I always loved school. I got along with my teachers really well. I guess they liked me too because they did things for me. I remember in second grade Mrs. Nester had guinea pigs. She had it set up so that whoever came back with a note from their parents saying that they could have them first, got to have them. That was good for me because I lived so close that I got it. Once in fourth grade our whole class got in trouble and we had to have our heads on the desk. Mr. Krill came over and told me he wanted to talk to me. He took me out in the hall and he said that he had to go to the office to do some things, but he didn’t want me to have to leave my head on the desk because he didn’t think I deserved it. So he let me go get a drink and goof around for a little while then go back to the class. I didn’t like my fifth grade year because I didn’t like my teacher that year. Sixth grade was really fun. I wish I could stay that age. It was really special. KC: What can you tell me about your brothers and sisters? LC: I don’t remember being around my older brothers and sisters, just the younger ones. We were all really close. Linda, my oldest sister, didn’t like me too much because I wouldn’t help her with the dishes. Now we’re really close and I really love her. She’s a very special lady. I always think of Craig as a big tough marine. Just this past summer when we went down to visit him—something about the visit, when I came home I really respected him. He’s always been quite shy but he’s really strong in the church and he has a really cute sense of humor. I love 2 him a lot too. All the time I was little Randy called me ‘honey bun.’ He’s a super neat guy. He’s got such a cute sense of humor, no matter how you’re feeling or how down you are, he’s the one that can always make you laugh and get you back in a good mood. He’s so considerate. He’s such a good big brother. Gary is so neat, too. He used to be quieter, but he’s so fun. You get all those guys together and they just make you laugh so much. They’re so funny. I remember going down to pick Gary up off his mission in California. That was a neat time. Reed has been the kind—you couldn’t get in his room because it was so messy and he’d give me a quarter to go and clean it for him. I never had money so I’d do it for him. He’s a special guy to me and I love him a lot. It seemed that me and Lonnie were especially close. When I was younger, I had long hair like she had. People used to say that we looked a lot alike. She was always really kind to me and would do little extra things for me. When I was in primary, she was the music director and sometimes I’d get mad because she’d call on me all the time to hold up the pictures. One time we were doing a special program and she asked me if I would do the drums for her in one spot and that made me feel so big and important. She’s always been really neat. Especially since the accident, I’m really glad she’s still here. No one could ever say anything bad about her because she’s so sweet. Lonnie used to always get her homework done and get everything done on time. She could do the dishes up so fast. She was always the one to keep the house clean. I looked up to her a lot. She really liked sports. I looked up to her being on the teams. 3 I really love Lori a lot. I don’t remember Rod too much before he went on his mission, just that we weren’t really close. I remember the night before he left, maybe he was feeling kind of rotten for treating us so bad and he had some things he wasn’t going to take with him and he came to our room and asked if we wanted them. It wasn’t much, but I think he was telling us that he loved us and he was sorry for being mean. Now that he’s back from his mission, he’s been the greatest big brother. Loraine is special, too. I love her a lot. Since we were pretty close in age, we used to fight a lot. They were weak fights because we didn’t want to hurt each other. She’s always been right there for me. I think I owe her money for all the clothes of hers that I’ve ruined. Next is Kelly. I really love Kelly and respect him a lot. He’s really shy and quiet but in school and stuff, the other guys his age and the way they act. Kelly really respects his priesthood and takes the gospel seriously. He’s neat and I love him a lot. All of my brothers—I really love them. They all play sports and I love to watch them play. I hope that sometime later on I can meet someone like my brothers. All the neat qualities that they have are essential. KC: What are the happiest memories that you have as a family? LC: I think the happiest times were when we all got together for a camping trip or we were at a ball game. I think I’m happiest when we’re together because I love them all so much. It’s so fun to be around them. The first time that we went camping up at Tony Grove, we were all so excited to go. Lonnie let me use her overnight bag that had a lock and key and I was so excited. I had everything set 4 out ready to go and the next morning Lonnie was sick and we had to stay home. It made me feel bad but I’ve been able to go other years. KC: What are the saddest times you remember? LC: I think when you love people a lot, when there are fights it would just crush me. I loved them all so much and I wanted them to be happy. The only other sad time I can think of was when I was coming home and I found some mushrooms in a field. I brought them home to mom and told her she could fix them for dinner. She laughed and said, “If you touch those, you’ll die.” I had carried them all the way home and I thought she literally meant that if you touched them you’d die. I threw them out and went and crawled under a bench and thought how no one loved me and how I was going to die because I’d touched the mushrooms. I still remember feeling so awful. KC: What do you think is the best part of being in a large family? LC: Being so close to so many neat people. I wouldn’t change one thing about my family if I had the chance. Being around a lot of people you love and having so many different people to look up to and to help you. KC: What is the hardest part? LC: I’d say the same thing as the saddest part—trying to please everyone. Not being forced to, but you don’t want to make one of them feel bad because you did something for the other one or something like that. There are so many different people with so many different ideas. KC: How many children would you like? 5 LC: As many as possible. I would love to have as many kids as I could. I’ve always felt so grateful for our family and it’s always been so neat. I really loved being in a large family and I would never deprive my kids of that chance or opportunity. 6