Title | Brown, LaRay OH5_009 |
Creator | Weber State University, Stewart Library: Oral History Program. |
Contributors | Brown, LaRay, Interviewee; Marriott, Wess, Interviewer |
Description | The Marriott-Slaterville City Oral History Collection was created by the residents of the town to document their history. Each participant was provided with a list of questions asking for; stories about their childhood, schools they attended, stories about their parents and grand-parents, activities they enjoyed, fashions they remember, difficulties or traumas they may have dealt with, and memories of community and church leaders. This endeavor has left behind rich histories, stories and important information regarding the history of the Marriott-Slaterville area. |
Image Captions | LaRay Brown Circa 2019 |
Biographical/Historical Note | The following is an oral history interview with LaRay Brown, conducted circa 2019, by Wess Marriott. LaRay discusses her life and her memories of Marriott-Slaterville, Utah. |
Subject | Marriott-Slaterville (Utah); Interpersonal relations--Religious aspects--Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Agriculture; Ogden (Utah); Oral History |
Digital Publisher | Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, Utah, USA |
Date Original | 2019 |
Date | 2019 |
Date Digital | 2019 |
Temporal Coverage | 1930; 1931; 1932; 1933; 1934; 1935; 1936; 1937; 1938; 1939; 1940; 1941; 1942; 1943; 1944; 1945; 1946; 1947; 1948; 1949; 1950; 1951; 1952; 1953; 1954; 1955; 1956; 1957; 1958; 1959; 1960; 1961; 1962; 1963; 1964; 1965; 1966; 1967; 1968; 1969; 1970; 1971; 1972; 1973; 1974; 1975; 1976; 1977; 1978; 1979; 1980; 1981; 1982; 1983; 1984; 1985; 1986; 1987; 1988; 1989; 1990; 1991; 1992; 1993; 1994; 1995; 1996; 1997; 1998; 1999; 2000; 2001; 2002; 2003; 2004; 2005; 2006; 2007; 2008; 2009; 2010; 2011; 2012; 2013; 2014; 2015; 2016; 2017; 2018; 2019 |
Medium | Oral History |
Item Description | 12p.; 29cm.; 2 bound transcripts; 4 file folders. 1 sound disc: digital; 4 3/4 in.; 1 videodisc: digital; 4 3/4 in. |
Spatial Coverage | Mantua, Box Elder, Utah, United States, http://sws.geonames.org/5777881, 41.49577, -111.94383; Plain City, Weber, Utah, United States, http://sws.geonames.org/5779798, 41.298, -112.08605; Marriott-Slaterville, Weber Utah, United States, http://sws.geonames.org/5777956, 41.25161, -112.0255 |
Type | Text |
Access Extent | 0:33:43 |
Conversion Specifications | Filmed using a video camera. Transcribed using Express Scribe software. |
Language | eng |
Relation | https://archivesspace.weber.edu/repositories/3/resources/506 |
Rights | Materials may be used for non-profit and educational purposes, please credit University Archives; Weber State University. |
Source | Weber State University Archives |
OCR Text | Show Oral History Program LaRay Brown Interviewed by Wess Marriott Circa 2019 Oral History Program Weber State University Stewart Library Ogden, Utah LaRay Brown Interviewed by Wess Marriott Circa 2019 Copyright © 2018 by Weber State University, Stewart Library iii 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. The working files, original recording, and archival copies are housed in the University Archives. Project Description The Marriott-Slaterville City Oral History Collection was created by the residents of the town to document their history. Each participant was provided with a list of questions asking for; stories about their childhood, schools they attended, stories about their parents and grand-parents, activities they enjoyed, fashions they remember, difficulties or traumas they may have dealt with, and memories of community and church leaders. This endeavor has left behind rich histories, stories and important information regarding the history of the Marriott-Slaterville area. ____________________________________ 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 This work is the property of the Weber State University, Stewart Library Oral History Program. It may be used freely by individuals for research, teaching and personal use as long as this statement of availability is included in the text. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Brown, LaRay, an oral history by Wess Marriott, Circa 2019, WSU Stewart Library Oral History Program, University Archives, Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, UT. LaRay Brown Circa 2019 1 Abstract: The following is an oral history interview with LaRay Brown, conducted circa 2019, by Wess Marriott. LaRay discusses her life and her memories of Marriott-Slatterville, Utah. WM: LaRay, LB: Yes. WM: LaRay Brown we are excited to have you here. LB: Thank you. WM: We are looking forward to learning more about you and about your family and the community that you lived in when you came here. But tell us first of all, what is your age? LB: I’m 88. WM: And you were born when? LB: 13th of July 1930. WM: Where? LB: In Mantua, Utah. WM: Okay, and where is Mantua? LB: Up east of Brigham. WM: Okay. LB: Up the Canyon. 2 WM: Up Sardine Canyon? LB: No, before you get to Sardine. WM: Oh, before you get to Sardine. Okay, very good. When you lived there, you were there for several years and then you came here. You came here when? LB: In 1980. No, in 1996. No, just a minute. The 1st of January 1956. WM: 1956. Okay, great. LB: He can’t tell me because he was two. WM: Alright, 1956 was when you came here. LB: Yes. WM: Okay. Alright, when you came here, what’s your first memory? Where did you live and what kinds of things were going on in your family? LB: Well it was a change for us. My husband—we bought a farm here. WM: Oh okay. LB: It was what he always wanted. We had two little boys. We had a two year old and a five year old. WM: Okay. LB: And some of the things was a little difficult for me because people that settled into these little towns were all real close or relatives. We had no one. WM: Really? 3 LB: We kind of felt like outsiders but it didn’t take us long. They got us active and moving and our little boy that summer went to kindergarten. WM: Okay, where did he go to kindergarten? LB: Plain City. WM: Plain City. Okay. LB: Our children all went to Plain City Elementary, Wahlquist Junior High, and Weber High School. WM: Very nice. What kind of work did your husband do? LB: Well he farmed for a few years and we just couldn’t make a go of that. He was mechanic. He serviced farm machinery. WM: Oh really? LB: So he worked for a farm machinery dealer. WM: What’s the name of it? LB: It was Ogden Implement. He was the…. WM: Oh really? LB: He did the field service work. That’s the one that goes out into the fields and brings the tractors to the shop. WM: Alright. LB: He loved it. 4 WM: So he must have taken a lot of equipment with him. Did he have a big truck? LB: No, just a pick-up. WM: Just a pick-up? Oh. LB: But he carried a lot of tools and he knew enough about it that he kind of knew the parts when they would tell him what was wrong with it. He knew what kind of thing he was looking for—what parts to take. He covered a large territory. WM: How big? LB: Well, he went to Texas. WM: Really? LB: He did a lot of work at Winnemucca, Nevada. A lot of work in Malad. WM: Wow, that’s fantastic. LB: Of course, all over locally where people had that equipment. WM: Right. So was that a pretty common type of equipment in this area? LB: Well, they all were. This was a farming area. So all of the dealers had their own customers. WM: Right. That’s great. Tell me about your family again. LB: Well I had the two boys and we had two sons after we moved here. WM: Okay, what were there names? LB: There names are Douglas and Lee. 5 WM: Okay, you had four kids? LB: Yes. WM: Alright, and you told me the school that they went to. LB: Yes. WM: So tell me about your family life. What was there about your family life that was interesting? It’s kind of hard question, LaRay. LB: It is. WM: Where did you live? Tell me again. LB: We lived on Pioneer Road. WM: Okay. LB: And as I said, we kind of—people were kind of all related and we weren’t. But six months after we came, another family had come that had a whole lot of boys. WM: Oh really. LB: Then two years later, another family had come that had a whole lot of boys. They each had one girl, but a lot of boys. So between the three families, well four. There was, in our little neighborhood, we had 17 boys. WM: Really? Who were the names of the families? What were the names of them? LB: There was Wardells that came first. WM: Okay. 6 LB: And then the [0:05:31.6] come and then the Gibby’s come. WM: Oh wow. How many, fourteen? LB: 17. WM: 17 boys. LB: 17 boys. WM: Alright, well tell me about that. LB: Well there wasn’t a lot of time that they weren’t busy. They were close in age. They became life-long friends. WM: Oh good. Okay. LB: And they still are. I used to tell everyone that these 17 boys were the terrorist town. WM: What kinds of things did the do? Fun and bad. You know, good and bad. LB: Well, mostly they were just little boys. There was one time they took the horse we had and hooked it to a little red wagon to haul broken bells of straw from a neighbor. WM: Oh really? Fun. LB: They went into to get a drink and the horse moved right and the wagon rattled and down the road it went, pulling this wagon that was flying right by. WM: That’s funny. 7 LB: They neighbors thought I was terrible. One neighbor got upset with them because they put tin cans on their feet and they sounded like little horses running down the road. She called the police on them. WM: Really? LB: For disturbing her peace. WM: You’re kidding me. LB: But all he said was, “Little boys are little boys. Let them play.” WM: That’s terrific. LB: But they were interesting. They were fun. WM: Were they involved in sports at all? LB: Some played church basketball. But I don’t remember the others getting very involved in schools. Some of them played some football for Weber High. WM: In School? LB: But no main stringer type. WM: What were the kinds of things that they would do? Did they like horses or did they just play with toys? LB: Not particularly. WM: What kinds of things did they do? LB: Drove their mothers crazy. 8 WM: I’m sure that’s true. LB: I don’t remember a lot of things. A lot of things that I didn’t know that they did do. That I still don’t. WM: Oh you still don’t. LB: It’s probably better that way. WM: I’m sure that’s true. Well you had a bunch of kids so. LB: Yeah. WM: So that was kind of fun. LB: It was. WM: Tell me about church, what was church like? LB: Church was the center of our community. WM: In what way? LB: Well, everything seemed to revolve around it. Most of the people would come. Of course we always had some that don’t. But the church sponsored activities. They had dances, they had road shows, drama plays, they did the fourth of July. Things like that. Everybody participated in that. They had a good time. They had a pie eating contest. They had a dunk tank. WM: Did they have a dunk tank? LB: One year, they even went up on top of the mountain and brought back snow so the kids could have a snowball fight. 9 WM: Oh you’re kidding me. LB: There was this big pile of snow on the fourth of July. WM: That’s different, really different. LB: But they did have fun. WM: That’s great. LB: But I remember them, they were almost all involved in scouting. They went to Scout camp. WM: Anybody get to be an Eagle? LB: Yes, I just can’t remember who of the older kids. But they had a very active scouting group. WM: Oh good. LB: Outstanding Scout leader. WM: What was his name, do you remember? LB: Leonard Mowerhauffer WM: Did they go to scout camp? LB: Oh yes. WM: Up the canyon? LB: Up to Camp Bartlett, in Idaho. WM: Oh in Idaho? 10 LB: Then a lot of them, a little later, went up to Camp Lowell, I think is what it’s called. That’s up in, almost to Yellowstone. WM: Anybody go to a jamboree? LB: Not to my knowledge. We had one man that lived in our town—well he still lives here—that had a handicap son. He work with those handicapped kids. He took them to National Jamboree several times. WM: Nice. LB: He’d take his whole troop. WM: Really? That’s terrific, that’s a great experience. LB: Yes, it takes a strong man that will work with them. WM: It does. LB: But he wanted his son to have the—in fact, he and that son still live in our community. WM: Really? Can you remember their names? LB: Yeah, it’s Bob Martin and his son is Greg. WM: Alright, so scouting was important. LB: Very important. WM: Church is important. LB: Yes. 11 WM: You talked a little bit about some of the drama activities. LB: Well we did road shows. WM: Yeah, tell me about a road show. What is a road show? LB: A road show is when you write yourself. It only lasts a few minutes. You carry your props and you load them in a truck and you go to the next ward and put it on. Then they go out one side and you go in and they’re on their way to the next ward. WM: That’s great. LB: Then you go around to the whole stake. WM: Who writes those things? LB: Whoever you get in your ward. WM: Can you remember any of them? LB: I think maybe…helped. Really that’s the only one I can think of. WM: Can you remember any of them? LB: No but they were all good. WM: They’re fun. Go from ward to ward. LB: You always hoped the stage had a coming and a going door. Otherwise, they are coming out and you’re going in with yours and they’re coming with theirs to move on. 12 WM: Was there a winner? LB: Oh yes. WM: Did your ward ever win? LB: I don’t know. WM: Don’t remember? LB: I don’t remember. WM: That’s okay. Well, that’s terrific. LB: We had ten wards in our—at that stake. WM: That’s a lot. LB: There was Harrisville and Plain City, Farr West and in town. WM: That’s terrific. What was the name of your ward? LB: Our ward was the Slaterville Ward. WM: Slaterville Ward. Where was it located? LB: Where the park and bowery is now. WM: Well that’s great. LB: There was the Marriott Ward. They were on the highway. WM: So church was the center of the community. LB: Yes. 13 WM: What kinds of things did the church do that made an impact on the community? Besides the things we talked about. Anything else? Did you have regular activities—let me see, what’s the right word—reunions? Did you have reunions? LB: Yes. WM: Tell me about them. LB: Well, they had a nice big dinner and a program and usually a dance. WM: A dance too? LB: Uh huh. You had to move the benches out of the chapel. Fold them up, and put them out to dance in the chapel. WM: Very good. Alright, so who would attend those activities? LB: Everyone in the town. WM: Everybody in the town. LB: Oh yes. WM: Okay. So was this at the Marriott ward? Or was this at the Slaterville? Or both? LB: They both had them. WM: They both had them. LB: Yes. WM: Alright, well… LB: In fact, Marriott had theirs for quite a number of years after we became a town. 14 WM: Right. Wow that’s good. LB: It was a way of the people getting together. It was a nice way. WM: Who were your close friends? LB: Probably Clover Wardell and Noama Oma Eylers. That’s because we all moved here at the same time. We had all of these boys so we were together a lot. But I enjoyed really all of the ladies in the ward. WM: That’s terrific. So what was Ogden when you first got here, compared to what it is today? LB: Well I liked it better then. I liked having downtown. WM: Oh okay. Tell me about that. LB: Well there were stores along the main street on both sides. Now, you can’t even find a store hardly that’s open. I liked that. You go into town and go shopping and go to lunch. You would always run into friends that you knew somewhere. WM: Right, well the community is really a critical issue. What about when this was created—when the two cities? LB: I loved it. WM: Did you? LB: I do. WM: Do you remember the leaders who was involved? 15 LB: Well the ones that I can think of was Keith Butler and Orville Holly. I didn’t know a lot of the people from the Marriott area. But I knew some. There was the Hodson’s, they were very involved. The Holmes and there was a lot of…. WM: Was it a surprise that the two cities got together? LB: Kind of. WM: Was there anyone person that kind of stood out? Who was the first mayor? LB: The first mayor was Keith Butler. WM: Okay. LB: Until January, he was the only one we had. WM: Alright. So where was the first office? I mean, this wasn’t built. LB: The first office building was you would come into the west gate. There was a weigh station that belonged to the depot and we were there. Then when they tore that down, we went to a warehouse. WM: Really? LB: It was the second or third lineup and the first one. And then we went from there to here. WM: Alright. What was it like when you got this? Was it a surprise that everybody had a place to go? LB: I think it was wonderful. WM: Why do people come here now? 16 LB: Well, they come for lunch, some of them. WM: Really? Do you come up here at all? LB: No. I’m not real fond of the lunches. WM: Okay, no I understand. LB: I don’t know—Oh, they come here for immunizations. WM: Oh yes, okay. LB: They come to vote. WM: Come to vote, okay. LB: And just to take care of city business, I guess. Because I don’t come very often. WM: I understand. Okay, so when I look at your transportation. So you were here in the ‘50’s. LB: Yes. WM: What kind of cars did you drive in? Do you remember the kind of car you and your husband had? LB: Oh we had a Desoto. WM: Did you? Okay. Alright. LB: Green. WM: Green. LB: He had an old truck. 17 WM: What kind of a truck, do you remember? LB: A flat bad. It was a pick-up but it had a flat bed on the back of it. WM: So transportation wise, you used the Desoto to get around. What kinds of things did you do as a family? Did you go to movies? What kinds of stuff did you do? LB: Well, knowing my husband, when he wasn’t working, we were probably fishing. WM: Really? Where? LB: Wherever he could find a fish. WM: Terrific. LB: Sometimes I could get him to take the boys and let me stay home. WM: Okay. LB: But mostly we liked to go to Yellowstone. WM: That’s a nice place. LB: We liked to go—anything around here close. We had been to Joe’s Valley and a few places like that. WM: Did you cook all of his fish for him? LB: No. WM: Why? LB: Because I don’t want fish to touch me. WM: Really? 18 LB: I fish. WM: Do you? LB: If he baits the hooks. WM: As long as he baits the hook and gets it? LB: And he takes the fish off and he cooks the fish… WM: He cooks it? LB: and he eats it. I’ll hold the pole. But I don’t touch fish. WM: Okay, so what kind of cook are you? LB: Well, I think I’m a pretty good cook. I spent 26 years as a cook, for the school lunch. WM: Really? Tell me about that. LB: Well, when my kids were all in school, I wanted a job and I wanted one that I could be home in the summer with my children. And I’d be gone when they were gone. WM: That’s a great idea. LB: The only thing I could find was in the schools. WM: In the schools, LB: I started at Wahlquist and when they opened North Ogden Junior High, I went there. So I was three at Wahlquist, two at North Ogden, and then I became the 19 manager and spent three more at North Ogden and then I transferred back to Plain City. I didn’t like the roads that got to North Ogden. I spent my last twenty years at Plain City. WM: How did you like being manager? LB: I liked it. I had wonderful ladies. WM: How many people did you have working with you? LB: I had five. WM: That’s terrific. Well the kids really appreciate people like you. LB: Well, I don’t know if they do or not. They complain a lot. WM: What do you they complain about? LB: The food. WM: Well didn’t you have menus and stuff that you had to follow? Or did you have… LB: We made our own menus. And we ordered our own food. If we didn’t go over budget, she’d let us have it. But you had to stay within your budget. But you could fix what meals you wanted. WM: So fishing as important because of your husband’s love for fish. LB: Oh yeah. WM: What other kinds of things did you do as a family, besides fish? 20 LB: I can’t remember. I can’t think of anything. We did take the kids on a few little vacations. WM: Where? LB: We took them to Disneyland and that was many years ago. They say it’s not like it now. I haven’t been there so I don’t know. We took a couple of them deep sea fishing. WM: Where? What city? LB: We went out of Ilwaco Washington. With a whole group of people from the town here. WM: What’s it like to go deep sea fishing? I’ve never been fishing like that. LB: Well all I can tell you is that I got very sea sick. So I don’t know what it was like. I just wished that it would get over. WM: Did they bring back big fish? LB: Oh yeah. They bring back—you catch salmon. I think they can each bring back two for every one that has a license. So they could bring back two for me too. I was there with a license. I just wish that I wasn’t… WM: You didn’t have to touch those things. LB: No, but we have been there with our kids two or three times. Our one son was with his family. We drove to Alaska. WM: Really? What was that like? Tell me about it. 21 LB: It was wonderful. I’ve never been so tired in my life. After I was home a week, he said, “Let’s go.” I would have been packed, once I got rested. But you drive a long long time because it just doesn’t get dark. So you stop and go, “Okay.” We better find out what time it is and it’s one o’clock in the morning and you still go. But it was beautiful up there. The flowers are unreal WM: What is there about this valley that’s changed in your lifetime? LB: It’s grown. WM: Tell me about that. LB: Well, a lot of new people have come in and from my thinking, it’s wonderful. A lot of good people. WM: Still growing? LB: Yes. WM: So where’s the biggest area uptown that’s growing? LB: Well, right now I think it’s over on about 700. But I don’t know for sure. I don’t watch where it is. It is not growing where I am at. That area is not. But I think a lot of is commercial now because we are right close to the road—Highway 126. WM: When you go shopping where do you go these days? LB: I don’t go shopping. They come in a box. WM: I like that, that’s great. Well tell me about your husband. Do you have any stories about him that would be fun to know? Just think about it for a minute. 22 LB: Well I know that as a young teenager, he had his friend took the friend’s dad’s horse, and the horse got injured. So they decided to operate and sew it up. They thought that his dad wouldn’t notice. WM: Oh no. LB: But he did. They called the vet and the vet said he couldn’t have done any better. WM: Really? LB: And the horse lived. WM: Oh my gosh, that’s terrific. A good story. LB: He took his—during the second World War, his older brother was in the Navy and let him use his car, which was a little convertible. They took it to Yellowstone and they knew that he had to put everything in the car so they did. But nobody had told him that a bear couldn’t get through a rag top. So when they got up, they had no food. WM: Did they tear the top off? The bears? LB: Yeah! The bears literally tore the top to pieces. WM: Oh my gosh, that would be horrible. LB: Yeah, if you got somebody else’s car. WM: Yeah, that’s right. LB: And then he went into the service. 23 WM: Who? LB: My husband. WM: Oh which one? LB: He was in the army and he spent a year in Japan. He was young enough that I told him he was the mop up boys. But he was at the age they were sending them over seas so the combat boys that had been fighting could come home. So I told him he was the mop up crew. Somebody had to be. WM: Right, so what years was that? LB: Well, that would in about ’46 or ’47. WM: The end of the war. LB: That’s why they would send combat and him over. WM: Wow. LB: But he still had to… he spent a year in Japan. WM: What did you during that year? LB: I was in high school. WM: Alright, that’s terrific. LB: I was still in school. WM: So when did you get married? LB: We were married in ’49. 24 WM: Okay, and you are in the same house that you were then? LB: No, I’m in the same house that we moved to Slaterville to. WM: That’s what I meant. LB: If somebody asked me where I live, I’d tell them I live in the old stair house. Now I don’t know the old stairs but I know that if I tell people that I live in the old stair house, they know where I live. WM: Okay, that’s great. The stairs are everywhere. LB: Yes, they are. Some of them told me that was their grandparents home. WM: Oh really. LB: I don’t know who owned it originally. I just know that it was built in 1904. WM: That’s pretty old, that’s great. LB: Yes. WM: Is it a nice house? LB: I love it. WM: Tell me about it. LB: It’s a small home with a decent size kitchen and two bedrooms. WM: Okay. LB: The living room, laundry room, and a bathroom. I’m sure at the time, when they were there, what I call the laundry room was a pantry. The one I call the 25 bathroom now, I’m sure at one time it was a bedroom. But when you put gas in and that was the only place to put the furnace, you can’t use it as a bedroom. So it became a bathroom. WM: Do you have a porch? LB: Yes, one that goes across the front. It’s a brick home. WM: Any out buildings at all? LB: There’s an old barn there still. WM: Oh is there? LB: There was a big barn and some milk houses but they are all gone. WM: Okay, was there a spring house? Or anything like that? LB: Not to my knowledge. WM: Okay. LB: Not when we… WM: Not when you were there. So how long have you lived there now? LB: Well since ’56. So it’s 63 years. WM: Wow, that’s a long time. LB: I raised all four boys with a one bedroom that they were in. WM: All four boys in one bedroom. 26 LB: But you remember that they had big ole high ceilings in those days and we found a set of triple bunks. WM: Oh did you really? That’s terrific, good for you. LB: Well… WM: Except for the ones that fall off of the top. LB: No, it wasn’t bad, he just kept thinking that he was too old for the top. WM: Oh, okay. LB: And he was. WM: And he was, well that’s fun. Well what did you enjoy the most about being a mother? LB: I don’t know. I just enjoy my boys. I’ve had people ask me if I was sorry I didn’t have a girl. Yeah, I was. But I’d never seen a girl I’d trade one of my boys for. WM: That’s a good statement. LB: I’ll keep my boys. WM: So what was your greatest contribution to them from your point of view? LB: Well, I hope that it was encouraged in them to stay close to the gospel. WM: Okay. LB: But I don’t know… I’m not sure what answer they’d give you. 27 WM: Well I think that’s important because you said the words that the community was centered around the church. Having a testimony would be an important factor. LB: It is. WM: In your life, right? LB: It is. It is in mine. WM: Did anybody around you go on missions? LB: My oldest son did and I did. WM: You did? Wow tell me about it. LB: Well, my husband and I talked about going and at the time when we both retired. But at the time my doctor said, “You can’t do this, you can’t do this.” And I said, “You didn’t leave us a lot of options.” He said, “If you want to serve the Lord, you can serve him in your own ward.” But then after he passed away, the bishop called me in and asked me if I would serve a mission. So I did. WM: Where did you go? What did you do? LB: I went to the Oklahoma Tulsa Mission. WM: Really? LB: I…Senior sisters—older sisters, at that time they mostly worked with the bishop to try to find the inactive and try to reactivate them and find out why they left and kind of what’s going on in their lives that the ward could help them with. I loved it because I met wonderful people. 28 WM: So how long were you there? LB: 18 months. WM: That’s a good mission. How did you like the people in Oklahoma compared to here? LB: Compared to here? Oh my goodness, I don’t know how to answer that because they were wonderful people, but so were the people here. You got all kinds everywhere. I have some I know right here that would shut the door on you and are members and I know some there that’ll shut the door on you that are members. So I don’t… they are just good people. WM: Missions are a fun experience but they are very challenging. Did you have any challenging kinds of experiences? LB: Oh yes. WM: Like what? LB: Well we had one little lady that would let us in but she always had her bible. She turn to the back and she’d ask us a questions and I know that her minister was giving them to her. He was telling her with this paper, what to say. I’m not a big scriptorian, so it wouldn’t take a lot to tie me right into a knot. I’d just would say, “I don’t know.” I had to just… I was afraid that if I said something else, I’d say something wrong and I didn’t know but I could go find out. WM: As you look at your life now, since your husband died, right? LB: Yes. 29 WM: What’s life been like? LB: Very alone. WM: What does that mean? LB: Well it means that you got… I have a son that lives next door and he checks on me and does everything in the world for me. But he has to go home and when he closes the door, you’re alone. WM: Right. LB: And if you’re not alone, then you are always intruding into his life. That’s the time he needs with his wife. WM: Sure. LB: I think that’s the biggest thing, is just being alone. WM: How many grandkids do you have? LB: I had to Christmas for 73. WM: 73? Oh my gosh. LB: So I don’t know. WM: That’s a lot of people. LB: My oldest granddaughter got married this year… great granddaughter. My great granddaughter got married this year. WM: Wow, how mnay great grandchildren do you have? Or do you know? 30 LB: I have to count them. Well, I have, because I have a couple of boys that have—a have a grandchildren that have been divorced and remarried. I count there’s as mine. I won’t treat those children any different than the others. WM: You are a good mother. LB: I have to. If it’s my real ones or…I count them. They’re all mine. WM: That’s terrific. Well I want to ask you a couple of questions about the city and maybe you can help me out. Will you consider the golden age of the city, when would it have been in your mind? This community. LB: Oh my goodness. I don’t know because I don’t know that much about the early part. WM: From your point of view, when was the city the best? LB: Right now. WM: Right now, good for you. Why? LB: I just think that we’ve got wonderful people. We’ve got a bigger variety and I’m very proud of the way that this community is a little Mormon community has been with the other church—the Methodist church that came into town. They have activities or races or doing fundraisers and they are always announced in our ward for people to support them. I like that. I haven’t supported them, I don’t do many races but I do want them to feel welcome. WM: That’s nice. LB: We are all God’s children. 31 WM: Well you are good lady and you’ve got a big family they loot to you to you as a leader. LB: I don’t know about that. WM: I think so. LB: I look more to them. WM: Well we thank you for your time and efforts and for your son being here to help us out. |
Format | application/pdf |
ARK | ark:/87278/s68sq0vd |
Setname | wsu_ms |
ID | 60860 |
Reference URL | https://digital.weber.edu/ark:/87278/s68sq0vd |