Farewell to Janet

 Julie Thayne invited relatives over to say Goodbye to me on Friday at 1:30 PM.  Molly and her boys, Julie and Morgan, Marilyn and Jeanne, Steve, Doug and Debbie, Tami were there.  Julie had brought acacia bowls etc and water and everyone chatted.  Julie made the card above and it fit the fridge door.

In the pictures above I was 15 months, 6, Jr Hi, High School and College age.

Molly came to my room and decided she would take the table and chairs either for her Mom or herself.  She took 3 chairs home that day.

It was very sweet of Julie and everyone was very kind.

Eiler Family and John's Friend Rick

Today I received a very fun call from Janice and we chatted quite awhile and then she sent me these pictures.  Janice, she is the tiny one!  Janice and her husband lived in 7th Ward when we did and Rick was at our home a lot and I always enjoyed visiting with Janice and her husband. Very nice family with a set of twins and 3 others.  Janice lives in Scottsdale but travels around to visit the various families during the year.  We touch base in Carlsbad when she visits two of her sons in San Diego area.

 

Janice and Granddaughters

Grandchildren

 

Children and Grandchildren except for Rick's Family 

Rick and Janice

Rick was one of John's special friends and he came to visit me at Treeo in September 2022 and he is such an accomplished, charming man.  It was a delight to hear all about his interesting life.  John would have really enjoyed hearing about his adventures.  Rick emphasized that he really enjoyed spending time at our house and is still eating Tiger Bars.

Ron Martin Obituary

Ron Martin was the new Bishop in Clear Creek Ward when I moved to Lake Almanor, CA in March of 1999.  He soon called me to be Relief |Society President and we had a good working relationship.  He was truly a caring Bishop of this small ward.  It became so small it was later changed to a Branch.  This was due to the destruction of the logging industry by enviromentalists.  His wife Jean soon became a dear friend.  After I had been out in the field for several months in my new job as a Disaster Reservist Loan Officer in 2001 I was released.  He continued to see that I  always had wood in my wood bin for as long as I lived there.  It was so sad to hear about the dementia taken over his life.

Official Obituary as printed in the Plumas News.

Ron Martin passed away quickly and peacefully on Saturday, July 2, 2022, after enduring a few tough years of dementia. Services will be held at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints chapel in Clear Creek, 3384 CA-147 Westwood, CA 96137, Saturday, July 9, 2022, at 11:00 am. He is survived by his wife Jean; sons Scott (Nichole) and Greg (Lorie); grandchildren Portia, Kendrick, Morgan (Jordan), Paige, Trevor, Calista, Brooklyn and Amelia; great-grandchildren Shane, Kodiak and Callen; and his sisters Norma and Kathy. He is preceded in death by his sister Donna.

Ron’s childhood was spent in northern Idaho with some of his teen years in southern California and Washington. He enlisted in the Air Force in 1956 at the age of 17. He was honorably discharged in 1960. While in the Air Force he played on the Air Force tennis team and flew all over the States in the back of cargo planes to get to his tennis tournaments. He was also on the Air Force Pistol team. Most of his stay in the service was at the Condon, Oregon, radar base where he was a draftsman. He was proud to report that while serving on the radar base no Russian bombers made it through their radar defense and America was safe for the years that he was there. Post-Air Force, he worked in the alarm industry in southern California and in the Bay Area. In the spring of 1979, he moved his family to Prattville. In 1980, he got a job at the Collins Pine sawmill. Later in 1980, he started his own alarm company. He went full time with his alarm company from 1985 until his retirement in December 2016. He had a busy retirement working around the house and chasing the grandchildren in all their varied activities.

His favorite pastimes were cooking large breakfasts, hunting, fishing, dirt biking, geocaching and serving in his local church. Most of his fishing was done with his sons on Butt Creek. His other fishing spots were Yellow and Soda creeks with his close friend Tony. His hunting was mostly done locally from Ohio Valley to Mud Creek Rim overlooking Chester, with many favorite secret places in between. He also spent many years traveling to Wyoming on elk hunts with his family buddy, Evan. He never brought home much meat but he had a ball with Evan in Wyoming. One summer he ran a small fishing camp up in Alaska where one of his clients was the famous Miami Dolphin, Larry Csonka. If you had the chance to go outdoors with Ron you found out quick that you needed to suffer and sacrifice while fishing or hunting or you were not be doing it right. You never sat while fishing or came back dry. Prime fishing was while you stood in the snow. Hunting was the same. Hunting tree blinds that would put your legs to sleep and you went into the hunting area by flashlight and left by flashlight. No sitting while dirt biking or racing.

He married his wife, Jean on June 22nd, 1962, and they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary just the other day.

Ron was 82 at his passing and stated to his family a few times he never thought he would live this long. He had a great run. When he did something, he was all in and would take anything to the bitter end. His memory faded pretty fast at the end and to get him talking and visiting at the last you had to go back in his memories 40 to 50 years to catch a spark from the past and fan it into a grand story where he would say repeatedly, “Those were the good ol’ days!”

He loved to shoot the bull and loved hearing others speak of their exploits. You did not need to know Ron long to know him well and he will be missed by all.

We say goodbye to Ron in the flesh but we race on, run on, work hard, love much and appreciate the day as we have his memories and stories still with us. To those examples, experiences, memories and stories we will never say goodbye to, but will be able say, “These are the good ol’ days.”

Thanks to all that knew him. You were all part of his long life.

Sincerely,

The Martin Family

First Christmas Card to Arrive, 2021

Christmas card from my dear friend Marion Naylor.  I have known her since our stint in University City  when Linda and Maria were born.  She was such a great example to me of Motherhood and Faithfulness

always.  She is living in Orem also.

It was sent to Linda's house and made me decide I better do a card and fast.  No one knows where I am.

Old Friend Passed Away

 These two were also attending 4th Ward when I came to San Diego to teach.  I dated Clinton a little but he had his eye on this gal and was afraid to ask her out because he had dated her roommate.  I encouraged him to ask her out and the rest was history.  Richard soon came on the scene and he and I were a good match and soon married.  When Richard passed away the day before Thanksgiving in 1996, Clinton was the San Diego Temple President as shown in the above picture.  My children and I went to the Temple a few days after services and Sister Davis saw us waiting in line and quickly asked some elders to put extra chairs in a session that was about to begin so we would not have to wait.  They were both very special people and Linda lives back to back with one of the sons and his wife in Carlsbad.  Small world.

Ironically Clinton died the day before Thanksgiving also.

An Old Friend Passes

Quite accidentally I came across this information today and so looked up the obituary.

I met Bill when he came to Oceanview School in San Diego to teach my Second Grade class about helicopters.  He came with a pilot who was going to the same ward as me and said he would be happy to come to my class.   The rest is history, Bill told me later he fell in love at first sight. It was a very fun time in my life sailing, sunbathing at the beach, going to dinner and dances.  He was away at sea part of the time and later in my life sent me an email and told me I may have saved his life.  He was being true to me while out to sea and friends of his would visit prostitutes and later one of them died from disease picked up on one of those visits.  He felt he had escaped that by his fidelity to me.

We almost married, but broke up at the beginning of the summer in 1959, the differences in our religious beliefs was too much.  He went to Harvard and I went to BYU for the summer.  I met Richard when I came back and we married 6 weeks later.

Bill visited me at our Choice Mortgage Office in 1990 and told me he was about to marry his third wife and how lucky I was to have escaped marriage with him.  He called me often at midnight when his third marriage was on the blitz and Richard had passed away, always saying he was coming to visit me sometime, said he was getting a divorce.  I think he got dementia after that as he was often confused in his telephone calls.  Somehow he had retained friendships with his ex-wives as he had six children, three boys from the first, one daughter from the second, and a son and daughter from the last.  He had been successful and a millionaire at one time but lost it all, I understand, though his first two wives were very rich and his last was a chiropractor doing well.  He was a very charismatic person with lots of friends.  I enjoyed learning how to sail and always enjoyed being with him.

William Urban Bruch

On October 30, 2019 Bill Bruch (Jr.) passed away at the age of 86 in Port Orchard, WA.

Born on December 3, 1932 to William U. Bruch Sr. and Clarice Young Bruch, Bill grew up in Bayport Long Island, NY, where he began his love of sailing. After earning a chemical engineering degree from Columbia, Bill went on to graduate from the US Navy OCS & Flight Schools, serving as a helicopter pilot on the USS Philippine Sea. Military service took him to San Diego, where he started his real estate career by flying clients up to Apple Valley in the late 50's. The east coast drew him back & in '61 he graduated with his MBA from Harvard Business School. Business brought him to Seattle in the mid-60's & Bill found where he wanted to spend the rest of his life- a place where he could both ski and sail in the same day. After a short stint in hydraulic sales, Bill returned to real estate at John L. Scott. At Scott he was a top salesman 1968-74, Bellevue Branch Manager 1974-76, and President 1976-80, expanding the company and helping to steer development of many Bellevue/Eastside neighborhoods. He was one of the founding directors of the NW Multiple Listing Service, a real estate instructor at Bellevue Community College for 17 years, and the author of a manual for agents and brokers using the Hewlett Packard HP 12-C.

After his years at Scott, Bill ran his own real estate & mortgage companies in the 1980's, including Bruch and Vedrich Better Homes & Gardens. His final years in real estate were primarily with Windermere, and finally Realty Executives in Bellevue. Bill, an avid sailor, owner of many Thistles, a Tartan 41, and the first J 36 on Puget Sound. He sailed in 14 Swiftsure races, 4 Victoria-Maui races, and countless others on both coasts, and completed a trans-Atlantic crossing.

A lifelong student of Christian Science, he was a long-time member of the First Church of Christ Scientist Mercer Island, where he served in many roles. Through his faith he continued to grow in wisdom and kindness, understanding that there is no death.

Bill is survived by his younger sister, Anne Miexsell of Sudbury, MA, his wife Laura Balent of Bellevue, WA, as well as his children: William U. Bruch III of La Connor, WA; Robert S. Bruch of Long Beach, CA; James C. Bruch of Kihei, HI; Sarah A. DeBoer (Bruch) of Woodinville, WA; Maxwell B. Bruch of St. Louis, MO; Clarice B. Bruch currently studying in Glasgow, Scotland; & two grandsons: Luke DeBoer and Benjamin Bruch.

Bill's Celebration of Life will be held on Friday, November 22,

from 3-5 pm at the Mercer Island

Community & Event Center,

8236 SE 24th St, Mercer Island, Wa.

Published in The Seattle Times on Nov. 17, 2019

My Friend Marjorie

I have not seen Marjorie for quite a while now.  She moved from Lake Almanor several years ago to be nearer her daughter and others in Washington.  I assume these are great-grandchildren.  She is now living with a granddaughter and has her grand piano with her and gives the great-granddaughters piano lessons.  She has let her hair go white and stays quite fit.  Miss her.

Sister Carole

My sister Carole is spending two weeks in Utah with her best friend from her childhood and youth, Alyce.  Alyce joined the Church when she was living in Alaska and is now living in Provo where three of her children and their families live nearby.

Alyce and Carole Start a Two Week Vaca

Norm Passes Away!

When I was a Sophomore in high school, I sort of liked Norm Anderson, #83 and we dated some.  He was a very likeable, fun, and kind guy.  When Harry moved to town, it was soon over but I stayed good friends with Norm.

He passed away this month from lung cancer.  So many of my friends are gone. Sad.

This was the Jr. Prom when I was a Senior and Harry was away at college.   

My date was actually Lee B. the dark haired boy on my right who had always had a locker next to me and I did date some, but Norm "Andy" was standing behind me when Deloris (his date) took the picture and it looks like I am with him. 

We surely didn't know what to do with our hair!!!

At the 2000 Dawson High School Reunion for the classes of 49, 50, and 51 Norm's wife was not there and of course, I was alone, so we spent a lot of time talking and catching up on the last 50 years. Norm was one of the "good guys".  I went around and had my picture taken with every guy in high school that I had ever dated, even once,  thus this picture.  Even at that time, two, Dean and Lee, had passed away and George was not there, but it was a fun thing to do.

I just remembered, one of them, Don B. laughed when I wanted to take his pix and said, "What, I never dated you, you were way out of my league."  So I took his picture alone, but I thought it was funny, true we did not date, but I never knew he thought that way except he was quite a drinker, even though he was a super runner on the football field.  And I stayed away from drinkers.

But I had this memory of sitting next to him at some place when I was home from college, guess there was just a group of us getting together at a nightclub, because I remember Harry coming in (we were broken up) and as he sat at another table his chair broke and he landed on the floor and I so remember Don "Poot" looking at me and really laughing, his whole face crinkled up when he laughed.

Funny the memories we have...I did feel sorry for Harry.

Bill, An SBA Friend, Passes Away

Today I received the sad news from Susan of New Mexico that her husband Bill had passed away.  Bill had been an SBA loan officer with me on about 3 or more Disaster Services, in Texas and Sacramento. In 2001 all of us that were staying together had Sunday barbecue suppers together.  The hotel owners let us use their kitchen and dining area...we became quite well acquainted.

Standing on the left is our friend Tony, also from New Mexico, he still sends great uplifting emails.

That first year we worked Bill and I were the two "Top Reservists" and received $50 quick cash awards.  He was also the one who encouraged me to submit for a higher pay grade.  Some of the guys had been former SBA employees, I had come from the non-government banking world.  He said he had heard me and he knew I was worth it.  I applied with the help of a car partner, "a brainy guy" who knew just how I should write it and I did get it!

Bill was also my car partner on one disaster and he was quite a tease.  I remember one time as we stopped to get gas he said that I had never taken my turn at checking the tires.  The SBA guys were quite vocal about 'equal opportunity' and all that.  I turned to him and said quite insistently, "I am not going to check the tires!"  And he just laughed.  The guys did like to tease me, and one of them said one time, "it was just so easy."  I was evidently very gullible.

Bill was a special friend and when his wife visited in Sacramento he made sure we met and had lunch together.  They had such a lovely relationship.  When he had a stroke some time ago she sent the devastating news.  He was sure he would recover fully and worked hard at it.  It is very sad to hear of his passing.  Bill was probably more fit and healthy than any of us seniors.  He watched what he ate and always walked on his noon break.  He had been a model in years past and in the winter he was a ski instructor.  Life is not fair!

Bill was one of the "good guys"--his family and friends will miss him greatly.

Danny and Lani

After I visited the Masseys I walked down the street to the home of Danny and Lani, friends from the late 50's when I came to San Diego to teach.  Lani was talking to a friend on the porch and she immediately said, "Janet!" when she saw me.  Danny was getting ready to go to lunch with a friend when Lani called to him that I was there.  He asked for her assistance, "I can't let Janet see me with my walker."  Lani and I were talking about why the Christmas decorations were still up when we heard Danny say, "The heart can only stand so much, Janet is here."

Evidently Danny had been in the hospital for a couple weeks starting on December 13 and he was still recouping from an injured back.  Lani had put the Christmas decorations out and they were still celebrating the Christmas they missed by being in the hospital so much.  He was apologetic that the yard was not weeded as usual because he still could not bend down, but he was giving instructions to Lani to be sure and show me his '40 Mercury in the garage and other pictures of his restored vehicles before he walked out the door to lunch with his friend.  Lani was her usual happy, giving self, doing all he wanted.

He gave me a big hug, and said "Not like the last time we locked lips."

In 56 when I came to teach in San Diego with my friend Colleen we were part of about 17 new teachers that had come from Utah colleges to teach school in San Diego.  We all ended up in 4th Ward on Hamilton--there were only six other wards in San Diego and 4th Ward was the Stake Hall. There were also about 15 or so Navy boys who came in each Sunday to church there, too.  They were returned missionaries who now had to do their draft time in the Navy.  Then there were the San Diego locals like Danny and Carol, etc. There were probably about 35 to 40 of us young adults going to this ward and having dances on Saturday nights and firesides and potlucks on Sunday and other youth activities like the beach and mountain parties, etc so it was a very fun time in San Diego.

During the three years this was going on before I met and married Richard in October of 59 there were a lot of romances and break ups among the group.  Marta married Quinton and Colleen married her Navy pilot and Lani married Danny, Norma married Ray and there were several others, too.  I have a picture of Lani in her wedding dress in my blog here somewhere.  She was so beautiful.  I remembered the Christmas that Lani and I were the only ones left with no where to go for Christmas. We ended upon Christmas Eve driving to Orem, Utah so she could spend Christmas with relatives and I could spend Christmas at Jeanne's.  Lani was always a delight to be with, she taught school and then substituted until just last year!!

In the first year Norma got us all together to put on a play (Danny remembered the title) but I didn't. He wants me to send him copies of the pictures I posted a few blogs back.  He played my son and my hair was floured to look grey and I wore a sophisticated dress and Bob was my husband in the suit. We had to kiss in the play but Danny and I had an impromptu (much better kiss) behind the curtains. He flirted with me for three years but Lani was crazy for him and eventually they married after Richard and I had married and moved to Pacific Beach.

He has kidded Meagan and Matt about me since they moved nearby and was always playfully upset I did not come down to visit them.  The last time I saw him was when I was walking in La Jolla with Maria and Linda when they were in grade school.  He was driving by in a SDGE truck and yelled out the window--Hey, Janet.  Anyway, always a fun guy.  He had brought me to his home in '56 to meet his Mom and show me the Japanese hut and pond, etc he had built on the side of the canyon.  I thought this was the house he and Lani were living in but it was not.

Lani told me they had been living in an apartment down the street and he told her to find a house to buy, a big house with a big yard, he was not coming with her.  She said she found a five bedroom house with a small yard and a smaller house with a really large yard.  They bought the latter, for the big yard which Danny wanted.  She showed me Danny's restored Mercury first.  The garage was filled with trophies and pictures of all the car shows he had been to and won--he restored one car, sold it and then another, etc.  Beautiful work. When I knew him in '56 he had bought a new Chevy and polished it every night after work, kept it meticulous.

Then she showed me the rest of the yard--large tif-green yard with a couple patios, ponds (there also had been a Japanese hut but it was burned in a fire 20 years ago) and a very large beautiful pool in full sun, another deck and then property that is theirs all the way down the canyon, a huge yard!!! They have 19 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren.

Anyway it was a fun visit and Danny wanted me to come back when he was there but I told him I was leaving Sunday and not going to drive the freeway out there again.  Maybe they can stop by when they go to an autoshow in Redding.  He comes up to the August nights in Reno all the time, too.  Small world.  I have seen those restored cars drive on Highway 36 in the summertime.  Never thought Danny might be one of them.

Small World Elicits More Memories

Small world again!!!  The Pulsiphers were invited to the neighbors house for dinner and I opted to stay home.  Lo and behold the husband is the son of a former acquaintance whom I had dated a couple of times in 1959 in San Diego and known for awhile.  I remember that week well.

I had just come back from BYU and moved into a new place.  It was purposely an apartment upstairs as I felt safer and a young couple with a baby lived next door.  Both Colleen and Marta were now married.  I had broken up with Bill (we were planning marriage and then broke up). It was the religion  problem again.  My parents were going to meet us in Salt Lake City and so drove on down to see how I was.  It was late May I think.  I have written about that strange episode earlier so skipping to this week I returned from BYU.

I went to church Sunday night and all my friends were there.  Norma had written there was a new guy in the ward she wanted me to meet.  I said, "No". It was Richard, and he immediately came up after the meeting and introduced himself and asked if I would go to the Fireside with him.  I told him Danny had already asked me.  Sometime Clinton (the father of the neighbor) asked me to go golfing on Saturday morning and Bob asked me to go to a movie on Wednesday.  I had been dating Bill, a nonmember for a few years, and was suddenly "available" and that is why I was getting rushed.   Monday was Labor Day and Richard took me to Balboa Park but  he asked for another date and we settled on Friday night.   He knew I had these other dates. Tuesday we were decorating for something at Mutual and I remember talking to all of them.  We were all in transition.

Danny had been dating Lani, but was unsure about marriage yet and was always flirting with me,   We had been in a play together and I played his mother!!  He even visited me when I had my wisdom teeth out and brought me ice cream.  Clinton had been dating a girl but really wanted to date her roommate I found out when we decided we did not have any chemistry but enjoyed talking only.   We had gone golfing and on one other date before I found this out.  Richard had broken up with a girl sometime before he came to San Diego and had been dating another in San Diego before I came back in August.  Bob was getting ready to get out of the Navy and had asked me out before.  We were all friends as there was only one Stake at that time and we all went to the Saturday night dances.  I used to bring Bill when he would come with me but we often sailed on Saturday and Sunday afternoon if there were races so we were not always there.

Anyway I remember encouraging Clinton on our last date (as I was now having feelings for Richard) to never mind the code of not dating the roommate of a former girl you had dated.  If he felt that strongly about her, he should ask her out.  He did and they later married.  He was Temple President when Richard died and when my children and I went to the Temple a few days later it was so crowded but his wife intervened and brought us to the front of the line and had more chairs added so we could immediately get into a session.  I always appreciated that kindness to us.

Anyway Danny married Lani and lives down the street from Meagan.  Richard took me to meet his mother the second week after he met me.  He thought all the guys were after me and he dropped all other dating and concentrated on me.  He was a "Take Charge Guy" and I pretty much let him take charge of my life.  The neighbors next door said "some guy keeps running up the stairs to see if you are home".  He was an appraiser for a bank so I guess when he was in the area he would check to see if I was home.  A strange think about chemistry.  I remember Richard and I felt very comfortable together and I would let him hold my hand that first day.  Whereas the other guys I did not want them to even touch me.  Except Danny and I had chemistry but I never thought of him as marriage material for some reason, just a fun guy to flirt with...

I don't know what happened to Bob.  He was such a nice guy and really thought I was the one for him.  At any rate I was living alone, teaching school with no chance of time off and Richard had just started a new job, etc. etc. etc.  so we married on a Friday evening six weeks after we met and were back to work on Monday morning and lived at my place for about a week before we moved to a bigger place where Richard had been living with a roommate and the roommate moved out.  It was in Normal Heights and I was teaching at Hamilton School not too far away.  I taught school till the end of the term and then we moved to Pacific Beach on Felspar.  Loved living there!!!  Richard had changed jobs and was working for a firm in La Jolla, rather than downtown.   It was all a whirlwind with Richard managing everything...I let him handle everything until he had his heart attack in 1969 and then I stepped up to become more of a partner than a princess being taken care of...I always liked being a princess.

Oh, yes, the other funny thing that happened.  After our first Friday night date Richard was just saying good night to me at the top of the stairs when Bill appeared and Richard had to leave.  I think that further pushed him to drop everything else and pursue me.  Who knows...

Danny as the son, me as the Mom

Bob was fourth from right--oh and John second from right I dated prior to Bill--a lot of singles in the ward.

Norma is on the right end and Danny, fourth from the left.

Bill

Richard

Good Food and Interesting Memories

Last Sunday I ate at Maria's.   We first sat in the Jacuzzi and enjoyed the sun, surf and Jacuzzi all at the same time.  Then Maria deep fat fried cut up corn tortillas and sprinkled them with sea salt while Matt made guacamole with onions, tomatoes, mangoes and spices.  Wow, this was so good.   Maria had also slow cooked chicken with salsa all day and was that ever delicious!  Nice day.

Friday night everyone came over and Gary cooked hamburgers and brats on the barbecue at the community pool--Maria brought more chips and drinks, Kelly brought yummy guacamole, Camber brought salads and Linda brought all the extras for hamburgers plus lemon bars and Kelly and I each brought cookies.  Great food again.  Hard to get enough of those brats!!!  Enjoyed being with all the family down here yet again.

Today one of my former Primary students and daughter of friends I first met in 1956 when I came here spoke in church about Religious Freedom.  It was an excellent talk and she said she would email me a copy,  I hope she does.   Later I talked to the grandson of people I knew in La Jolla in the sixtys. They were both doctors and the wife was an immunologist.  She had a famous clinic in regards to cancer cure.  In order to earn money toward a youth event I donated my blood at the clinic.  This was a little different from the usual blood donating.  I had to go to the clinic a couple of times for testing and then the donation was done live from donor to recipient.  It took a long time and I remember the lady was from Great Britain.  It netted $50 for our youth group!!!   What a small world.

Another person I recently remembered was a Jackie I worked with in the 80's.  She was the manager of Ameristar, a Mortgage Banker we brokered loans, too.  She and I had become quite well acquainted and she told me she was the daughter of Joe Louis!  Joe Louis was a famous boxer in the pre WWII years and after, too.  He was a hero of the nation and was the World Heavyweight Champion, having beat a boxer from Germany.  In the documentary I watched this week  I learned why Jackie had a different last name than Louis.  Joe Louis dropped his last name Barrow when he first starting boxing in the 30's.  He was also divorced from Jackie's mother when Jackie was only about three or four years old according to the documentary. She was a darling little girl, but I got the idea that she had not seen her father too much while she was growing up.  As I say, it is a small world.

Yesterday Linda and I saw "Frozen" since we had both missed it.  It was very enjoyable.  Prior to the movie we went to a Mex restaurant Maria and I had gone to a few years ago and I thought it was good.  Woe to us, neither of our dishes was that great for San Diego Mex food so they are crossed off our list of places to eat.

I talked to Maryanne in Chester today and she said it is 62 degrees up there!!!  She has lived there since 1966 and she said there has never been a winter like this!!!! I am sure when I return the snow will come but by then it will melt easily...we need the moisture so badly.

My Friend Myrna

I wrote the following in 2007 about my childhood friend Myrna Graves Conner.  We met when I was in second grade and our family had moved from the south side to the Heights of Glendive, Montana.  She passed away Saturday, January 18th.  She was 81 years old.  I will miss talking to Myrna--we would sometimes chat for an hour about the old times and our current families.  Seems the end of an era for sure without her.


Her nephew Kent said there was probably not a day in her life that she didn't laugh and enjoy life.  I think that is true.  Always when we would talk and commiserate about being alone, she would always express thanks to God for all the many blessings in her life.  She will be missed.

 ;

The word "Heartaches" 

reminded me of my friend Myrna who I stay with when I travel back and forth to San Diego. She lives just off the freeway in a beautiful home in Manhattan Beach. This song

"Heartaches" was one of her favorites in high school when she was going through a heartbreak romance. She also loved "My Blue Heaven". Funny how songs remind you of people and places. Here she is with Eddie, a neighbor in Glendive, at our 2000 high school reunion. They were not a romantic couple but were the best jitter buggers in our high school!

Myrna had to work from an early age in Kaplan's, the dress shop next to our store Anderson's, so she missed out on a lot of the after school happenings. She was such a great clerk because she is a people person and took an interest in all of their customers. Myrna is such a people person that she had and still has friends of every age. She is everyone's best friend, with a very compassionate heart and kindness for all. She has a fantastic memory and knows all about each of us. We all think she is our best friend... and she is!

Myrna had some heartbreaking moments in her life but persevered over all. Unfortunately the "love of her life" passed away in 1993 and they did not have enough years but she was so happy those years together in Manhattan Beach. Now she lives alone with a daughter, son-in-law and two granddaughters near and two stepsons and their wives and two grandsons a little further away.

Myrna had the smallest waist of all of us. We made these ballernina skirts that were a full circle and so fun to dance in. Myrna's mother worked but I remember her being so fun to be around, always laughing and joking. Myrna and her mother made this fabulous boiled white frosting and chocolate cake and the best divinity. Myrna is still a great chef today and it is always a pleasure to eat whatever she is dishing up. My favorite outing with Myrna at her church was Easter Sunrise Service and then to the basement of the church for scrambled eggs, sausage, hot cross buns and orange juice and then we would go wake up our Catholic friends...Even though we had our own church in our home on Sunday nights, I went to the Methodist Church with Myrna. Her aunt was our Sunday School teacher when we were in grade school.

A really fun adventure in junior high was to travel by open truck (We were all in the back--against the law today) all the way from Glendive across Montana to Livingston for a Church Camp.

It was really fun--here we are discussing the weighty things of the world, Raine, Myrna, Myself  and
 Eddie. On the way back to Glendive the back of my jeans came unstitched at the back seam and so I tied my fringe jacket around my waist and said I was too hot to wear it--actually it was freezing in the open truck!

We also joined LTL (Loyal Temperance League) and signed our names that we would not smoke or drink. I was probably one of the few who never did.


Written later...


Myrna called me to tell me that she never signed the LTL pledge to not smoke or drink! I didn't remember this. Mrs. Lowe, a church biddy, called and reported to Myrna's mother that Myrna had refused to sign the pledge. Her mother asked if Myrna had said why. "She said she didn't know what she was going to do when she grew up." "There's your answer!" her Mom said and that was that. And Mrs. Lowe never spoke to Myrna's mother again.

Danny

In 1957 I was in a play at 4th Ward in North Park.  Danny, one of the San Diego locals, played my son.  I had floured grey hair as his mother.   I also remember Danny and I stole a kiss behind the curtains one night.  Danny was the one who brought me a treat when I had my wisdom teeth out.  He stayed and cheered me up and told me about his experiences in Japan.  I also remember my beautiful new white blanket was stained when my gums bled in the night.  I was at the sink drenching my blanket in cold water, forgetting about the pain in my teeth.  Luckily it was white again.  It was also Danny who asked me to go to the Fireside with him the first Sunday I was back in San Diego after spending the summer at BYU after my break up from Bill.  Richard also asked me to go with him after he introduced himself but I went with Danny.

Danny was a good looking, fun guy who all the girls had a little crush on and he eventually married our friend,  beautiful Lani.

Lani and I were two of the BYU graduates who came to San Diego to teach in 56 and 57.  We drove all the way to Utah one Christmas when we were both alone in San Diego.  We had Christmas Eve in Las Vegas as we stopped for something to eat.  It was a spur of the moment trip and we arrived early Christmas morning at her relatives and mine.  Anyway fun memories of those dating years in San Diego--56 to 59.

Jump forward 53 years and Meagan is living on the same block as Danny and Lani and here is a picture of Meagan and Keira at Danny's 80th birthday party.  It is a small world, after all.

Marjorie's Mom

Tuesday Marjorie called and asked if I could drive to Vancouver with her and her 103 year old Mom.  Her daughter Karen had had to fly home to care for her grandchildren as Karen's daughter was in the hospital having a baby.

Michael drove me over to Red Bluffs.  Fortunately for Marjorie it now appeared she would be able to get her Mom in a private Home Care in Corning and she wouldn't have to drive her all the way to Vancouver, at least at this time.  I stayed with her during the day as she had her Mom's TB test read so she could enter the home.

What a delight the home turned out to be for her Mom.  She was happy to sit down and play the piano and enjoyed her meal at the big table with the other live ins and sitting in one of the comfortable recliners around the TV.  The home is run by an ex-Marine and his Philippine wife and they appear to do a super job.  We were amazed to watch Marjorie's mom walk around by herself and just beam.  She even sang for everyone.  She knows all the words to several songs...it is absolutely amazing at 103!!

Marjorie came back to Lake Almanor with me for a couple days to see if the home "took" with her Mom and the report was very positive!!!  Marjorie may move her to Vancouver later but it would have been very hard to take her to her two story home until she found a "home" nearer.  It is very hard to take care of elderly people unless you are set up for it and have the strength. 

Anyway I was glad to be of the little help I was and it was fun to visit with Marjorie again.  She and Michael had many lively discussions while she was here.

Farewell to Marjorie!

Farewell to Marjorie and Bear.  Marjorie moved here one year after I did.  She was a widower who had lived in the Bay area for about 43 years.  A few years ago she bought a home near her daughter's home in Vancouver, WA and that is where she is going now.  Just in time.  She may have to have some medical work on her back so it will be good to be near good medical facilities and her daughter.

It was a few years after Marjorie moved here that we were talking about her conversion while treadmilling at the local gym.  What a small world--Richard's cousin Joanna Wells was one of the lady missionaries instrumental in her baptism into the Church!

Her son John is currently living in Corning and taking care of Marjorie's Mom who is now 102 years old.  John will drive the truck up to Vancouver and Marjorie will drive her car with Bear and her cats.

Bandido and I will miss Marjorie.

She is My Heroine, Too.

When I was newly married and living in an apartment in Pacific Beach, Jean Tippetts and her children picked me up and took me to Church.  We only had one car and Richard went to an early Priesthood Meeting.  She and her children were always so kind to me and she became my idol.  You will see why when you read this.  She just passed away and this is the beautiful tribute written by one of her children.

Jean Hulme Tippetts Smith

April 27, 1924 - June 25, 2010

Our mother is our heroine. She was totally dedicated to our individual sense of fulfillment and happiness. We did not discover this in hindsight, we knew it all along. Friends who came into our home couldn't help but be envious of our good fortune. They were welcome to stay a night or a month. The food would be great and the activities, fun. Whether it was the rowdy play of her twin boys or the messy "projects" of her creatively-minded girls, she was not one to put a damper on any of the things we enjoyed. Our dreams had her full support "she was both our mother and our fairy god-mother." How many times did she save the day by catering our weddings, making our prom dresses, financing our missions and being a faithful correspondent to each of us, writing weekly after we left home? Her magic letters helped us through our hard times.

Jean Hulme Tippetts Smith was born in Bloomington, Idaho, the only daughter of Ben and Louise Krogue Hulme. She was sandwiched between two older brothers, Harold and David and three younger brothers, Russell, John and Paul. She lived in the following cities, all located on Highway 89: Bloomington, Logan, Panguitch, Paris, Manti, Ephraim, Orem, Salt Lake, and Provo. She lived for 33 years in California.

Jean graduated from Manti High and Snow College. At Snow, she was the first female student body president and valedictorian, earning her tuition by playing piano accompaniment for the college orchestra. While teaching at Manti High, she met her husband Joyce Tippetts, a recently discharged naval officer from Ephraim who was the son of one of her favorite professors at Snow College. They both played in Lenny Myer's dance orchestra, he on bass fiddle and she as pianist. They were married on September 3, 1946.

Joyce's career in campus planning took them from Berkeley to UCLA to BYU and then to UCSD. While in San Diego, she graduated as one of the top three students at San Diego State in 1963, earning her the privilege of shaking President John F. Kennedy's hand, who spoke at her graduation. Jean started teaching elementary school that year, later earning a master's degree as a reading specialist. Jean's first marriage lasted for nearly thirty years. After their divorce, she found enjoyment in her children, church assignments and teaching, but she was thrilled to open a new chapter in her life after being introduced to Don Smith, whose wife Evelyn had died in 1980. They were married in 1981 and had nearly thirty happy years together, embracing each other's families, traveling, and enjoying BYU cultural and athletic events. Jean loved her involvement in Literary League, BYU Women, DUP, and Kiwanis. She always asked us "What would I ever do without Don?" She never had to find out, dying unexpectedly just 10 days after his funeral.

She is survived by her children: Leah Smith (A.J.), Laura Harmon (David), Tom (Lisa) Tippetts, and Tracy (Elizabeth) Tippetts; and step-daughters Karen Griggs and Susan (Byron) Purves. Don and Jean together have 28 grandchildren and 55 great-grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her parents and three brothers.

Funeral services will be held at 1:00 p.m., Thursday, July 1, 2010 at the Pleasant View Chapel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 650 Stadium Ave., Provo, Utah. Friends are invited to visit with Jean's family at the Berg Mortuary of Provo, 185 E. Center, Wednesday evening from 6 until 8 and at the church Thursday from 11-12:45 p.m. prior to services. Burial will be at the Provo City Cemetery.

Our heartfelt thanks go to Don and Jean's wonderful ward neighbors. In lieu of flowers, any donations could be made to the Humanitarian Fund of the LDS Church.

Gratitude Letter from Bill 2008