Genealogical Question 10 & 11: memories of siblings

 John Paul Olsen              12 years older than me.  He was born in July, 1934

John was a very handsome young man.  He lost his hair when he was quite young.  It seemed to me that after that he was not nearly as handsome.  His physical vanity fled with his hair. 

He married his high school sweetheart.  I think they were both about 18.  Susanne Murray Olsen.

He graduated from Utah State in 1954.  He graduated in education and taught in Logan for about a year.  Suzanne worked as a telephone operator. John worked as a car salesman and sold the "Edsel" a short lived car line.

John had wrestled in high school.  He loved athletics and played football at South Cache. After college graduation, John became a professional wrestler for a while.  They went to the midwest for a time and lived with Dixie while John wrestled.  His name in the wrestling world was "Gentleman John". It was while he was living in the mid-west that he came in contact with the Dog and Suds franchise people.

He became a successful salesman.  He eventually worked in the food and hospitality line selling franchises.  Some of the companies he worked for were Quality Inn, Dog and Suds and Radisson Hotels.  He owned a Dog and Suds food Drive In in Logan. I worked there when I was in high school.  The Drive In was attached to a bowling alley. One day while I was working as a carhop, I was waiting on a customer whose child was standing up in the seat next to him.  I asked "what would your little boy like?"  The customer was very angry at me for calling his little girl a boy.  Yeh, I didn't love that job. I am not a good judge of John at that time.

He never went on a mission and it was my feeling that he kind of "hid" a bit from the church. When John was of missionary age, he was told that only one young man could go on a mission from each ward.  Garth Norman was selected.  John would have been a great missionary.  In fact a great leader in the church.  He was very kind and had a great way with people.

He and Suzanne started their lives in Paradise and Logan.  John really loved my mom, Alyce.  I'm told her death was very hard on him.  They lived in Paradise at the time. Those were hard, dark days. After Mom's death I tried to make an angel food cake.  While baking in the oven, the cake pan leaked. What a mess!  Susanne came down and helped me clean it up.

In later years, John would call me occasionally.  He wanted me to know that he was thinking about me.  It was very sweet.  One Christmas he sent Dixie and I Red-Flier sleds.  Another time he gave us money to go and buy a new dress.  Sweet.  

He loved tractors and collected them.  In fact he liked to travel around the area where he was living and buy items at Antique shops.  After he retired he lived primarily in Paradise where he and Susanne had purchased a fine old home.  They completely gutted it and made a grand small scaled mansion out of it.  

 

Dixie Ruth Olsen Clifford  9 1/2 years older than me.  Birthday is Sept. 29, 1936

Dixie loved me and my family. She was "the" favorite Aunt.  She too, is very kind and thoughtful.  

She married Lincoln Clifford when she was 21.  She had attended Utah State for two years.  Their courtship was short so her education was put on hold when they married and moved to Ohio.  Mother died just a year after their marriage.  Dixie has always had a sensitive heart.  She hurts deeply at someone else's trials.  The death of our mother was very hard on her.  She ached to be with Daddy and I in Paradise, but she was a long way away in Ohio.  

I made several trips to see her.  Once with Grandma Dunn on the train.  (This was in 1957, the summer after my Mom died in May.) She was living in Cleveland.  They next moved to Cincinnati. I never traveled there.  Then they moved to Niles Michigan. I visited her and her family there  3 times.  She was pregnant and miserable. I rode home with them after they had come to visit us in Utah. They lived on Bond Street in a rental house in Niles.  It was extremely hot.  I remember scrubbing the floor in my underwear with sweat dripping off of my nose.  Another time, I flew by myself to Chicago.  They had promised that they would meet me at the arrival gate.  They weren't there and I thought "what do I do now?"  Another time I rode with John, my brother, when he drove to his home in Champaign/Urbana, Illinois. (that trip had 3 scary parts to it.  1.  On part of the trip, he drove the car with his small typewriter on the steering wheel. Typing while driving.  2.  He put his daughter Ronda and I on a bus to send us to Dixie's house in Michigan.  We had a short layover in Chicago.  A bad part of Chicago. Ronda and I sat on our suitcases on a scary street, me thinking we were goners. (She was too young to realize the danger.) 3.  (Not sure if it was this trip or another trip I made to the midwest.) John had met us at O'Hare Airport in Chicago.  He was carrying my suitcase around and set it down while waiting in line to secure my seat.  Someone came by and picked up my suitcase and disappeared.  John was dumbfounded.  I never got it back.) I spent a few days with John in Champaign.  It was beastly hot.  I remember going to their bathroom and turning on the fan to see if that would be a cooler place.  This was the summer I traveled to Michigan with Ronda Leigh, their oldest child.

I loved being with Dixie.  One summer we did 4-H baking.  Another time we spent a lot of hours sewing. (I never became much of a seamstress, but my baking experience set me up for life.  My favorite part of cooking has been baking breads.)

As I analyze what I love about Dixie, I think that in summary it is that she has always loved me so much.  She is a musician, plays piano, guitar and sings.  Yet she has always placed herself in a second position to me.  When I gave my Master's recital and was 7 months pregnant at the time, she wanted to make my recital gown,  We lived hundreds of miles apart, yet while sewing that dress, she prayed for inspiration, sewed, prayed again and made inspired decisions.  The dress fit perfectly, even the length of the hem.  She always wanted to serve me.  She loved our 6 children and always served them as well.  The Cliffords and us moved to California at about the same time in Sept of 1972.  We lived about 3 hours apart.  They lived in Orange County... La Habra and we lived in the Mojave Desert... China Lake.  We loved to visit each other.  What a joy to finally be close.  While in La Habra many of Dixie's talents were used.  She served on the City Council (I believe) in La Habra. She played Marion the LIbrarian in a Stake production of the Music Man and had a supporting role in Sound of Music.  She would do folk music programs in the schools. (She sang and accompanied herself on the guitar.)  She also was able to finish her Bachelor's degree in Communications at Cal State Fullerton.  She was selected as the outstanding senior in Communications the year she graduated.

We all loved her visits to Brigham City when we lived there.  It was her that sent Bill and I on our anniversary to Salt Lake for the night.  9 months later, you were born, Deb.  Linc always used to call me Rosi Blossom.  Dixie still calls me Blossom.

Of course, her service to Linc Junior and his family over the past 12 months is a monumental testimony to her spirit of Love of Family and service.  That, alone, could fill a volume. I think you know that Dixie has published a biography.  I am sure she has a copy for you.

SO JUST CHOOSE ONE OF THE ABOVE MEMORIES.  OF COURSE, THERE IS QUITE A BIT ABOUT MY TRAVELS ABOVE.  SO WHEN THAT Is THE TOPIC YOU ALREADY HAVE SOME OF MY TRAVELS.

(DEB I just looked back at your request and I see that you only needed one memory.  Sorry.  I didn't look carefully enough.) By the time I made my way in to ask Dad his memory, I had realized you just wanted one memory. Well it was a good thing.  He and Carol were not close and so he really didn't remember anything until I reminded him of this story.  Then he was very meticulous.  I think you will enjoy it.

Rosemary Mathews

Carol Lynne Mathews Woolf

When she and l were kids, I used to get angry at her.  She is two years younger than me, but she could really make me mad.  I am sure that I teased her to the point that she was mad at me, as well. Then she would call me B B (meant BABY) Measles (meant FRECKLES), tonged tied Willy (When I was angry and tried to speak, I didn't make sense), Wilvan Woodrow Mathews (My name was "BILL".  I hated the name Wilvan Woodrow.  I could put up with Mathews.)  That would make me yet more angry and I would chase her in an angry stupor.  She could out run me (speed). One day she ran up a rope.  One of the things I could not do was climb a rope.  She climbed higher than I could reach.  So, I stood and threw rocks at her. This happened when I was about 8 and she was 6. I don't think I ever hit her with a rock. My Dad would have killed me if I had hit her.

Genealogy questions 8&9

 

I lived in the same home in Paradise Utah (with the tallest pine tree in town in our front yard) until I was 18.  Then I left home and went to Utah State where I lived in an old rental house with 5 friends from Paradise. Reneal Goldsberry, Linda Mair, Brenda Summers and one other girl. Reneal and I shared a double bed.  One time when she had a cold, I chased her around the bed trying to put my cold cure all, Vicks Vapor Rub, on her throat.   I went home for the summer and then returned to Utah State and lived in another house rental for that next school year.  I spent the summer at home again then moved to Reno Nevada where I attended school in the fall of 1966 at the University of Nevada.  I lived in an apartment complex in Reno with Deanna Merrill and Reneal Goldsberry. 

 

Bill was born in Reno but his family lived in Carson City.  Later the family lived in Yerington, NV and a few other places that he couldn’t remember. When the war broke out, they lived in Herlong, California until the end of the war.  The family then moved to Carson City and lived in VETS housing. Later they moved to 510 East King, their home sat on about three quarters of an acre. Then they moved to the "Yellow House" and then finally they moved to Grandpa Mathews' home on Spear Street.  It was located two blocks from the Governor's Mansion.  Bill loved to roller skate around the Governor's mansion.  Before they moved to Grandpa's house, Bill would ride his bike to Grandpa's house.  He would put his feet up on the handlebars to coast.  The neighbor's dog, Toddles, a Chesapeake, grabbed his leg and dragged him down the street. Bill rode his bike everywhere until he was in high school. He would ride to the swimming pool.  It was a long way.  There was a huge old telescope that was mounted a block from the swimming pool.  

 

After Bill graduated second in his class in high school, he moved to Reno and lived there for a year and a half attending the University of Nevada. He was a member of Theta Chi, a fraternity.  It was a wild year and a half.  Then, because of such low grades, Bill decided to join the army. He was first sent to Fort Ord in California for Basic Training and then to Fort Gordon, Georgia.  At Fort Gordon he learned to be a Radio Teletype Operator and learned Morse Code.  The course work was about 15 weeks long. He then moved to Balm Holder, Germany and was a Radio Teletype Operator and then on to Mainz, Germany where he was also a Teletype Operator.  Dad was asked to volunteer for a test which would indicate his aptitude for Computers.  He maxed it and was one of two men sent to Heidelberg where he attended an IBM computer school.  Bad Kreuznach Germany was his next home.  Here he programmed the 8th Infantry Division 609 Calculator. He lived in Bad Kreuznach for about 2 years.  

 

Bill returned to the U.S. and lived in San Francisco for about 9 months where he worked for IBM.  He then returned to Reno to attend the University of Nevada. Through a set of interesting experiences, he gained a desire to go to church.  (He was baptized into the LDS Church when he was 10.  He'd always had a testimony that the church was true.  He just wondered if he would have the strength to live it. His Mom was born in Tooele, Utah and was a member.  But she left the church.  Bill baptized his Dad, Woody, when he returned from Germany. However, Lorraine forbade Woody to attend Church.)  Bill's family did not give him a foundation of religious upbringing. He was on his own. I think this contributed to his fear that he may not have the strength to keep the commandments.)  Bill met Rosemary shortly after he started going to church.  They were married the next August (1967) in the Salt Lake Temple.  

 

We lived first in a nice apartment which was too expensive for us. (I remember taking pennies and nickels from Bill's "piggy bank", which was actually a huge old Bourbon Bottle, to a nearby convenience store to get bread, milk and a box of macaroni and cheese for dinner). We only lived there for a couple of months and then we moved to married student housing which was a studio apartment.  We lived in the same complex with our good friends the Turleys. 

 

We next lived in the home of a college professor who was on sabbatical leave for the year.  The family left their dog, Ellen, with us.  It was here, in 1970, that I became pregnant with Luke.  I was so sick.  There was no air conditioning and it was HOT.  At one point, I laid bare-naked in the cool bathtub.  Another time on the cool linoleum.  That summer the Nevada Opera Company did 3 operas: La Boheme, Three Penny Opera and La Centerentella.  I had a lead in the first, Bill was in the second and I was in the 3rd.  We tried to keep our pregnancy a secret.  But I got really sick during the 3rd opera and we told the opera director at that point.  That fall we moved into a condominium in SE Reno and lived there a short while until our new home in Sparks was completed.  We almost backed out of purchasing the Sparks home.  Our down payment was $99 (VA first time buyer). We really had to scrape to get that money together. But we persevered. 

 

We lived in our new home in Sparks for about a year. During this time Luke was born, I finished my Master's Degree in Vocal Performance (Master's Recital in December, 2 months before Luke was born). Bill completed all of his course work for his Master's in Mechanical Engineering. Then we moved to China Lake, CA.  A desert.  (I cried and cried.  I had to leave my singing experiences and opportunities behind as well as the culture in Reno.)  I was pregnant again.  Marlies was born October 10, 1972, about 2 months after we had arrived in CA.  We lived first on the base in a duplex for about 2 years.  During the first few months in China Lake, Bill completed his Master's Thesis for his Mechanical Engineering Master's Degree.  (RM typed it for him.  It was a nightmare as much of it was columns of numbers.  Dixie eventually helped me.  Corrections were made with a correction tape. (a pain, much different than today’s computers).  To make copies, one had to made a carbon copy. (No copy machines in that day). Mistakes had to be erased with a regular eraser.  The work on his thesis was done just prior to Marlies' birth.  (I have always worried that I did not get all of the numbers in the columns correct). We sent it off and Bill completed his Master's Degree.  We started at China Lake with a salary of $7,000.  When his Master's was completed the salary went to $9,000.  We were rich!! Meantime, I began teaching at Cerro Coso Community College.  This was my first choral conducting experience.

 

After about two years in base housing, we moved into our newly built custom home in Ridgecrest. Ridgecrest was the small town that was next door to the China Lake Naval Weapons Center where Bill worked. We lived in that area for a total of about 5 years.  Becky and Tim were born there. Richard and Twila Bird were our neighbors.  Although Richard died a number of years ago, we still see Twila and love her so much. In fact, we love the whole family.

 

 

After 5 years in China Lake, Bill got a job at Indiana State University in Terre Haute Indiana.  We lived in a wonderful home South of Terre Haute in a custom housing area.  (Not like today's subdivisions that have cookie cutter homes.) It was one of my favorite houses. There was a wonderful brick fireplace that kept us warm in the winter.  We loved watching red Cardinals and Blue Jays dart from tree to tree with the white snow in the background.   There were about 300 acres of forest behind us that looked like the Sacred Grove. Our next-door neighbors were LDS.  The Dad was in the Bishopric.  (Bill was called as the President of the Elder’s Quorum). They had 4 kids.  Some similar in age to our family. Bill and Bob would drive to Priesthood together and then Carolyn and I would come along a little later in her Volkswagen Van with the 8 kids.  The van had no heater so we would wrap blankets around our kids.  While living in Indiana, the church meeting plan was changed.  Sacrament, RS, Priesthood and Sunday School were all combined into a single block.  That was nice.  It allowed us to just travel to church one time each Sunday. It was a ten-mile trip each way.  Ben was born in Terre Haute.  

 

After 2 years in Indiana, Bill left the education system and went back to work in Industry.  We moved to Brigham City where he worked for Morton Thiokol.  We were there for 10 great years. During this time, we added Deborah Ruth to our family.  (We also had an Native American son, Chris Sloan, who lived with us for two years.) I had the opportunity to direct several musicals for the Stake.  Bill was, once again, the Elder's Quorum president. Debbie was born in Brigham City.  Number 6 for us.  Wow, neither of us had thought about how many children we would have.  Now we had six.  We were never sorry.  We were delighted.  Another very nice thing was that in moving to Brigham City we were just 30 miles from my parents in Paradise.  My Dad loved having us so close after years of being separated from his kids.  My step Mom, Arlynn, had family in Paradise, but we knew Daddy was sure glad to have us so close.  I began teaching at Weber State University.  I loved it.  I spent 10 years there.

 

After the space shuttle exploded in space, the fault was placed on the rocket fuel motors built by Morton Thiokol. Bill eventually lost his job. The loss of his job was a ripple effect of the Space Shuttle tragedy.  However, he worked in a different division than Rocket Motors. 

 

After 16 months of being humbled and beat up a bit, Bill landed a job in Spanish Fork.  Teleflex was the new company and he was the new General Manager.  We felt like the windows of heaven had opened and dumped all of the blessings in our front yard.  We purchased a wonderful home on Grandview Hill in Provo.  Luke soon left on his mission to Australia. (Marlies would leave on her mission to Austria about two years later).  I started teaching part time at BYU and Bill began his new job.  He had a car provided and stock options.  It was a dream come true.  He travelled a lot, primarily to the far east, middle east and Europe. But the pressure of the job was very intense.  The company was based in Pennsylvania. Easterners knew that Utahans knew how to work, but they didn't think we were very smart.  Crazy!!!!  After 5 years of downsizing, the company was sold and Bill was again without a job.

 

His next job took us to Ontario, Oregon.  It was very hard for me to leave BYU.  I had established a good reputation there as a teacher of voice and had been given many opportunities to teach classes and more.  But the family needed to move and so we did.  We found a smaller home in Ontario.  It was comfortable and I enjoyed it.  While Bill worked in Fruitland ID as a GM for a portion of his new company, Woodgrain Moldings, I took two teaching positions.  One at Treasure Valley Community College and the other at Fruitland Middle and High School.  I grew in both experiences. Tim, who lived with Luke in our Grandview home in Provo, left on his mission to the Dominican Republic while we lived in Oregon.  Lorraine also moved there and lived a short distance from our home.  Deb and Ben attended the Oregon schools.  Ben was a successful football player and wrestler.  Deb was into band.  She played the flute.

 

Two years were all we lasted in the Oregon/Idaho areas. We headed back to Utah where Bill and Luke had opened a Manufactured Home business.  Marlette was the supplier.  (Ben left on his mission during this time). We lived in Orem for a short while and then moved to Lindon where we lived in one of the Marlette manufactured homes. I took a job in the Alpine School District at Oak Canyon Junior High School and returned to teaching at BYU for two years. Bill and Luke were a great team, but eventually the company folded.  Luke left to go get his MBA at Colorado University and when he and Amy returned, they lived in the basement of our Lindon home.  Eventually that home was sold and we moved to our present location in Springville.  

 

 

Rosemary Mathews