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.
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