Seminary--Dad

 Daddy's old slogan when he taught early morning seminary for 8 years was "Commitment, Devotion, Dedication,"  (At some point his students bought him a sweat shirt that had his slogan written on it.) He sure bought  a lot of donuts during those years. Bill touched a lot of lives both in Reno and in California.  He occasionally gets calls from some of them or they stop by.  A few years back one of his Reno students compiled memories of the 4 years he taught there by contacting many students and asking them to write of their memories.  Very nice.  Dad has it saved. It should be included in his story.  

 

Mom had seminary released time during school hours.  I don't think I appreciated it as much as Dad's students did.  Seminary was part of the school curriculum in Cache Valley. 

From Grandma Arlynn's journal when Deb was born...

These are notes from Grandma Arlynn's journal when Debbie was born.  Nice to read her thoughts regarding you guys!  Much love from me Mom

Rosemary Mathews

Grandma Olsen was given a journal for mother’s day in 1982 and she kept it faithfully until 1985.  It’s possible there are other journals out there, but this is all I’ve found so far.

I have been scanning the first few pages and found some entries I thought you might enjoy.

May 24th  Bill called at 8:30 to tell us Rosie had a baby girl.  Born at 6pm weighted 7 lb 10 oz.

May 25th We went over to the Brigham City Hospital to see Rosemary and baby girl.  She’s a little doll.  Lots of brown hair.  We picked up Timmy and Ben at the neighbors and brought them home for a few days.  Their full of life, but are so sweet with each other.  Good kids.

May 27th I washed the boys clothes and in the afternoon went to the doctors for a reading on my blood pressure.  My heart was still beating irregular but my pressure was down to 170 over 86.

May 29th I cleaned house and washed so the boys clothes would be clean to take home.  They were so happy to be going home to see their new baby sister.  After supper we took them back to Brigham.  They had really missed their parents and Luke, Marlies and Becky.  They were so happy with the new baby.  She’s a little doll.  We were glad that we could tend them while Rose was in the hospital.  They are sure lively guys but were good kids.

I’m guessing there are other entries but these are just the first few pages.  She talks about Brian’s graduation from Law School in May as well as my 21st birthday. 

On mother’s day she said “received lovely gifts and cards.  I am so grateful for our families.  Each one is so precious!

She was quite the lady.  Sure do love her!!! 

Love Leeaine

Genealogical Questions 16 &17

Did you ever go hungry as a child?  

Bill:

No. My favorite foods were mush (cereal) and steak (both of my parents cooked.)

My favorite dishes that Mom cooked were spaghetti and chili. Mom use to go to work when as a family we needed something.  Often, she would continue working once she got established in a job. Dad never talked about money. 

My Dad never went hungry even though he was alive during the depression. His Dad worked for the Government as the Assistant to the Attorney General and later was elected as the Attorney General when Bill was about 8.  But the family had what they needed when Woody was a child.  

My Mother did suffer during the depression.  Her Mother was always on church welfare as she was divorced before Lorraine was born. Lorraine use to eat bread and milk for breakfast, lunch and dinner when there was nothing else. Lily Mae's family had a farm so she could always get milk and flour to make bread. Lorraine would have to go to the welfare building to pick up the food they got because her Mother, Lily Mae, was ashamed to go. Lorraine wasn't able to have children until after her teeth were pulled.  She told both Bill and Rosemary it was because she was malnourished as a child.

Rosemary:  

No, I never went hungry.  Infact, I probably had too much to eat because I was chubby.  When Mom died, I suppose my Dad wished he could go hungry because as his cook, I fixed lots of hot dogs and fish sticks.  (Even though our freezer was full of beef and pork).  You see, I didn't know how to cook meat.  At 11, that summer's 4H classes taught us how to use hot dogs.  Hot dogs in eggs, hot dogs and fried potatoes.  Dad finally said "Rosemary, I think I have had enough hotdogs." So, then I started on fish sticks. When Arlynn came to live with us 18 months after my mom died, Arlynn fixed meat and potatoes every day for dinner.  Dad and I both loved that.  

I also loved the school lunch meals.  Emily was the older lady that cooked lunch at the Paradise Elementary School.  I remember gazing in wonder at the huge potato whipper that made mashed potatoes.  I also remember her cinnamon rolls.  It makes my mouth droll just to think about them.

Dad encourages me to tell you this story:  When we were on our honeymoon, Dad wanted to impress me.  So, he took me out to dinner at Fisherman's Wharf.  He ordered for me because I had not grown-up eating fish (except for fish sticks.) He ordered Crab alle Neurenberg for me. He knew I liked gravy and creamy things.  Dad order a Sword Fish Steak for himself.  When the meal came, I was really looking forward to it.  The waiter set my food in front of me first and after an alarmed expression I loudly said "what have you done to me".  Everyone around us turned to look at us.  Dad said, here I'll trade with you.  I agreed, thinking "now that's better".  He was really embarrassed.   

What were your favorite toys?

Bill:

We lived in Herlong California until I was 4.  I got a tiny steam roller.  They were constructing roads where we lived and they were using a great big steam roller.  I use to get my tiny steam roller and play alongside where they were constructing the road.  I got an electric train when I was about 8.  I had a lot of fun with that. My sister got a wind-up train and I never thought about how I was privileged over her until typing this up. 

The rest of the time, my favorite toy was a basketball.

Rosemary:

I loved dollies.  I can't remember names for sure, but I think one was called a "tony doll". She was beautiful.  Burnette hair. I am quite surprised that the name came to my mind.  After all, it has been 65 years since I have thought about a doll. I also loved paper dolls.  Sharon and I played with these kinds of dolls all of the time.

I was really spoiled at Christmas time when my Mom was alive. I was the only child still at home.  However, once she was gone, I spent my sad Christmas alone with my Dad. He gave me a Lone Ranger Game and a blue bathrobe.  I was still not sure if there was a real Santa Claus; I soon found out there wasn't.  Dixie gave me a beautiful ballerina doll one Christmas. I still have it.  I want Kloey to have it as my oldest granddaughter.

John use to give me books.  I liked that.  He gave me a book right after Mother died.  Something to the effect "everything a Mother would want you to know".  It was sweet.  I'm not sure if I actually read it. For Christmas he gave me several different volumes of the "Little House on the Prairie" books.  Maybe that is why I still love that show. I am sure I would have put my Zane Grey novels aside for Little House.

After Mom died, I loved my horse.  Dixie, my horse, wasn't exactly a toy, but I rode her a lot.  I would leave her tied up at the fence during the day; that way I could ride her up to the yard to dump vegetable skins, etc. to the pigs or I could ride her to the Thomas Market that was 1/2 block away from our house.  I would leave her standing to the side of the steps that led to the market and then go in and make a purchase.  I would expect her to wait there for me (Like Silver, the Lone Ranger's horse) without being tied up.  It worked pretty well.  I remember taking eggs to the store and trading them for candy.  I don't think Dad ever knew.  (There is a picture of this Market in the Archives of Cache Valley. A-0437a: Paradise, Utah, Mae E. Thomas store. Lot 5 Block 22 Plat A, Built 1894

Gen 18&19

 

1. What were your favorite games?
2. Was there any fashion that you liked the most?

Dad: 

1. Basketball was my favorite sport. (He played City League and Church Basketball until he was about 55 years old.) I played almost every day in my backyard.   Most of the time by myself.  Usually, Mathews1 beat Mathews2. (Dad (Woody) built the wooden backboard and we carried it from one house to another.  Originally it was on the garage but the ground was uneven so then we moved it to the street. The curb was there.  I sprained my ankle a couple of times. Often, I played with my friends Bruce Couch and Dan Augustine (the tuba player.)  Because there was only 3 of us, I would stand Bruce and Dan and I won more than I lost.
   In high school I ran the mile in track. One time I was out running at Stewart Indian School. (It was South of Carson City.) They had a kid that ran the mile and we were pretty good friend.  One time we were out running on the back roads at Stewart.  We came across a rattlesnake that was crossing the road.  We killed it and then I took the snake to school and put it in a girl's locker.  I hung it over her coat hanger. The next morning the boys all gathered around watching her to see what would happen.  The girl was talking to the rest of her girlfriends.  She reached into her locker to get something and touched the snake. When she looked in her locker and saw it, she screamed and ran down the hallway.  We boys laughed like crazy.  The principal searched for who did it.  He never found out.  She wrote in the year book (over my picture) about her experience with the snake. Dad is laughing as he tells this story. 

2. My favorite fashion was "nude", but I didn't see it very often; I still looked. I never thought of fashion.  Fashion is for girls. 
   

Mom:

1. I loved to ride my horse, Dixie.  I guess Dad and I are thinking sports.  I also played tennis at the court on Paradise Town Square.  When in school at Paradise I played softball and volleyball.  That was lots of fun and we were pretty successful. However, my favorite "game" as a girl was a dice game called "Skunk".  I think it was 6 dice you had to roll at one time and then quickly total the number of points you'd add up from each dice.  I became really fast at addition during that time.  Even after I married Dad I could total numbers like that very quickly.  I think he was rather amazed that I actually had a "math" skill.
2.  We always wore dresses to school.  Both elementary and High School. Darlene, one of my friends from Paradise School, wore huge skirts that her Mom would starch and iron.  There was lots of ironing in those days.  Our family tradition was to go to Ogden to shop for school clothes.  When Arlynn came along the tradition continued.  She loved "brown" and favored brown things for me.  It didn't go too far, but I remember her first taste was usually brown.  In the cold Paradise winter, we wore warm coats, gloves, hats and leggings.  Because I was the largest of all of my classmates, I got to test the winter ice to see if it was solid enough for us to go skating.  In my early years I remember one day testing the ice along our way home from school.  It was not solid and I fell through to the muck and mud beneath the ice sheet.  I sunk pretty deep and went home muddy up to the knees of my leggings.  It has kind of left a scar in my mind.  I'm sure Alyce, my Mom, was not too happy as well.  
   

         While in high school we girls ratted and teased our hair.  Yes, we looked like we had helmets on.  One     of my friends from Paradise turned rather wild and began ratting her hair so much that you could see daylight through it. She also wore lots of makeup.  I don't remember wearing makeup in high school.