Virginia West (1916 - 1994): Our Family History

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1916 - 1994 (77 years)

Submit Photo / Document Has 2 ancestors and 4 descendants in this family tree.

Personal Information | Notes | Event Map | All | PDF

Name	Virginia West
Birth	31 May 1916	Lakeside, Navajo, Arizona, United States
Gender	Female
Initiatory (LDS)	9 Jun 1984	ARIZO
FamilySearch ID	KWZS-7XQ
Death	17 Jan 1994	Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona, United States
Burial	Show Low Cemetery, Navajo, Arizona, United States
Headstones	Submit Headstone Photo
Person ID	I161844	mytree
Last Modified	25 Feb 2024

Father	Ezra Joseph West, b. 5 Nov 1889, Snowflake, Navajo, Arizona, United States d. 11 Sep 1968, Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona, United States (Age 78 years)
Mother	Elma Stratton, b. 3 Aug 1889, Snowflake, Navajo, Arizona, United States d. 24 Nov 1918, Lakeside, Navajo, Arizona, United States (Age 29 years)
Marriage	18 Aug 1909	Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States
Family ID	F41168	Group Sheet \| Family Chart

Family 1 Oscar Albert Reidhead, b. 24 Apr 1917, Woodruff, Navajo, Arizona, United States d. 7 Oct 1978, Costa Mesa, Orange, California, United States (Age 61 years)

Children

	1. Living
	2. Veralda Doreen Reidhead, b. 16 Sep 1935, Taylor, Navajo, Arizona, United States d. 21 Aug 2002, Taylor, Navajo, Arizona, United States (Age 66 years)

Family ID F41167 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Last Modified 20 May 2024

Family 2 Milton Lloyd Whipple, b. 15 Jun 1911, Show Low, Navajo, Arizona, United States d. 7 Mar 1987, Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona, United States (Age 75 years)

Marriage 24 Aug 1946 Gallup, McKinley, New Mexico, United States

Children

	1. Milton Dale Whipple, b. 27 Mar 1949, Show Low, Navajo, Arizona, United States d. 3 Jan 2016, Arizona, United States (Age 66 years)
	2. Val Willard Whipple, b. 25 Apr 1953, McNary, Apache, Arizona, United States d. 3 Oct 2018, Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona, United States (Age 65 years)

Family ID F41075 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Last Modified 20 May 2024

Event Map

	Birth - 31 May 1916 - Lakeside, Navajo, Arizona, United States
	Marriage - 24 Aug 1946 - Gallup, McKinley, New Mexico, United States
	Initiatory (LDS) - 9 Jun 1984 - ARIZO
	Death - 17 Jan 1994 - Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona, United States
	Burial - - Show Low Cemetery, Navajo, Arizona, United States

= Link to Google Earth

Notes

Virginia West Whipple
I was born May 31, 1916 in a house that Dad built in Lakeside, Arizon a . M y Dad was on a mission at the time I was born and he didn’t see m e u n ti l I was one and a half years old. I had two sisters and a brothe r ol de r t han I and there was a younger brother born two years after me . Mam a d ie d when he was two weeks old. They had a big flu epidemic a t that t ime. Sh e had gotten over the flu, but she went to help her sist er whos e hus ban d had it and she got it again and they both died of it.

The first thing I remember is when Dad got a job in Wickenburg and Gra n d m a West took us kids on a train to Wickenburg to live with him. I w a s ru nn ing up and down the aisles of the train. Grandma, Julia West, w a s taki n g care of us. We had a big swing in Wickenburg that was over t h e ditc h th at we had a lot of fun on. I also remember a little white c oa t I wa s so p roud of at the time. Grandma West made Hazel and I som e bla ck dres ses an d I hated mine. One Sunday I took some scissors an d cut bi g hole s in it s o I wouldn’t have to wear it. She made me sit i n the cor ner, I can rememb er my father and Uncle cutting my hair insid e of a hote l t hat they were b uilding and nicking my ear.

Three days before I turned 4, Dad married Dora Veralda Lisonbee in t h e S a lt Lake Temple. I was the first one to call her Mother. We move d t o Me s a after they were married, all except Alma, who stayed with Gr andm a We s t in Lakeside and she raised him. Dad built a long cabin i n a fiel d wi t h one large room and a bath. The kids slept out in a tent . We ha d a bun c h of chickens and I can remember a barrel with a chicke n’s nes t in i t. I would climb in and then out again and say, ‘see how m any egg s I lai d’ ! Then we lived in a house on Sirrine Street. They sta rted bui lding th e M esa Temple about that time and they had a long tunn el to on e of the b uild ings and we used to play in it until they finish ed. On m y fifth birt hda y on the back porch of the house was an old mat tress rol led up an d I hi d in it so I wouldn’t get my birthday spanking , but my D ad found m e an d I got one any way. I started first grade a t Alma Schoo l on Extensi on. T here was a play that Hazel and a couple o f the neighbo r girls decid ed tha t we would give. We put chairs out an d invited all t he neighbors t o com e see our play. We had a good time a nd the people di d come. Then w e move d to Phoenix on 16th Street just o ff of Van Buren S treet about a b lock. I was baptized when we lived here . I was baptized i n my red swimmi ng su it up on the stage in a font. Da d didn’t baptize an y of us kids, I don’ t know why. Afterwards he took m e for a banana split . The next d ay in chu rch I was confirmed. I went t o Long Fellow Schoo l while we live d here. Th ere was one time I got bor ed in music and I hi t a boy over th e head wit h a ruler. The teacher ma de me go out into th e hall. They ha d some “gian t strides” on the playg round which were lik e a big maypole w ith long meta l chains streaming d own instead of ribbon s and on the end o f the chains w ere some metal ru ngs that we hung ont o as we ran around th e pole. If we g ot up enough s peed we could hold ou r feet up and it woul d swing us around. When the p erson in front of me j umped off of hers i t came back and hi t me in th e eye. We had a lot of f un with that, callin g my parents and th e docto r.

Every summer we would go to Lakeside, as Dad was still working on th e h o t el. My cousin took a saw horse and a board and made a seesaw ou t of i t. O ne day we were playing on it and while I was up in the air m y cous i n le t go of it and I came down with a bang and broke my arm. Th ey test e d it t he old fashioned way trying to see if it was broken or j ust spra in ed. Aft er two weeks we came back to Mesa and my father too k me to Dr . Sh upe to h ave it set. I woke up just before they had got i t all strai ghten ed out. I carried it around in a sling with my cast on . When the ca st ca me of f they could see it had set a little crooked.

Dad lived in a home on 16th Street in Mesa and we moved into it. The r e w a s a canal there and a swing across it. Mother wouldn’t want us t o g o sw im ming until a certain time of year, but we would go down and s win g on t h e swing and ‘accidently’ fall in the canal and go swimming a ny w ay. Au n t Gwen and Aunt Mary, who are Dad’s sisters lived with us m ost o f thei r t eenage years. One day Dad left the key in the car and Au nt Mar y decid ed s he would take us kids for a ride. She wasn’t much old er tha n us kids. Wel l we ran into the canal and had to be pulled out. D ad buil t a hous e in Ph oenix on Center Street. We went to Osborn Schoo l and wal ked abou t a mil e to school each day. I was about 9 years ol d at the tim e. I love d to pla y baseball and was a good jack player an d jump roper . One time w e had a c ontest, who could jump the rope the l ongest. I wen t to 500 an d the teache r made me quit. One time the teach er caught me e ating cand y in the classr oom and made me get up in fron t of the kids an d finish ea ting it which wa s very embarrassing.

Dad built a home on Camelback Road and we moved over there, but we s t i l l went to Osborn School. There was a canal on 7th Avenue a short w a y fr o m home where we used to go swimming. I must have drowned abou t 1 0 time s i n this canal. One time two of the neighbor girls and I wer e pl aying i n th e canal and there was a whirlpool that they were afrai d of , so I wou ld ca rry them on my back one at a time around the whirlp ool . They got t o argui ng and both of them jumped on me and as we wer e goin g around we g ot caugh t in the whirlpool and couldn’t get out. Lu ckily s ome older kid s were u p on the bridge and saw our predicament an d came a nd got us ou t.

Then Dad built some houses further down on Camelback Road and we mov e d d o wn there. We used to skate a lot out on the road. Next we move d t o Cali fo rnia at Point Loma right close to San Diego on the coast li ne f or abo u t a year. It was beautiful there with all the green foliage . W e could w al k to the seashore from our house. Dad built two or thre e hom es there. I w as in about the 5th grade at this time. In school w e were h aving th is les son about the Greek Gods and Goddesses which wa s very bor ing to me. Ther e were two boys sitting in a seat in front o f me and I ha d a fount ain pe n in my hand this time and came up under o ne boy in th e backside o f his p ants with the pen. The teacher sent m e down to the f irst grade ro om, bu t I enjoyed the punishment too muc h and the teache r sent me back t o my ow n room.

We moved to Laveen next, just south of Phoenix. It was about 15 mi l e s t o the church house. We used to roller skate with all the neighbo r k id s ab out 10 miles a day. We would skate or walk to school abou t a mil e aw ay. W e lived on an 160 acre farm there. We had a lot of cow s and so ld mi lk. W e loved it there. I was the one who had to milk th e ‘house co w’. On e da y Dad got mad at Hazel and told her she had to mi lk the cow . She did n’t l ike outside work and our foreman, Art Etes, sa w her and s aid, ‘What ’s th e matter Hazel’? ‘Oh, Dad says I have to mil k the hous e cow today. ’ ‘Well, give me the bucket’, he said. And he fil led it to t he brim, i t was jus t foaming over. Dad said, ‘Hmmm, you d o a lot bette r than Virgi nia does. ’ We never told him for a long tim e who had milke d the cow tha t day. Th e foreman thought us kids could d o no wrong. Lave en was alway s called hom e to us kids, we loved it. W e lived there abou t 4 years. I g raduated fro m the eighth grade there . We had to take a bu s into Phoeni x to High Schoo l. Phoenix Union Hig h School was the only o ne in Phoeni x at the time. O n Sunday we would g o to church. They had Su nday School f rom 10 to 12 an d Sacrament was a t night time. In between m y friends an d I would to downt own to the sho w. Dad would give us mone y for a sandwic h. It cost 10 to 2 5 cents to g et into a show. We lived s o far away we di dn’t get to go to P rimary ve ry much. When I started hig h school, instea d of going home fro m schoo l we would go to our girlfrie nds and wait fo r mutual to start an d the n our folks would pick us up af terwards. I hate d to wear stockings a n d my friend’s mother, Mrs. Patter son, wouldn’t le t me out of the hous e u ntil I had some stockings on. S o she would have h er daughters let m e wea r some of theirs. I would pu t them on until we go t down to the co rner an d then I would take them of f.

Dad sold his cattle and went into the sheep business and went broke . T h a t is when we moved to Tonto Street. Dad built some little house s ther e. W e didn’t live there too long. He went into the grocery stor e busine s s an d we lived in the house next to the grocery store. Then w e went t o L akesi de and took the goods and opened up a store there. I w as a Seni or i n Hig h School. I never graduated from High School, bu t I graduate d fro m Semina ry. I went to High School one month as a seni or and the n I ran a way and g ot married to Oscar Reidhead. We got our l icense in H olbrook an d went t o Snowflake and was married by Presiden t Smith in th e old Smit h home in S nowflake. I was under age and Dad an d Mother weren ’t too plea sed. At thi s time they were trucking grocerie s back and fort h from Lakes ide to Calif ornia for their grocery busines s. We moved to L akeside and L arry was bor n in Dad and Mother’s home th ere. Aunt Rhett a delivered Larr y. She also d elivered me. Three weeks a fter Larry was b orn I went to a d ance, I love d to dance. I was reall y dancing and havin g a good time whe n my aunt ha d me come over to wher e she was and made m e sit on her lap s o I couldn’ t move and made me st op dancing. Then we m oved to Taylor wher e Dad had th e grocery store th ere also. Oscar did th e trucking busines s for it and ot hers. Doreen wa s born here in Mother a nd Dad’s house loca ted on Main Stre et right b y their grocery store whic h is known as Hatch’ s store now.

We moved back to Show Low and lived in a cabin behind the Blue Moon, w h i c h was located on the west end of Show Low where the Maxwell Hous e i s no w. Doreen wasn’t walking yet. After a time there we moved to a c abi n i n Sh ow Low and Oscar drove a truck in construction. Dad was buil din g th e Blu e Moon Dance Hall and they starting dancing in it before i t wa s rea lly fi nished. He built a café by it where I worked. One tim e Osca r an d I were d riving the truck to Taylor to get supplies for th e café f rom t he store th at Dad owned. I talked Oscar into letting me d rive an d I wrec ked it in Fo ol’s Hollow. The truck completely rolled ov er and l anded rig ht side up, b ut I was all right and fixed sandwiche s that nigh t for ever ybody. Darry l was born out at Mother’s place in S how Low at t he Show Lo w auto court t hey owned next to the café. Mothe r took care o f us. We ha d a doctor com e out to the house. We moved t o the saw mill a fter Darry l was born. Osca r rented the saw mill and ow ned the trucks th at they di d the hauling with. It was located by Claysp rings. Marzelle he lped do th e cooking for the h ired hands. We took tur ns so we wouldn’t h ave to ge t up early all the tim e in the morning. Th en we both did the c ooking fo r the rest of the meals. Oscar and I had k ind of broken up an d Oscar wen t to work construction o ver seas for abo ut a year, then he c ame back. H e got shipwrecked on the w ay home and a nother ship had to co me pick the m up. I had met Fat at thi s time. I ha d gone to see Hazel i n Lakeside an d took the kids. On the wa y back w e had a flat tire abou t where Uncle Ch arlie Whipple lives. Fat st oppe d by and fixed the flat . He got away with out me saying thank you. Th a t night at the Blue Moon , he and Slim were s tanding there together a n d I said, “I don’t know wh ich one of you did it, but thank you for fix in g the flat”. They looked s o much alike I couldn ’t tell them apart an d the y wouldn’t tell me whic h was which either. Whe n Oscar came bac k I decide d it was better to kee p the family together an d tried again . Fat went of f to war. He went t o India in the hospital uni t. When Dar ryl was about tw o years old, Osca r and I moved the family t o Californi a. We were havin g a hard time in o ur marriage, but decided t o try agai n. Our house was u p on a small hil l so the rain water couldn’ t get t o it, but Aunt Martha F ish’s wasn’t a nd the water would come up t o he r porch. I worked in a groc ery store an d then in a plant where the y ma de parts for airplanes. I als o worked i n Aunt Martha’s cafe whil e I wa s there too. We were there abou t two yea rs. Oscar and I split up a nd D ad came and got us and took us bac k to Sh ow Low. We lived in a cabi n t here that Dad built for us by the aut o cou rt. I got my divorce in Hol b rook. Then Joe was born in McNary, I wa s pr egnant and didn’t know it . T hen I worked at Maxwell’s Café waiting ta bl es. We had to do about e veryt hing then but mostly waiting tables. I wo r ked at different cafe’ s unti l Fat came back from the service in 1945 o r 4 6. We got to goin g togethe r again and were married on August 24, 194 6 i n New Mexico . I wouldn’t ha ve a wedding in Show Low so Dad and Mothe r wen t with u s to Gallup to se e us married.

When we first got married Fat was driving a bus from Show Low to Whi t e R i ver. I didn’t work for awhile. A year later we were expecting a b ab y. F a t and I were going over to Marzelle and Orley’s to play card s o n a Frid a y night. We stopped at a café to get a cup of coffee an d a fel low we kn e w came up to say hello. He slapped me on the back an d said, ‘ Well how a r e you Virginia?’ Well he slapped a little too hard , I coul d feel it al l t he way to my toes. We went to play cards and ca me on hom e. About 2 i n th e morning I told Fat it was time to go to th e hospital . I wasn’t hav ing p ains, but I knew it was time. Marzelle wa nted to com e with us and w e wen t to McNary. The nurse didn’t think i t was time, bu t Marzelle insis ted o n calling the doctor and I had Jud y 30 minutes lat er. She only weig hed ab out 6 pounds. I had all my babi es pretty fast th at way. She was bo rn clos e to Mother’s Day and we ha d to stay in bed qu ite awhile before t hey woul d let us up. So Fat an d Doreen decided to ma ke me a cake. They g ot the ca ke baked OK, but th ey had a hard time wit h the frosting. They w ould get i t first too thic k and then too thin an d then too thick and the n too thi n and finally r an out of powdered suga r and had to use flour.

We had a cow, some chickens, a dog, and a cat. The cat always slep t w i t h Judy. Joe liked the dog and Darryl the horse and the plowing. T he c o w w as always getting away. The man from the Paint Pony would cal l up a n d say, ‘the old blue cow is here’. She would cross the cattle gu ard . I w ent t o the Show Low hospital to have Dale and the doctor sai d I wo uldn’ t be ha ving the baby for a long time. He told Dad, Fat, Mot her, an d Marz elle the re with me, they might as well go home. Dad and F at wen t home an d mad e a pot of coffee and brought it back and I had th e bab y in two hou rs. Da rryl had the most hair, thick, black and curl y down t o his shoulde rs an d Dale was bald. Dad had built up the wate r works an d Fat was helpi ng him. Four years later Val was born. We ha d a fun tim e that night. Fa t took m e to McNary to the hospital. Then F at went hom e cause nothing wa s happeni ng. It was a very busy night a t the hospital . Wendall Whipple’ s wife wa s having twins that night an d Shirley, anoth er cousin, was a nu rse there. They would bring the babi es in for me to w atch because they d idn’t hav e enough people there t o help and places t o put everybody. Fina lly the do ctor came to see m e and I had Val 30 min utes later.

We moved to Mesa and lived on Solomon Street for about 6 months. T h e n w e bought the home on 8th Street off of Country Club (555 West 8t h S tr eet). I worked at the ‘Feed bag’ restaurant for awhile. Then we bo ug h t a caf é on Main Street and ran it for 4 years. There wasn’t any pa rki n g there. A couple of dentists that always came for lunch would tak e ca r e of ou r kids teeth, so we would feed them in trade. We probabl y ende d u p owin g them.

At the time of Doreen’s wedding, Fat was in the Veteran’s hospital a t P r e scott with an hernia operation. Uncle Charlie went to be with hi m wh i l e I came back to Taylor for the wedding. We gave her $50 for a d res s a n d $100 to go on a honeymoon. Darryl was watching the kids whil e I w as g on e and Val fell out of the window and cut his head up prett y bad l eavi n g a scar on his forehead. A neighbor lady had come to help .

Dad moved to Mesa and went into the insurance business. Fat helped h i m b u ild his office and then from then on worked in construction for q ui te a wh ile. I worked in Dad’s insurance office as a bookkeeper, ‘jac k o f al l tra des master of none’. I worked in the room in the back. Whe neve r the y ha d a big meal there, I did all the cooking. They had a bi g Chri stma s dinne r one year that I cooked and I baked fruit cakes fo r prizes . I th ink I ba ked about 50 of them. Of course Fat would alway s help m e with th e dinners. The first dinner I cooked I wanted to coo k the turke y all nig ht, but Da d thought that would ruin it and wante d me to wait u ntil morni ng. Wel l I went ahead and put the turkey in th e oven withou t him knowin g and Da d tasted it and just loved it. ‘See’ , he said, ‘yo u would have r uined i t if you would have cooked it all n ight’.

During this time we had an Indian lady named Ella take care of the ki d s . She would stay with us during the week and then go home to her fam i l y o n the weekends. While we lived in the ‘old house’ Val would set f i r e to t he old umbrella trees. They were hollow inside and you could p o u r water i nto them, but it wouldn’t put the fire out. They would smol d e r and then b laze. He also started the car when he was little and r a n i t into the she d pole.

We started building the apartments at this time. The two duplexe s o n t h e west side were built first while we lived in the old home. Th en w e li ve d in the end apartment while we tore down the old house an d we bu ilt t h e other two duplexes. We lost our shirt on them.

In 1960 I was in an automobile accident at the intersection of Count r y C l ub and University. A car ran into us and demolished our Studebake r . Fa t w as driving, but didn’t get hurt. I saw the car coming and reac he d ove r wi th my foot to push on the brake. They tried to help me up , bu t my fo ot wa s caught under the brake. It cut my knee up and brok e my to e an d I was o n crutches for awhile. At Southside Hospital the d octor ba wle d me out fo r taking so many pain pills. He said my knee wa s well . I tol d him I wasn’ t taking them for my knee, but for my toe. H e had f orgotte n all about m y toe. He took me right in and fixed my toe . I jus t took i t for granted t hat he would get around to fixing my toe . We bui lt the ho use at 735 N. Da te in 1963 and sold the apartments o r gave the m away wha tever you want t o call it.

I started working for the school as head cook in the cafeteria. I wo r k e d at Carson Jr. High School, Mesa Jr. High and at Westwood High Sch o o l af ter we moved into the house on N. Date for a total of 17 years . Du ri ng th e summer I worked out at the Country Club golf course, at t he sw imm ing po ol in the snack bar cooking hamburgers and hot dogs. Fa t was w orki ng ou t of town a lot of these years in Alpine, in Mesa Rodo nda by C oncho, in S how Low as a ranch hand, and in Winslow inspecting c attle. Fo r thr ee or f our years I raised the kids pretty much alone. On e year w e too k a turke y dinner to him in Winslow and got the kids a ho tel roo m to sle ep in. Va l would spend a lot of time with him in the su mmer whe n he wa s working i n Alpine. In 1968 Fat started work at Willia ms Air Fo rce Base, doing runw ay maintenance and a little bit of everyth ing. He re tired wh en he was 6 5 from Williams.

In 1968 Dad died, he was only sick 5 days. Mother died in 1980 clo s e t o M other’s Day. It was that year too, that we found out Fat had ca nc er. In 1 980 he had a prostrate operation and the doctor gave him fr o m 5 t o 10 yea rs. I kept working at the school until I was 65 and qui t s o I co uld tak e care of Fat. He couldn’t do too much then. He kep t a gar den, bu t couldn ’t do much heavy work for two years. We went thr ough th e Templ e in 1984 a nd were sealed. Doreen was sealed to us at th is time . In 198 6 he was clea r down. I don’t know what I would have don e withou t Marzell e who came t o stay with me the 1st of January. On Mar ch 7, 198 7 he passe d away. He lo oked beautiful at the funeral. The fun eral was i n Mesa, bu t we buried hi m in Show Low. The boys had to tak e him for a r ide in hi s old pickup arou nd Show Low before they burie d him.

In February and then in August I had palsy. I was called to work i n t h e T emple and I guess I didn’t wait long enough before going back t o wo r k an d came down with shingles the next February of 1989 and hav e had t he m eve r since. Marzelle came down and stayed with me last summ er whe n I g ot th e shingles. I know the Lord has been good to me an d I know I’ ll b e with h im one of these days. I know the Church is tru e and I kno w tha t Christ i s my Savior. I love all my children and wan t them to b e happy. I want mor e than anything for them to love each oth er. I want t hem t o do what’s rig ht and always have love for their fell owman.

Some memories of the Kids
Darryl had a new bike for his birthday and ran it into the canal the f i r s t day. Joe ran the car into the neighbors fence. At the west sid e o f t h e house there was an orchard where the kids would string up ten ts a nd s le ep outside in. Val started the car when he was little and ra n int o th e sh ed pole. We raised rabbits and had Rinny the dog. She wa s an Au stral ian S hepherd. She wasn’t a barking dog, but the neighbor s could’n t com e into t he yard without us being there. She would just s tand there . Jud y and Dal e were walking down to the Dairy and Judy wa s walking i n the mi ddle of th e street and a car was coming. Rinny go t a hold of he r hand an d pulled he r off the street. We had some chick s up in a pan o n a post an d some littl e chicks fell out. Rinny got the m and kept the m close to hi m all night an d didn’t hurt them. The hea t got to him dow n here in Mes a with her long f ur so Uncle Orson took h er with him to th e ranch in Sho w Low where the Hi gh School is now. W e really hated her t o go.

We had a 55 Oldsmobile. Dale, on his 16th birthday, took the car o n h i s p aper route. Then he took it across town to the 7-11 for a drin k an d i t wo uldn’t start. A guy tried to help, but he finally had to pu sh i t al l th e way back home. It was late, but Fat hadn’t missed the ca r an d Dal e conf essed for nothing and couldn’t get his license until h e wa s 17.

Judy was married to Bob here. We’ve always had chickens here in th e n e w h ouse and the boys had pigeons. We’ve raised turkeys and rabbit s an d d ucks.

I took up painting when I retired and painted quite a few landscapes . I ’ v e crocheted since I was pregnant with Judy and I made her some ba by c lo th es. I made her a little sweater that was so small we didn’t th ink i t w oul d fit, but she was so little it fit just right.

The kids went to Emerson, the only school here. When they finished ele m e n tary they built a new Jr. High, and the same way with High School . Wh e n J udy had to go across the way to a different school she bawle d so mu c h th e principal said you might as well leave, she won’t stop u ntil yo u d o. Va l went to a nursery at the end of 8th Street and Countr y Club , Mink ’s Nur sery.

Uncle Jess was Fat’s sister’s husband. He would come stay with us. H e w o u ldn’t let us know he was coming. He would just come and say, wel l h e r e I am. His wife had passed away. The kids all liked him.

Larry ran away one time and wanted to go live with his real Dad aft e r F a t and I were first married. Then he wanted to live with Uncle Alm a.

We were running the café and a Indian came in and wanted something t o e a t. He didn’t have any money and said he would give me this silver a nd t u rq uoise bracelet that’s about 2 inches in diameter on the top . I wor e tHis for many years. Val found another turquoise ring and I wor e it fo r ye ar s and then Dale found another ring in Las Vegas that wa s silver a nd h a d a stone in it. I tried it on and kept it.