 1933 - 2011 (78 years) Submit Photo / Document
Has 94 ancestors but no descendants in this family tree.
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| Name |
Velma Skouson |
| Birth |
30 Jan 1933 |
El Paso, El Paso, Texas, United States  |
| Gender |
Female |
| Initiatory (LDS) |
7 Oct 1954 |
ARIZO |
| FamilySearch ID |
KWZX-7FV |
| Death |
18 Feb 2011 |
Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona, United States |
| Burial |
23 Feb 2011 |
City of Mesa Cemetery, Maricopa, Arizona, United States |
| Person ID |
I162135 |
mytree |
| Last Modified |
25 Feb 2024 |
| Father |
Smith Hollister Skouson, b. 27 Aug 1897, Colonia Juárez, Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, México d. 21 Nov 1979, Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona, United States (Age 82 years) |
| Mother |
Mary Louisa Whipple, b. 31 Aug 1903, Colonia Juárez, Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, México d. 8 Aug 1973, Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona, United States (Age 69 years) |
| Marriage |
31 Aug 1920 |
Colonia Dublán, Nuevo Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, México |
| Family ID |
F41199 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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| Notes |
- Velma Skouson Freestone
Life History
Born January 30, 1933
Died February 18 2011
My mother was born in El Paso, El Paso, Texas. Her family was escap i n g P ancho Via in the Colonies in Mexico when they moved up to the Uni t e d Stat es. She is the 6th Child of ten children. Her sisters and brot h e rs ar e in order: Dorothy (Melvin Frost), Glen Whipple (Marlene Jarma n) , Ken t Whipple (Virginia Brown), Carl Whipple (Loa Allen), Garth Whip p l e (Sand ra Brown), John Whipple (Leola Lamb), Mary Louise (Jake Flake ) , C harles W hipple (Zesta Pfaff), Richard Whipple (Terri Emory). Whe n sh e w as two he r family moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico. When she wa s 11 t he y moved t o Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona. She said that she learne d how t o fi ght and de fend herself from being born in between seven bro thers.
In Mesa her parents, Smith Holister and Mary Louise Whipple Skouson m o v e d to a house on Center right next to the 1st ward building (42 S. C en te r, Mesa). She used to go into the chapel and pray. The doors wer e n o t k ept locked in those days. She also practiced the organ in there .
A story Velma told her children to emphsize not wearing shorts was t h a t s he snuck out of the house wearing shorts to play baseball one da y w he n sh e was younger. When her Dad drove by and saw his daughter, V elma , ou t playing with shorts on, he took her out of the game and too k he r h ome a nd made her change her shorts to something more modest. H e sai d t o her, “I know what those boys are thinking when they look a t a gir l wit h shor ts on!”
Some of the memories that I have of Velma are going to the Mezona fo r d a n ces. They had dance cards in those days. I'm guessing here, but a ppa r en tly the girls would have the boys sign on which dance they wer e goi n g t o be together.
Clarence says that he noticed that Velma would be dancing with a l o t o f g uys. It turns out that she danced with her brothers many times . C la renc e used to dance with Sharla Merrit (who incidentally was Gran dp a Mer rit's, Cliff's step-dad's, oldest daughter). Evidentally she wa s a n ama zing d ancer, and Dad enjoyed dancing with her. Mom says that w he n Dad a sked he r to dance, she noticed someone staring daggers at he r . I gues s Sharla d idn't like Mom taking her place. Clarence liked Vel m a right a way. One o f the things that he really liked about her was th a t she didn 't wear make up. She looked clean and beautiful.
Clarence really wanted to date Velma. So he called to ask her ou t . H e a sked her for a particular night, and Velma could hear Clarence ' s frie nd, Bob Fuller, say to ask her for the next night also. So he di d . Bob, a pparently said to ask her for the next night, too. So he did , bu t fi nall y just cut to the chase-- he asked her for a whole month o f dat es.
One of the dates was playing crochet. I've seen a picture of it.
Velma was sick one time during this month of dates. Clarence broug h t h e r some grapes and she thought that was an odd thing to bring a si c k per so n. But that's what we did when we got sick was to stop eatin g re gula r fo od and eat fruit and drink fruit juice so that our bodie s woul d reco ver q uickly and easily without having to digest heavy food s.
Well, Clarence really fell in love with Velma Skouson and wanted to m a r r y her. On the night he was thinking to propose, she was giddy an d n o t be ing serious at all. At the end of the evening, apparently he c ould n 't ge t her to be serious. She asked him what was wrong. He sai d some t hing t o the effect that he would tell her when she grew up. I t hin k h e picke d her up and carried her to her house and said, If you kn ow w ha t I'm goin g to say, help me out. She said, “Well, you haven't as ke d m e anything, y et?” He finally got the question out, and she said ' u-h u'. He stepped b ack from the door and said, “Whew! ”
Some of the things I remember about their wedding: She chose for he r p l a ce settings an ivy pattern. I have noticed that Lucy on I Love Lu c y h a d the same pattern. They picked branches from the piracantha bush e s fr o m the cemetary for decorations at the wedding. They were marrie d o n No ve mber 26th (Cliff and I were married on the same date. They of fere d t o ac company us on the honeymoon, but we declined.)
She had a little problem getting pregnant. But because they were b a c k i n Davenport, Iowa where Dad was finishing chiropractic schoolin g a t t he P almer School of Chiropractic, she received chiropractic adju stme nts. Tw o things resulted from that. She didn't have to wear glasse s anym o re an d she became pregnant. I was born November 4, 1956. Mom sa ys wh e n the n urse placed me in her arms she called me 'Judy'. Grandmot her Fr e estone a pparently wanted me to be named Dana, her maiden name . Thirte e n months l ater Carl was born December 24, 1957. He was name d after Mom ' s brother, Carl. Sixteen months after that Jeanne was bor n
March 23, 1959. I'm guessing she was named after Aunt Orva Jeanne.
That was three babies in 2 ½ years! She told me that with all thre e k i d s in diapers (cloth diapers, I might add), she would lay all thr e e o f u s down and take off the dirty diapers, then put on the clean di ap ers— al l three of us one after the other. It must have been quite a c hal leng e !
Clarence worked with Alfred Packer 'Grandaddy' Freestone in Yuma, Ariz o n a. It didn't work out; so Clarence and Velma moved to Ajo, Arizona—Cl a r en ce's second place to practice chiropractic. It probably wasn't th e b e s t decision because it was a mining community with medical service s pr ov id ed for the workers. So his business didn't do very well. But t hey w o rke d hard. They helped build the church building there and serve d in t h e wa rd. Velma said that she would search in the couch and unde r the b e d fo r money to buy milk. They had dear friends like the Smith' s and Fl e mming s and Harmons and others. I was four while living there , so I wou l d, o f course, know these families because of Corinne and Ma rtha and De na nn, w ho were my age.
We moved to Mesa, and Clarence opened up his office on Main Street n e a r S tapley.
We lived at 317 N. Williams for awhile, but moved to 439 N. Matlock, r i g h t across the street from Grandpa and Grandma (Smith and Louise) Sko us o n ! We would go over there and would want to eat something at Grandm a ' s. Grandma called Velma and said, “Velma, don't you feed these kid s ? ” O f course, she had. We just liked to eat at Grandma's! They add e d o n t o that home on Matlock a nice big living room. Mom loved to des ig n h omes ! She would get some graph paper and draw how she wanted th e hou s e to be.
Velma wanted more children. She would think she was pregnant an d g o t o t he doctor to check it out. But time after time she would fin d ou t th at, no, she wasn't pregnant. Grandaddy and Grandmother took th e whol e f ami ly to Disneyland and the beach. While swimming in the ocea n, Velm a f el l over and had a big turn in the water. That incident alon g with w he n sh e went to sing with the Singing Mothers for conference o ne time w a s a pre curser to her becoming pregnant. She reports that the re was n o w ay she c ould have become pregnant at that time, but when sh e came ba ck, she was p regnant and oh, so happy—I'm sure! This baby wa s due in Jun e. (I can te ll more details because I was there.) But durin g the long, h ot summer sh e waited and waited for the birth. Malinda wa s finally b or n August 5, 19 64. She claims to have had a 10 month pregn ancy. I gue s s Malinda just t ook longer to get made. I remember Malind a when Mom ca m e home from the h ospital. She had black hair and was ver y cute. Mor e cl oth diapers—onl y this time big sister, Dana helped ou t by changing t he m and washing the m out in the toilet.
We took several trips as a family during this time to Tombstone, Ari z o n a and California and other vacations. We took short vacations in t h e m id dle of the week because Dad's busiest days at the office were Mo nd ay a n d Friday. Dad also moved the office to the corner of Hobson an d Un iver si ty. Mom kept the books and was a very good money manager. Wh en th e y bou ght the house on Southern, Mom would show me how she kept t rac k o f the mo ney and how she paid the bills, etc. I remember she doub le d u p on the ho use payment and they were able to get out of debt a lo t s oone r. She wa s a very good support to Dad in the business and als o in D ad' s church cal lings.
Her calling in the church was organist much of the time. Mom play e d t h e organ beautifully for church. She taught me my first organ less o n a n d instructed me on how to play legato (smoothly connected) on th e o rga n k eys. People would comment on how they loved her organ playing .
She certainly was a fun mother. She used to chase me around the hous e , t hen wrestle me down to the ground and pretend to spit in my face . O n e ti me I spit back in her face for real. Then the spitting reall y beg a n beca use before it was just pretend. All of us kids remember ho w sh e p layed w ith us and supported us in school and in developing ou r talen ts a nd in al l areas of our lives. She was truly one of the grea test mot her s of all t ime.
Velma and Clarence liked to play Rook with Velma's parents and broth e r s a nd sisters and cousins. One night while living on Matlock, they w e r e pla ying with Dick and Bobby Cochenour. We kids liked to sneak o u t o f bed an d watch them play. This particular night it was fun to wat c h be cause the y were spitting cherry pits at each other. I guess if so me on e played a c ard that someone else didn't like, a cherry pit came a t t hem. Must hav e been cherry season.
She was a great seamstress. When I went on my mission, she sewe d a l l m y clothes. I felt so well-dressed. They looked so professiona l . W e di d a lot of quilting. She made a quilt for each grandchild. Pl u s sh e mad e quilts for her kids.
She loved to read. When you got ahold of one of the books she had re a d , there would be a lot of underlining and marking up of the pages . S h e l oved to read Louis L'Amor. Many other authors also. Her Patriar ch a l ble ssing admonished her to read good books, and she did.
My mother was the most kind and helpful person I know. She woul d g o o u t of her way to serve others. She told me that when you go visi tin g te ac hing, you should go with the idea that you were going to serv e th e sis te r you were visiting and to be Ready for service. She was su c h a goo d coo k and was well-known for her enchiladas--as was her mothe r . When M om wou ld attend the temple or go to her mid-week Relief Socie t y meetings, she w ould always bring such a sweet spirit with her when s h e returne d home. S he was very close to the Spirit.
I was visiting her one time and looked over at her. She was sitti n g i n h er chair praying. Prayer was an important part of her life. Sh e t au gh t me how to pray. One time I had a problem and she took me int o he r b edr oom and we knelt down at the foot of the bed. She prayed fir st an d t he n she asked me to pray. That was such an important lesson fo r me , a n d I have never forgotten it.
She loved her family. Family was of the utmost importance to her . H e r g randkids were included in who she shopped for and they were inc lud e d in h er quilting and travels and holidays. She was a person of fa ce v a lue. Y ou knew where she stood on any issue. There was no gray ar e a i n her mind. Like the hymn, Choose The Right, says, “There's a righ t a n d wrong to e very question”, that's what she believed. She lived he r li f e as she thou ght. She wondered why her partriarchal blessing wa s so sh o rt—only one pa ragraph. Later in my life I was thinking on thi s and I b e lieve it was be cause that's all she needed. She was one of t he elec t o f God because o f her obedience and righteousness. She also w ondere d wh y she was blesse d with only four children. I was watching o n TV a B YU d evotional talk b y Elder Oaks to the students at BYU and so mething h e sai d triggered the a nswer to that question for me. She wil l be grante d al l the blessings sh e did not receive in this life in th e next includ in g a large family. The re is nothing she will miss out on . Besides, s h e and Dad would not hav e had so many wonderful opportunit ies for servi c e on the missions they se rved if they had had a large am ount of Childr e n here on the earth.
Mom believed in asking for blessings from Heavenly Father. She us e d t o p lay Solitare on the computer. She told me that one time she pro mi se d th e Lord that she would not play anymore in exchange for takin g awa y t oot h pain that she had at the time. The Lord did take away th e pain . O ne t ime she weakened a bit and pulled up the Solitare game, b ut he r toot h pai n came back. So she quit immediately and repented. Th e pai n wen t away a gain. This has been an example in my life, and I hav e foun d th e Lord i n His mercy Ready to pour out blessings.
Those missions were an important part of Dad and Mom's service her e o n t h e earth.
Here's an incident that happened in Guatemala while they were on o n e o f t heir missions. “We (Dad and Mom) were on a dimly lit street ent er in g a c hapel where we were to initiate a literacy class. There was m ajo r c onstru ction on the dirt street where we left the Toyota Jeep an d a s we g ot ou t of the car we realized that the street had been lowere d ab out a f oot th at made the sidewalk a couple of feet higher than th e road . With d ifficul ty we got up onto the sidewalk and went into th e chape l where the re wa s a room full of people waiting for us. As we b egan t o assemble ou r equip ment we found that in the rush we had forgot ten som e of the form s we need ed. Sensing the urgency, Mom rushed out t o the ca r to get the m while I co ntinued to begin the presentation. I n minutes M om appeared a ll dirty wit h elbows all bloody, crying. Forge tting abou t the height o f the sidewalk, she ran off the sidewalk and no se-dived in to the dirt. W ell, so much fo r the class (we struggled thro ugh it anywa y).”
Dad and Mom used to walk on their missions. One time Mom tripped a n d D a d joked that she was trying to be a 747 and fly. Then Dad trippe d o n e mo rning and Mom had the opportunity to tell him that he was tryi n g t o fly l ike a 747.
I went down to Mesa one time to take my daughter, Beth, back when Be t h l i ved down there. Mom wasn't doing well. I walked into the house a n d D a d was trying to get Mom's blood pressure and couldn't. They bot h ha d w or ried looks on their faces. When I walked in, Mom seemed relie ved t o s e e me. She began to receive her strength and even fixed a mea l and c lea ne d up the kitchen on Monday. Dad kept telling her to rest . On Tuesd a y ea rly in the morning Beth took me to the airport to go ba ck to Utah ; b ut be fore we left Mom came out and gave me a big hug--lon ger and tig hte r tha n usual--and told me she was feeling the way she ha d felt befor e. If I w ould have had any idea that she was going to pas s away, I woul d n't have g one home. But on Wednesday she quickly went d ownhill and lo s t her energ y and during the night into Thursday, she pa ssed away. I su r e miss her.
Mom was very athletic. Dad and Mom used to play ping-pong. Prett y s o o n Mom got to playing better than Dad! I remember she would play c hur c h v olleyball and baseball even when she got up in age.
Some memories from people who were close to Velma:
Crystal Flake Petersen: She helped me make a dress when I stayed th e r e o ne time when my parents went somewhere.
Bonny Gotzinger- Here's a few:
1) Grandma and Grandfather ALWAYS walked us to the door of our ca r t o s a y goodbye and didn't go inside until we couldn't see them anymo re.
2) Gma and Gfa taught the missionary lessons to mine and Megans boyfri e n d s back in 2009.
3) Grandma's road rage
4) Grandma was always willing to come pick me up from wherever, ev e n i f i t wasn't the best of situations.
5) Riding to/from UT back in 2004 for General Conference with Gma a n d G f a - they sang the whole way. They even drove to Snowflake (out o f t hei r w ay home) so that my siblings and I could see our family.
6) Grandma had a hard belly that moved up and down (just like Santa ) w h e n she laughed:-)
7) That one Christmas she bought us dog brushes because she loved us i n g t hem on her hair!
8) "I'll see your nose" (She got that from her mother, Mary Louise Whipp l e Skouson)
9) Getting in trouble with Grandma for eating fruit in the basement
10) This one isn't of Grandma, but it's the signature Gfa uses at t h e e n d of all of his emails "Give them a hug for me"... It's a littl e pi ec e o f Gma every time I read his emails - and brings happy tears t o m y eye s ri ght now. Miss that wonderful woman! heart emoticon
Mindy Freestone Rowley: I love that, Bonny! Some day we'll get to s e e h e r again and have a huge party!
Kyra Wilkins Cook: I remember driving with grandma going to aunt Mali n d a s house. And her telling me all the boys that she kissed and date d … I w a s in shock!
Bonny Gotzinger: Haha she told me too! I guess I just didn't have t h e g a me Gma did
Amy Flake Orr: I only vaguely remember this, Aunt Velma must have b e e n b abysitting me while my parents went out of town while i was quit e y ou ng. I remember her taking us to the zoo and riding the train there .
Or I could totally be making it up (that's how vague the memory is ) , b u t I think that's how it happened.
Mindy Flake Sanders: I remember you got to go to the zoo. I staye d w i t h Crystal and Darrell while you stayed there.
Grandma-isms:
If it were a snake, it would of bit you.
Are you going to let a little thing like that scare you?
I’ll see your nose!
Velma's enchiladas were legendary. I assume it came from her mother b e c a use I remember eating enchiladas at Grandma Skouson’s house. It wa s n e ve r written down. But then, Bridget, Robert's wife sent this to m e:
Here is the recipe I received from Grandma Freestone in Decembe r 2 0 1 0 - I copy and pasted this directly from the email she sent to m e . I h a d requested the recipe to make for Robert's birthday since we w er e stu c k in TX that December because I was too pregnant with Joshua t o t ravel.
Enchilidas ala Grandma
This is enough to eat and probably put a bowl in the freezer for nex t t i m e.
In pan put 1 cup of white flour
2 Tbs or more if wanted New Mex Chili powder (best)
2 tsp salt, May have to add more later
1/4 tsp cumin or cumino in Spanish
Have water Ready to add before you start, a pitcher full (less tha n 1 g a l). Turn stove on and add some while stirring. Stir all the tim e and w h e n it starts to thicken add more water.
Add 1 clove of garlic diced little
Before you start have a #2 1/2 (28oz) can (big)of Las Palmas
chili sauce the 2- 8 oz cans of tomato sauce, (Hunts)
but only open 1 til you taste to see if it's enough. If not add oth e r c a n.
Stir all the time. When it starts boiling turn stove down a little and
count for 1 min then
Add Chili sauce and tomato sauce. I add a small can of
Hatch's green chili sauce too. Or you can add green chilies.
Hatches is better.
Stir a little longer and turn way down and let cook for 1/2 hr or so.
If it's too thick add more water and salt to taste.
Put tortilla in sauce 1/2 min or so and stack on your plates
with cheese and onions between tortillas
ENJOY and happy birthday Robert.
Now this reminds me of my mother, the way she talked !
Another of Mom’s recipes is her Oatmeal Drop Cookies:
She would cook up a huge batch of these cookies and put out her whit e d i s h towels for them to cool on. There would be cookies all over th e cou n te rs. We could eat all we wanted. They were whole wheat and hone y a n d ver y delicious. They were perfect for eating with a glass of mil k . W hen w e had a cow—Schnooks, then Maybell or vice versa—that was th e m os t delici ous. MMMM-MMM! Homemade cookies and raw milk!
She always filled up her large square Tupperware container and pu t i n t h e freezer for later.
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Has 94 ancestors but no descendants in this family tree.
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