Written by Margaret Kloepfer Draeger Summer of 2003 81 years young MY CHILDHOOD My parents often remarked that during the winter I was born (1-5-22) it was extremely cold and that the snowfall was so heavy that the fence posts were buried. Mother apparently made it to the hospital safely and gave birth without any complications. As a child, I remember the home was heated by a “pot-bellied” stove which was located in the dining room. I recall crawling behind the stove to drink my bottle and keep warm. Years later my parents installed a coal burning furnace which was an improvement for heating the home. However, I recall the house was always cold in the winter. As a child, I played with my brothers and sisters on the stairway. I enjoyed the warm sun which radiated through the south stairway window in the winter. I was the third oldest of a family of eleven children. We were born in the following order: Gladys, Eldon, Margaret, Faye, Leona, Connie, Karl, Owen, Fred, Janice and Geneva. We always had someone to play with and we seldom went from our home to play with other children. Neighboring friends did come to our home to play with us. To date I have lost two sisters. Connie, born October 16, 1926 passed away from a heart attack on May 16, 1995. She had poor health, even as a child, with her heart. My sister, Gladys, the oldest of the family, passed away from cancer after Connie. The cancer started in her breast and spread to her lungs and her back. I remember many happy hours playing house on a large clothes rack dad had made for mother to dry clothes on, especially diapers. The rack was sturdy enough to climb to the top without it falling over. We spent many hours playing with crayons, coloring books and making our own paper dolls and dresses with scissors. My favorite past time was cutting out snow flakes. Mother seemed to keep us busy and must have read fairy tales and nursery rhymes to us as I knew most of them. Gladys probably read to us as I recall she enjoyed reading. In winter the neighborhood children from the eighth ward would come over to our home to sleigh ride on the hill on the side of our property. Mother encouraged us to participate in this enjoyable activity. After playing in the snow, she would invite our friends into our home and prepare hot chocolate for everyone. In the summer we picked wild flowers as we climbed the mountains on our way to picnics. During the warmer days we went swimming in the cold Logan River or went walking on the rocks. Even in the hottest days we never got hot after our invigorating swim. I used to dream of having a warm swimming pool. The nearest we came was when dad would flood the pasture to irrigate and the water would fill the holes and dips and become quite warm from the sun. Sometimes the water would come up to our waist. Evenings were spent on the lush lawns doing somersaults, cartwheels, playing “run sheep run”, “mumbledeepeg”, and “aunti aunti annie over”. We always had a good time when our cousins from Portage came to visit Grandma Kloepfer. She lived across the street. We would visit her and play on her lawn under the cedar trees. We did have assigned work to do. Evening dishes always had to be washed and floors had to be mopped. My parents always had a large garden. All of the children were assigned rows to weed, plus peas and beans to pick. We could always pick anything out of the garden at any time to eat. My favorite were turnips. Mother always had clean clothes for us to wear and our hair was neatly combed when we were sent to Primary. We always walked to church as the church was only a block and a half from our home. I am sure mother had concern as we had to cross over two bridges. Occasionally, in the spring the river water flowed very high and swift. Frequently, I was afraid to cross the bridges because there were large holes in the bridge and I could see the water rushing past. The bridge did not have railings on the sides during my childhood years. Eventually, I became accustomed to crossing the treacherous bridges. MY PARENTS This I know for sure, I was born of good parents! MY MOTHER: MARGARET (SCHAUB) KLOEPFER Mother had dark black hair and dark brown eyes. Of the eleven children in my family only Geneva, the youngest, had her dark brown eyes. Mother took good care of us. We always had clean clothes and plenty to eat. She was an excellent cook. Fruit cake, chili sauce, cream puffs and the best sherbet and ice cream. My hair was very curly when I was young and mother always brushed it into ringlets. That was always a special time we had together. I remember her tummy bouncing up and down against me as she must have been pregnant most of the time. I don’t remember her ever getting angry at any of us. I know she got very tired and would go to bed early and if we stayed up too late, doing dishes and fooling around, she would come down and say, “It is time for you to go to bed”. I was proud of mother as I sat next to her in church. She always carried a white handkerchief. Dad was always sitting on the stand as he was the Bishop or in the Bishopric. I never saw them sit together in church. Mother could write and read poetry very well. She belonged to a book club which met every month. Often women from the ward would come to our home and quilt on large frames that dad made for her. We had a lot of fun playing under them. The summer of 1940 my brother Owen (11 years old) was hit by a car on his bicycle. Owen was killed by a car without brakes that ran into him as he was riding his bike home from a 4th of July activity at the college. He had a brain concussion and died the next day. Owen was born August 9, 1929 in Logan. Mother stayed with him in the hospital and he passed away the next day on July 5, 1940. There was much fruit which I picked and canned being the oldest at home. After the funeral, my folks said I could take a trip to California with the Graces and help Geneva (my mother’s younger sister) with the birth of her daughter Nan. My stay wasn’t long as Grandma Schaub (my Mother’s mother) passed away from a heart attack in October so we came back for the funeral. All this was hard on my mother and it was shocking to see her hair had turned white in those few months I was away. My parents went through a lot with the accident of Fred Paul losing his arm. He spent many days in the hospital trying to save his arm. He was riding his bike down a steep hill and crashed into the sidewalk breaking his arm. If it had just been a year later they probably could have saved his arm with the invention of penicillin. After all this, my parents had to witness the death of Karl who had been duck hunting with Fred in the west fields of Logan. Fred slipped and his gun went off hitting Karl in the back. At this time we were living in Logan. Norm was on the Logan Police Department and was the first one to hear about the accident. Karl had just got back from his honeymoon. He lived a few days in the hospital before he passed away. Mother mourned over his death for a long time. Karl was so good to her and always kept her happy. The accident was very hard on Freddy. Karl was born on March 12, 1928, and passed away on October 10, 1952. Mother passed away when Peggy was sixteen (1963). I remember Leona, Connie and I drove up to Logan and were with her during her last few days in the hospital. Norm, Peggy, Lowell and Craig drove up together for her funeral. Mother was born on March 14, 1894 and passed away on August 10, 1963. She was only 69 years old. Mother had lost her eye sight and hadn’t been feeling well for a few years. We were glad she didn’t have to suffer any more. My father married Adeline Elizabeth Tueller a year after mother passed away. Dad was lonely and Adeline took good care of him. We were happy for him and loved Addie. My mother didn’t have to endure Eldon’s death, which I will include in my father’s writings. MY FATHER: FREDERICK JOSEPH KLOEPFER My father worked hard. Always up early in the morning as he had his own sand and gravel business and later did construction work. He would always come in to be with the family for morning prayer and breakfast. I can remember when the boys would not behave, he would threaten to take them to the rat hole in the basement. The girls were good!!! They would just shake a little. We didn’t see much of our dad as he was busy being a Bishop and earning a living. On Sundays mother would have us wait to have dinner when dad came home, even if he was late. I heard mother later remark, “If she had it to do all over again she would never have had us wait so long.” I was proud of my father even if I didn’t know him too well. He earned the Silver Beaver Award in Scouting. When he was honored, mother was too sick to go, so he asked me to go with him. It was a very nice evening with a big banquet. Norm often said my father was a big influence on him joining the church because dad stood up for what he believed in. Seeing my father had such a hand in Norm joining the church I’ll write a little about his conversion while we lived in Wisconsin. I was so homesick for church while living in Wisconsin I found out there was a little branch of L.D.S. in northern Wisconsin. Norm took me there twice as it was so far away. When we moved to Logan, I went to church all the time. Norm says he wore out many missionaries there but did nothing about it. When we went to California he would go with us once on Sundays. That was when there were three different times for meeting. He always supported me taking the children. After a few years, almost 16, we were invited to go to a study group led by a Stake President and his wife who had been a Lutheran. One night she just scolded Norm and said, “Can’t you see how right this is?” Well, one day I said to him, “I’ve just given up on you”. We were getting ready to go to a family reunion in Logan to be held at the scout camp in Bear Lake. When we got there he informed me he had asked my dad to baptize him. What a surprise! He wouldn’t let me tell anyone. We drove to Logan and took Linda with us as she was about three or four years old. We were the only ones there when he was baptized in the Tabernacle. I can remember him saying, “Well, the Tabernacle didn’t fall in”. The relatives were really surprised when we came back and told them he was baptized. You can imagine how happy I was. We had been married 16 years before Norm joined the church. He was baptized on September 3, 1960. We were then sealed to each other and our family on January 20, 1962 in the Los Angeles Temple. I owe a lot to my father and mother for being such strong–good people. One thing mother didn’t have to go through was the death of my brother (her eldest son) Eldon. It happened about the time Peggy and Steve were planning on getting married (April 1968). Eldon had flown his plane to Wyoming to bid on a construction job. On his way back, flying over Wyoming, the plane flew into a thunder cloud which blew the plane into pieces. It took a week or so before they were able to find the plane. He was born on May 23, 1920 and passed away on April 11, 1968. My dad was living in Arizona and I am sure it was very hard on him. My father lived to be 87. We went to Logan for his funeral. GRADE SCHOOL I attended kindergarten to the sixth grade at the Whittier School. We had a long walk which took over an hour. Occasionally, I would walk home for lunch. We barely made it home in time to eat a quick lunch and walk back to school. Generally we would be late for our classes. The majority of the time we carried our lunches to school. Mother had to bake everyday. I vividly recall the rooms in the school. Kindergarten, first, second and music room were on the first floor. There were big wide stairs to the second floor where the third, fourth, fifth and sixth grade rooms were located. We had many fire drills down these steps and I did have many dreams of the school burning. Many years later I found out that my Grandfather Karl Conrad Schaub was the architect of that building. Also, later they turned it into a Performance Art Building. My two closest friends were Martha Peterson, daughter of the president of the college and Marian West, the vice president’s daughter. I spent many hours after school at their nice homes on the college campus. Infrequently, they would come to my home to play with me. I had the intuition mother was a little embarrassed to have them in our home. I experienced one distasteful incident in grade school and I have never forgotten it. I painted a picture of “Puff the Cat” from our reading books. The principal liked the picture and hung it in her office. Some of the kids from the ward said I didn’t paint the picture and that false accusation really hurt my feelings and I let it bother me. I did enjoy art in school and many afternoons were spent at the wood-work shop at the college making puppets and things of wood. I made the prince for a play. Mother helped make a velvet suit with lace and little pearl buttons. She must have devoted a lot of effort on making the suit as I remember it was very nice and I was extremely proud of it. I worked many hours in dad’s garage sawing boards, making airplanes, and hammering boats. Regularly, I was accused of misplacing dad’s tools when he couldn’t locate them. I do not recall my baptism and I am amazed why I can’t. It probably was in the Tabernacle. I can remember doing baptisms for the dead in the Logan Temple. JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL The distance I had to walk to grade school was far, however, my walk to junior high school was even further. One compensation factor in the long walk was I walked past the Temple and I enjoyed that. Many days I was thoroughly chilled from the cold walk when I returned home from school. Approximately at this time of my life I started to enjoy baking cakes and making bread and mother needed the help so I received a lot of practice. I suspect much of my school homework didn’t get completed. We always had the evening dishes to wash and the job generally was prolonged by playing games as we worked. However, we had a good time. Faye could shoot water through her front teeth farther than anyone. Many times mother would be in bed and come downstairs to admonish us to complete our assignment and “get to bed”. My girlfriends were Ardel Johnson and Karen Creamer. I liked Ardel so much that I persuaded mother to name Geneva after her, Geneva Ardel. During this time, we spent many hours after school on the Temple ground practicing singing hymns. We had the privilege to sing in a special program attended by President Heber J. Grant. The hymns I learned there still linger in my memory. While in junior high school I started Mutual and enjoyed going every Tuesday night. I was excused from doing dishes on this night as I had to go early to play the piano for Mutual. During junior high school I took piano lessons from a lady on the west side of town. Many times it was dark before I got home. We had to walk everywhere we went. I guess that was the reason we didn’t go to too many school activities. My summers were devoted working for Grandma Schaub helping her clean her large house. She taught me to bake bread. Many times I would iron fifteen shirts following wash day. Grandma and Grandpa Schaub’s house had four bedrooms and one bath upstairs. The first floor consisted of a large kitchen, library, dining room with a fireplace, big entrance to the living room, a bedroom and bath plus a big full basement with storage room for fruit, potato cellar, a large room for aging vinegar, a washroom and a furnace room. The beautiful home was always kept spotless. I still remember every detail of the house. My wages were one dollar a day. One Friday, when I walked home, the five dollars in my pocket seemed quite an amount. Grandma Schaub was a beautiful lady with blonde gray hair, parted in the middle, waves down the side and a bun at the back. She would always have me sit down with her in the afternoon to listen to the radio program, “Our Gal Sunday”. The theme of the program was “Could a girl from a little mining town find love and happiness in Hollywood?” I recall going to her home for Christmas where Santa came. Mostly, I recall going there to pick fruit for canning. They had a large orchard and a grape vineyard. We always seemed to have plenty fruit as we were growing up. HIGH SCHOOL High school was a continuation of attending Mutual and friendship with twelve girls my age from the Eighth Ward. Their names were Cleta Hale, Etta Marshall, Norma Blotter, Shirley Phippen, Fern Robinson, Cleora Durant, Ruth Sealy, Irene Beck, Elaine Daniels, Leora Naylor and June Skibby. Our noon hours during school were spent walking into town. I can’t remember spending money. Sometimes after school we would stay and go to a movie at the Capital Theater. I think we saw Jeannette McDonald and Nelson Eddie in “Naughty Mariett” three or four times. Then we would walk home down the middle of the road singing the songs we heard in the movie. During this time Ruby Neilsen, a kindergarten teacher, asked me to play the piano for her class at a grade school by the high school. I played twice a week. She paid me money. It was a good experience and I got excused from school. At this time, I made friends with Gwen Pugmire (Loveland). I joined a club she was in and we made a trip to explore some caves near Bear Lake. On the way back the car I was riding in slid off the road going around a curve in Logan Canyon. One of the girls received a broken hip. The club didn’t go out much after that, however, I continued my friendship with Gwen. MARGE AND NORM’S COURTSHIP When World War II broke out on December 7, 1941, many lives were changed. I was attending college in my second year. College was fun and I had met and dated Don Erickson, Eldon Drake, and Lloyd Neilson. They all, in some way, asked me to marry them. College wasn’t the same after most of the fellows were drafted or enlisted. No one was left on campus so when I heard from my friend Vera of a job (jobs had been hard to get before the war) in Ogden, I decided to quit school and go to work and earn a little money. Vera and I got up at 5:00 a.m. and rode to Ogden with a man (Hansen) who she knew. The ride was long and we were gone from 5:00 in the morning until after 6:00 in the evening. I learned to be a key punch operator, which were used before computers. The work was fine but we got tired of the long day and driving on icy roads. Vera quit first and got a job at the college. Some how through her, I got a job also at the college working for Eric Johnson in the purchasing department in the bookstore. It was great to be at home and walk to work up the steep hill to the college. It kept me in shape. By that time the college was overflowing with service men; sailors, marines, and army. They would come to the bookstore for supplies. There was a U.S.O. in Logan. The girls that worked at the college were the only girls invited to attend the U.S.O. On one Saturday night Vera and I went. A certain marine, Norm, asked me to dance with him. He was a very good dancer and we danced around the dance hall. I don’t remember dancing with anyone else as he kept dancing with me. The next Saturday night he was there and we danced again and he asked me for a date to go to a show. When he got to my home I remember he complained how hard it was to find my place. I found out he wasn’t used to steep hills, fast running rivers and worst of all he had given up playing a game that night on the college basketball team. After the show we ran into his coach, and the coach told him to turn in his uniform. One time he told me our date was off because a girl had asked him to come to her house for dinner. I said “O.K.” I then went to the U.S.O. and had a good time dancing when Norm walked in. He said he decided not to go with her. We went together every Saturday night for three months. We went on picnics up above the hill by my home and picnics in the canyon. Sometimes we would get to use my father’s car. The one and only car in the family of 11 children. Then Norm left to go to Corpus Christi, Texas. There was nothing serious or any commitment when he left. We wrote to each other for two years. I got a letter almost every day. I don’t know how he put up with my spelling as it was terrible. I’ll admit he had terrible handwriting too. In the fall of 1944 Norm got a furlough to go home for 14 days. He called me and asked if I could come to Wisconsin and meet his folks. I don’t remember the trip but Norm said I came by bus. I thought I had gone to the end of the world. I was never so happy when I saw him and his friend Wally Kersten in the bus station. I sure did give him a big hug. We met in Appleton, Wisconsin. When we got close to Norm’s home town, Marion, he stopped and told me his folks lived in an old home with no electricity and plumbing. It didn’t seem to bother me! When we got to his place it was one of the better homes in town. The home was built by his grandfather. His mother was ill and bedridden so they lived with his Grandmother Gussie. They gave me the bedroom downstairs and all the other bedrooms were upstairs. At night we went to dances at different towns. During the days we visited most of Norm’s relatives on their farms. One day we took Norm’s mother to the doctor in Fondulac. I didn’t get to see her much as she was bedridden. We usually went up to see her in the afternoon. Granny Gussie Hanke did all the cooking and up keep of the home. One day we went into Granny’s garden to dig potatoes. I worked with Norm and dug up the potatoes. I think he wanted to see if I would get my hands dirty. I stayed about a week and went back home on a bus or train, I don’t remember. I went back to my job at the college. In the spring of 1945, the war with Germany was over. Norm called me on the phone and asked me if I would marry him. In April he sent me a diamond ring that he and a friend’s wife had helped pick out at the P.X. I remember it came in the mail. One of my sisters brought it to me while I was working at the college. I met her half way up the hill. It was a beautiful diamond. I showed it off to all the people where I worked. OUR MARRIAGE As the war in Germany was over and Norm’s Marine Squadron was told that they would never go overseas, he called and asked me to come to Louisiana and we would get married. He made all the plans and I quit my job at the college. The department gave me a luncheon at the Blue Bird and a beautiful nightgown set. My friends gave me a shower at my home. I didn’t get much as things were not available because of the war. Mom took me to Salt Lake to buy some thing for my wedding. I chose a green suit with a white blouse. It was nice of my mother to take the time and we could be together (I don’t know why I chose green!). Mom took me to the town to meet the bus. Dad didn’t come as he was busy. He did tell me, “If things didn’t work out I always had a home to come back to.” I am sure the bus ride was long but I guess I was in love as I don’t remember much, only that they played the song “Sentimental Journey” many times. On arriving in Louisiana I must have taken a taxi to a little apartment in part of a home owned by an elderly couple. This was on a Friday. We planned to get married the next day which was Saturday. Norm had made arrangements with a Minister to get married in his home or parsonage. Three of Norm’s buddies came to be witnesses. I cried after we were pronounced married. We then took a taxi to look for a cake, flowers, or anything to celebrate but could not buy anything without ration stamps which we didn’t have. The people where we stayed gave us some corn and tomatoes out of their garden. Monday when Norm went back to his base, he was told they would eventually be shipped overseas. So we only spent about one week in Houma, Louisiana. Norm would come back from the base every evening and we would walk into town to get something for me to eat. It was so hot, we would walk back and be almost completely wet from the humidity. As I write, it is funny the little things I can’t remember. How I got to the apartment from the airport. I can’t remember how I got to Arkansas, it must have been by bus. Of course, Norm got there with his squadron by train. In Arkansas on the Marine base we had a home all to ourselves. It was our honeymoon. We could get all the food we needed from the P.X. There was a swimming pool and movies to go to. But this only lasted a month. Norm left on a troop train for California (Santa Ana). Another marine’s wife and I traveled together to California by train. Norm found an old hotel room for me to stay in. When Norm came from the base in the evening, we would play miniature golf, go swimming in the ocean. Anything to not be in the hotel room. I decided to get a job. I went to work for the Kerr Canning Company. The first day I stood all day turning lids on bottles going by on a belt. I didn’t go back to work the next day. I few weekends we would take a train (which was very crowded) and go stay with Paul and Louise. Louise was Norm’s grandmother’s sister. They fed us well and it was a break. We stayed in Santa Ana about a month and then Norm was being sent overseas. The Wolgrams let us stay in their beach home in Hermosa Beach a week before Norm left on 5th of August. I went back by bus to stay with my folks wondering when I would ever see him again. In Logan I got a job at the Telephone Company as an operator. I didn’t like the job too well, but felt lucky to get it. Then on October 24, 1945, Norm’s mother passed away at age 47. Knowing Norm would get a furlough to come to Wisconsin for her funeral, I quit my job. Mother and I took a train to Chicago and then another train to Marion. We stayed with Granny Hanke, Norm did not make it home in time for the funeral. I went back with mother as far as Chicago. We got a hotel room and spent a few days walking around the city. It was cold and when mother got home she was sick for quite a while. I felt bad when I heard that. Norm did come but only for a few days. After he left I stayed at Granny Hanke’s and walked into town everyday to work in Grandpa Ben’s grocery store. That was a very lonely time. I spent our first Christmas with Norm’s father, Ben, and his Grandma Hanke. My best friend was Aunt Agnes. She was married to Grandma Hanke’s brother. She was someone I could visit and talk to. Norm got home for good from the service in January. We fixed up the apartment above the grocery store and both of us worked in the store. I remember it being very cold in the apartment and we would go to bed early to keep warm. The apartment only had a pot bellied stove in the middle of the room. We would listen to the radio: Jack Benny, Red Skelton and etc. We also ate a lot of food, and I did gain weight. Together we had some good times, fishing on the pond (come spring), playing cards with Norm’s friends, going to the farms, and eating more food. By fall I was so homesick for my parents and family. Norm knew it was time to take me home for a visit. He bought his dad’s old car, had a new motor put in and we started out at 35 miles per hour. I thought we would never get to Logan. I can’t remember how long we stayed but that was when I got pregnant with Peggy. Was I ever happy! Back to Wisconsin we went and I think the next news was Peggy’s birth. PEGGY’S BIRTH My doctor’s name was Dr. Morneau. We had to travel to Bear Creek some 40 miles away. I can’t remember visiting the doctor too many times before her birth. His office was in his home. Everything seemed to be O.K. At this time we still lived above the grocery store. I didn’t have much to do so I put on a lot of weight, although I remember taking walks. The hospital I was to go to was in New London 25 miles away and I was concerned about that. So when I started to spot we started for the hospital. I was frightened when we got to the hospital and I saw all the Catholic Nuns. Apparently, I was not ready to deliver and they told me to go home. We went to Norm’s Aunt Amelia’s home. They lived in New London a few miles from the hospital. I think we waited almost three days before going back to the hospital. When we arrived, there were no rooms and they put me in a hallway. There I had most of my labor pains with people walking by. Norm stayed with me and I pulled so hard on his watch band I almost broke it. How I wished I’d had a little more knowledge about child birth, proper breathing and how to relax; but I had no one to talk to. When I was finally taken into the delivery room, it seemed the nuns were doing all they could to stop the baby from being born because the doctor wasn’t there. I had the feeling I could have almost died. This part of the story is very sacred to me. I heard angels singing and organ music and I promised Heavenly Father I would do all I could to get Norm to join the church if I didn’t die. It was worth it all when they brought my beautiful baby daughter to me to hold and look at. She was perfect, her skin was brown for a new baby, a round little head with big blue eyes. I thought her to be the most beautiful baby in the world. She was born on June 24, 1947. During my stay in the hospital, I developed a rash all over my body. I don’t know if it was nerves or from the hot rubber sheets I laid on, and also it was extremely hot. Norm would hold my feet when he came to see me. The day we left the hospital I dressed Peggy in a knit cap, a sweater, and booties and wrapped her in a blanket. By the time we got halfway home her little head was wet from perspiration—no wonder!!! The night Peggy was born her dad got lost going home on roads he had traveled all his life. I think he was excited. We lived above the store until Peggy was almost two. Somehow I seemed to take care of her all right. She had problems keeping her milk down. After her bottle, all the milk would shoot back out. The doctor said her stomach hadn’t opened enough and she would probably throw up until she could eat solid food. He was right, it went away when she was about six months old. It was very messy which caused a lot of washing. We had to heat water on a kerosene stove in the kitchen. Norm was very good about hanging up the diapers on the back roof of the store. In the winter we would hang diapers in the grocery store over night to dry and in the morning hurry to get them out before Dad opened the store. The winters were very cold. We had only an oil burning stove in the center room. It was so cold we moved Peggy into this room. One night the stove back fired soot all over the room. When we looked a Peggy in the morning, all we could see were her big blue eyes looking out of a black-sooty face. Peggy’s first steps were taken on her first birthday in front of the grocery store on the sidewalk. We took her everywhere we went. I don’t remember ever having a baby-sitter or leaving her with anyone all the time we lived in Wisconsin. We mainly visited relatives on the farm and once in a while went to the movies in town. We also went to see Granny Hanke at her home. We made our second trip to Utah to see my parents when Peggy was about a year old. We visited my sister Connie and her husband, Lowell Turner in a basement in Logan. We met their son, Craig, for the first time. He was two months older than Peggy and could walk. When we got back to Wisconsin, Norm decided to build a house on a lot by the Marion pond that he had bought from August Ziehm, Granny Hanke’s brother. He bought some buildings on a farm and had them moved to the lot. It was quite a job. We would put Peggy in her playpen on the flat roof over the garage while we worked. I did some of the painting and Norm worked hard. The house turned out nice. It had corner windows, an open stairway in the living room which Norm finished with beautiful oak stairs. We had just moved into the house when Granny Hanke decided she would like to go to California and visit her sisters Louise and Lenna. Norm wanted to get out of the grocery business so we sold the house, packed a trailer full of belongings and took Granny Hanke and her friend, a Mrs. Klein from Milwaukee, and drove to Utah. At this time, I was pregnant with Debbie so I stayed in Utah while Norm drove them to California. When Norm got back we got an apartment on Preston Avenue in the Eighth Ward. It wasn’t much. Two rooms on the second floor of a four apartment house. We had to share the bathroom. But I was happy to be back in Utah and be by my family. Norm started working for my father in construction, mostly driving gravel trucks. He wasn’t happy with this work. It was dirty and cold and no future in it. He was especially unhappy when he was laid off at Christmas. During this time we moved to another apartment in a basement near River Heights. It had noisy pipes overhead. This is where we were when Debbie was born. DEBBIE’S BIRTH Debbie was born in the Logan L.D.S. hospital on January 14, 1950. I was hoping she would be born on my birthday, January 5. I even went to the hospital but I guess it was false labor pains and I had to go home and wait until the 14th. Her birth was fairly easy. They gave me ether and I was sick to my stomach after and threw up. But we had another beautiful baby girl. I remember my mother coming to the hospital and raving what a beautiful baby she was. We thought so too. There was much snow on the ground and very cold when we took her home to the Rowlings Apartment. Norm and Lowell were laid off work at this time so the Turners would come over in the evenings and we would play cards. Debbie was a good baby during the day but at night she would fuss and cry and we would take turns walking the floor with her until about ten o’clock. Deb was about two weeks old when Granny Hanke passed away in California. Norm and Peggy went to California on the train to accompany her body back to Wisconsin for her funeral. I flew with Debbie from Salt Lake to Milwaukee. I was worried about taking her on the plane but she slept all the way. Norm met us in Milwaukee and we drove to Marion. We buried Granny on a snowy cold day in March. We lived in her home making preparations to sell her home and go back to Utah. We sold most of her furniture, but kept a few dishes. At this time we gave some books to the Lutheran Church not realizing we had given away a family bible with names of family written in it. It was all in German. Years later we tried to find out where the bible was. We inquired at the Lutheran church, and even put an ad in the paper but no one responded. We felt bad because of the valuable information which could be in it. Norm worked hard selling the house and I was busy taking care of baby Deb and Peg. At this time my sister Faye and her husband Ron and another couple from Logan came to visit us. We really enjoyed having them come and had a good time together. During this time Dad Draeger had married a lady by the name of Mame who he later divorced. We didn’t see him too often as he had sold the grocery store. Back in Logan we rented Blotter’s Apartment and then moved to the Johnson Apartment. Norm started building a home on East Center Street on a piece of land that we purchased from my father. At this time Connie and Lowell had started a garage home two lots away. Norm and Lowell were still working for dad and not seeing any future they decided to go to California to look for work. Norm and Lowell drove to California to look for a job. Norm got a job at Lockheed in Burbank. He then came back to get us. We left our new home after living in it only a couple of months. It was hard to leave but we knew it was for the best. Our new drapes had arrived just a few days before we left. We had renters in the basement apartment, a couple who would watch the house for us. It was January again when we left and very cold. There was a big blizzard in the canyon and we barely made it through the mountains as the roads were icy and slippery. At this time I was pregnant with Steve. We rented a duplex in Burbank close to where Norm would be working at Lockheed. The Turners had gone to Lakewood. Leona, my sister, lived in Hollywood and we got to see her once in a while. She came and stayed with Peg and Deb when I went to the hospital to have Steve. STEVE’S BIRTH Steve was born on May 3, 1953 at St. Joseph Hospital in Burbank. His birth was very easy. I awoke in the morning and my water broke. I only had one pain on the way to the hospital. Dr. Doty, a member of the church, was my doctor. He gave me a shot and next thing I knew I was in my room and Norm was telling me we had a beautiful baby boy. We were both very happy. The girls told me Aunt Leona was so excited about the baby being a boy that she gave their daddy a big kiss. Norm brought Peg and Deb to the hospital grounds where I could see them through the window. They couldn’t come into the hospital. We were rather cozy in our one bedroom duplex with three children. It was at this time we got our first T.V. and Steve slept very well in front of it. Mother came to visit us right after Steve was born. We took her many places even to the beach when Steve was only nine-days old. When Steve was about a month old, we moved back to Logan to sell our home as it hadn’t sold while we were in California and Norm got on the Logan Police Department. We lived in our home on East Center until January of the next year. During this time we had a good time with the cousins as Scott and Jill were Steve’s age and we all got together often. During this fall Karl got married and a week after Karl and Jerrie returned from their honeymoon Karl and Freddy went duck hunting in the west fields. Fred slipped and his gun went off hitting Karl in his back. Karl was seriously wounded and lay in the hospital ten days before he passed away. It was a very hard time on all the family. That January we had a chance to sell our home. We packed the car and headed for California. It was hard to leave because the house was very nice and I was happy there with all my family. But I knew Norm could do better and get a better job in California. The Turners were living in Lakewood where Lowell got a job. They bought a three bedroom home, and we stayed with them until we could find a house. Shortly after we arrived all the kids; Peggy, Craig, Debbie, Cindi and baby Steve got the measles and we put them all in the same room on a mattress on the floor. That is when Debbie raised her head and said, “I want to go back to Utah”. We then rented a house in Lakewood a few miles from the Turners. During this time Norm was looking and applying for jobs on a police department. Norm first got on the El Segundo Department, then on Beverly Hills and after many tests and interviews he got on the Los Angeles Department. While he was going through the Los Angeles Academy, we bought a home in Van Nuys on Debby Street. It was a very nice large new three bedroom, a big den house. But we were disappointed when we found out our yard was smaller than we expected and the neighbors were very close. We became good friends with the Laskey’s who lived next door. Peggy went to first grade while there. Steve learned to walk. Mother and dad came to visit. Dad Draeger came to spend a couple weeks with us around Christmas. It was cold that winter and dad watered our plants and they all froze. I don’t think he was too impressed with California. I also had a bad cold and couldn’t talk. Lloyd Johnson also came to visit. Geneva, my sister, spent some time with us. Faye and Ron came also. It seemed good to have a home and get involved in church again. We first attended Studio City Ward. There I was a Bluebird Teacher and worked with Ruth Dare. We liked our home on Debby Street but wanted a home with a bigger yard for the kids to play in and a better neighborhood. We sold our house on Debby Street and moved into a small house on Alcove while we looked for another house to buy. While we were there Peggy went to first grade. We looked all over the valley. Finally, I saw a home on a dead end street with large walnut trees and a big yard. I knew that was where I wanted to live. The house wasn’t as big as I wanted but room to build on which Norm did adding a den and a room off the back for Steve to use as a bedroom. The neighbors were nice and the kids had friends to play with. The neighbors had many parties together. Our biggest disappointment was finding out we had to drive up to the valley to Granada Hills to go to church. Norm wasn’t a member of the church at that time but he went to the Stake President to see if we could go to the Saticoy building which was just a few miles away. We found many new friends in Granada Hills Ward which was soon divided and made the Northridge Ward. About the first experience on Rubio was when Steve climb to the top of a big walnut tree and I had to climb up and get him as he was hanging from a branch. The neighborhood was very friendly, all the children about the age of ours. The Jensens were very generous with their warm swimming pool and we swam there about every day in the summer. Steve learned to swim in just a few days. He swam most of the time with his head under the water. The kids had a tree house and their dad built a long play house with each one a room of their own. We had lived on Rubio about three years and Steve was five years old and started kindergarten. I wanted another baby or thought of going to work. I was very happy when I became pregnant with Linda. LINDA’S BIRTH Linda was born on February 9, 1958 at Queen of Angels Hospital in Los Angeles. I was a little concerned about having to drive into Los Angeles with all the traffic. But Norm kept telling me it would be all right and it turned out I started labor pains about two in the morning so we made it easily to the hospital. I had a very easy delivery as I remember only having back pains and then we had another beautiful little girl. Norm as back home before Peg, Deb and Steve woke up to tell them they had a new little sister. I remember bringing her home so excited to show her to them. Linda was an easy baby to take care of. I had my nice home. I was disappointed when mother couldn’t come as she had planned but she was sick and couldn’t make the trip. Peggy was a big help as she was eleven and a half years old and both she and Debbie were good baby tenders. They both fought over who would bathe her and we never had to get a baby-sitter. Dorothy Jensen gave me a baby shower. All the church friends and neighbors came and I got more clothes than I had for all the other children. Linda was a good baby but a poor eater. She liked dippy eggs! When she was about two years old she got the flu and became so dehydrated we had to take her to the hospital to be fed intravenously for a few days. LIVING AT 8501 RUBIO We did have a good home on Rubio. The kids enjoyed their animals. We tried to raise a garden but things didn’t grow well. Steve did raise some pumpkins that were big. When Steve was about six years old, he built a fort out of timbers all on his own. It was a little shaky but we were proud of it. Steve loved baseball so he joined a little league at eight years old. The field was next to our house when made it convenient. I did have a hard time getting him to primary when there was a game. By this time the Turner’s had moved to Canoga Park and we were able to get together quite often, especially on holidays. When Linda was about two years old, Norm decided to be baptized. He had always supported me in taking the kids to church and my holding jobs in the church. Also, he usually would go with us to one meeting on Sundays. We had been married sixteen years and I was beginning to wonder if he would ever get baptized. In fact, I told him I was giving up on him and all the time I was saying this he had made plans to be baptized in Logan by my dad when we were in Logan that summer for a reunion. Norm didn’t tell me until we were at the reunion and it was time to go to Logan. He wouldn’t let me tell anyone until we got back. Only dad, myself and Linda were there. Mother was home ill and wasn’t even able to go to the reunion. By now she had lost her eyesight. Everyone was excited for us when we got back to the reunion. It was a happy day for me even if I was sort of in shock. During this time we lived on Rubio. Norm would get a month’s vacation from the Police Department and we would take trips to Wisconsin about every two summers. Dad Draeger married Joe and they had cottages they rented out on Shawano Lake. We always had such a good time there. It was worth the long trip. We would fish, sometimes three times a day. Dad Draeger would spend a lot of time cleaning fish and Grandma Joe would cook them and we had many delicious meals of fish. We always brought some fish back in a freezer. The kids enjoyed swimming in the lake between fishing. I think they won’t forget those vacations. We also would stop at my parents in Utah and have a few days to visit and go to the canyons. The kids attended Parthenia Elementary and only had to walk about a block. It was a good school and I think they were happy there. Then they went to Northridge Junior High and later at Holmes Junior High. All four graduated from James Monroe High School. While living on Rubio, Norm built on a den, remodeled the bathroom and built on an extra bedroom for Steve. He was always busy fixing and repairing the house and it looked nice. I did most of the mowing of the lawns and watering. One of the enjoyable things we had on Rubio was the doughboy pool that Norm sank in the ground and made a nice decking around it. We enjoyed the pool for many summers. When school started, we would empty it and put it away for the summer. Our backyard had fruit trees, apricots and oranges. I made apricot pies from the fruit. When Linda started kinder garten, I decided to get a part-time job working as a crossing guard for the police department. I worked on Haskel and Rayen three miles from home. The job worked out very well as I took the kids to school and was home when they got home from school. Also, weekends, holidays and summers were off so I could be with the children. About this time my mother was so very sick and had lost her eye sight. Leona and Bob had gone back to Logan and lived with mom and dad so they could help take care of mother. Dad had an extra bedroom and bath built on the east side of the house. That is where mom spent most of her time. She never complained and made the best of her poor health. When Peg was sixteen, we got word that they didn’t expect mom to live so I went to Logan first with Connie and the small children. Then Norm, Lowell, Craig and Peg drove up later when mom passed away. It was hard to have her die but we didn’t want to see her suffer either. She had a very nice funeral. After we went up the canyon and sang songs, I had a peaceful feeling that mom was all right and at rest. I am looking forward to seeing her again and getting more acquainted with her. I always felt she loved me, I just wish we could have had more fun times together like I have had with my girls. About a year after mom passed away dad married Adeline Tuler [Tueller]. We felt good about it as dad was lonely. Addie was very good to dad. They lived in Mesa, Arizona and I think were happy the ten years they had together. Addie was a sweet person and we owe much to her for taking good care of daddy. Peggy graduated from high school but didn’t want to go to college. She got a job and attended night school. She met Steve Helfman while in high school and when she was twenty-one she and Steve got married in our home. OUR TRIPS We planned a trip to Canada. We planned the trip so we would arrive in Orem, Utah after Deb’s baby was born. We arrived in Orem about two hours after Tanya Louise was born. We stayed about five days. Deb seemed to be getting along all right and Tanya was such a bright happy baby. Deb had a hard pregnancy, having gall bladder attacks all during her pregnancy. It seemed after that she never had good health. Our trip to Canada was great. Linda was with us and not too happy as a teenager being away from her friends at that time. We stopped at Fred and Janet’s (my brother) in Idaho, then Jim McCarty’s (Deb’s in-laws) in Coos Bay, Oregon. They showed us around and had a good time. Then we went up through Oregon into Canada pulling our big new trailer, traveling in luxury. We visited VanCouver Island, and took a ferry to Galino Island where we visited a police friend of Norm’s and fished. I caught two sharks. We went across Canada to Banff and Lake Louise and then down through Couer D’Alene, Idaho and home. We thought our house had been sold before we left but the deal didn’t go through and we put it on the market again. In 1974 it sold. In a way it was hard to leave. Norm had no definite plans saying he couldn’t make any plans having the house. Linda was still in high school. We moved into a two-bedroom apartment in Granada Hills which did not work out. We then rented a house on Septo in Sepulveda. Linda was attending her senior year at Monroe High School. I was still working as a crossing guard and did that for ten years. That time went fast. Steve was still at BYU and Kaye Helfman was born. We got a chance to take care of Lana and Kaye once in a while when Peg and Steve took short trips on their motorcycle. In the fall we went on a trip to Europe with Ruth and Doug Dare, the Lovelands and Gabby, Ruth’s friend. Debby Dare and Linda went with us. It was a great trip even though I started out with a terrible toothache and had to live on pain pills until we got to France. We have many beautiful pictures to show of our trip. Some how our friendship with Gwen and Mac didn’t grow, they gave us a hard time. We have made trips with the Dares and hope to make more. After we got back from Europe, Norm was finishing the Police Department, Linda finished high school and by spring Steve was on the Police Department and getting married to Dara Doney. I was still working as crossing guard. Dara and Steve had a family wedding at Dara’s mother’s home. After their honeymoon, Dara’s mother gave them a very nice reception in her home. Deb and her family flew down from Oregon. She was thin with blond hair and I didn’t even recognize her. Her daughter, Tanya, was then almost two years old. Tanya was bitten by ur dog Tuffy in the check and had to have stitches. Steve and Dara moved into an apartment in West Los Angeles near where Steve worked. That summer we moved out of Alcove, took Linda to Utah to attend BYU and moved into our trailer in a trailer court in North Hollywood. Steve and Dara’s twins were born in October. We were really excited for Steve and having identical twin grandsons. When Steve called us and said Dara had a baby boy we were so happy, then he said he had twin boys. He was excited and we had a hard time believing him. They were quite a challenge. They went to Dara’s mother’s house the first week and when they went home Steve had just bought their first home in Huntington Beach. I went down to help. It was about the time they got an offer to be little Joey on a TV show called, “All In The Family”. I happened to be with them on their first visit to the studio. A big black limo pulled up with a chauffeur and took us all to the studio. We were treated very nice. I met Carol O’Conner, Sally Struthers, and Norman Lear. I remember Dara was really worried, but Steve thought it was great! Soon after that, Norm got an offer to teach school at the college in Hilo on the big island. This was just what he’d been waiting for. It was hard for me to go as I didn’t want to leave all my little grandkids and be so far away but I knew it was best for Norm and something new for us. So we put our trailer in storage, packed a few suitcases and prepared to go. We stayed with the Helfman’s over Christmas. Norm had to be in school soon after the first of the year and wanted to get a place to live before we came. At this time Linda was unhappy at BYU so we thought it would be nice for her to come with us and go to school at the college where Norm was teaching. I certainly enjoyed having her. We did many fun things together. We had a beautiful two-bedroom apartment on the fifth floor of a big apartment building on stilts by the ocean on Kalaneoneola Road about three to five miles from the school. The apartment had a big cold pool but Linda and I enjoyed laying by it when the sun was out. Every weekend we got in our car and traveled all over the island. Not many roads or places we didn’t see. Ken and Deb; Connie, Lowell and Pattie; Faye and Gladys; Jim and Dorothy McCarty came to visit us. We were busy. The church house was only five minutes from our apartment as we went to church every Sunday. The Polynesian people were very friendly and good to us inviting us to parties and dinners. One special family was the Arthur Peas. The son, Arthur, liked Linda but was bashful and finally asked Linda for a date just before we left. Linda made a few friends but it was a different life for her. Right after we left, Kaye Helfman, 14-months old, got meningitis and was very sick in the hospital for over two weeks. It was very hard on Peggy and how I wished I could have been there to help her. Thankfully, Kaye got better and had no ill effects although she had to learn to walk all over again. About the time Norm’s school was over he heard of a teaching job on Maui and about this time we met some people from the mainland at church. In fact, they were from Northridge and had just joined the church, Rose and Art Mathis. They had spent a year in their catamaran sailing the islands. They invited us to sail with them to Maui. The 20-hour trip from Hilo to Maui was terrible. We were all sea sick, especially me. At Maui they told Norm they would hire him if he’d go back and get his masters. So we went back, lived in our trailer in North Hollywood while Norm went to school. He also worked for the Water and Power Department at this time. I don’t know how he did both. No wonder he got high blood pressure. He also had a gallbladder operation. He was just getting over his operation and not feeling very well when his father passed away and we flew to Wisconsin for the funeral. The trip was hard on him. I had a good time while living in the trailer, enjoyed the swimming pool especially when Peggy would bring Lana and Kaye and when Dara and Steve came up with the twins. We were in the trailer two and a half years. Linda was at BYU and just before we left to go back to Maui I had a hysterectomy. Norm went ahead and got a place for us to live and Linda came home for Christmas and we decided she would come back with us and go to college there. At that time Stephanie Draeger was born on December 1 and we were there for her birth. We enjoyed our stay on Maui and had many visitors. Peggy and Steve with Lana and Kaye; Dara and Steve; Paul and Geneva with Scott and Jeannie Grace; the Dares; the Moffets; Shirley and Harry Tech, Elvie and Bob Smith; Nora and Korney Krueger; and the Goldsteins. We toured the island many times showing all our visitors the highlights. It was a fun time. Linda left early in the fall to go back to BYU. All she could think of was Greg and by Christmas she and Greg planned to get married on December 29. We weren’t in favor of the marriage but hoped Linda knew what she was doing. The Turners offered their home for the wedding. Linda looked beautiful but we did have our concerns. Linda and Greg left for Colorado where Greg had a teaching job. We went back to Maui where Norm finished the year teaching. Norm could have kept teaching at Maui but when we came back to the mainland that summer I didn’t want to go back and Norm gave up his job and we pulled our trailer up to Logan where he developed our two and a half acres into seven building lots. We were all ready to build when Ken called and told us about a teaching job in Astoria, Oregon which Norm couldn’t turn down. We had stakes out for a home in Logan but we gave that up and headed for Astoria where we rented an apartment below the college. It was a good year. Norm enjoyed his teaching. I took art lessons at the college, Norm went hunting, we dug for clams and we were also close to Ken and Deb. Deb wasn’t feeling well. She finally got pregnant which they had wanted for a long time. Ryan was born on November 22, 1979. He had a struggle to live and the birth on Deb was hard. I made a trip to Hillsboro every week for a while to help Deb. Norm would drive over on the weekends. By early spring we were trying to decide where we should live after the school year ended. We decided we didn’t want to go back to Logan and the cold winter. We felt it would be nice to be close to the McCartys and Ken heard about some land out in the country that was being developed. We went out to look at it. It was 20 acres out in the mountains 27 miles from Hillsboro. Norm was excited about it. I had my reservations as it was far out, all I could see was hard work, mud and being lonely about being away and building a home. I said, “OK” and we bought the land in March. Right before Mt St Helen erupted and filled the land with ash, but it didn’t hurt anything too much. After school was out, we moved our trailer to our land and lived in the trailer while we built our home. It took until fall before the basement was dug. At this time, I went to California where I watched the Helfman kids while Peggy and Steve went on a trip. When I got back, the basement was in and the framing had begun. The rains started before the roof was on. Norm kept things going. We were excited about getting a home and it was going to be beautiful. We spend the whole winter in the trailer and it got cold. Norm moved a little Ben Franklin stove into the trailer and I gathered firewood out of the frozen ground. We had to heat all our water in the stove. Every weekend we went into Hillsboro to take a bath at the McCartys, that saved us. It was a hard winter but we made it making many trips into town for supplies and we got to eat out. This was a treat for me as I had to cook in the trailer. It was exciting, seeing the house built and planning the furnishings. In the spring I planted a garden by the side of the house but later on we had the garden in front where the soil was better. Before we started the house in January we planted 30 apple and pear trees which got a good start. On June 26th our house was ready enough to move in. Our first visitors were our children from California. Steve and family. Dara didn’t come as she was expecting Jennifer. Peggy and her kids came with him. We had a great time. The kids enjoyed being out in the open fields. Steve built a log cabin which the kids played in. We went on picnics in the fields of daisies. I don’t think we even had furniture yet but the kids didn’t seem to mind. On July 24, Corey and Kyle were born and as soon as I heard the news I flew to Colorado. Greg met me at the airport and took me to the hospital. I hardly recognized Linda lying in her bed. She was still shaking. I am sure she had a hard delivery. Corey was born natural and Kyle had to be taken by cesarean. I stayed and helped Linda for one month. Greg didn’t help much and I had a feeling things were not going too smooth with them. The boys were fine, thank goodness, and Linda loved them and took good care of them, nursing both of them. She had a nice home and had fixed it up nice and comfortable. We enjoyed our beautiful home in Gaston but from the start Norm wasn’t happy about a few things. We were isolated and the people weren’t too friendly. The best part was having the McCartys close where we could run in and visit them. Debbie wasn’t feeling too well so they didn’t get to come out to our place too often. During this time Deb had a miscarriage which didn’t help her health. We went to church in Yamhill. First I was in the Primary Presidency, then I was homemaking leader. Norm was made a high priest and we kept active. On November 17, Addie, our stepmother, passed away but we didn’t get to the funeral. We all loved her very much. She was a sweet patient woman and took good care of my father. All our children and grandchildren came for Christmas in 1982. It was the greatest Christmas ever! Peggy and Steve came from California. Steve and Dara came from California and Greg and Linda, the twins were about six months old, came from Colorado. Deb and Ken from Hillsboro. The adults had bedrooms, the boys slept in the basement and the girls slept on the balcony. We had good food, played games and visited. It was great! Linda had the boys given a name and a blessing at the house as she wanted her dad to do it. On Christmas eve it started to snow. Everyone was excited but by the time they wanted to leave, after New Years, they barely made it up the hill and had a long trip in the snow back to California. Greg left and Linda stayed a week longer and we were afraid we wouldn’t be able to get her to the airport. We enjoyed her visit with the two little boys. They were a lot of work and she took good care of them. During this time we felt she was not too happy in her marriage. Greg seemed to be so inconsiderate of her and the babies. But at this time she wanted her marriage to work and tried under the circumstances. It wasn’t until two and a half years later she decided the best thing to do was get a divorce. Linda and Greg sold their home in Littleton, Colorado. We drove back with a trailer, got Linda’s things and packed them on the trailer which Norm pulled with the truck. Linda, the twins and I drove ahead in her car back to Oregon. Linda lived in the Gaston house about a year before we moved her and the boys to Rock Creek. It was a hard time for her getting over her divorce. The Yamhill ward people were nice to her and she made a lot of friends. During this time she dated a fellow, Pat. He was good to the boys and her but not too interested in the church. He was a member and was older and Linda could see it wouldn’t work out. We lived in the Gaston house from 1980 to 1989. During this time, we thought we had sold it two times. We had traded four of our Logan lots for a cabin in Mt. Pleasant, spending a few months in the summer there, just when it was nice in Oregon. The first time we traded on a sale with a house in Rock Creek to a family by the name of Allen. We lived in their house for about a year, I called it the blue house. We liked it there. Linda worked, the boys went to kindergarten and then the Allen’s lost part of their business and couldn’t keep up their payments. We sold the blue house and moved back to the Gaston or brown house. The twins were happy. They loved it in the country but Linda felt she needed to be on her own. Ken offered to pay her for managing his duplexes in Cornelious. We offered to fix up a rental house in Forest Cove. Linda worked hard fixing and decorating the house. It was cute and cozy and I think Linda was as happy as could be expected. The boys were now in the first grade and walked to school. About this time Ken was offered a job change to Utah and the McCartys moved. We hated to see them go but they felt it best and a good opportunity for Ken. Again, we put the Gaston house up for sale while we spent the summer in Mt Pleasant trying to sell the cabin which we had been trying to do the past couple of years. We were so blessed a fellow, Roger Moor, came to our cabin one day and wanted the cabin, $40,000.00 and property in Ivans out of St George. We took a trip to St. George to see the property. While there I loved the warm weather and sunshine and told Norm I wouldn’t mind living there. When we got back to Orem, Norm contacted a man who would trade a lot for a condo in St. George. So back we went to St. George to look at the condo. We liked it, especially when he wanted to rent it back for one and a half years. That would give us time to sell the Gaston house. We sold the Mt. Pleasant cabin, bought the condo and went back to Oregon to now hope and pray we could sell the Gaston House. The Realtor hadn’t done anything while we were gone. Then in November, Norm made a big sign, put it on top of the hill and at Christmas time a fellow by the name of Warren and his wife came and looked at the house. They came back and said they wanted to buy it. They were in no hurry and we could live there until June. We said that would work fine. He told us all the money he had coming but just gave us papers for two old cars. Norm trusted him and by April let him start moving things into the house in the basement. We then planned to move to St. George, Utah in the condo. Linda didn’t feel managing the apartments were getting her anywhere and we didn’t want to leave her alone in Oregon. We made plans to sell her house and she would move to Provo and go back to school. There were no problems selling her house as a neighbor down the street wanted to buy it for his daughter who was getting a divorce. The deal was made for the sale in June when we would be leaving. June came and still promises from Warren for money, but no money. Still trusting him, we moved all our belongings into Linda’s house and let him move into ours. At this point it would be another story of all the dealings going back and forth between Warren. Still trusting him we rented a big moving van and loaded all of our belongings and Linda and I drove to Orem. Norm drove the moving van pulling our Datsun. Linda, the boys and I drove the Chrysler. When we got to Orem, Norm took our belongings to St. George, put them in storage in 105 degree weather—it was hot. I don’t know how he did it. We were staying with the McCartys and luckily we were able to rent a nice house three blocks from the McCartys for Linda and got her moved in. All this time nothing from Warren. We had to go back to Oregon. I think we still had our truck and a few things to take care of at Linda’s house and we could stay there longer as they didn’t need the house yet. When we got back, the escrow lady said something wasn’t right and when we started checking into it, we found Warren had been telling us lies. He didn’t own a home and we couldn’t find that he had money he said he had in a bank. Face to face Norm told him he was lying and we served him notice to get out of our house. It was now into September and he did move out in just a few days. We were now back in the Gaston house again with no furniture. We bought a TV and used a box for a lamp table. We had two stools which we used to eat at the bar. Luckily, we had two chairs that we couldn’t get in the moving van along with a twin bed and the sofa that was in the trailer which Norm put together for a bed. We were getting anxious not knowing how long it would be until we sold the house again. It was hard on me, no furniture and the McCarthys and Linda gone. We spent the Christmas by ourselves. The Manatons, my youngest sister’s family, had us over for Christmas Eve or Christmas, I can’t remember. Norm put the for sale sign by owner up in January as the realtors hadn’t done anything. Norm let me take a trip to California and while I was gone there was a big snow storm and he was snowed in for most of the time. I had a great time in California. By March I was getting discouraged. From here my history is in my journals…… OUR THIRTEEN GRANDCHILDREN LANA HELFMAN February 28, 1972 At the time Lana was born we were living on Rubio. Peg and Steve were living in Newhall. They had been married five years and Peg wanted to have a baby very much. She would come to our place and almost cry when she had her period and wasn’t pregnant. The summer of 1971 we planned to drive back to Wisconsin for dad’s vacation and had asked Peg to come with us. About this time Peg found out she was pregnant and almost couldn’t believe it, she was so happy. On the trip bouncing along in the car, she would get sick and wanted to throw up, but she would just laugh and say, “See, I am really pregnant”. I have never seen anyone so happy being pregnant. Then the morning of February 28, 1972 came and she had her first contractions. She had an appointment with the doctor and stopped at our place on her way to the doctors. She was still having contractions, so I said I had better drive her. On the way she said her back hurt. I said, “OK, OK, I have to get you to the hospital”. I dropped her off at the steps as I had to be back to my crossing guard job. Lana was born twenty two minutes after Peg entered the hospital. What a tiny little baby with big eyes. When I came back to see Lana she was quivering all over. They named her the fly. Peg was so happy—for one reason she gave birth so fast she didn’t have to take off her false-eye lashes. I had the privilege of going out and helping Peg and little Lana. Lana was so little she would want to eat often as she would only drink one and a half ounces at a time. We had many good times together before we moved away. TANYA MC CARTY July 28, 1973 We were still living on Rubio. The McCartys were living in Orem. Grandpa had bought a 28-foot trailer and planned to take a trip up into Canada. We planned to go see the baby before we left. Luckily, we got to Orem just after Tanya was born. She was a beautiful baby, very alert and healthy. We didn’t realize Deb wasn’t doing well as she was having gal-bladder pains. We stayed two or three days and then left in our trailer. I didn’t get to help with Tanya but was glad to be with her more as she grew up in Oregon. Soon after Tanya’s birth the McCartys moved to Oregon. KAYE HELFMAN December 6, 1974 We were still living on Rubio when Kaye was born. We went to the hospital to see her right after she was born. She was a beautiful baby with big-green eyes. Peg and Steve were trying to decide whether to name her Kaye or Anne. The Helfmans lived in Newhall and we visited often to see their two darling little girls. Kaye would be sitting on the floor and every time she heard music she would bounce up and down with the music. About this time we sold our home on Rubio and lived in a rental home on Septo. We would take care of Lana and baby Kaye while Peg and Steve took trips on their motorcycle. Norm was offered a job in Hawaii and while we were in Hawaii Kay got meningitis and was so sick. I felt bad I could not be there to help Peggy. The Helfmans came to visit us in Maui. Lana was about 5 and Kaye about 3. I’ll never forget how cute and grown up they looked coming off the plane in their cute Hawaiian dresses. We will always remember how Kaye got carried out in the ocean by a big wave and got saved by a lady sitting on the beach. We feel it must have been her guardian angel. Kaye wouldn’t go near the water for a long time! Peg and Steve told us that when the girls got on the plane to go home they cried all the way to Honolulu. JASON & JUSTIN DRAEGER October 12, 1975 We sold our home on Rubio. Grandpa was working for the Water & Power Department. We were living in a trailer in North Hollywood. What a surprise to us and to Steve and Dara when Dara gave birth to identical twin boys. They had been up to see us the night before. Steve called and said he had not one but two sons. I said, “Steve, you must be kidding?” He was so happy as he would have liked to have had a brother. Dara’s mother helped the first week and then I went down the second week. Then off and on I would drive down to help. I had the privilege of going with them in a limo when they were selected to be on the TV series, “All In The Family”. I met Sally Struthers and Norman Lear. Shortly after that we left for Hawaii and got to see them twice on the show in Hawaii. We even got our picture in the local paper for being their grandparents. STEPHANIE DRAEGER December 1, 1978 We were still in Hawaii when Stephanie was born in December. We were able to come home for the Christmas holidays. It was great to be able to see her and spend the holidays with them. I didn’t get the privilege of helping Dara with Stephanie as I did with Jason and Justin. RYAN MC CARTY November 22, 1979 The spring of 1979 we left Hawaii and decided to go to Logan to develop our two and one half acres. We lived in our trailer parked on our property. Norm developed it into seven lots. We were ready to build a house on a lot on Logan River when Norm got a call from Ken saying there was a teaching job for him in Astoria, Oregon. We decided not to build and packed up the trailer and went to Astoria. Ryan was born on November 22, 1979. We were with Deb at the hospital before and after he was born. Many concerns about his health but finally he was OK to go home. Deb needed help so I spent a few days with the McCartys during the week and Norm would drive in on the weekends. About this time we were looking for property to build on. We settled on 20 acres in Gaston, Oregon and started building our dream home. During this time Mt. St. Helen’s erupted and sent ash all over our property but it didn’t hurt our property. It was so nice to be by our grandchildren in Hillsboro. Ryan was a cute little guy. I remember him in a backpack on Ken’s back walking through our 20 acres. Also, when he was a little older chasing little girls in the hallway of the church and tackling them to the floor. MARCUS HELFMAN January 8, 1980 We were still living in Oregon when Marcus was born but made a trip to California and arrived on December 21st. Peg went to get her ultrasound two weeks before he was born and invited dad and me to go along with Lana and Kaye. Peg was so happy when they told her it was a boy. Peg, the girls, dad and I kept it a secret from Steve as he stated he wanted another girl. Those little girls were able to keep that secret for two weeks before he was born. On 2nd of January grandpa flew back to Oregon and I stayed and had a good time with the family. Then January 8th, Marcus Steven was born, 8 lbs 8 oz. Marcus was a beautiful, healthy boy with dark brown hair with a little cowlick in front. I drew a picture of him which is in his baby book today. Peg also asked me to make him some little bow ties and we took pictures of him wearing them. She always wanted a little boy with little bow ties. I stayed with Peg until the 13th and flew back to Oregon. JENNIFER DRAEGER JULY 30, 1981 1981 was the year we first moved into our home in Gaston. In the spring Peg, Steve and their kids drove up from California and spent a week with us. Dara didn’t come because she was close to having baby Jennifer who was born on July 30th. I didn’t get to help with her. COREY & KYLE GROVES July 24, 1981 We were living in our Gaston home with Linda gave birth to her twin boys. She had gone to the doctor and they put her right into the hospital. When I heard she was going to have the babies, I quickly got on a plane to go and help her. I got to the hospital after they were born. Linda was quivering all over from the birth. Corey by normal birth and Kyle came by cesarean section. I stayed and helped Linda with the babies for a month and then went home to Gaston to finish decorating our home. Christmas of 1981 was the best. Our home was almost finished and all the family came to spend the Christmas Holidays with us. That is another great story. SARAH MC CARTY October 3, 1983 Little Sarah Elizabeth McCarty was born on October 3, 1983. Deb had a hard pregnancy and was in bed the last two months. Sarah arrived at 11 lbs 5 oz. She was very swollen with water and was on monitors and had problems. Grandpa called her a little sumo wrestler. I was so glad we lived close by so I could help Deb. When they found out Sarah had cystic fibrosis (CF) I went with Deb into Portland to the CF Clinic. I am thankful for the time I spent with Sarah. Sarah passed away when she was 12 years. One reason we moved to Utah was to be where we could help Deb with Sarah. It was always a pleasure to be with Sarah. She was such a happy, smart and appreciative little girl even with all the pills and sickness. She passed away on April 24, 1997. AMANDA DRAEGER July 17, 1986 I was visiting in California when Amanda was born. Peg and I went to the hospital. When they brought her home, I stayed with the Draegers for a couple of weeks. I then flew to Salt Lake City. Norm, Linda and the boys were staying in Mt. Pleasant at the cabin. Norm picked me up at the airport. Amanda was and is my last grandchild. So happy to have 13! “Enjoy your grandchildren, because although you can occasionally play with your great-grandchildren, the attention really gets to be paid by the new grandpas and grandmas.” To date we have ten great grandchildren.