Written by Jean for Linda Orth Holt's "Orth" book

Jean Edith Orth Ricks

Jean was born on March 7, 1925, the third child of Carl William and Ethel May Lacey Orth.  There were two brothers to greet me, Howard Carl and Richard William.  Later we were joined by another brother, Donald Jay.  When I was just four years old my oldest brother died and so I was only to know two of my brothers
In 1929 we all moved from Salt Lake City, Utah to Tacoma, Washington.  The first few years we moved quite a bit.  Starting in a little house on Tacoma Ave.  We moved to Fern Hill on 90th St.  We lived there about a year then to Collins district.  I started school and finished the first grade here.  Then we moved to Woodland where I completed the second grade.  We then moved to Leonard’s Crossing in the Central Ave. district.  This house I dearly loved because of the many trees and the big porch.  We lived here for over a year when the house was sold.  Dad started building a house on Central Ave. right by the school.  I hated to move but soon loved all the surrounding woods and spent the remainder of my school days with my folks in this home.
I then went to Stewart Jr. High in Tacoma for the ninth grade.  I finished school at Lincoln High, graduating in 1943.
Until I was 12 years old, I always attended the community Sunday Schools.  But in 1937 a group of LDS members organized a Sunday school in the south end of Tacoma and my folks took my brothers and me on Easter of 1938.  We started attending regularly after that.
On September 4, 1938 my brothers and I were baptized and confirmed members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  The following April my father was baptized and confirmed also.
At the age of ten I joined a local 4-H SEWING CLUB.  We had wonderful fun attending community and county affairs.  The summer of 1939 I was elected to go to the state convention at Pullman on the campus of Washington State College.  We traveled by train which was my first experience of that kind.  There was quite a group from Pierce County and we had a wonderful time.
In August 1941 I started going steady with Robert Ricks, who had just come to join his parents in defense work at the Seattle-Tacoma shipyards.  They were all from Rexburg, Idaho.
In October 1942 he joined the Navy and was sent to Pasco, Washington for training.  On December 12, 1942 he gave me a diamond ring.
Bob stayed at Pasco until late in 1943 then was sent to Bremerton to be assigned a ship.  He was sent to San Francisco and assigned to the USS John Land, a transport.
In January 1944 I went down to visit him for three weeks, staying with my aunt in Oakland.  But we were married January 28, 1944 by the Bishop of the Diamond Ward in Oakland and I stayed in San Francisco until April when the ship was commissioned and sailed for the South Pacific.
On returning home I went back to the shipyards where I had worked since graduation until leaving for California.  I worked the swing shift from 3:30 to 11:00 PM as a clerk-typist earning $.75 an hour.
In May 1945 I received word from Bob that the ship had landed in San Francisco again, so I left immediately.  The crew was divided into three leave parties and he was on the second.  We stayed in California two weeks and then came home and made arrangements to go to the Cardston Temple for our endowments and sealing.
We borrowed tires and people gave us gas ration stamps and we took off.  We had a wonderful trip and so much fun.  We were sealed June 6, 1945.  The Canadians treated us royally for there weren’t many Americans up there at this time.  This really was our honeymoon and we really enjoyed ourselves.
After his leave was up I was going to stay home but couldn’t stand the thought of missing any time with him and we were sure of another two weeks.  I returned to California with him.  I stayed in an Oakland hotel until they sailed.  I then visited with my aunt and cousins for a few days before returning home.
I went back to work at the shipyards, but this time on days.  Bob was gone only four months this time.  He was sent back to Bremerton for discharge and we planned a trip to Idaho and Utah before we settled down in a place of our own.
We spent two weeks visiting Bob’s grandparents and other relatives in and around Rexburg.  Then we went to Salt Lake City and visited my relatives.  We had another wonderful trip and memories long to remember.
Places to live were hard to find but we finally found a two room apartment way across town near Point Defiance Park.  We soon knew this would be too small so we bought a four room house on 46th St.  It was a lovely little home and we were living there when our first daughter, Jennifer was born August 11, 1946.
Although the house was nice we were discontented, especially me, because I was used to living in the country where the light wasn’t blocked from your windows by the neighbor’s house.  We sold this house in February 1947 and moved in with Bob’s folks until we could find land and build our own small place.  We were with them seven months before our place was finished enough to move in.
We bought 1 ¼ acres of uncleared land at 72nd and Linford Road.  Bob put up a concrete block garage.  We had four rooms and it suited me far more than the house I town.  Later we built a chicken house and rabbit pens.  We had a large garden and worked hard at getting flower beds to beautify the place.
On May 12, 1948 our second daughter, Nancy was born.  We bought a new 1949 Studebaker pickup truck and that summer we accomplished a lot in improving the place.
January 5, 1950 we were blessed with another daughter, Susan.
Bob’s grandparents had celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in February 1950 but because their children were so scattered they planned the celebration for June.  With the tow older children, we again went to Idaho.  We left baby Susan with my folks.  It was our first trip in our new 1950 Studebaker coupe.  On the way home we came through Yellowstone Park.
My older brother, Dick was married to Marge Lindley in February 11947 and they made their home in Olympia.  My younger brother, Don married Jayne Heldt on March 9, 1951.
In 1945 my folks took in a little girl 19 months old to live with them.  She stayed and in 1950 they legally adopted her. Her name is Joan Carol Orth.
In 1939 I was crowned the first Daffodil queen of Lincoln Ward and in 1943 I had the honor of being the Gold and Green Ball queen.
I went to the Cardston, Alberta Temple in June 1947 with my parents in a caravan from the Lincoln Ward, it was then my parents received their endowments and were sealed to one another.  Howard and I were sealed to them with Brother Fred Smith kneeling in for Howard.
We sold the home on Linford Road in 1951 and moved to 10120 South A Street in Tacoma.  We bought property in Firwood and started a new home.  We moved in August 1962.
I received my Golden Gleaner Award August 10, 1952.
The family moved to Eatonville in 1969 and stayed until 1977.  Then it was back to Puyallup.  In November of 1983 we moved to 2001 3rd St. SE on 2 ½ acres of land mostly covered with wild blackberries.  It had an old house, barn and shed.  The best that could be said for it was the beautiful view of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains.  We remodeled the house gradually and cleared and beautified the yard.  We built a deck, planted a garden and flower beds.
In 1982 we were called Temple Ordinance workers.  We continued this calling for 3 ½ years working the afternoon and evening shifts.
Bob had his right knee replacement in June 1986.  It went fine and he was so thrilled and anticipated returning to the Temple.  But in November he had a heart attack followed by a stroke.  He lived two weeks and died 4 December 1986.
I got my life in order and in November 1989 left for a proselytizing mission in Las Vegas, Nevada for a year.  The summer of 1991 I again sold my place and bought 5 acres with a large home and a mobile home behind it located at 104th and Woodland Ave.  My daughter Margaret and family moved into the house and I into the mobile home.  With lots of sweat and labor by all of my family it is now beautiful.
This is 2002 and the work goes on but everything now has a whole new look.