Chapter 6 - Children and Homes

In writing about my children, I won’t dwell much on their individual lives as I believe that is a subject best left to them.  However, Jeanné and I have been blessed beyond measure with three beautiful children who have brought much happiness and joy into our lives.  I feel completely unworthy of the blessings my children and their families have brought into my life.  It has been said that there are two reasons why parents are blessed with good children:  (1) because the parents did such a remarkable job in rearing them or (2) because the children themselves were such choice spirits that no matter what their parents did, they would have been successful.  I am sure that my children fall into that second category.  I am thankful beyond measure to my Heavenly Father for blessing me with these choice, special spirits.  I love each of my children, and grandchildren, and great grandchildren beyond measure and hope that I have told each one of them often enough that they will know it is true and always remember that.  I am eternally grateful to my Heavenly Father for the blessing that each one has brought into my life.

 

After returning from our honeymoon, we began our first year together in an apartment: Waldorf Apartments (555 E 1^st South.)   I returned to school and Jeanné obtained work at Z.C.M.I.  We had some memorable moments while living at the Waldorf.   Mother gave us her upright piano - which she had received as a wedding present from her grandfather, Charles Yorke Taggart.  It was a Conover and, although an upright, it had strings on it as long as a baby grand.  It not only had a beautiful sound but the keys were easy to play.   I loved that piano.  In order to get it up to the third floor apartment where we lived, it had to be carried up the stairs as there was no elevator.  It took three men to carry it up -- with difficulty – and three men to carry it back down a year later when we moved.  

 

One night when I returned home from work I found that Jeanné had spent all day painting the bathroom.  I agreed that the original pale green color had not been very attractive but she had painted the whole bathroom white – including over the window panes!   She said she didn’t want anyone looking in!   Jeanné is so cute.  She likes her privacy, even if our apartment was on the third floor with no windows looking in from the house next door.

 

I returned to school after retuning home from our honeymoon (missing about a week of school.)   I don’t recall how soon after that I started working at the Walgreen Drug.  Rather than go back to work for my father, I thought it wise to introduce some drug store experience to my life.   At that time Walgreens was located on the southeast corner of Second South and Main.  It was convenient, because the last bus to run for the night stopped right on that corner, and I could hop on and ride it to my apartment.  The same bus took me up to the University. 

 

A couple of other things I recall about our year.  During my first year in school, because it was still under the School of Medicine,  I had to take a course in anatomy, and one of the things required in the class was to take a cat’s paw and remove the bones out of it.  In doing so I had to boil it – using one of the our new pans -- which we had received as a wedding present.  The cat’s paw had to boil for a long time on the kitchen stove; what an odor it gave off!   I removed the bones okay (after which I mounted them on a card) but we never used that pan again.  It went right into the garbage! 

 

The Waldorf Apartment was about a half a block away from a grocery store, across the street east on First South.  We did our shopping there, carrying the groceries back home.  Some-times the sacks were quite heavy; it was a pretty good climb to carry them up to the third floor!

 

Jeanné wanted a cedar chest.   We couldn’t afford a new one at that time so I got the idea of building one from an ad in a magazine:  It included the boards, hardware and instructions.   I ordered one and when it arrived and I assembled it, I found the chest needed a lot of sanding. The only place we had to do that was in our front room.  I bought a power sander:   Don’t know if we ever did get all that sawdust out of the room!  After it was finished I gave the chest a couple of coats of varnish.   It turned out to be quite nice, and we used it for years.    Later, when we moved into our home on Evening Star Drive, I cut it down in size and used it as a bench-seat in the basement bathroom.  Since it was built-in we left it in the house when we sold it 46 years later.

 

Jeanné and I lived about a year in the Waldorf Apartments.   When we moved to 1444 Ramona Avenue we were expecting our first baby, Ann,   My parents had purchased the duplex and allowed us to move, rent free, into one side.  Dad said he bought it so I could devote more time to my studies and not have to worry about working to pay for an apartment while going to school.    Both my parents and Jeannè’s parents helped us so many ways.  Knowing how much we appreciated our parents help, we have tried doing as much as we could for our children when possible.  Our children’s lives have each been quite different, and there is a fine line to be drawn between helping too much and not enough.  We hope we found that line.  We have been pleased to watch what our children have done for their children. 

 

All three of our children were born while we lived on Ramona Avenue.  It was just a perfect home for us at the time.  It had a living room, kitchen, two bedrooms, and bathroom, plus an unfinished basement.  Since all three children were small during the years we stayed there, they easily shared one bedroom.  During many of the years that we lived there I served as ward membership clerk.  I had a desk in the basement where I could work on the records.  I also installed a shower, surrounded by a curtain, in the basement.  We enjoyed it very much.  It was while we lived there that we bought our first car.   It was a used, light-brown Ford 4-door sedan.

(See picture on page 37.)

 

Living there, free of rent, we tried to take good care of the place and keep it looking nice.  There was a chain‑link fence dividing the two back yards (between the duplexes) and I planted dahlias and gladiolas along my side.   Along the back of the house, over the patio, I built a rose arbor and planted a beautiful red Blaze climbing rose to cover it.  I planted another climbing rose on the side of the garage and had several other tea roses along the fence leading to the garage.

 

The space between the chain‑link fence and the garage was planted with lawn.  We were very happy there.

Working in back yard

 

Darling little Ann was born January 20th, 1949.  I recall the day well.  We were visiting Jeanné’s mother.   Jeanné was already feeling labor pains, so we knew delivery was nigh, and it wasn't long until her pains were close enough that we knew it was time to get to the hospital.  When we arrived at the LDS Hospital, Jeanné was quickly whisked away to the maternity ward while I remained at the office completing the paper work.  The birth was so quick that literally within minutes of the time I arrived on the delivery room floor our adorable little daughter had been born!  We don’t think our doctor could possibly have made it to the hospital in time for the delivery.  Jeanné’s obstetrician was Dr. Von G. Holbrook who delivered all of our children.  If my memory serves me correctly, the total cost for Ann's delivery was $500.00, which included both the doctor and hospital.  Few people carried insurance in those days and that was a sizable sum for us to come up with.  At that time that would have amounted to about 3 or 4 months pay! They had allowed us to make payments a little at a time over the whole nine month prenatal period so it was all paid for by Ann’s birth.

 

At that time fathers were confined to the "Father's Waiting Room" at the hospital, and not allowed into the delivery room, so I didn't see Jeanné again until after Ann was born.  Mothers also remained in the hospital four or five days (usually until their milk came in.)  Some difference from today when spouses are not only able to be in the delivery room, but their entire family also!!  And mother and baby are now often sent home within 24 hours of the delivery! Visiting hours then were restricted as well.   I could only visit Jeanné and Ann for two hours in the afternoon and two hours again in the evening. 

 

Jeanné quickly learned that she could order anything from the food menu -- and would often ask for a double order!  Her hospital stay, during her children's births, was generally an enjoyable time for her.

 

                                      Ann –  age 8                                Reid – age 8                               John – age 9

 

During the time that Jeanné was in the hospital with Ann, in late January 1949, Salt Lake experienced one of the heaviest snow storms I can remember.  It was my routine to visit Jeanné and Ann during the evening visiting hours.  That particular snowstorm was of such ferocity, and the snow was piled up so deep, that only a few brave souls made it to the LDS Hospital that night.  I was one of them.  I remember driving up Virginia St. (because it wasn't as steep as E Street), along 13th Avenue and then down C Street to get to the hospital.   When I went in, the halls of the hospital were virtually empty.   The hall lights had even been dimmed as they weren't expecting visitors.

Reid was born July 5th, 1950, right after I finished my pharmacy boards.  I was always grateful to him for being so considerate and waiting.  As opposed to his sister, with her bald head, when she was born, Reid had a full head of dark brown hair.  What a beautiful little boy!

Unfortunately, between the births of Reid and John, Jeanné had a miscarriage, but even with that traumatic experience, cute roly-poly John joined our family not much more than two years later, on October 10th, 1952.  Although we would have liked to have had a larger family, the Lord didn't see fit to bless us with more.  But our joy is full, with three healthy, beautiful children to bless our lives.   They have truly been jewels in our crown of glory.

During Jeanné's pregnancy with Ann we had another addition to our family:  Our first cat: Tinker.  In those days few people had television (we didn't get a TV for several years) and our major source of entertainment was movies.  Many of the Wards in the city showed movies for their members each week on Saturday nights.  Some were even equipped to show movies with a projection room built into the building.   The Yalecrest Ward, that we had lived in before our marriage, was one of those.   The movies were shown for a very reasonable fee (10 to 25cents) and we would often attend what everyone called,”the Ward show."  One evening as we were entering the building to see the movie, Jeanné heard a faint "meow" in the bushes next to the building.  On investigation she found it was a tiny kitten not much bigger than a handful.  Afraid that some dog would get it, Jeanné picked it up and hid it inside her coat.  By this time she had grown a pretty good sized tummy and so she kept it tucked inside her coat during the movie (hoping it would be quiet) after which we took it home with us.  From that night on, and for many years, we had one or more cats in our family.  They didn't promote neutering cats like

 

Evening Star Dr. circa 1946 – Can you see 8 kittens in this picture?

 

they do today, and we frequently had a new litter of kittens.  I once remarked that we must have supplied the whole valley with kittens!  We would place a small ad in the newspaper offering "free kittens" and they would generally be gone the next day. 

 

We lived on Ramona Avenue for about six years.  Shortly after I went to work at LDS Hospital in 1955, a pharmacist, Charlie Anderson, who had been working there, wanted to move to Logan.  He asked me if I would like to buy his home.  It was just a few blocks away from the hospital, at 569 Ninth Avenue (between H & I streets).  We looked at the home, and he made us a very attractive offer.  Since the house was convenient to the hospital we decided to take him up on it.  We also felt we had been dependent on my Mom and Dad long enough, and now it was time to get out on our own.  So we purchased our first home.

 

That home had a front yard with a steep cement stairway leading up to the front entrance. It had a single-car garage in back, accessed by a right‑of‑way off of H Street.  Entering the house from the garage it was just a few steps down along the walk leading to the back door. 

                                                                                   

                  Ann in her “new” bedroom                        John Reid & Ann in front room with the red brick fireplace                   

                Entering the house through the front door you went into a large anteroom.  Turning to the left, you entered the large living room.  Straight ahead from the front door, through the anteroom, was the master bedroom.  Through our bedroom was the bathroom and continuing on, the second bedroom where the children slept.  To the left of the living room, looking out over the valley, was a large glassed-in porch, like a solarium, which had been created by enclosing the porch which ran along the front of the house.  It had a giant window that had a beautiful view of the whole valley. 

 

Turning to the right (to the north) from the living room, you entered into the large dining room and through the dining room was the large kitchen.  The kitchen had been enlarged by enclosing a back porch, making a large eating area.  There was a door into the children's bedroom from the kitchen.   You had pass through one of the two bedrooms to get into the bathroom.  Most of the rooms in the house were large.  The bedrooms and bathroom were smaller, but adequate.  During the time we lived there, we replaced the east window in the entrance anteroom (to make it easier to open) and closed off that area with a folding door to create a small bedroom, for Ann.  We then no longer used the main door (which would have led into her bedroom) and then used the door which opened into the glassed-in porch area as our new front door entrance.  It made it quite comfortable.   

      

Some years before we moved to Ninth Avenue, a former owner of the property had gone together with our neighbor to the East and bought the vacant lot between the two houses which they divided which became a large side-yard.  On our half they had planted lawn with shrubs all around, except in the rear portion where four peach trees were planted.  There was also an apple tree and a pear tree growing in the yard behind the house.  A couple of times during our residing there I paid the gardeners from the hospital to come over and cultivate our yard.  They did a good job and it made the place look really nice.  I also had them plant evergreen tams all down the steep hill in the front of the house.  The last time we drove past the house, those tams were gone and something else planted in their place.  It doesn’t look nearly as nice.

 

It wasn’t too long after we bought our house on Ninth Avenue that I went to work for Lowes Pharmacy (see chapter seven.)  Karl Lowe, one of the Lowe brothers, had recently purchased a new home.  As we were talking about it, he explained that his builder was using a way that would provide him and his wife a retirement income.  He was a plumber.  He would build a new house each year, trading his plumbing expertise with other craftsmen for their help, and then selling the home on contract which he held himself.   He liked to sell to professional people that he knew had a steady income, feeling it provided him with some security in his investment.  Karl told me the man was just completing another home and suggested that we take a look at it.  So Jeanné and I drove out to see the home at 2545 Evening Star Dr in Holladay.  We fell in love with the place. We talked to the builder, Roy Gandre, and found that with his method of financing the home, on a contract, we could afford what would have otherwise been impossible for us to buy.  The only problem that we faced was that he wanted more of a down payment than we had, but was willing to let us have a year to come up with the additional $1000 we lacked.  Our monthly payment was to be $135 a month @ 5% interest.  That sounds like a low today, but it was difficult for us at that time.  We realized as time went on it would become easier for us.  We figured that at that price it would take us about 30 years to pay off the contract. We knew that it would make a difficult first year for us, trying to save up that money for the extra down payment, but we decided to go for it.

 

We went home, put our house on the market, and it sold in one day!  Everything really went our way!  We moved into our new home at 2545 Evening Star Dr. in September 1956, just two months after my father passed away.  We had purchased such a lovely home that my mother, being concerned about our being able to afford it, told us later that she walked the streets many nights praying for the Lord to take her, too, so that our inheritance might help pay for the house. 

 

Our home on Evening Star Dr. was the best investment we have ever made.  We ended up paying a premium in total dollars for the house, by paying for it over 30 years, but we more than made up for that through appreciation.  Our home when we moved to Sandy in November 2003 as it sold for about ten times what we paid for it in 1956!  Our new neighbors were special, we were close to excellent schools, and we loved our ward. 

 

When we moved to Evening Star Drive there was no freeway access like today, but later, when the belt route was built, we could then travel to the center of downtown in about the same time it used to take to get there from the east‑bench of Salt Lake where I grew up.  How our viewpoint changes over the years.  Early in our marriage when we had driven out through Holladay, which then were large fields of wild barley,  we thought that there was no way we would think of living "that far away from town”.  Today, we considered our Evening Star home in the middle of the city!  It couldn't have been in a more convenient location.

 

We loved that home.  It was a great place for our children to grow up.  Because of the newness of the area, the children attended three different elementary schools, but by the time they were in Junior High and High School, they only attended Olympus Jr. and Olympus High School.

 

            Always looking for ways for our children to improve themselves, we had them all take piano lessons. They did passively well, at best.  When Ann and Reid were in Jr. High, and John was still in grade school, we all attended the movie, “Music Man.”  They were all so impressed with it that when we came home each one decided on a musical instrument they would like to play.  We started them all on private lessons:  Ann, on the flute, Reid on the clarinet, and John on the trombone.  They all did so well that when Olympus Jr. High decided to have an orchestra; Ann and Reid both attained the position of first chair in their sections!  John played amazingly well, too.  Unfortunately none of them continued too long, but we loved the progress they attained for a short time.

 

A discussion of our family would not be complete without including Margaret (Peggy) Marshall, who later became Peggy Westergard after her marriage to Fred Westergard.  Jeanné first met Peggy while she was working at Hillview Elementary School.  It has been so many years ago that I don't recall the date.   Jeanné was the school secretary and Peggy was the school nurse. Peggy had come to Utah to study nursing and later joined the LDS Church while here. She is from New Jersey, where her family still lives, so we sort of became her family here in Utah.  As time went on, we became closer, until at one time Peggy came to live with us in our home for about a year.  She left us when she went to school in Washington State to obtain her Masters Degree in Psychiatric Nursing, after which she returned to Salt Lake and bought a home of her own on Laird Avenue and 19th East.  In April 1975 Peggy married Fred Westergard, and they were blessed with one daughter, Wendy who was married to Mike Ashton, in 1998.  Peggy’s parents have now passed on, but she still visits her siblings as often as she can.   Peg and Fred have gone with us on many camping expeditions, and attended our Family Home Evenings; until we had to give up on them with the growth of the family.  We still consider them “family."

 

Peggy 1973