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Show Volume XVI Issue XIV The Ogden Valley news Page 9 July 15, 2009 Century Echoes – Part XV By Miriam Renstrom Whitesides Note: This is the fifteenth in a series of articles by the same author that will appear in following issues of “The Ogden Valley news.” The history was submitted by Jane Renstrom, wife of the late Darrell Renstrom who is the son of Arnold Renstrom and grandson of Andrew P. Renstrom. Also note, the following information has been condensed from the original transcript of “Century Echoes,” a history that combines world, U.S., Utah, LDS, and Ogden Valley history. 1922 and 1934 That winter, another old play was revived, “The Old Oaken Bucket” and again I had the leading role shared with Beth King. Roetta Horsley repeated her role. Lynn Sandall and Myron Phillips were the leading men. 1939 After a trip to the San Francisco Fair, we drove down to Los Angeles visiting all of our relatives and Carol who was very ill, and not knowing it would be the last time we would see her. I wanted so much to bring her back to Utah with me. After a few days there we left for home via the Grand Canyon. 1940 On January 5, Carol passed away from the old rheumatic heart illness. Aunt Tillie and I took a bus to Los Angeles; Moiselle didn’t go as she had visited her at Thanksgiving time. Arnold came from Huntsville and George from Oregon. Her funeral was held in Maywood; she is buried in Rose Hills Cemetery in an LDS area. My Sister Carol She was a happy, whimsical, unpredictable and so very generous person. She was an excellent cook but bored with housework, had a gift for drawing and painting but no opportunity to study art, taught herself to play the piano like some of the rest of us, and graduated from LDS Business College. She had many disappointments and was fighting infectious diseases from childhood on to the fatal heart attack. She loved public work, and was active in P.T.A. and other enterprises. She left a rich legacy to her three daughters, of mountain land called today, “Carol’s Cove,” a summer retreat of huge trees, wild flowers, and cabins on the south slopes of the Sierra Nevada. Her daughters are Merle Maurice, Franchon Blake, and Jean Harris. 1941 On December 7, Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese. Hill Field depot was already being built. 1942 I started working at Hill Field in May in a medical supply dept. Emil worked there during the summer months while Caroline tended children, one a little girl whose parents came from far away and were working there also. 1943 That fall I left Hill Field for the Salt Lake County Hospital, working with children crippled from a terrible epidemic of polio. The Sister Kenny treatment was used (hot packs). The work was tiring, sad, and not enough help was available. It slackened in early springtime so I left there, and went back to Hill Field’s dispensary. About thirty nurses were employed there. They came from everywhere with their soldier husbands. There were three doctors; a supervisor, Marjoie Burris; and three treatment areas, the main dispensary—one in the hangers and one in the lower warehouses. We were on day, swing, and night duty. It would have been exciting, pleasant work had there been no sorrowful, dark war still raging. Caroline and Marilyn worked there off and on during their college years. Emil was elected Mayor that fall. 1944 We went to a convention at Vernal, on the bus due to gas rationing. Emil was one of the rationing board members in Kaysville. 1945 On May 7th, V.E. Day (Victory Europe) came—unconditional surrender. There was a big celebration at Hill Field. On August 2, a call came from Portland with a message that George was dying and I felt stunned for I didn’t know he had been ill. It was early evening and for a few hours we learned no more. Later, through a call from us, I heard the sad news that he had passed away, his death caused by a stroke. Moiselle, Arnold, and I left the next day, by bus, for Portland. Erma came by plane from Los Angeles. His funeral was held August 6 in the LDS chapel. That day after the burial in an area reserved for Veterans, we heard by radio that a bomb had been dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. The whole world seemed full of sorrow and trouble. On August 9, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. That brought unconditional surrender. I arrived home in time for V.J. Day (Victory Japan), and there was a wild celebration in Salt Lake similar to the one for World War One. All of us went into town that night and mingled with the shouting, jostling crowd. My Brother George He was a kind and loving brother; not as much an extrovert as Arnold. His schooling was meager but in 1923 and 1924 he attended the LDS Business College and the second year was elected Student Body President. After graduation he started to work at Woolworth’s. It was hard work so he moved to Newberry, then transferred to Idaho, to California, and back to Ogden. He married Catherine Ekman in 1925, and the year after our father’s death they moved to Salt Lake where he worked with the Z.C.M.I. at Sugar House. Catherine’s brother lived in Oregon and he influenced them to move there. In Eugene and working for the Metropolitan store, as manager, he was active in the church and became Bishop of the ward there. Then they moved to Portland and to another Metropolitan store where he became ill and passed away. They adopted a boy named Billie, and raised two other children—brother and sister, Sue and Lee. 1946 Because of knee trouble, I had a cast on for three months and that summer we remodeled the living room, a great improvement. The Mayor’s convention was held at Cedar City. Emil had been re-elected Mayor in the fall of 1945. In late August, we took a trip to Yellowstone Park, the first for the children. 1947 Caroline graduated from BYU. Her major was Microbiology and her minor Music. Utah’s Centennial celebration was held on July 24. Erma and family came, Gladys and Bruce came, Moiselle and Aunt Tillie were there, and Enoch with Caroline. We had lunch together at Liberty Park (in Salt Lake) following the parade. At night there was a rodeo, street dancing, the picture houses had appropriate programs. In August, Stephen and I left by bus for Los Angeles to visit Dr. Rich where for three weeks he used the Dr. Bates treatment on his eyes and with good results. 1948 Soon after V. J. Day, I was dropped from Hill Field but in January this year, started working there again in the hospital. It was day, swing, and night work so stopped in June to prepare for Caroline’s wedding. She and Enoch Andrus Ludlow of Spanish Fork were planning to be married July 21. She had been interning at the Veteran’s hospital in Salt Lake. Marilyn was at B.Y.U. and dating George Edward Dalton of Pleasant Grove. On June 28 they were married in Salt Lake City; he left shortly after for a mission to South Africa. On July 21, Caroline and Enoch were married in the Logan Temple and the day following we had a home reception for them. The bride’s maids were Marilyn, Connie Evans, Elaine Wood, and Lucy Ludlow. Refreshments were out of doors. Everyone who came seemed to enjoy the evening. A few days later we, Marilyn and Stephen, had a short trip to California. We visited Yosemite en route home. In 1949, Marilyn and Enoch graduated from B.Y.U. His major was Zoology and her major Education. Historical Photo Pete and Doll—our old team of horses pulling the McCormick reaper. Parley James Clark is driving the team of horses. Photo courtesy of Rod Clark of Liberty. Celeste C. Canning PLLC Attorney at Law 2590 Washington Boulevard, Suite 200 Ogden, Utah 84401 Local: (801) 791-1092 Office: (801) 612-9299 Email: ccanninglaw@aol.com Meeting the Legal Needs of Small Businesses and Their Owners FREE Initial Thirty Minute Consultation. Appointments in Ogden Valley upon request. Red Cliff RanCh & Cafe Weekend of July 24th Live Music ~ Steak Dinners Horseback Rides Now Serving Hot Wings Guided Fly-Fishing Tours Located below Causey Dam, “the gateway to Monte Cristo.” 801-745-6900 |