Tuesday, November 22, 2022

Massasoit is my Tenth Great grandfather

 The most famous leader I am related to is Massasoit.  This is according to the Family Search activity famous relatives.  My grandmother is Melissa Shaw Wardle.  Then from her to the Atwood line; then Turrell, and then the Cogswell line which descends from John Starkweather who is the son of John Starkweather and Ann Pauquunaukit Wampanoag who is the daughter of King Phillip Massasoit and the grand daughter of Great Chief King Sachem also known as Massasoit.  Here is a look at his history.  Massasoit was at the first Thanksgiving feast and was always friendly towards the English newcomers.  However after his death, his son Prince or King Phillip made war against the English, killing many.  This was a year-long war called King Phillip's War.  He was eventually betrayed and killed by the English.  Princess Ann, as my eighth great grandmother as full-blooded Native American would mean I am about 1/2000th Native American.  I don't that is enough to show on a DNA test.

Massasoit



Princess Ann


Sunday, May 1, 2022

Cutler's Park: Death of Sarah Ann Ashton

 Sarah Ann Barlow Ashton was a Martin handcart pioneer.  She had walked across most of Iowa pregnant, about 300 miles starting at Iowa City.  After reaching Winter Quarters they had a brief respite as they re-outfitted.  They travelled only a short distance the first day out of Omaha, reaching Cutler's Park.  The diary of John Jaques documents the death of Sarah Barlow Ashton in Cutler's Park.  Cutler's Park had been a Mormon settlement during the winter of 1846 and is only a couple miles from Winter's Quarters.  Sarah Ann passed away in childbirth,  The baby, named Sarah Ann Ashton, would only live a couple weeks and died on the plains of Nebraska.


I visited Cutler's Park this last summer.  The plaques are at the corner of Mormon Bridge Road and Young Street, just west of the Winter Quarters Temple.  The plaques talk about the story from 1846.  There is a large cemetery there now, but the Cutler's Park cemetery is on private land, and you have to get special permission to visit.  The plaque includes the list of those buried there from the winter of 1846-47.  There is n mention of Sarah Aston who died in 1856.  




Sunday, February 6, 2022

Audrey Chase: The Life Story of Audrey Melissa Wardle Chase: Chapter 8: Parenting Friends of Roger, Roger's Mission, Move

 After Roger graduated from high school, he enrolled at I.S.U. in a general program. He played football. He made many new friends on the football team. At Thanksgiving we invited a lot of them for dinner. We had about 30-35 people. It was a great day. 

 Roger was again having a great time—but doing little studying. His grades were poor. He had to retake some classes because he failed. It was just a terrible year for me because I was so worried about him. I had hoped he would go on a mission, but when he became 19 he was not interested in going. He started school again the next year. He wasted so much time and money on classes where he didn’t study!

 Roger worked for Talent Search at college, as Dale had done. All through high school and college Roger worked for the Pocatello recreation department, full time in the summers and part time during the school year. 

Roger always had lots of friends around. For a couple of years he and his friends played games at our house on Sunday evenings after church. Many kids lived with us, beginning with a friend Dale brought home. I can’t even remember all of the kids who lived with us for a semester, or a few weeks, or a month or two or for a few days. I got so I was never really sure who I’d find sleeping in the basement bedrooms.

In December of 1972, Roger asked me if two boys could come and live with us until basketball season was over. They were Rick Edwards, a ninth grader, and his brother Jeff Edwards, a tenth grader. Roger had gone with the boys’ older sisters, Lynette and Derra Lee, all through high school. He had been sort of a big brother to the boys. The boys’ mother and stepfather were moving to a small farm west of Blackfoot and the boys did not want to go with them. They were both playing basketball and wanted to finish the season. None of the four children got along with their stepfather. In fact, the girls had already moved out. Rick and Jeff moved i. Only Roger and I were at home so we had plenty of room. They stayed for 7 ½ years. They left for some things for a while but it was 7 ½ years before they moved out permanently. I learned to love them both. I consider them my sons. Their mother gave me $50 a month and then $60 to help with groceries. But I largely supported them. I did their laundry, helped them with their studies, let them use my car as my own sons had done, attended their games and did all the things a mother does. Their own mother bought their clothes. 

At the beginning of the second semester, another friend of Roger’s moved I with us. Dale Morrow lived with us during the school year until he graduated from college two- and one-half years later.

An ironic thing happened. As soon as Roger had gotten these three fellows moved in to our home, he began to think about going on a mission. When he went, the three boys stayed with me. I was glad to have them all. I’d really been lonesome without them. Derra Lee also came and lived with me during this time for three years. Lynette lived with us a little too. 

The only bad thing was that Dale and Jeff didn’t like each other. We never had any real problems, but they were not friends. 

Having Jeff and Rick with me was great. They each had lots of friends who were at our home. They also each had steady girlfriends who were around a lot. Jeff decided to run for student body president. I helped him with his campaign as did some teachers. He won and was the student body president at Pocatello H.S. his senior year, 1974-75. It was great for him!

The fall of 1973 I transferred to Pocatello H.S. to teach English. I had been at Irving for nine years teaching English and literature. I had such dear friends, especially Sharon Fleischman and Sharon Call. We all went to Poky together. Sharon F. went first. She found out they needed another English teacher and told me. I went two weeks after school had started. Then a couple month later Sharon C. joined us. She had planned to lay out that year, but changed her mind when a position at Poky became available. We taught together there for eleven years. Ronda Black was also teaching there. I had taught her in fifth grade many years before. The four of us became such fast friends and had such good times together! We still go to games and dinner together. We think alike. Once Sharon Call told me that she had quoted me to someone. We really laughed about it because I had not said what she credited me with. But she said, “I knew what you thought about it.” And she did. We four still do not have to express our opinions vocally to each other. We just all think about the same. We are also four opinionated, confident, vocal persons. When we are together, we have two or three conversations going at the same time. It’s stimulating! We all taught English, too. We were all working on advanced degrees, but so far, I am the only one who has gotten a masters.

I found some other dear friends at Poky, but they were not a part of our little group. There was Beryl Taylor, Arlin Walker, Louise Hunt and Karen Hunzaker. I truly liked and admired my principal Dale Hammond and Dick Fleishmann, Sharon’s husband, who was vice principal. It was a great faculty—not a single person I didn’t like. 

Jeff and Rick, reared in the same home, were quite different. I tried to get them to go to church and take seminary. They had been reared in a totally inactive L.D.S. home. Weekends, and especially Sundays had always been the time when they rode horses, skied and worked around the barns. After they came to live with us they saw me going to church all the time, and Roger frequently. Rick began to attend church too, but Jeff always had some excuse.

Both boys had a large group of boy friends who did the same things the boys had always done on Sundays. Jeff stayed with his friends. They were no bad boys—in fact, were good boys—but they did not attend church nor have many goals. Rick, on the other hand took seminary and began going with a very active L.D.S. girl. She was a good influence on him. He hated to lose his friends, boys he’d known and played with since grade school. I felt badly about it too, but Rick decided he wanted to be a different kind of person, so he gradually did a complete turnaround. He graduated from seminary, advanced in the priesthood ad studied hard at school. He stopped running around with and of his old friends. Later he made good friends in the groups he now chose to associate with. It was fun to have the boys at the school where I taught. Rick had evidently thought about it q lot and finally decided he was making too much work for me and decided to move back with his mother and stepfather. I was just heartsick because I’d miss him and he really didn’t ant to go. His locker was outside my room where I could see him when he came to it. He packed everything he owned in an old jeep he had, came to school early and checked out and went out to the new high school, which was about 45 minutes away in time to enroll and go to his first class. About third hour and looked out of my room and there was Rick at his locker. I went running out to see what was wrong. “Audrey, I just can’t stand it.!” I went to class and walked around the school and realized no way was I going to that school. I’ll work hard at home to make things easier for you, but I want to stay!” I was of course delighted. The school he would have attended was a dinky rural high school with poor offerings. Pocatello H.S. was a superior school. 

Rick did work hard. He did well I his classes and was active in seminary from which he graduated. He was vice president of the seminary student body his senior year. He has always been a source of pride and joy to me. 

Jeff had a great year as student body president. I just couldn’t get him to go to church. In his senior year I asked him if, as a favor to me, he would take seminary. He said yes. He took it all year and liked it. I should have approached him that way sooner. He still ran around with his old boy friends and did some partying. Jeff played football and was one of the starters. He played in the backfield. He was very quick and very tough. He dropped out of basketball because he was too short. Rick dropped out too. But both boys were always jocks. 

Jeff did not attend church. He was never ordained to any priesthood office. Two boys raised the same, encouraged the same, but quite different. Jeff had a lovely girl he went with all through H.S. until the end of his senior year. Then he began going with Katy, a doll. Both boys were well liked. Jeff was more outgoing than Rick.

Jeff got a scholarship to I.S.U. for being student body president. He began the fall after he graduated, but he didn’t like it. He was never really interested in academics. He quit and tried several different jobs. He finally got a job with the railroad and made this his life work. All the Edwards kids are great skiers and ski at every opportunity. My own kids were not. I worked so much I didn’t have time to take them and besides I couldn’t afford it. 

After Roger moved the three boys in with us, he decided to go on a mission. I knew nothing of his decision. He wanted to do it all on his own with no pressure or influence from me. When he was presented to the people of the stake to be an elder, I was not there. I knew nothing about it. Roger and I were going to conference, but I was sick. Roger persuaded me to stay home and he went himself. No one mentioned it to me. I knew nothing about it until Roger received hi mission call. Then he told me and showed me the letter. I don’t think he’d have told me then, but he had to have my financial support. I’ve always felt badly that he did not want me to share any of this time with him. However, the important thing was that he was going on a mission, leaving July of 1873. He served one year in his mission. He worked a lot with the Indians and became a district leader and then a zone leader. After one year, the mission was split and his final year was in the California San Diego mission. His mission was wonderful for him. He gained a testimony of the gospel, developed a talent for leadership and helped many people.

I had begun working at a sort of fast-food place because I just couldn’t make it on my salary. It was a place where there was no tipping. I worked there two years. But with Roger leaving for a mission, I had to have work where I would make more money. I began working at the Highwayman CafĂ© of Althea and Ted Marshall. I stayed 8 ½ years and loved it all. I stayed until they went out of business. The tips were good and I liked the people—both customers and my fellow employees. It gave me plenty of money for Roger. In fact, I just stayed on after he came home from his mission. I worked three or four nights a week from five till eleven and Mon. and Wed. and from five till one on Fri. and Sat. They were open on Sundays, but I usually didn’t work, except on holidays. For the about twenty years I worked in cafes part-time, I always worked all holidays. We arranged our family activities around my work. However, holidays were always very busy and I’d be so tired when they were over that I could do little more. We were closed on Christmas but all other holidays I worked. I came to not like Mother’s Day because it was one of the worst days—but good tips!

While Roger was on his mission, Carolyn and her three boys, Steve, Chris and Adam, came home to live. Rick had been sent to Germany and there was no housing available for his family. They stayed with me for seven months. The house was full! Rick and Jeff shared a downstairs bedroom. Dall Morrow had the other one. Carolyn, the boys and I were upstairs. It was during this time that Rick thought he’d better move back with his folks but, as already stated, he didn’t stay. 

Steve was about four, Chris about two and Adam about six months. What a delight they were! I had the most food storage I’d ever had, but we used all of it, my money, Carolyn’s money and the token amounts from my foster sons. There were seven of us to feed. Carolyn did a big share of the work. I still taught and worked at the Highwaymen.

After Christmas that year, Carolyn and I decided to go to Salt Lake to see Ann. We had planned on taking my car, but at the last-minute Jeff needed it so we went in Carolyn and Rick’s new V.W. van. We had a terrible wreck on the interstate down near Downy. If we had taken my car, it probably would not have happened. The roads were not too back but we hit an icy spot and began to slide. It was very windy and just as we started to slide a very strong gust of grabbed the van. It was tall and a little top heavy. We were thrown into the air and then bounced back to the ground three times. We ended up on our side between the lanes of the highway. Carolyn was the only one hurt. She had a broken collar bone. One funny thing happened, though it wasn’t funny at the time. Adam was in a car seat in the second row of seats. We had a big bottle of cranapple juice on the floor near him. In the wreck, the lid came off the bottle and Adam was drenched with red juice. When Carolyn looked back at him, she thought he was covered with blood. The wind shield popped out and Stephen who had been on my lap was thrown into that empty space. We were bruised and sore but not hurt. The new van was totaled.

Carolyn went to the hospital and had a cast put on. The stupid incompetent doctor put her in a body cast from her neck to below her buttocks. It was agony and unnecessary for a broken collar bone. One arm was out of the cast. Carolyn worked at caring for her children as best she could. I remember her trying to hang up clothes. With her one hand she would lift an article of clothing from the basket, then hold it in her mouth, get a clothes pin on her one hand, and some way, get it fastened to the line. Rick was given emergency leave and the Red Cross brought him home for one month. 

 We really had a full house. Everyone helped. A couple of Rick’s sisters came and stayed with Carolyn while I was in school. They each stayed a few days, but there was little help from the Read family. 

The first cast broke and Carolyn went to a different doctor who knew what he was doing and took good care of her. After the month, Rick went back to Germany. Carolyn was still in her second cast when he left. After Carolyn and the boys had been with us for seven months, Rick found housing for them on the base in Germany and they left. It was a terrible trip for Carolyn. She was out of her cast, but having the sole care of three little boys all the way to Germany was hard. 

With her gone, our house settled back into it normal routine. Dale Morrow had graduated from school the previous spring and no longer lived with us. His girlfriend Debby was at our house a lot an spent a lot of time with us that summer while she attended summer school. She was a dear girl who has added much to my life. She and Dale married, lived in Pocatello and have two children. Dale is always helping me and doing nice things for me. Dale and Roger are as close as brothers. 

In 1975, Roger returned from his mission. He was glad to have Rick and Jeff with us. Jeff had finished high school and Rick was going to be a senior. Roger and Jeff have always been very close. 

That summer, I suddenly decided I wanted a different house. Our house was a good one, but would require a lot of work to make it the way I wanted it. So, I began looking. I found a house in the Indian Hills. I almost didn’t look at it because I knew it would be too expensive. I went on my own and asked the lady in it if I could look at it. It was new, had been lived in only seven months. The owners were getting a divorce and needed to sell. I loved the house, but still felt it was beyond my means. However, I contacted Richard Dixon, a realtor, and ended up buying the house. My old house would have been paid for in one more year, but I wanted a new one. My old house was sold for a good price and I applied most of it on the new house.

I did keep out $5,000 dollars which I invested in a special carburetor being promoted by the son of a friend of mine. Nothing ever came of it. My one attempt to invest and the only time I had money to invest came to nothing. I realized I took a chance, but I never felt too badly about it. I always felt if it went it went, if not it wouldn’t. 

Anyway, we moved in the new house in November of 1975. The three boys were with me. Roger and I each had a bedroom upstairs and Jeff and Rick each had one downstairs. There was only one bedroom, a family room and a bath downstairs. I had another room finished downstairs for Rick. It is the nicest room in the house. He slept in the laundry room until it was finished.

My Relation to Wardle Fields Regional Park

 Wardle Fields Regional Park is on 2700 West in Bluffdale, Utah.  It was first farmed by Isaac John Wardle Junior.  He is the oldest son of Isaac John Wardle who is my great great grandfather.  Isaac Junior is the oldest son of Isaac's first wife, Martha Egbert.  I descend from Isaac's second wife, Mary Ashton.  William Haston Wardle was the only son by the second wife.  Charles Wardle was the first cousin of my Great Grandfather William Haston Wardle.  The son of Charles, Harold Wardle was a second cousin to my grand father, Jams Wilford Wardle.  Consequently Harold Wardle is my second cousin twice removed.



Charles and Orel Wardle




Saturday, September 18, 2021

The Life Story of Melissa Audrey Wardle Chase: Chapter Nine: Her Mother's Passing, Stories of Children's Families


    Roger returned to college in the fall of 1975. He was still so interested in missionary work that he became a seventy. For a while he worked with the full-time missionaries. He attended the institute. He had a beautiful new car, a bright red Dodge with a vinyl top. He returned to his old job with the city. Jeff was attending I.S.U. and Rick was a senior at Poky. Roger began going with Julie Hanks. She was the daughter of a former bishop of ours. She and Roger had walked home from church together when they were in the ninth grade. I felt they had always liked each other, maybe Julie liked Roger better than he did her. Anyway, they did not go together during their high school years nor until Roger returned from his mission. I was especially fond of Julie and was delighted when they decided to get married. Roger was anxious to marry Julie and she really wanted to marry him. Their wedding date was set for Feb. 14, 1976. But something changed. Julie still wanted to get married, but Roger did not. I think he just moved into the relationship too fast. Maybe he was brain-washed on his mission, maybe he just didn’t want to be tied down. All Roger’s friends and I urged him not to go ahead with the marriage, but he wouldn’t listen to us. He felt he just couldn’t hurt and embarrass Julie when the wedding was so near and all plans were made. Roger and Julie were married in the Idaho Falls temple Feb. 14, 1976. Wright, Esther and I hosted a luncheon after the ceremony. One of Roger’s missionary companions came from Utah to be a witness for him. A beautiful reception was held at the sixth ward in Pocatello. There were so many people and presents. Some dear friends, the Woods, who had befriended Roger while he was on his mission in Las Vegas, attended. Roger was especially pleased to hame them there. Dale Chase was his brother’s best man. Julie had graduated from B.Y.U. and had a teaching certificate. She got a job at Franklin Jr. High teaching English and reading. Roger continued his school, but he still did not do well. He did not study. Julie taught for three years. Roger worked for the city a lot and had other part-time jobs. Finally, he stopped taking classes and took over a little grocery store, the Pic and Pay. What a terrible decision! It required someone there all the time. Julie helped a little and so did I. Roger did not know how to run a business. He was a soft touch for anyone who needed money. His employees stole him blind. Roger and Julie moved several times. Julie quit teaching. She felt she had given Roger enough time to finish school—and she had. There was a growing estrangement between them. They were not good for each other. One good thing came out of their marriage—their little daughter. Robin Gayle Chase was born July 24, 1979. They both adored her. Roger left the store and began to look for other work. He worked for a time at Robert’s Service Station. This was a bad time for Roger and Julie. The continued to grow farther apart. There was very little money ad they had to live very frugally. Julie really worked hard to economize and live on very little. They spent little time together. Julie taught dancing and tried to keep her life busy. Roger was away from home a lot. Sad, sad! They were both good parents to Robin and loved her deeply. Finally, they separated and then divorced on Oct. 6, 1981. Julie remained in their apartment and Roger moved back with me for a time. I’ve never been able to figure out what went wrong in their marriage. I think Roger, because of the women he had known, and Julie, because of the men she had known, came to marriage with quite different ideas about what to expect from marriage. They had so much in common, their love of the out-of-doors, their interest in politics and the world and other things that one would have expected a good marriage. But it never was. They were incompatible. They did not enjoy being together. I felt terrible about it, but there was nothing I could do. I did tend my dear Robin a lot. So did Esther and Wright Hanks. I am fond of Julie. I was glad when she met someone else and wanted to marry. Glad for her but sorry for Robin and me because I knew the sage of Roger and Julie was over and I would see less of Robin. Julie and her new husband were married in a civil ceremony in the Logan Temple. Her bishop advised this because she and Roger still had a temple marriage. The bishop said that after a time, because she was remarried, that she and Roger would be able to get a temple divorce with no blame or charges against either of them. This happened. Julie and Roger did not want to hurt each other, the just wanted a divorce. Julie and her husband moved to Boise. This was terrible for Roger, the Wrights and me. We had all been with Robin several times a week. It was especially hard for Roger because Robin mattered more to him than anyone else in the world. He spent much of his free time with her, took her camping, to ball games, and other things. He continues ro see Robin about once a month for a few days, but it isn’t enough for him. Julie has custody of Robin now—but who knows what the future will bring. Roger wants his daughter with him part of the time, like summers. He has always sent Julie child support, pays all of Robin’s medical bills, buys some clothes for her and gives Julie extra money for extra things—like trips with a dancing group, Christmas, etc. He loves his daughter and wants to support her. Julie has been a good mother to Robin who is a nice, delightful little girl. Julie has had two sons with her present husband and I believe is happy. Roger went to work for Simplots. He has been there about six years now. He makes good money, but will not stay forever. It is dangerous work, has almost no retirement benefits, is hard physical work and is boring. He has to do shift work which is something a body cannot adjust to. He has become very active in the union. He handles all the men’s grievances. He is the number two man in the union at the plant. He spends lots of time helping people. Roger stayed with me for a while, then moved into an apartment, and finally bought a little house where he lives alone. He has fixed up one room for Robin. She loves to come and stay with him. Depending on Roger’s work, Robin sometimes stays with me. She is the center of Roger’s life. During these years my parents, had been aging. After a year of increasing ill health, my father died Sept 23, 1972. He was 81 years old, having been born Nov. 2, 1891. He just seemed to get more and more weary. Finally, he closed his eyes and died. He had worked very hard all his life. He kept dwelling on this as he approached death. He was a very bright man. He could understand things easily. He always read a great deal. He could make or fix anything with his hands. He always loved to be around people and he loved to talk. I’ve always felt that I was closer to him than were any of his other children. He was also close to Danny, Verna’s son. Danny lived with him and Mama quite a bit. It was a shame that he didn’t establish a closer relationship with other members of his family. He and Mama could never agree on how to do anything. It seemed they each tried to do what the other one didn’t want. There was an exception though. Mama fell and broke her hip and never really recovered from it. He was patient and good with her for the last few years of their lives together. Mama had a sharp tongue with him. He seldom did anything that pleased her. She definitely often made him look worse to his children than he was. Yet she was proud of the many things that he could do so well. She just wasn’t sensible in the way she approached him to get him to do something. If she had used her head a little more, she could have steered him to do more what she wanted. Instead, she was usually trying to force him into something. He was stubborn, she was stubborn, and so the quarreled. His funeral was held in their Rigby Ward and he was buried in a lot they had waiting in Pocatello. Mama lived alone for a while after his death. Just a few days after his funeral whe went out to hang something on the clothesline. As she came back to the house, she was crying and unsteady on her feet. She fell on the step and broke her other hip making surgery again necessary. It was the first time she had been left alone and it was only a few minutes, but it was long enough. She stayed with Lula quite a bit and Phyliss a little bit when she came home from the hospital. She stayed with me some, but I could only have her in the summer since I had to teach school. She finally went back to her home and Lula and Phyliss looked after her, mostly Lula. Phyliss called her every day and I went up frequently, but most of the burden was on Lula. She went to her house every day, took her to the store and the doctor, paid her bills, took her to church, did her laundry and everything else she needed. I took her on frequent little trips. Verna was living in California. Mama went down two winters and stayed with her and Bill for a month or two. Jim visited her a few times in Rigby. During this time a tragedy occurred. Jim was living in Hyrum and working in the library there. He loved the work but was dissatisfied with some of the people around him. He stole some old, valuable books to add to his collection. Others in the library had done the same thing, but Jim was caught and blamed for all of it. He lost his job and barely escaped jail. Mama was in California with Verna at the time. I made the decision to not tell her. I was hopeful that things could be worked out so she’d never have to know. She sensed something was wrong and kept asking questions. Finally, Ileen’s sister Rose Marie told her. That poor old lady was devastated. She was old and not well. She could do nothing. Jim had always been the apple of her eye. She thought more of him than all her daughters put together. She sat at my kitchen table, laid her head on the table, and cried and cried. She felt such despair! She always felt I should have told her. Perhaps she was right. If it had been my child in trouble I would have wanted to know. She only saw Jim a couple times after that. When it was time for school to start, I had to put her in a rest home here in Pocatello. I could not stay home with her. I had to teach to support myself and some of my family. Phyliss’ house was not set up to care for her. Lula had reached the limits of her endurance and could no longer have her. She had gotten so she needed twenty-four hour a day care. I tried desperately to get someone to come and stay with her but I could find no one. She kept falling and I could not get her up alone. So she went to Eastgate where she lived for a year and a half. She hated every minute of it. She felt all her children had abandoned her. I was heartsick, but there was nothing I could do. I could not get a decent doctor for her and had to let her be under the care of the terrible doctor who was there. He gave her medication which caused her to hallucinate. She really suffered during those awful times. After a few weeks the doctor stopped the harmful medication, she was moved to another wing and she felt better. She always hated it though. I was very good to her. I went up three of four times a week to see her. I did her laundry, took her for rides and sometimes I brought her to my house. I took her out to dinner. I purchased whatever she needed. I feel good about the care I gave her. Verna called frequently from California and wrote often. Neither Lula nor Phyliss came to see her for about six months. Phyliss wrote occasionally. After a few months Lula began to write her. She had about reached the breaking point when she cared for Mama. Jim stopped once to see her when he was on his way back from Idaho Falls. He had three children with him. He never called her, never wrote to her nor even sent her a Christmas or birthday card. I guess he was so caught up in his own troubles he had no thoughts for anyone else. I’ve always thought if he thought a little about her his own problems might have been less. One time a man called her long distance. The nurses hurried and got her to the phone. She was sure it was him and was so excited. It was Danny who loved her and called her frequently to see how she was. She began having little strokes. She had to be taken to the hospital. Fortunately, the dreadful doctor was on vacation and had gotten old Dr. Howard to care for his patients. Dr. Howard was wonderful to her and to me. I called Phyllis and she came down. I had been at the hospital a lot and decided to go home for a few minutes while Phyllis stayed with her. As soon as I got home, the phone was ringing. She had died, but Phyllis was with her. The last few days of her life she was unconscious most of the time. She died Dec. 12, 1977—just five years after her husband. She was 84. Her funeral too was held in her ward in Rigby. All her descendants were there. The chapel was filled. It was a beautiful service. After Papa’s death she selected a tombstone for their graves in Pocatello. It took her several years of little economies before she had it paid for. But it was installed and waiting for her. She didn’t want to be a burden to anyone so for years she kept up monthly payments on an insurance policy to bury her. There was some problem about getting a payment mailed. She was on day late and the policy was cancelled. However, her house was sold. It brought enough money to pay her burial expenses and leave each child about $2000. That of course was from both Mama and Papa. In the years since her death, I seem to miss her more and more. I think of her a lot. I’m glad she was taken as she was—quietly in her sleep—and I’m glad she isn’t still her suffering. She was afraid of dying. I don’t know why because she was a good woman. She did look forward to seeing her mother, her husband and the three little babies she had lost in. infancy. I always knew she loved me and would do anything she could for me, as my father also would have done. Mama had a sharp tongue only for Papa. With everyone else she was kind and patient. Her life was one of hard work and sacrifice for her children. She helped and encouraged her children and helped them set and attain goals. She was always trying to make things better for us. She never in all her life every had enough money to do more than just scrape by. The economies she practiced were unbelievable. She made every penny count many times. She was very clean about her person and her home. This she had learned from her Pennsylvania-Dutch mother. Our home was always a warm, loving, comfortable, clean place. The cleanliness was hard-gained. Most of her life she washed on a washboard. I remember seeing her hands fiery-red, swollen and raw in places after her day of washing. She moved frequently as my dad say greener pastures. Most of the houses in which we lived were very poor with two to four rooms, no electricity and no water. Many of them had bedbugs in them. How she worked to get rid of them! With a cloth she would soak all the cracks in coal oil and after a day to two scrub them down. She’d just about get on house. Cleaned up when we’d move on to the next. She had many talents. She learned to make drapes and worked at Petersens to keep Phyliss on a mission. Her crocheting and quilting were works of art. She loved to embroider. Much of her crocheting and embroidery work were done on flour sacks she bleached and washed. She won many prizes at fairs for her work. She could make beautiful clothes, many of them out of old things which had been given to her. She could cut clothes out without a pattern. She made most of her children’s clothes. She worked hard and was never idle. She got a lot of pleasure from her garden, especially her flowers. She loved to read and read a lot. There were always lots of books in our home. She was very active in church and Daughters of the Utah Pioneers. She always taught a class of young children. They really loved her. The last months in her home her little paper girl really looked after her because she loved her. She had a special ability to make friends. She had several very close lady friends. I’m grateful to her and how I miss her! I look forward to seeing her again! Back to Rick and Jeff. Jeff bagan going with Katie Mecham. I loved her. They went together, often breaking up, for about three years. They finally married, but it ended in divorce. Jeff just wasn’t ready to settle down. I don’t think either of them will ever meet anyone who will mean as much to them. Katie remarried and is happy. She wanted children and to get on with her life. Jeff finally remarried too—Cindy Lewis. Jeff and Cindy were married at her parents’ home in 1985. Roger performed the ceremony. Both Jeff and Cindy work for the railroad. They live in Salt Lak. They have two sons, Colby and Bronson. Jeff is a good man. He is always thoughtful of me. I truly love him. Rick went to I.S.U. a little and then went to BYU. After a year he went on a mission to California. The mission was good for him. He gained a testimony of the gospel. When he returned from his mission he went back to the “Y”. He began going with Micci McInnes. She is a doll! I liked her much better than his high school girlfriend. They became engaged and were married Aug. 19, 1980. The continued school. Micci was working for and R.N. at the U of U. She took some classes from the “Y”. It was hectic for them. Rick graduated from the “Y” with a degree in zoology. He had planned on being a dentist. He was accepted at the University of Nebraska. He graduated from there with a DDS in 1985. He wanted to be an oral surgeon but could not get in a school then. He is presently working in the emergency room at Cook County General Hospital, hoping this will help him get in a school of oral surgery. Rick was finally accepted in a school of oral surgery in Chicago. His four-year school began the summer of 1987. Rick and Micci have three darling boys, Zeke, Taylor and Conner. Micci finished her nursing program and has worked to help Rick through school. They are happy together. They are very active in the church. I am so very proud of Rick. He had to work very hard in school; but he persevered. I don’t worry about him and Micci. They are set—on the threshold of a great life. DerraLee, the boys’ sister, has earned several degrees. She is in the field of recreational and hotel management. She is very good at it. She has moved around a lot. She is not happy. I sort of foresaw her future when I taught her in the seventh grade. She bitterly resented the way their father left them. She, in my opinion, doesn’t trust men enough to have yet established a good, permanent relationship with any man. I worry about her. Lynnette, the other sister, married Randy Rehrer. I, at one time thought Roger and Lynette might get together, but they didn’t. They have remained very close friends. Lynette and Randy have six children. He is the football coach at Highland High School. Lynette stays at home with their six children and about five other children she babysits. Randy came from a home in California with no religion and an aimless, goal less, unthinking background. He has made great improvement, but he and Lynette have an up and down life. He joined the church but there was no real conversion. Lynette tries so hard to raise her children well. They are always clean, well fed and loved. Randy loves the children too, but the burden of the family is Lynette’s. She takes the children to church, checks their school closely and supervises their many activities. She is about two incompletes short of a B.A. in home economics. She’ll probably go back and finish. However, for now she wants to spend her time with her children. She wanted to have them and wants to stay home and raise them herself. I love her. She lives in town. I see her a lot and can rely on her for anything I need, as I hope she feels she can rely on me. Her mother is in Blackfoot and helps Lynette a lot with her children. I don’t help her enough. By the time I help Carolyn with her fiver boys and have Robin a little, I run out of time and energy. But how wonderful to have so many people I love near me. Roger has always liked to be involved in lots of things. In 1985 he decided to run for a seat on the city council. It was an exciting, close campaign. However, he lost. He had med a young lady name Janis Rhoads. They were married Dec. 27, 1985. He sold his little house and moved in Janis’ house. They are very comfortable and get along well together. Janis is an especially lovely person. She has an important job as head of an agency that handles problems for the poor, the aged and the sick in Southeastern Idaho. She is a career lady. Robin comes to see them frequently. Roger arranges to be with Robin at least once a month.

Saturday, August 28, 2021

Chapter Seven: Life Story of Audrey Melissa Wardle Chase: Audrey's Children and their Families

The summer of 1969 Roger went to Hawaii with his explorer group. Leon Manning was their leader. He bought two rather new cars which had been wrecked. He helped the boys rebuild one good car from them. They sold the car and used the profit to finance a trip to Hawaii. They had a great time. This was the only time Roger had a good leader in the scouting program. He had several very good Sunday School teachers, but no one else in scouting. Kenneth had one good year in Idaho Falls, his first, and one good year in Nampa. Dale never had even one good scout leader. Except for Kenneth’s two years none of my sons did anything in scouting because they never had leaders. In fact, no man in the church, except Ezra Hawkes, who took Dale home-teaching, ever gave any of my sons any long-range help or care. The women in Primary were great, but the men in all the wards in which I lived did nothing for any of my sons. It was a great lack. I really needed help with my boys, but I never got any. It seems to me that this is always a lack in the church. Men teachers do not do their jobs as well as women. In fact, the only man who ever helped my sons was my brother Jim. No one else did anything—not even my father or any of Ellis’ brothers. I really raised them with no help. Roger and I were living alone—all the rest of the children were married and gone. During Roger’s years as a junior and senior in high school, he had a wonderful time and I had a horrible time, much of the time. Roger was an outstanding athlete, but an indifferent student. I didn’t feel he learned anything after he left junior high. He partied. He also attended church, but he quit seminary. All my other children graduated from seminary. Roger was fun to live with except that I was so worried about him all the time that it spoiled everything for me. Well, almost everything. No matter what my problems, I could put them out of my mind when I went to school and got busy and interested in the classes I was teaching. My teaching has been my salvation and I’ve loved it and most of my students. The other thing I really enjoyed was my college classes. I formally entered my graduate English program the year Roger started H.S. in 1967. I loved the classes, the teachers and the other students. The other graduate students were all younger than I and in many ways different—no L.D.S., but they made me a part of their group. They were all so bright and such fun to be with. The intellectual stimulation was something I’ve never known before or since. During my graduate work, I worked two years at the ISU library. No more Triangle! In 1970 three of us graduated from school; Roger from Pocatello H.S., Dale with a B.A. in Special Education from I.S.U. and I with an M.A. in English from I.S.U. Dr. Shanahan had put great pressure on me to finish my master’s. I wanted to take longer. I felt I just couldn’t take the pressure in addition to all my other problems. However, Dr. Shanahan wouldn’t let up, he just kept pushing. Later I learned why. He was having serious personal problems which finally caused him to resign from the university. He and his wife parted. But his biggest problem was religion. He had been raised Catholic and attended Jesuit schools, but he had left his church. He began to drink heavily. However, he wanted to get me finished before he left. I’ll always be grateful to him. He was a scholar, a gentleman, a neat friend and an inspiring teacher—Dr. Phil Shanahan. Kenneth and Sarah lived in Alamo, Nevada for one year. He taught High school classes. The next year they moved to Babbit, Nev. And Kenneth taught in the Mineral County School District. He taught social studies for several years. He also taught in H.S. ad served a few years as vice principal of the K-3 schools. When one of these schools was closed because of a drop in enrollment, Kenneth moved to the high school and taught English. He presently is teaching debate, journalism, English and editing the school newspaper. He also works part time at Safeway’s grocery store. He received and M.A. in Education Administration from the University of Nevada in Reno in 1975. He has taught extension classes for the Univ. of Nevada at Hawthorne. For several years he wrote a column for the local paper and still frequently contributes to it. He has become an authority on the history of Nevada and presents classes in the area. Kenneth has been active in teacher’s organizations and in civic groups. For years he taught early morning seminary. He has always been very active in the church and has filled many church positions. For five years he was first counselor in his ward bishopric. During this time, he played an important part in doubling the size of their ward building. He is presently serving on the high council in his stake. Kenneth and Sara have had three children: David Lloyd Chase born April 16, 1965, Matthew Lloyd Chase born Feb 16, 1969 and Jennifer Dawn Chase born April 8, 1977. Both boys have been active in music and sports in junior high and in high school. David graduated from Hawthorne H.S. in 1983. He received a full-ride ROTC scholarship to BYU. After attending that school one year, he came home to work for a few months and then went on a mission. He left for his mission in the Billings Montana Mission in December of 1984. He will be able to pick up his scholarship at BYU when his mission is completed. Kenneth and Sarah were sealed to each other and had their children sealed to them in the Oakland temple on May 26, 1981. Following the marriage of Ann and Bud they lived in Salt Lake City. Ann continued to work for the L.D.S. Social Services for a while. She also worked for J.C. Penny’s in their offices. Ann and Bud have one child, a little girl named Kristine Ann Carter. She was born Feb. 18 1975. Bod runs a service station in Salt Lake. Some of his children have lived with Bud and Ann at different times. Ann has always been very active in the church. She has been chorister, organist and teacher. She is an accomplished pianist. After their marriage, Bud began going to church. His attendance, and Ann’s example and prayers finally culminated when they went to the temple. They were sealed to each other and had Kristine sealed to them in the Salt Lake temple on Oct. 22, 1983. Marion D. Hanks performed the sealing. When Dale finished school he and Annie moved to Caldwell where he got a job teaching special ed and coaching. Dena Ann was born to them there on Jan. 17, 1972. I took time off from school and went down and stayed with Annie for a few days. Dale stayed at Caldwell a couple of years and then moved to Mountain Home for two years. Then he moved to Boise to teach, first in the junior high and then at Boise H.S. His second year in Mountain Home they bought a house in Boise and Dale drove back and forth to school. Gregory Dale was born to them on May 5, 1976. Dale and Annie attend her church. It has been a great heartache to me that they are not Mormons. I feel Dale has deprived his family of the blessings of the priesthood. However, they are very active in their church and very good people. They lead good lives and help many. Dale is presently teaching special ed. And coaching football and baseball at Boise High School. He is chairman of the special ed. Department. He has a degree as a reading specialist and is working on a master’s degree in school administration. Dale is active in teachers’ groups and in politics. Annie too is active in politics. She left social worked because she, like Ann, had had enough of other people’s problems. She worked as a secretary in a junior high in Boise and then for several years as a secretary for the Idaho Fish and Game. She is presently administrative secretary to the man who is the head at the Mountain States Tumor Institute in Boise. She is especially efficient in her job. She has a great deal of responsibility but seems to thrive on it. Dale works with youth groups and is especially good with them, with his students and his athletic teams. Rick was in the army so they lived where the army sent him. They lived in Tacoma, Georgia and Germany. Rick was not a member of the church when he met Carolyn but he was baptized in Saigon while he was serving with the army in Viet Nam. He went into the army at seventeen when he graduated from high school. He has taken many specialized classes in the army and lots of college classes. He is especially interested in literature classes and is a talented writer. Rick and Carolyn are very active in the church. Rick has studied a lot and become a scriptural authority. While in Germany, Rick served as stake clerk and on the high council. Carolyn was Relief Society president for two years. Their lives centered around their family, the army and the church. Carolyn and Rick have had five sons. The first three were born in Georgia: Stephen Oct. 24, 1970, Christopher Jan. 4, 1972 and Adam Nov. 24, 1973. Jared was born in Germany Mar. 21, 1976 and has dual citizenship. In 1977 I went to Germany to visit them. I stayed a month. It was a great time. Carolyn couldn’t believe it when she saw me because my hair had turned white. We visited many castles and other interesting places. They attended church in an elegant house that had been used as a Gestapo headquarters. We went to Switzerland and Carolyn and I were going to the temple. However, I had moved my temple recommend from my wallet to my suitcase for safe-keeping. I remembered I didn’t have it with me when we were half way to Switzerland. We couldn’t go back--no time. So we only saw the outside of the temple. But we did see some beautiful lakes, mountains, and little towns. Rick’s job in the army required him to have a phone. It was very expensive. The army did not pay them enough to live on so they had to scrape by on very little. They had to get loans from the army to survive. I enjoyed my trip but was glad to get back home. Soon after, Rick was transferred back to the states to Atlanta, Georgia. It was here that their last son, Daniel, was born on June 21, 1978. Carolyn was not well. She had toxemia. I went back to help out. I was there about two weeks before Daniel’s birth and stayed two weeks afterwards. Both Carolyn and her new baby survived and were well but it was touch and go for a while. I was glad to be able to go and help them but I hated Georgia. I couldn’t adjust to the weather. I never want to go there again! Rick was released from the army in May, 1979. He, Carolyn and the boys came back to Pocatello. They stayed with me for three months. It was a scary time for Rick. He had gone into the army at 17. He had not learned a trade while in it. Here he was with seven people dependent on him and not trained for any job. However, within three days he had found work as a security guard. Then he went to work at the site in Arco. After a couple of years there he got a job at the post office in Pocatello. He has risen in his job until he is near the top in administration at the main post office. He is paid very well and with his retirement benefits they have a good income. They lived in a couple of rented houses and then finally bought a big two-story, older home. It is just right for their family and they love it. Carolyn’s teaching certificate, which she had never used, had expired. She took classes and re-certified as a secondary teacher. She started substituting but did not like the secondary schools. She was called a lot to sub in elementary schools, especially Indian Hills, and found she really like the younger students. She is nearly finished and hopes to be hired at Indian Hills. I am so very proud of her. She handles her home, her sons, church jobs, her substituting, college classes, V.F.W. leadership positions and some political involvement so well. She is level headed but compassionate. She and Rick are really happy together. I don’t know what I’d do without her. She gives my lots of companionship. We do things together and have long talks. Her sons are with me a lot. They are all big, hearty, noisy boys. I love them. Rick, too is very good to me. 

Friday, August 27, 2021

Colorized Photos of My Father's Family, James Wilford Wardle Jr.

 These are some colorized pictures of my father and his family




Grandma wedding day


Grandpa Wardle in school, top on right


Dad and horse

Grandma Jenny's Lake

Audrey

Audrey and Lula

Grandma Wardle with Dale and Carolyn

Verna military


Verna Idaho Falls

Grandma and Phyliss

Phyliss

Phyliss

Dad

Dad on a horse

Dad and Kenneth

Verna

Dad senior football picture second from left in back

Audrey

Verna and Phyliss

Phyliss Idaho Falls

Verna in Othello

Dad and Phyliss

Lula Marvin and Sally

Grandma, Lula and Marvin

Lula and Jack Beasley

Verna Grandma and Lula with Marvin or Danny


Grandma with Lula, Phyllis and Verna

Dad

Grandma Wardle

Lula with her daughters Sally and Sherry

Little Willie, Dad's older brother who passed away (with two sisters) before Dad was born


Grandma and Grandpa at Jenny's Lake

Dad and Kenneth at Grand Coulee Dam

four generations, William Haston, Garandpa, Audrey and Kenneth

Grandma and grandpa Wardle

Phyllis

Dad or grandpa?

Dad 3rd grade Pocatello, in the middle in the front

Chase family shortly before Ellis passed away

Bill and Verna

Verna