Grandpa's Funeral

4 generations (Kate)

Welcome Baby Rachel (I think!)

Rachel's blessing

Rachel's Blessing

Eva and Walter's courtship/marriage

I discovered that Grandpa was married previously, but divorced when he discovered his wife with another man (I think the wife's name was Gladys).

Walter and Eva met at the Coconut Grove at a stag dance for the soldiers.  Eva was only 16 and her father only allowed her to go if she took someone older (I guess 18 yrs old was the customary age to attend), and she wasn't allowed to bring any boys home.  Eva would go every Saturday night and for 3 or 4 weeks she and Walter would dance.  She remembers that she wasn't looking to "find a man," she just wanted to date and have fun.

After a few weeks of meeting up at the stag dances, Walter asked her if he could take her home.  Well, she had come with her older friend, Afton, and Eva said that she couldn't leave Afton alone, so Walt offered to take her home as well.  Since it was late the city buses were still running, but the buses out to Holladay where Afton and Eva lived were no longer running.  So all three took the city bus to Walter's house so he could borrow his mothers car to take the girls home.

Several years after this, Esther (Walt's mother) told Eva that when Walt came in to ask permission to borrow the car (it was late and Esther was sleeping), he told Esther "I found the girl I'm going to marry."

Eva says she wasn't that impressed with him.  In fact, when he would call her at work, she would get her co-workers to answer and say she wasn't there.  In describing Walt, Eva said, "He was such a happy go lucky guy (I got the impression this wasn't attractive to her), and was a friend to everyone.  He had no enemies and there were no strangers to him.  People called him 'whitey' because his hair was so white.  Although Sam, his friend at the club, called him "Vitalis."  Walt always wore a ball cap and when Sam would bring Walt his dinner he would knock the ball cap off to reveal Walt's matted down hat hair.  And Sam would say 'why don't you use 'vitalis' to smooth your hair down?'  So everyone at the club called him Vitalis.

When Walt and Eva decided to marry.  Esther would allow them to send out invitations or to plan a big reception.  Gee, Walt's sister had married only 4 months before, and Esther didn't want to ask her friends to bring more gifts.  Also, all her friends had been invited to Walt's first marriage and so asking her friends to bring gifts to Walt and Eva's was too much for Esther.

So Walt and Eva were married quietly in the front room of the home that housed their apartment.  Grandma wore a dusty pink suit (her favorite).

Note about the dusty pink suit:  Grandma loved the suit.  Of course, after having babies she couldn't fit into it for a while, but kept it in the back of the closet until she lost the baby weight.  Grandpa knew she hadn't worn it for a while, so he sold it to his sister-in-law for some cash to gamble with.  This was very upsetting to Grandma.

After the wedding and small reception, everyone left...including Walter!  He left with his best man, Jack Rose (whom Eva says she will never forgive for teaching Walt how to gamble) to play cards.  Eva's new Father-in-law sat with her until she was ready to go to bed.  And that's how she spent her wedding night.

Walt told grandma that if he ever caught her cheating on him he would leave her immediately.  Grandma wasn't working during the day and so when he was working during the day she would work to make his favorite pies.  When he got home from work she had a pie waiting for him every night (usually banana cream or lemon).

July 19, 2011 interview with Eva Frakes

So, I think I've got bitten by the family history bug...and I totally feel the spirit of Elijah!  I took sometime last night to visit with grandma to get some dates, and stories.  Wish I thought to bring the camcorder, cause it would be so much better watching/hearing her tell the stories.  Next time!

So these are some tidbits I gathered:

• Thomas R. Lewis was Eva's father.  He was born in Wales, Eng and when he was 5, his family joined the church and came to the United States to join with the saints.  His mother, Ellen Belcher, died shortly after arriving in the US.  I wonder if she made the trek West, or died before that?  Thomas was a police officer in Rock Springs WY when Eva was born.  Some of Eva's memories of him:  "he was not a talker, unless he was scolding me for something.  When I was born he was hoping for a son.  When he saw me for the first time, he was thrilled that I had the same deep dimple in my chin as he did.  No one had a chance to tell him that I was a girl, so when he was told he was disappointed and wouldn't even look at me...so whenever my siblings and I were fighting, it was always my fault and I was the one to get scolded.  He used to tell me that I would amount to nothing.  When I was older and out of school, just after the war started, we would end our shifts around the same time (we both worked the midnight shift) and walk home together planning what we would eat for breakfast.  We got kind of close that way."  Since they were just coming out of the depression and the war had just started,Grandma said breakfast would consist of things they had in their yard.  They had their own chickens, so eggs were standard, and they also had their own ham/bacon.
• Ann Elizabeth Rynearson (known for her pies).  This was Eva's grandmother.  During harvest times, the community would often help each other gather the harvests.  The men would work during the day bringing in the harvest and the women would prepare food for everyone to share when the work was done that day.  Ann was very well known for her pies.  Eva said the crust would melt in your mouth.  Often Ann would begin early in the morning making all varieties of pies and then show up to the meal with 10-12 pies.  Eva also talked about how Ann made chicken noodle soup and would put it in a beautiful china soup terrain with a beautiful lid and spoon.  When she died Eva hoped to get that terrain, but another family member (whom didn't have much to do with Ann until she died and then came to get what they could, according to Eva) took it and Eva's father just said to let them have whatever they wanted, he didn't want to fight about it.  Ann also made rolls (similar to croissant rolls today).  She would take the dough and roll it out and then spread and cover it with lard, fold it up, roll it out again and cover with lard.  This she did 5-6 times and then would cut the dough in squares and bake.  Ann never measured anything, just adding a pinch her and a shake there...Eva cooks much the same way (unless she is trying to give a recipe to a grand daughter and then will try to come up with measurements).