<Muriel Elaine Mann Memoir
My name is Muriel Elaine Mann. I was born June 20, 1926 in Denver, Denver County, Colorado. Some of the unusual conditions surrounding my birth were my mother mentioned I was almost born in the mountains. My parents always went to the mountains on Sunday afternoon after church and have a picnic lunch there by a mountain stream and relax with the Sunday paper, the Denver Post and often going on hikes. They just made it home the day I was born. My mother always remarked “I was almost born under a pine tree.”
I was third of three children born to my parents. I have one sister and one brother.
Their names and birthdays are:
My father name was Elwood Winthrop Smith and mothers name was Jesse Dorothea Baldwin Smith. Both my parents were born and raised in Milford, Connecticut. My grandmother on my mother’s side of the family died from Tuberculosis when my mother was five years old and had two older sisters Eva and Myrtis Baldwin. My mother then went to live with Aunt and Uncle Leland.
My father was a Carpenter and Contractor. He built many homes in the Denver area. Some were close to where we lived. He built a house on 1411 South Franklin Street which we moved into when I was a few days old my father than built a house next door at 1415 South Franklin and we moved there when it was finished. I Lived there until I was married in 1952. Other houses were on South High Street, South Race, Josephine Street and one or two in North Denver. When walking home from grade school I would go where he was working on High Street and collect nickel plates that came off electrical outlets and wait until my dad would quit work and ride home in the car. He was a hard working man and had skin cancer most of his life which started from a bruise on his finger by hitting his hand with a hammer. Three fingers were amputated from his left hand and about every ten years the cancer would break out at other parts of his body. His left leg was amputated from his knee down. He had a prosthesis for both his arm and leg. He lived until 1950 and died when the cancer affected his liver.
Our family were members in the Washington Park Community Church and I was Baptized and attended Primary and all the classes while growing up. I was married in that Church June 8, 1952 to Gayward Neal Mann.
GRADE SCHOOL
I started school at age 5 attending Washington Park Elementary School in Denver. Colorado. Some of my close friends were Audrey and her sister Emmy Lou Peterson, Hazel Sperry and Elaine Bush. My favorite teacher was Mrs. Pickle a sixth grade teacher who gave me her dog and I kept him until he was old and died. I took Tap Dancing lessons and piano lessons from a Mr. Williams and in Junior High I took lessons on the Clarinet and in High School played in the orchestra and band and the marching band and also played at the football games. In grade school I participated in the athletic games they had every year. I won many ribbons in the 50 & 100 yard dash, Broad Jump etc and would practice running back an forth to home and school on my lunch hour. .On weekends I would play dolls, roller skate or play games with girls around the neighborhood and in the winter would go Ice Skating on Washington Park Lake or in the mountains on Evergreen lake when I had the chance.
I attended church camp every summer for 4 or 5 years and went on nature hikes and learned mountain flowers and trees and attended devotional services every morning. We had to clean our bunk house every morning and after inspection the best cleaned bunkhouse was awarded the antlers that were put above the door for that day.
We always had to have a physical exam before going to camp and one year I almost didn’t make it and had to promise the doctor I would have my tonsils removed when I came home from camp. That was a promise I never kept. I have never had my tonsils removed to this day.
One special event while we were growing up that my friend Audrey’s brother Roy had an accident at the end of our alley and the handle bars came off of his bike and Roy fell forward and his two front teeth were broken off. Audrey and I upon her mother’s request had to go to the end of the alley and pick up his broken teeth. This incident was frightened for Audrey and I but we obeyed.
I admired my sister, Thelma, as she was 3 years older and could do many more things and I was a little jealous at times. She could play the piano quite well and my friend Audrey always wanted to sit by her on the piano bench and listen to her play. We both took lessons from Mr. Williams.
My sister, Thelma had a boy friend that rode a bicycle to our house to see her and he would let me ride his bike. It was so big but I managed to swing my leg over the bar and could hardly reach the pedals. I finally got a second-hand bicycle for Christmas after wanting and asking for one for so long. I was able to ride it to Byers Jr. High on good days in the fall and spring. It was about 4-5 miles to school.
We always wore dresses to school—no pants or jeans. Mother would make my dresses or I would wear “hand downs” from my sister. One year Aunt Myrtis sent me a “Big Apple Dress” from back east. I loved that dress as it was a store bought dress. I hated my shoes as I had to get such narrow shoes and they always were Oxfords that laced. I never wore shoes that were popular except in high school I rebelled and I got some penny loafers.
Hide and Seek was a favorite game or Kick the Can played in the alley with the neighborhood kids. I loved to roller skate on the side walk in our neighborhood and around the block. Of course I would play dolls or “house” with our baby dolls with Audrey and her sister Emmy-Lou. They were able to go to the Matinee on Saturday afternoons but I was never allowed to go as we never had that much money to spend on movies.
When I was in 6th grade, she got to Kindergarden every day and her grandfather would give me a quarter every week. I was making big money!
I attended High School at South High and graduated in June 1944. In our senior year, Our favorite song was “I’ll Be Seeing You” sung by Frank Sinatra. There were many tears as we would’t be seeing our friends after graduation. During my junior and high school years I played the Clarinet and was in the band and orchestra and the marching band and we played at the football games, and parades. Our uniforms were a dark jacket and white pants and a captains hat. Our school colors were purple and white. Also in high school I was a member of the Pep Club and also perform maneuvers on the football
field during half time and parades etc.
While in high school I went to dances at the school and one time I was asked to a dance and I got a new dress which was a tomato red dress with some black sequins in a design near the shoulder. I waited for my date to pick me up for the dance but he never came. The next day he called me and said he went fishing with his father or grandfather and someone was to call me but I never received the call. That was the only time I was ever “stood up”. One time I had a boy friend that loved to Jitter-Bug and he would throw me between his legs, up above his head and on one side and the other.
During my senior year I took a Comptometer course at Gates Rubber Company and afterwards was hired and worked in the Statistical Department. I worked there after I graduated from high school until I went to the University of Denver in 1946. The money I saved payed my tuition in college. I originally thought I would like to go to the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado but my father said no, that University of Denver was real close and I would live home and it would less expensive.
I went to many dances at the Rainbow Ballroom with two girls I worked with at Gates Rubber Company. We met several service men there but never got involved with them. I would invite them to dinner on Sunday and maybe a couple dates but nothing serious.
I started college in 1946 and graduated in 1949. My principle studies were in Instutional Management which is now called Dietetics . I met my husband in a Zoology class. He was a pre-med student hoping to be a physician someday. Since he was a veteran he went to school on the ”G.I Bill” which paid for his tuition. I had joined the Alpha Z Sorority and announced our engagement at a Sorority dinner. We went to many dances and sorority functions and went to many University of Denver football games and when the University quit the football program we went to the Hockey games.
We graduated the same year in 1949 and Gay took a job in Vernal, Utah and took some graduate classes at the college. I applied for Dietetic Internship and was accepted at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio in the September 1949-1950 class. During my Internship my father died and I made the trip home for a week and then returned again to Dayton, Ohio. I was one of eight interns and lived in a two story house on the hospital grounds,. My roommate was Dody Warwick from Pennsylvania. During the day we had classes and had to write case studies on patients besides working in scheduled departments at the hospital. Fran, one of the interns had a T.V and we would watch Kookla, Fran and Olive everyday. She was the only one that had a car and would take us around, the eight of us had a lot of fun together. One Sunday I was not scheduled for duty and went to a near-by church and the Minister’s sermon was about his vacation in the Colorado mountains and made me so homesick I cried.
After getting my certificate for completing my internship and returning to Denver I worked at Presbyterian Hospital and St. Joseph’s Hospital and then I applied to Colorado State Children’s Home and stayed there for nine years. It was a wonderful job and I loved the children. I only quit because Gay took a position in Washington D.C. as a Patent Examiner after he finished Low School.
We loved the mountains and went on many trips with family always taking a picnic lunch and stopping by a creek to eat and hike around. Sometimes we went to Red Rocks Amphitheater but mostly went up Turkey Creek Canyon or Estes Park and many more cities in the mountains. My family had a one-room cabin in Indian Hills which my father put together. He received it for payment for some work done for a family and took the building apart and put it back together for our cabin on a lot in Indian Hills. There was a wood stove, a table and chairs, cot that was about all inside. After so many years of going there mother got tired of always cleaning, sweeping the cabin every week that finally we would take our picnic up the canyon by a creek and eat by putting a blanket on the ground and then playing in the creek or going hiking in the hills.
We also liked playing card games like Canaster with my mother Jessie and Gay’s mother Vera on Sunday afternoons after dinner. After Gay finished law school we played Bridge with John and Marty on Saturday nights at our house or at their apartment.
I joined the Beta Gamma Sorority that consisted of professional and working girls and also the Eastern Star and was progressing up the chairs to Matron.
We were married June 8, 1952 at Washington Park Community Church and had a reception in parlors of the church my dress was a white satin gown fashioned with a full train a nylon net yoke embroidered with rhinestones and skirt of nylon net of embroidered lace over satin. The veil sewn with seed pearls and the bouquet of stephanotis and white roses centered with a white orchid corsage.
I had two bridesmaids, Joan Davis and Janet Miller who wore blue and peach net over satin ballerina length dresses. Mary Pfleiderer, maid of honor wore blue and peach net satin ballerina length dress. They carried bouquets of Talisman Roses. Cal Powers best man and ushers were Kenneth Lebarge and Julian Dennis. Pictures were taken in the Courtyard of the church.
Gay was very unhappy working as a Chemist and I suggested he try going to Law school and he registered in the night law school at University of Denver. He started in 1957 and graduated in 1960. I typed all the cases with carbon copy for him and a friend to have in class. After his graduation he took the Colorado Bar Examination and passed on the first try, which is very exceptional. Since he had a chemical background and a degree in science he thought about a law practice in Patents, Trademarks and Copyrights Law, with this in mind, he applied to the Government Patent Office to get experience
in processing patents and was excepted to be a Patent Examiner. I quit my job at the Colorado State Children’s home and we moved to Washington D.C. I flew our dog, Smitty and found an apartment in Virginia at 1712 Taylor Street that would take dogs. It was ideal because there was a wooded area behind the apartment where we could walk Smitty. I found out later he would be full of ticks and I had to pull the ticks out of his fur.
We went on honeymoon to Colorado Springs at the Broadmoor Hotel and took some short trips to Pike Peak and Manitou Springs as we had very little money.
I found a job as an Administrative Dietitian at Faulkier Hospital in Warrenton Virginia about 35 miles from Arlington where we lived. We bought very little furniture as we knew we were not going to stay there. We always thought we would eventually go back to Denver as both our mothers were there and we always called Denver our home. Our daughter was born while we were there in Virginia at Washington Hospital in D.C. March 23, 1962. Gay took a picture of me when I was pregnant to send to his Aunt Jewel as she would not believe I was expecting as we had been married ten years. Gay
suggested the name Linda so she is Linda Elaine Mann. Both our mothers came to visit us for this special event.
We went to the Kennedy Presidential Inaugural in 1962. The night before there was a blizzard and Gay had a hard time getting home as there were few buses running and all the hotels were full of people coming to D.C. for the inaugural He finally caught a bus but it got stuck on the bridge going into Virginia from cars abandon and stuck in the snow. He finally got home after getting off of the bus and walking the rest of the way home. We did go the next morning to the Inaugural and the parade.
While in Washington D.C. area we found so much history there and Gay got so interested in the history of the Civil War era and we took many trips to the battlefields in Virginia and Pennsylvania etc. When we first arrived in Washington the enactment of Manassas was going to be preformed with actual cannons and soldiers dressed in Confederate and Union uniforms. It was a real hot day and we sat in the bleachers and both got sunburns. We found it so interesting that every weekend we would take a picnic lunch and go to a different battlefield. In the winter months we took advantage of the many tourist spots as the Smithsonian Institute, museums, Ford’s Theater where President Lincoln was shot and many more interested places in D.C. and Virginia.
Gay also liked to play Tennis with a friend he met at the Patent office.
Gay’s next position was with a Paint Manufacturing Company and we moved to Cleveland, Ohio. We then found an apartment in Brecksville, a suburb of Cleveland. I also started working at Highland View Hospital as a Therapeutic Dietitian. The hospital provided day care for professional employees children which I took Linda to while I worked. We enjoyed many plays, concerts and the theater in Akron. Linda and I took the train to Milford, Connecticut to see Aunt Eva and Myrtis who lived in Norwalk. It was a new experience for Linda to be on a train.
We still had our hopes or desires that we would get back to Denver and Gay wanted to have his own law practice in Denver. After a couple of years in Ohio we eventually decided to make the move back to Denver and Gay opened an office in downtown Denver in the American National Bank Building and I took a job at Rose Memorial Hospital as a Dietitian. We stayed in my mother’s house, 1415 So Franklin Street. My hours were from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. and my mother would put Linda to bed when I worked. It was wonderful being in Denver with family but it did not last long as it was hard for Gay waiting for clients and doing some cases given him from the other Patent Attorneys office already established in Denver. We found it very hard to keep the office open and Gay got discouraged and applied for a Patent Attorney position with the government that had an opening at Point Mugu Naval Base Patent office in Camarillo, California.
One good thing while we were in Denver we learned to Square Dance. I convinced Gay to go to a Pot Luck Square Dance activity at the Church we were married at. We went although he said square dancing didn’t interest him and only went to satisfy me. I square danced at University of Denver and exhibitions at Red Rocks Amphitheater and Estes Park Barn in town and liked it very much. I promised him we would go home after the pot luck but after the caller got us all in a large circle and taught some of the basic steps put us in squares, Gay had the time of his life and could hardly wait until September to take lessons.
We also played Bridge with John, who Gay had gone to law school with, and his wife Marty every Saturday night at either our house or to their apartment.
It was hard to leave Denver and to leave our mothers again, as Gay accepted the position at Point Mugu Naval Base in California. We went to Ventura, California and found an apartment at the Buenaventura Gardens Apartment complex. The two bedroom apartment was nice being close to the Ventura mall and to the Mound Grade School. Linda really enjoyed the swimming pool and met some nice friends there. We stayed in the apartment about a year or so and decided to buy a house in Ondolondo, Ventura as the management was going to make the apartments into Condos. We bought the house at 872 Colina Vista which is a three bedroom home in the “well to do” residential area in the hills above Ventura. Since we had a house Linda wanted a dog so on her 7th we adopted Dixie a white Cockapoo (mixture between a cocker and a poodle). Gay’s secretary, Rosie dog had puppies and one day Gay arranged with Rosie for us to come see the puppies. So we went to dinner and told Linda we were going to visit Rosie she was a little unhappy but when we got to Rosie’s house and asked her if we could see the Puppies Linda was very happy and we picked out a white puppy and we named her Dixie.
We enjoyed Square Dancing all over California. Some of the clubs were the Barn Burners in Camarillo, the Bachelors ‘n Bacheloretts in Ventura, Grand Squares and the Outpost in Denver, Pi R Squares in Thousand Oaks, Jubileers, Alta Loma, The Mobile 8’s, Happy Squares in Semi Valley, Dudes ‘n’ darlings in Ojai, Starliters in Point Hueneme, Marry Twirlers in Glendora, California, Ripsnorters in Camarillo, Trail Dusters in Woodland Hills, Road Runners in Santa Paula, T-Cup Chains, Square Hoppers La Crescenta to name a few/ We also Round Danced with the club called Mission Rounds in Ventura. We went to the International Dance Festival in Los Vegas and Dance-a-Rama in Salt Lake City. We also earned the Crack Pot Badge, Rover Badge and the Sons of the Beaches for dancing on the beach or sand and many more.
We joined the Square Dance Club in Oxnard called the Romping Stompers, and held all the offices in the club as Secretary, Treasurer, Vice President and President two times. We went to many parties and picnics in Ojai, had fun visiting other clubs and stealing their banner so they would come visit our club to retrieve their banner. Jenny and Joe always had a New Years Eve party every year and every Christmas the group would go on a block buster party (that is to visit different member homes and have a appetizer at one house, salad at another and have the main course at Jenny and Joe’s house such as Chili) .
I think Gay liked his position in the Patent Office and many times they would get together at the Point Mugu Officers Club and over the holidays we had many functions to attend with friends. The head of the Patent Department always had a Christmas party at his home in Camarillo and also a party on the base.
We made one vacation trip to Denver to see our mothers and stop at Buffalo Bill's grave site and crossed the highest suspended bridge, and stopped to see Gay’s Aunt Lena in New Mexico before we drove to Denver.
VENTURA FIRE
In 1971 on a Friday I was home from work and had an appointment to get my hair styled and driving home I heard on the car radio about a fire on Colina Vista. I thought at that moment I had left the clothes dryer on or the iron on and there was a fire in our house, but the fire was in the baranka behind the houses on that street. Going up the street before reaching Colina Vista were so many fire trucks and fire hoses I turned around and went up Ondolondo Street to the top of the hill and parked the car and ran down to our house. A fireman was on the roof with an axe and the Fire Chief motioned for him to go further up hill. Our house only had a little damage. Dottie who lived across the street said she used the hose to extinguish flames around our porch. This fire surrounded all the hills around Ventura and the real damage was to a home 3-4 homes from us down the hill. The fire damage was so great the people had live in a motel 6 months while the repairs were made. Later I had the baranka behind our house built up with dirt and planted Ice Plant. No cause of the fire was known except the Fireman thought a spark from a motor bike started it. Our insurance was cancelled because of the risk of fire and we had the wrong kind of shingles on the roof which were acceptable to fire.
GAY’S DEATH
Our lives abruptly changed when Gay had his first heart attack which he recovered very quickly and was back square dancing. On Monday, Columbus Day, October ninth he woke up at 4 A.M. with severe stomach pains and I called Dr. Hart and drove him to his office and from there to Community Memorial Hospital and was admitted into the Intensive Care Unit. I came home about 7:30 A.M. and got Linda off to school then went back to the hospital. Gay died at 1 P.M. that afternoon.
Vera wanted me to bring him back to Denver and I knew the Mann family had family burial plots so I consented but when I got to Denver the Crown Hill Cemetery representative told me there was no vacant plots in the Mann family area. At that point I wished I had stayed in California. For the services I called the Minister that married us, Mr Halbert and when I picked out the flowers Linda picked a beautiful rose and it was laid in the casket. I called some friends in Denver and they were pallbearers and the Masonic Lodge did their service at the grave.
The weekend before his death he took a half day off from work on Friday and went to Linda’s grade school and talked to the Principal about Linda not being picked for the choir which she wanted to join. The following week the principal made arrangements and she joined the choir. Friday night we went to the fair and Linda invited a friend to go with us. Gay went on many rides with Linda and bought both girls a leather purse. Saturday we went square dancing as usual.
I stayed in Ventura until I retired from Camarillo State Hospital, which was about 20 years after Gay’s death. During this time Linda graduated from Buena High School in June 1980 and registered at BYU in the summer semester.
Gay’s mother, Vera came to live with me in 1975 and brought her nicer pieces of furniture such as the grand-father clock, marble coffee table, dishes and silverware, lamps, living room tables, and the shag rug she had in her apartment. In the meantime I converted the garage into a large room but Vera didn’t like it so I moved Linda into it. The room had a large closet, sliding glass doors leading to the patio and large windows on the side of the house and then I bought Linda a water-bed which was very nice in the room.
One of my summer vacations from the hospital we took a vacation to Hawaii. We went on a tour and saw all the islands, the Polynesian Cultural Center, a laua, Pineapple Farm, Grego Ferns, and a Bar b que where a whole pig was roasted, and even a night club where preformed and got Vera on stage and sang to her as she was the oldest person there. At the visitors center of the LDS church I signed the guest book and the next I knew 2 missionaries a couple months later came knocking on my door, and they asked me how I liked Hawaii and of course Linda was there and said “Let them in.” She knew who they were as she had seen them on the street. So that was the beginning of our lessons with the missionaries. Linda wanted to join the church and be baptized. I was not sure . She knew what she wanted, but I insisted she complete the confirmation class at the Church of the Foothills, which she did but persisted in joining the Mormon Church.
So I gave in and she was baptized, and I was baptized and confirmed January 1980.
One time I took Vera to an Arthritis doctor in Thousand Oaks and while we were waiting to see the doctor there was a woman who asked Linda what she was reading and Linda showed her the book and it was the Book of Mormon that she had checked out of the school library. This lady went out to her car got a paperback Book of Mormon and gave it to Linda. I’m sorry I didn’t get her name or address and invite her to Linda’s baptism.
Vera after a couple years and having health problems decided to wanted to go back to Denver and stay at the Eastern Star Home. She applied and was accepted and lived about a year; later she died. One time Linda and I went to visit her when she was in the Eastern Star Home,
Jesse, my mother came to visit Linda and me for about 3 months until she fell in my hallway when I was at work. She could not get up and when I came home I called my doctor and ambulance and took her to Community Memorial Hospital and was operated for a broken hip the next day. After recuperating in the Loma Vista Nursing Home she wanted to come home with me. After coming home it was hard for her to get around staying with me I had to remit her in the Loma Vista Nursing Home where she died a few weeks later. I took her back to Denver and she is buried next to my father in Fairview Cemetery.
Steven was born June 14, 1988.
November 18,1988 Thanksgiving with Linda and family and stayed a couple weeks and December 21 1988 Linda. Mat, Camie and Steven visited me in Ventura.
November 23 1989 went to Utah and had Thanksgiving at Robyn’s house and also this year I bought a van for $4,000 and got personalized license plates for it. E Z 2 Step was the license plate.
March 11 1989 Randy stayed at my house while he was looking for a job in Los Angeles. Penny and the children came here March 10, 1989. but then went back to Utah.
In November 10,1989, Linda, Mat Camie and Steven went to Disneyland.
October 17, 1989 there was an Earthquake in San Francisco 7.0, and I felt the motion in Ventura.
Spent Christmas in Moab and Church in Castle Valley December 1989. Bought Hot Tub, and it was delivered December 15, 1989.
July 16, 1989 I sanded and painted a doll bed, table and chairs that my father had made for me and my sister, for Camie’s birthday.
June 4, 1989 took the Van with Chawky my dog, to Linda’s and stayed the night and slept in the Van.
January 1991 when I was visiting Linda and Family my house in Ventura was broken into and many things taken plus my Van parked in the driveway. Later the Van was found in an alley by police. My bedroom was a mess with all the drawers dumped out and closet a mess also and makeup dresser and jewelry spilled out and many pieces taken. I made an insurance report and was reimbursed for things missing but that does not replace the sentimental value.
January 1, 1990 went to Rose Parade with Bill Fletcher and Cleo his friend had rented a vacant lot along the Parade route behind the bleachers and he had many friends with motor homes and they were all parked in the vacant lot around a circle and had a huge fire going in the middle to Barbeque food. I drove my Winnebago and parked it in the circle also and I changed into one of my Square Dance dress and Bill and I did round dance demonstration as entertainment with recorded music around the circle. Then Cleo gave us all tickets to the Rose Parade and we sat on the bleachers and watched the Parade the next day.
November 7, 1990 Amy Christine was born 8 lbs 12 oz. and on November 17, the family moved into a new house in Orem, Utah. It was their first home to own and had a large backyard and garden space.
I went with the family to Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, California May 27, 1994 and also stayed at Jackson Hole Lodge before coming back home. We also saw a skit of cowboys fighting in the street put on by the residents of the city.
I went on a Square Dancing Cruise with Bill Fletcher, Doc and Vivian, to Mexico. The ship stopped at Catalina Island and we got off and took a tour on the Island. Went back on the ship and continued on to Mexico. A square dance caller was also on the ship and we square danced on the ship.
Elwood, my brother, came and stayed with me, and I took him site seeing around. We hiked up Timpanogos peak, Art Museums and Salt Lake Temple Square, the Bird Sanctuary above Salt Lake and many other places. I also introduced him to Square Dancing and also introduced him to Leone Peterson whom he finally married. Leone belonged to the LDS Church, but he never did.
I took a Church History Tour with Margaret which was sponsored by Faldmo Tours. We flew from Salt Lake to Washington D.C. and then took buses around there, Ohio, New York, etc.
In May 28, 1994 went to Disneyland and stayed at Residence Inn in Orange California and also rented a car and went to the beach, Universal Studios and San Diego Sea World.
February 15,2001 Gene Etherington and I took a day’s trip to Hardware Ranch to see the elk with the Senior group from Provo.
On trips to Anacortes where Linda and the family lived I made many trips to see them and went to Butchart Gardens in May 5, 2000 to Canada on the Ferry.
I went to Camie's bridal shower in Hyde Park, Logan April 21, 2009 and Camie's wedding reception May 2009 in American Fork. She was married in the Logan Temple May 2009.
Amy’s graduation from High School May 29, 2009. Melanie’s graduation from American Fork High School was May 30, 2013 at the Marriott Center in Brigham Young University.
Alyssa's Bridal Shower July 20, 2013 ...
I was third of three children born to my parents. I have one sister and one brother.
Their names and birthdays are:
- Elwood Winthrop Smith was born June 24, 1917 and died July 26, 2008
- Thelma Cecilia Smith Tyler was born November 3, 1920 and died approx (1948)
My father name was Elwood Winthrop Smith and mothers name was Jesse Dorothea Baldwin Smith. Both my parents were born and raised in Milford, Connecticut. My grandmother on my mother’s side of the family died from Tuberculosis when my mother was five years old and had two older sisters Eva and Myrtis Baldwin. My mother then went to live with Aunt and Uncle Leland.
My father was a Carpenter and Contractor. He built many homes in the Denver area. Some were close to where we lived. He built a house on 1411 South Franklin Street which we moved into when I was a few days old my father than built a house next door at 1415 South Franklin and we moved there when it was finished. I Lived there until I was married in 1952. Other houses were on South High Street, South Race, Josephine Street and one or two in North Denver. When walking home from grade school I would go where he was working on High Street and collect nickel plates that came off electrical outlets and wait until my dad would quit work and ride home in the car. He was a hard working man and had skin cancer most of his life which started from a bruise on his finger by hitting his hand with a hammer. Three fingers were amputated from his left hand and about every ten years the cancer would break out at other parts of his body. His left leg was amputated from his knee down. He had a prosthesis for both his arm and leg. He lived until 1950 and died when the cancer affected his liver.
Our family were members in the Washington Park Community Church and I was Baptized and attended Primary and all the classes while growing up. I was married in that Church June 8, 1952 to Gayward Neal Mann.
GRADE SCHOOL
I started school at age 5 attending Washington Park Elementary School in Denver. Colorado. Some of my close friends were Audrey and her sister Emmy Lou Peterson, Hazel Sperry and Elaine Bush. My favorite teacher was Mrs. Pickle a sixth grade teacher who gave me her dog and I kept him until he was old and died. I took Tap Dancing lessons and piano lessons from a Mr. Williams and in Junior High I took lessons on the Clarinet and in High School played in the orchestra and band and the marching band and also played at the football games. In grade school I participated in the athletic games they had every year. I won many ribbons in the 50 & 100 yard dash, Broad Jump etc and would practice running back an forth to home and school on my lunch hour. .On weekends I would play dolls, roller skate or play games with girls around the neighborhood and in the winter would go Ice Skating on Washington Park Lake or in the mountains on Evergreen lake when I had the chance.
I attended church camp every summer for 4 or 5 years and went on nature hikes and learned mountain flowers and trees and attended devotional services every morning. We had to clean our bunk house every morning and after inspection the best cleaned bunkhouse was awarded the antlers that were put above the door for that day.
We always had to have a physical exam before going to camp and one year I almost didn’t make it and had to promise the doctor I would have my tonsils removed when I came home from camp. That was a promise I never kept. I have never had my tonsils removed to this day.
One special event while we were growing up that my friend Audrey’s brother Roy had an accident at the end of our alley and the handle bars came off of his bike and Roy fell forward and his two front teeth were broken off. Audrey and I upon her mother’s request had to go to the end of the alley and pick up his broken teeth. This incident was frightened for Audrey and I but we obeyed.
I admired my sister, Thelma, as she was 3 years older and could do many more things and I was a little jealous at times. She could play the piano quite well and my friend Audrey always wanted to sit by her on the piano bench and listen to her play. We both took lessons from Mr. Williams.
My sister, Thelma had a boy friend that rode a bicycle to our house to see her and he would let me ride his bike. It was so big but I managed to swing my leg over the bar and could hardly reach the pedals. I finally got a second-hand bicycle for Christmas after wanting and asking for one for so long. I was able to ride it to Byers Jr. High on good days in the fall and spring. It was about 4-5 miles to school.
We always wore dresses to school—no pants or jeans. Mother would make my dresses or I would wear “hand downs” from my sister. One year Aunt Myrtis sent me a “Big Apple Dress” from back east. I loved that dress as it was a store bought dress. I hated my shoes as I had to get such narrow shoes and they always were Oxfords that laced. I never wore shoes that were popular except in high school I rebelled and I got some penny loafers.
Hide and Seek was a favorite game or Kick the Can played in the alley with the neighborhood kids. I loved to roller skate on the side walk in our neighborhood and around the block. Of course I would play dolls or “house” with our baby dolls with Audrey and her sister Emmy-Lou. They were able to go to the Matinee on Saturday afternoons but I was never allowed to go as we never had that much money to spend on movies.
When I was in 6th grade, she got to Kindergarden every day and her grandfather would give me a quarter every week. I was making big money!
I attended High School at South High and graduated in June 1944. In our senior year, Our favorite song was “I’ll Be Seeing You” sung by Frank Sinatra. There were many tears as we would’t be seeing our friends after graduation. During my junior and high school years I played the Clarinet and was in the band and orchestra and the marching band and we played at the football games, and parades. Our uniforms were a dark jacket and white pants and a captains hat. Our school colors were purple and white. Also in high school I was a member of the Pep Club and also perform maneuvers on the football
field during half time and parades etc.
While in high school I went to dances at the school and one time I was asked to a dance and I got a new dress which was a tomato red dress with some black sequins in a design near the shoulder. I waited for my date to pick me up for the dance but he never came. The next day he called me and said he went fishing with his father or grandfather and someone was to call me but I never received the call. That was the only time I was ever “stood up”. One time I had a boy friend that loved to Jitter-Bug and he would throw me between his legs, up above his head and on one side and the other.
During my senior year I took a Comptometer course at Gates Rubber Company and afterwards was hired and worked in the Statistical Department. I worked there after I graduated from high school until I went to the University of Denver in 1946. The money I saved payed my tuition in college. I originally thought I would like to go to the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado but my father said no, that University of Denver was real close and I would live home and it would less expensive.
I went to many dances at the Rainbow Ballroom with two girls I worked with at Gates Rubber Company. We met several service men there but never got involved with them. I would invite them to dinner on Sunday and maybe a couple dates but nothing serious.
I started college in 1946 and graduated in 1949. My principle studies were in Instutional Management which is now called Dietetics . I met my husband in a Zoology class. He was a pre-med student hoping to be a physician someday. Since he was a veteran he went to school on the ”G.I Bill” which paid for his tuition. I had joined the Alpha Z Sorority and announced our engagement at a Sorority dinner. We went to many dances and sorority functions and went to many University of Denver football games and when the University quit the football program we went to the Hockey games.
We graduated the same year in 1949 and Gay took a job in Vernal, Utah and took some graduate classes at the college. I applied for Dietetic Internship and was accepted at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio in the September 1949-1950 class. During my Internship my father died and I made the trip home for a week and then returned again to Dayton, Ohio. I was one of eight interns and lived in a two story house on the hospital grounds,. My roommate was Dody Warwick from Pennsylvania. During the day we had classes and had to write case studies on patients besides working in scheduled departments at the hospital. Fran, one of the interns had a T.V and we would watch Kookla, Fran and Olive everyday. She was the only one that had a car and would take us around, the eight of us had a lot of fun together. One Sunday I was not scheduled for duty and went to a near-by church and the Minister’s sermon was about his vacation in the Colorado mountains and made me so homesick I cried.
After getting my certificate for completing my internship and returning to Denver I worked at Presbyterian Hospital and St. Joseph’s Hospital and then I applied to Colorado State Children’s Home and stayed there for nine years. It was a wonderful job and I loved the children. I only quit because Gay took a position in Washington D.C. as a Patent Examiner after he finished Low School.
We loved the mountains and went on many trips with family always taking a picnic lunch and stopping by a creek to eat and hike around. Sometimes we went to Red Rocks Amphitheater but mostly went up Turkey Creek Canyon or Estes Park and many more cities in the mountains. My family had a one-room cabin in Indian Hills which my father put together. He received it for payment for some work done for a family and took the building apart and put it back together for our cabin on a lot in Indian Hills. There was a wood stove, a table and chairs, cot that was about all inside. After so many years of going there mother got tired of always cleaning, sweeping the cabin every week that finally we would take our picnic up the canyon by a creek and eat by putting a blanket on the ground and then playing in the creek or going hiking in the hills.
We also liked playing card games like Canaster with my mother Jessie and Gay’s mother Vera on Sunday afternoons after dinner. After Gay finished law school we played Bridge with John and Marty on Saturday nights at our house or at their apartment.
I joined the Beta Gamma Sorority that consisted of professional and working girls and also the Eastern Star and was progressing up the chairs to Matron.
We were married June 8, 1952 at Washington Park Community Church and had a reception in parlors of the church my dress was a white satin gown fashioned with a full train a nylon net yoke embroidered with rhinestones and skirt of nylon net of embroidered lace over satin. The veil sewn with seed pearls and the bouquet of stephanotis and white roses centered with a white orchid corsage.
I had two bridesmaids, Joan Davis and Janet Miller who wore blue and peach net over satin ballerina length dresses. Mary Pfleiderer, maid of honor wore blue and peach net satin ballerina length dress. They carried bouquets of Talisman Roses. Cal Powers best man and ushers were Kenneth Lebarge and Julian Dennis. Pictures were taken in the Courtyard of the church.
Gay was very unhappy working as a Chemist and I suggested he try going to Law school and he registered in the night law school at University of Denver. He started in 1957 and graduated in 1960. I typed all the cases with carbon copy for him and a friend to have in class. After his graduation he took the Colorado Bar Examination and passed on the first try, which is very exceptional. Since he had a chemical background and a degree in science he thought about a law practice in Patents, Trademarks and Copyrights Law, with this in mind, he applied to the Government Patent Office to get experience
in processing patents and was excepted to be a Patent Examiner. I quit my job at the Colorado State Children’s home and we moved to Washington D.C. I flew our dog, Smitty and found an apartment in Virginia at 1712 Taylor Street that would take dogs. It was ideal because there was a wooded area behind the apartment where we could walk Smitty. I found out later he would be full of ticks and I had to pull the ticks out of his fur.
We went on honeymoon to Colorado Springs at the Broadmoor Hotel and took some short trips to Pike Peak and Manitou Springs as we had very little money.
I found a job as an Administrative Dietitian at Faulkier Hospital in Warrenton Virginia about 35 miles from Arlington where we lived. We bought very little furniture as we knew we were not going to stay there. We always thought we would eventually go back to Denver as both our mothers were there and we always called Denver our home. Our daughter was born while we were there in Virginia at Washington Hospital in D.C. March 23, 1962. Gay took a picture of me when I was pregnant to send to his Aunt Jewel as she would not believe I was expecting as we had been married ten years. Gay
suggested the name Linda so she is Linda Elaine Mann. Both our mothers came to visit us for this special event.
We went to the Kennedy Presidential Inaugural in 1962. The night before there was a blizzard and Gay had a hard time getting home as there were few buses running and all the hotels were full of people coming to D.C. for the inaugural He finally caught a bus but it got stuck on the bridge going into Virginia from cars abandon and stuck in the snow. He finally got home after getting off of the bus and walking the rest of the way home. We did go the next morning to the Inaugural and the parade.
While in Washington D.C. area we found so much history there and Gay got so interested in the history of the Civil War era and we took many trips to the battlefields in Virginia and Pennsylvania etc. When we first arrived in Washington the enactment of Manassas was going to be preformed with actual cannons and soldiers dressed in Confederate and Union uniforms. It was a real hot day and we sat in the bleachers and both got sunburns. We found it so interesting that every weekend we would take a picnic lunch and go to a different battlefield. In the winter months we took advantage of the many tourist spots as the Smithsonian Institute, museums, Ford’s Theater where President Lincoln was shot and many more interested places in D.C. and Virginia.
Gay also liked to play Tennis with a friend he met at the Patent office.
Gay’s next position was with a Paint Manufacturing Company and we moved to Cleveland, Ohio. We then found an apartment in Brecksville, a suburb of Cleveland. I also started working at Highland View Hospital as a Therapeutic Dietitian. The hospital provided day care for professional employees children which I took Linda to while I worked. We enjoyed many plays, concerts and the theater in Akron. Linda and I took the train to Milford, Connecticut to see Aunt Eva and Myrtis who lived in Norwalk. It was a new experience for Linda to be on a train.
We still had our hopes or desires that we would get back to Denver and Gay wanted to have his own law practice in Denver. After a couple of years in Ohio we eventually decided to make the move back to Denver and Gay opened an office in downtown Denver in the American National Bank Building and I took a job at Rose Memorial Hospital as a Dietitian. We stayed in my mother’s house, 1415 So Franklin Street. My hours were from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. and my mother would put Linda to bed when I worked. It was wonderful being in Denver with family but it did not last long as it was hard for Gay waiting for clients and doing some cases given him from the other Patent Attorneys office already established in Denver. We found it very hard to keep the office open and Gay got discouraged and applied for a Patent Attorney position with the government that had an opening at Point Mugu Naval Base Patent office in Camarillo, California.
One good thing while we were in Denver we learned to Square Dance. I convinced Gay to go to a Pot Luck Square Dance activity at the Church we were married at. We went although he said square dancing didn’t interest him and only went to satisfy me. I square danced at University of Denver and exhibitions at Red Rocks Amphitheater and Estes Park Barn in town and liked it very much. I promised him we would go home after the pot luck but after the caller got us all in a large circle and taught some of the basic steps put us in squares, Gay had the time of his life and could hardly wait until September to take lessons.
We also played Bridge with John, who Gay had gone to law school with, and his wife Marty every Saturday night at either our house or to their apartment.
It was hard to leave Denver and to leave our mothers again, as Gay accepted the position at Point Mugu Naval Base in California. We went to Ventura, California and found an apartment at the Buenaventura Gardens Apartment complex. The two bedroom apartment was nice being close to the Ventura mall and to the Mound Grade School. Linda really enjoyed the swimming pool and met some nice friends there. We stayed in the apartment about a year or so and decided to buy a house in Ondolondo, Ventura as the management was going to make the apartments into Condos. We bought the house at 872 Colina Vista which is a three bedroom home in the “well to do” residential area in the hills above Ventura. Since we had a house Linda wanted a dog so on her 7th we adopted Dixie a white Cockapoo (mixture between a cocker and a poodle). Gay’s secretary, Rosie dog had puppies and one day Gay arranged with Rosie for us to come see the puppies. So we went to dinner and told Linda we were going to visit Rosie she was a little unhappy but when we got to Rosie’s house and asked her if we could see the Puppies Linda was very happy and we picked out a white puppy and we named her Dixie.
We enjoyed Square Dancing all over California. Some of the clubs were the Barn Burners in Camarillo, the Bachelors ‘n Bacheloretts in Ventura, Grand Squares and the Outpost in Denver, Pi R Squares in Thousand Oaks, Jubileers, Alta Loma, The Mobile 8’s, Happy Squares in Semi Valley, Dudes ‘n’ darlings in Ojai, Starliters in Point Hueneme, Marry Twirlers in Glendora, California, Ripsnorters in Camarillo, Trail Dusters in Woodland Hills, Road Runners in Santa Paula, T-Cup Chains, Square Hoppers La Crescenta to name a few/ We also Round Danced with the club called Mission Rounds in Ventura. We went to the International Dance Festival in Los Vegas and Dance-a-Rama in Salt Lake City. We also earned the Crack Pot Badge, Rover Badge and the Sons of the Beaches for dancing on the beach or sand and many more.
We joined the Square Dance Club in Oxnard called the Romping Stompers, and held all the offices in the club as Secretary, Treasurer, Vice President and President two times. We went to many parties and picnics in Ojai, had fun visiting other clubs and stealing their banner so they would come visit our club to retrieve their banner. Jenny and Joe always had a New Years Eve party every year and every Christmas the group would go on a block buster party (that is to visit different member homes and have a appetizer at one house, salad at another and have the main course at Jenny and Joe’s house such as Chili) .
I think Gay liked his position in the Patent Office and many times they would get together at the Point Mugu Officers Club and over the holidays we had many functions to attend with friends. The head of the Patent Department always had a Christmas party at his home in Camarillo and also a party on the base.
We made one vacation trip to Denver to see our mothers and stop at Buffalo Bill's grave site and crossed the highest suspended bridge, and stopped to see Gay’s Aunt Lena in New Mexico before we drove to Denver.
VENTURA FIRE
In 1971 on a Friday I was home from work and had an appointment to get my hair styled and driving home I heard on the car radio about a fire on Colina Vista. I thought at that moment I had left the clothes dryer on or the iron on and there was a fire in our house, but the fire was in the baranka behind the houses on that street. Going up the street before reaching Colina Vista were so many fire trucks and fire hoses I turned around and went up Ondolondo Street to the top of the hill and parked the car and ran down to our house. A fireman was on the roof with an axe and the Fire Chief motioned for him to go further up hill. Our house only had a little damage. Dottie who lived across the street said she used the hose to extinguish flames around our porch. This fire surrounded all the hills around Ventura and the real damage was to a home 3-4 homes from us down the hill. The fire damage was so great the people had live in a motel 6 months while the repairs were made. Later I had the baranka behind our house built up with dirt and planted Ice Plant. No cause of the fire was known except the Fireman thought a spark from a motor bike started it. Our insurance was cancelled because of the risk of fire and we had the wrong kind of shingles on the roof which were acceptable to fire.
GAY’S DEATH
Our lives abruptly changed when Gay had his first heart attack which he recovered very quickly and was back square dancing. On Monday, Columbus Day, October ninth he woke up at 4 A.M. with severe stomach pains and I called Dr. Hart and drove him to his office and from there to Community Memorial Hospital and was admitted into the Intensive Care Unit. I came home about 7:30 A.M. and got Linda off to school then went back to the hospital. Gay died at 1 P.M. that afternoon.
Vera wanted me to bring him back to Denver and I knew the Mann family had family burial plots so I consented but when I got to Denver the Crown Hill Cemetery representative told me there was no vacant plots in the Mann family area. At that point I wished I had stayed in California. For the services I called the Minister that married us, Mr Halbert and when I picked out the flowers Linda picked a beautiful rose and it was laid in the casket. I called some friends in Denver and they were pallbearers and the Masonic Lodge did their service at the grave.
The weekend before his death he took a half day off from work on Friday and went to Linda’s grade school and talked to the Principal about Linda not being picked for the choir which she wanted to join. The following week the principal made arrangements and she joined the choir. Friday night we went to the fair and Linda invited a friend to go with us. Gay went on many rides with Linda and bought both girls a leather purse. Saturday we went square dancing as usual.
I stayed in Ventura until I retired from Camarillo State Hospital, which was about 20 years after Gay’s death. During this time Linda graduated from Buena High School in June 1980 and registered at BYU in the summer semester.
Gay’s mother, Vera came to live with me in 1975 and brought her nicer pieces of furniture such as the grand-father clock, marble coffee table, dishes and silverware, lamps, living room tables, and the shag rug she had in her apartment. In the meantime I converted the garage into a large room but Vera didn’t like it so I moved Linda into it. The room had a large closet, sliding glass doors leading to the patio and large windows on the side of the house and then I bought Linda a water-bed which was very nice in the room.
One of my summer vacations from the hospital we took a vacation to Hawaii. We went on a tour and saw all the islands, the Polynesian Cultural Center, a laua, Pineapple Farm, Grego Ferns, and a Bar b que where a whole pig was roasted, and even a night club where preformed and got Vera on stage and sang to her as she was the oldest person there. At the visitors center of the LDS church I signed the guest book and the next I knew 2 missionaries a couple months later came knocking on my door, and they asked me how I liked Hawaii and of course Linda was there and said “Let them in.” She knew who they were as she had seen them on the street. So that was the beginning of our lessons with the missionaries. Linda wanted to join the church and be baptized. I was not sure . She knew what she wanted, but I insisted she complete the confirmation class at the Church of the Foothills, which she did but persisted in joining the Mormon Church.
So I gave in and she was baptized, and I was baptized and confirmed January 1980.
One time I took Vera to an Arthritis doctor in Thousand Oaks and while we were waiting to see the doctor there was a woman who asked Linda what she was reading and Linda showed her the book and it was the Book of Mormon that she had checked out of the school library. This lady went out to her car got a paperback Book of Mormon and gave it to Linda. I’m sorry I didn’t get her name or address and invite her to Linda’s baptism.
Vera after a couple years and having health problems decided to wanted to go back to Denver and stay at the Eastern Star Home. She applied and was accepted and lived about a year; later she died. One time Linda and I went to visit her when she was in the Eastern Star Home,
Jesse, my mother came to visit Linda and me for about 3 months until she fell in my hallway when I was at work. She could not get up and when I came home I called my doctor and ambulance and took her to Community Memorial Hospital and was operated for a broken hip the next day. After recuperating in the Loma Vista Nursing Home she wanted to come home with me. After coming home it was hard for her to get around staying with me I had to remit her in the Loma Vista Nursing Home where she died a few weeks later. I took her back to Denver and she is buried next to my father in Fairview Cemetery.
Steven was born June 14, 1988.
November 18,1988 Thanksgiving with Linda and family and stayed a couple weeks and December 21 1988 Linda. Mat, Camie and Steven visited me in Ventura.
November 23 1989 went to Utah and had Thanksgiving at Robyn’s house and also this year I bought a van for $4,000 and got personalized license plates for it. E Z 2 Step was the license plate.
March 11 1989 Randy stayed at my house while he was looking for a job in Los Angeles. Penny and the children came here March 10, 1989. but then went back to Utah.
In November 10,1989, Linda, Mat Camie and Steven went to Disneyland.
October 17, 1989 there was an Earthquake in San Francisco 7.0, and I felt the motion in Ventura.
Spent Christmas in Moab and Church in Castle Valley December 1989. Bought Hot Tub, and it was delivered December 15, 1989.
July 16, 1989 I sanded and painted a doll bed, table and chairs that my father had made for me and my sister, for Camie’s birthday.
June 4, 1989 took the Van with Chawky my dog, to Linda’s and stayed the night and slept in the Van.
January 1991 when I was visiting Linda and Family my house in Ventura was broken into and many things taken plus my Van parked in the driveway. Later the Van was found in an alley by police. My bedroom was a mess with all the drawers dumped out and closet a mess also and makeup dresser and jewelry spilled out and many pieces taken. I made an insurance report and was reimbursed for things missing but that does not replace the sentimental value.
January 1, 1990 went to Rose Parade with Bill Fletcher and Cleo his friend had rented a vacant lot along the Parade route behind the bleachers and he had many friends with motor homes and they were all parked in the vacant lot around a circle and had a huge fire going in the middle to Barbeque food. I drove my Winnebago and parked it in the circle also and I changed into one of my Square Dance dress and Bill and I did round dance demonstration as entertainment with recorded music around the circle. Then Cleo gave us all tickets to the Rose Parade and we sat on the bleachers and watched the Parade the next day.
November 7, 1990 Amy Christine was born 8 lbs 12 oz. and on November 17, the family moved into a new house in Orem, Utah. It was their first home to own and had a large backyard and garden space.
I went with the family to Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, California May 27, 1994 and also stayed at Jackson Hole Lodge before coming back home. We also saw a skit of cowboys fighting in the street put on by the residents of the city.
I went on a Square Dancing Cruise with Bill Fletcher, Doc and Vivian, to Mexico. The ship stopped at Catalina Island and we got off and took a tour on the Island. Went back on the ship and continued on to Mexico. A square dance caller was also on the ship and we square danced on the ship.
Elwood, my brother, came and stayed with me, and I took him site seeing around. We hiked up Timpanogos peak, Art Museums and Salt Lake Temple Square, the Bird Sanctuary above Salt Lake and many other places. I also introduced him to Square Dancing and also introduced him to Leone Peterson whom he finally married. Leone belonged to the LDS Church, but he never did.
I took a Church History Tour with Margaret which was sponsored by Faldmo Tours. We flew from Salt Lake to Washington D.C. and then took buses around there, Ohio, New York, etc.
In May 28, 1994 went to Disneyland and stayed at Residence Inn in Orange California and also rented a car and went to the beach, Universal Studios and San Diego Sea World.
February 15,2001 Gene Etherington and I took a day’s trip to Hardware Ranch to see the elk with the Senior group from Provo.
On trips to Anacortes where Linda and the family lived I made many trips to see them and went to Butchart Gardens in May 5, 2000 to Canada on the Ferry.
I went to Camie's bridal shower in Hyde Park, Logan April 21, 2009 and Camie's wedding reception May 2009 in American Fork. She was married in the Logan Temple May 2009.
Amy’s graduation from High School May 29, 2009. Melanie’s graduation from American Fork High School was May 30, 2013 at the Marriott Center in Brigham Young University.
Alyssa's Bridal Shower July 20, 2013 ...
