The Modern World

In 1951 Grandma took her very first trip out of the State of Utah. She went with Walt and Jerry and our family in the car to Portland to see Alice and Harold and then all the way down the coast to San Francisco to see Maude and Flonce. The Pacific Ocean, Redwood Forest, and the cable cars were all just as new to her at sixty-two as they were to me at six.

Changing times and modern conveniences were hard on Grandma. She never did trust electricity and each time she left her house, she would pull every plug except the refrigerator. Check books were also taboo. Instead, each month she would go around to every utility and pay her bills in cash. Mom would schedule one day a month to drive her around to all of the utilities and then they would go to lunch. She never could see any good in television, and doctors were all quacks. Once, she decided to get her hair cut and fixed in a beauty shop. She nervously watched them cut and curl her hair, but when it came time to get under the dryer there was no way she was going to put her head under that thing. Finally, the beauty shop sent her home in pin curls and my mother went over later and combed it out. She hated her short hair and was much happier when it finally grew long enough to wear in a bun again.

When Social Security was passed, Walt helped her apply, and because she had worked at the rest home for so many years, she was qualified for the benefits. This made it possible for her to retire and live in her little home without help from her children. For an independent soul like Grandma’s, this was a big deal.

In 1963, Grandma was faced with her first morality change when Ralph and Jean got their divorce. Everyone expected Grandma to balk at the idea, but she surprised them all by saying, “Good for you.” The only thing was that now she worried about Ralph’s loneliness. Two years later Ralph met Lorna Roosendaal and they fell in love. Grandma was extremely happy. She liked Lorna very much and she was glad that Ralph had roots again. They were married October 4, 1965, but about the same time, Ralph became very ill. Exactly three months later Ralph died. It was very hard on Lorna and it was very hard on Grandma. He was her first child to die and he had just begun to be happy. Grandma accepted it as she always accepted everything, but she was beginning to get weary.

About a year later, modern conveniences challenged her again. Walt and Jerry were flying to San Francisco to see Flonce and Maude and they asked her to go with. The thoughts of seeing Maude and Flonce and their new home excited her, but to fly? As usual, Grandma accepted the challenge and flew to San Francisco. She loved the trip and I think she would have gone again if her health hadn’t started failing her. She had always been troubled with arthritis, but each year her hands would get a little stiffer and her legs just wouldn’t move as well. After being coaxed for months, she finally agreed to see a doctor and it was found that besides arthritis, she also had sugar diabeties. It was very difficult now for Grandma to take care of herself. It was hard for her to walk, hard for her to fix the right kind of meals, and hard for her to remember her medicine. My mother used to call her each day to remind her to take her pills. One morning she didn’t answer the phone. Mom called Bob and he went over to get her to answer the door. There was no answer,r and he didn’t have a key. Mom and Dad, who did have a key, hurried from Bountiful where they had moved, and found Grandma in an insulin coma. It was obvious then that she would need better care. She moved in with Walt and Jerry for awhile, but Mom couldn’t help her get up and down, and in and out of bed without hurting her own back. Finally, she was admitted to Hill Haven Rest Home. Grandma never did like the home, was mad at being put there, and would constantly ask when she could go home to her little white house.

At first, she would do her exercises and try to learn to walk better so she could go home, but after she fell and broke her hip, she seemed to give up trying. At that time, the doctor said her mind was alert and well, but her body was all worn out from all of the hard work she had done over her life. He said he doubted she would walk again.

In 1973 Gordon died. She was weak and tired, but she attended the funeral and buried her son properly.

Grandma lived in the rest home the rest of her life and died there five years later November 8, 1974. In those five years she never gave up hope of going home to her little white house.

My Grandma had a sharp tongue and a big heart. She always worked hard and said what she thought. In her childhood horses and buggies were the mode of transportation, but before she died, she flew on an airplane. Outdoor plumbing was the only thing around for half of her life, but in her last years there were computers starting to control the world. In her youth, children died of polio which she had nursed Walt through, but she lived to see the disease almost eradicated through vaccines. She lived through two world wars and many inventions that made her life much easier. In her youth, she lived in a log cabin. She took over as mother for a family of seven when she was only nineteen. She lived through poverty after Alexander died and raised six children. She found a job and provided her own income and became a home owner in her later years. She was a great lady.

Grandma around 1953 in front of

Walt and Jerry's Chevy

Grandma Easter

Lake St. backyard summer abt 1946

Granny Wray, Margie, Marilynn, Mike, Jerry, Grandma Wanlass

In Backyard Walt's house on Lake Street 1946-47

Back row: Grace Carratelli, Virginia Wanlass, Isabella Field

Frt row: Virginia Carratelli, Jerry Wanlass, Granny Wray, Grandma Wanlass

boy in front - Tony or Mike Wanlass

On trip to Redwood in California

Marilynn, Margie, Walt, Marianne Wanlass

Grandma Wanlass