by Barbara Richan Harris

Velma was born Dec. 14, 1908 in Escalante, Utah, the fourth child of Edmund Albert and Ida Mae Smith Thompson. Though she was born a twin, she never had the fun that goes with mistaken identity, and the teasing of family and friends. Her twin sister Vilda died Aug. 16, 1909. They were only eight months old. Velma was one of 10 children, 4 girls and 6 boys, born to her parents.

Vilda and Velma were blessed Jan. 3, 1909 in Escalante, Garfield Co., Utah. Velma, by Ernest A. Griffin, Vilda, by Andrew P. Schow.

Velma received her education in Escalante in a one-room school house. Velma was a very good student. In the first grade she received an award for being neither tardy nor absent for 6 1/4 months. Her formal education was to the 8th grade; however, she received more education than she could get in a school room. She became noted for her willingness to work and to assist others. She was a helping hand to her mother, often called upon to assist in a midwife capacity in homes of the community. She was also called upon by many housewives to help in their homes. She responded to these requests, going often to do the weekly laundry as she was so good at getting a clean wash. She often talked about how she ironed piles of shirts that belonged to her brothers, how she did not care for the job then but would find out later shirts were a lot easier to iron then little girl's dresses.

When Velma was almost 14 years old her father and mother took their family to the Manti Temple where they were sealed for eternity. One of her first calls for Church service was when she was about 15 years old. She was called as Secretary to the Primary. Her mother was first counselor in the Primary.

The 3rd day of October in 1928, Velma married Edgar Ray Richan in Salt Lake LDS Temple. To this union was born 13 children-10 girls and 3 boys. Shortly after they were married they moved to Tooele county, in Utah, where Dad had a job working on a farm. The depression years forced many out of work ...so they moved to Ogden area to try to improve. Dad worked for a short while at Harrisville brick yard, and perhaps there learned the trade of stone mason. This knowledge came in handy when he found work with the W.P.A. and was one of the stone masons who built the wall that borders the Ogden River in Ogden canyon. Like many of that time he found work whenever and wherever, to buy bread to put on the table for the family.

VILDA IDA RICHAN TURNER: The first child named after Vilda Thompson and Ida Mae Smith. Vilda grew to be a very beautiful women. She married Wallace Turner in 1946 and had 7 children. Joey died when he was only 22 months. She was not able to raise the other 6 children because she died July 8, 1956, just before her 27th birthday, of lock jaw.

MARY LEE RICHAN REEDER: Second child named after Grandma Mary Ann Richan. I remember when Mama and Daddy came to visit us. We lived on a steep hill in Grantsville. Sometimes after winter the road got so bad we could not drive our car up the hill. We would have to walk up the hill and leave our cars at the bottom. Daddy had a hard time walking up the hill because his health was not good. He would bring a chair with him and walk a short distance then set down for a minute. He was able to get to the cabin that way. My daughters wanted to help him by carrying the chair, but he wanted the chair in his hand so he had it when he needed it. My granddaughter loved cottage cheese and Mama remembered to bring her some when she came. My girls loved to flock around dad, they liked to do things for him, the girls would ask him if he wanted a hot dog because of his health, hot dogs were a "no no " but he would eat them anyway. Mom got after Evon for giving Dad a hot dog. Evon felt real bad, because she gave him a hot dog. When dad's health got worse Howard would bring Mom to see us. Mom loved to set and talk and she never wanted to leave when Howard was ready to go. He would get nervous and keep pestering her until she would go.

Dad always had a beautiful garden. When they lived in Mantua, his picture was in the newspaper with a very BIG potato he grew. He loved sharing the things he grew with others.

VELMA IRENE RICHAN WILSON: Third child named after Mom Velma Thompson, and Aunt Serilda Irene Smith.

MYRTLE ISABELL RICHAN MANGUM: Fourth child, named after Great Grandma Isabell Simpson. Mama loved a radio program named Myrt and Marg. So she named Myrtle after Myrt. When we were young Mama kept our hair in braids, when it got too long to handle she would cut it in a Dutch boy cut.

BARBARA ELIZABETH RICHAN HARRIS: Fifth child named after Great Grandma Elizabeth Jennett Smithson. My first memories of mama were when we lived on canyon road in Ogden, Utah. When Thora Ann was born, Daddy left to bring mom home from the hospital. We went for a swim in a ditch that was in the back of our house. We were never allowed to get near that ditch. Mama was very upset with us. Vilda got the punishment because she was the oldest, but the worst punishment of all was that Mama would not let us get near the baby because we were wet. We lived in a four room house. I have a hard time imagining how mama put up with eight kids in such a small house. When we got the measles and had to be quarantined, I do not remember if we all had them at the same time, but we all had to stay in the house. Mama took care of us. I never thought about how she must have felt, but when they took the quarantine sign down we all ran out side and ran around the house shouting "We're out of jail, we're out of jail."

Mama was a kind and patient person, but she was also very feisty. She and the neighbor man got in a fight. He had picked up a rock and was going to hit her with it, she did not back down, but rushed us kids in the house to protect us from seeing that kind of violence; then she stood up to him. I do not know what happened, but she did not get hit with the rock.

We moved to Farmington, Utah, into an even smaller house with only two rooms. We lived on a hill above the cemetery. Many happy times was spent in that house. The landlord let dad build on two more rooms and we thought we were in heaven to have such a big kitchen and we kids had a bedroom. We even had a cellar which Dad fixed up for Vilda. She was a teenager and wanted her privacy.

We took many trips to see Grandma and Grandpa Thompson when they lived across the street from the post office in Ogden, we had to sit on each others' laps in the car, and we all wanted to sit by the window. But we had a lot of fun-we sang most of the way. Dad started it with, "It Ain't Going to Rain No More." We once left Ray and had to go back and get him. He was sitting by the gate crying; he said he thought we were never coming back.

During the war, ration books were issued. We had to use the coupons in the ration books to get food and gasoline. Our ration books got lost once and Mom and Dad were very concerned how they were going to get the needed food for the family. We looked all over the hill and down the road. I don't remember if we found them or not but we got along all right. After Grandpa Thompson died, Grandma moved to Brigham City.

When the Second World War ended, we were so happy. This meant Uncle Dillard, and Uncle Jim could come home. We were on our way to Brigham City to see Grandma. Two solders were walking along the road, and Mary stuck her head out the window and shouted, "The war is over." They shouted and waved back at us; it was a very happy time.

Mom had a friend who owned a house in north Farmington and had told Mom and Dad they could buy it. We moved again to what we thought would be ours. It was an adobe house with three bedrooms a living room and a kitchen. The adobe made it easy for the rats to come in, and at night they would bite us on the ears. We had to sleep with our heads under the covers. Lois was a small baby and Mom had her in her arms. While she slept a rat bit Mom on the finger. Mom was so upset to think a rat had gotten so close to the baby. Grandpa Thompson died while we lived in North Farmington. I remember very well how upset Mom was because Grandpa was not getting good care at the hospital. Mom was doing the wash and she turned around and he was sitting in the high chair. Mom knew then he had died. (A note! High chairs were much sturdier then, made of wood and with a leaf that swings to the back of the chair, making it possible for bigger people to sit in, and we often did when the other chairs were taken.)

Dad and Mom always paid their bills, but because mom's friend was having some problems, she took the house from us. It was OK by me I was glad to get away from the rats, and the horrible tasting well water.

Dad was a big tease and when we got hurt, he would say, "Let me see where you got hurt." Then he would take out his pocket knife and take hold of our finger or wherever it was hurt and say, "I'll fix it, " and act like he was going to cut it off. When we protested, he would say, "That would get rid of the hurt wouldn't it." Once I ask dad if I could have a bike, and he said, "When my ship comes in, I'll get you a dozen bikes." He told us this whenever we asked for something; he wanted to get it for us. I know if he had the money he would buy us every thing we wanted. We moved to Kaysville. The house in Kaysville was a big house. We had lots of room. By this time Vilda was married and there were nine of us living at home. Mom always had plenty to do. If she was not taking care of us, she was cooking, sewing, quilting, crocheting, or making our underwear out of flour sacks. I found a poem in a Log Cabin Dutch Oven cook book that fits so good here.

We had more li'l ones and if I remember right, we had a big red "J" on ours.

Mom loved to have her brothers and sister come to see her. We all had so much fun when Uncle Ira and Aunt Velma came to see us. There was always someone to play with. Mom was so proud of her only living sister, Aunt Dora; she loved her and loved to have her visit us. After Kaysville we moved to Hooper into an even bigger house. The houses we lived in before this time did not have indoor plumbing or electricity. The house in Hooper had both; now we knew we were in heaven.

Mom got a Dexter twin tub washing machine. She loved it. After what she had to wash with before, this was a real luxury. Wash day was a big day, laundry piled high. Mom was very particular about how it was done. The clothes had to be hung on the line in a certain way, starting with the small things gradually working up to the bigger things. Her clothes always looked good on the clothes line. The older girls hung the clothes on the line while mom washed them and we had to be sure we gave them a pop as we shook the wrinkles out. Mom told us that was a sign of a good wash.

When I was young, I felt we girls did all the work, and Mom did not do much. When I got married and had to do all the work myself, I soon found out just how much work Mama did do. We lived in one part of the house and a couple lived in two rooms on one side of the house. We had a small kitchen, a large room we used as a dining room and front room combined. Mom and Dad slept in the other front room until the couple moved out then we had a larger kitchen and Mom and Dad had a bedroom. There were four bedrooms upstairs, where we kids slept.

In the spring one year we went to see Dad's brother in American Fork. While we were gone, Vilda came to visit, she sat on the lawn with her kids to wait for us. After sitting there and watching her kids play she heard a splash, and could not find Joey. She ran to the ditch in front of the house. The water was like chocolate and she could not see any thing in the water. She jumped in and tried to find him, but could not. She ran to the road and flagged down a car to get help. By the time we got near the house there were cars lined up on both sides of the road. At that time they were tearing up the car bridge. I watched as they pulled him out and saw his bloated little body. I will never forget what Mom told Vilda when she was so full of grief and guilt. Mom said, "You need to remember you have other children that need you. Joey is gone to a better place and you cannot do any thing for him now."

Ray got very sick and we found out he had polio. It was bad enough for Mom and Dad with the worrying about him, and if he would walk, or have other problems. The Relief Society president came to see if we needed anything. When she knocked on the door she ran to the front gate and would not come near. She was afraid she would get polio. Mom's feistiness came out again. She did not feel any compassion from this lady and would not accept any of her help. Ray did get better and at that time did not seem to have any real bad effects. As he ages, there are health problems that could be and are probability are the direct effect of polio.

Mary got married in 1949. With three teenage girls in the house when Howard was born in 1951, we all mothered him. When we got off the school bus, we raced home to see who would get there first, so we could hold Howard. Mom had a hard time with Howard. She was older and he was her twelfth child. The thirteen child Susan was another very hard birth. She was the last child and brought a lot of comfort and joy to Mom.

There were some things Dad insisted on and that was that we never went on a date before the dishes were done. We always had a lot of dishes, and it took us quit a while, but our dates would wait until we were done, or we could not go. Another thing was the boy never honked the horn. He came to the door to get us, and if he honked, we could not go out to meet him, we had to wait until he came in.

Vilda died in 1956. Mom and Dad were with Vilda when she died. The doctors were taking all kind of tests to try to find out what was wrong with her. Mom said, she pleaded for them to let her alone she was in so much pain. After she died they found out it was Lockjaw caused from an infection. Mom and Dad took care of the funeral, and Vilda's children, as Wallace was in the penitentiary. Mom and Dad tried to adopt the children, but the courts told them they were too old, and still had too many children of their own at home. I went with them when they talked to the social worker and the way they treated them I did not like. They ask what they would do if their children needed shoes, Dad said, they treated all there children the same, the worker said, you can't treat them the same because they are all different. What Dad meant was if they needed shoes they got shoes but not all at the same time we took turns. He made Mom and Dad feel like they did not know any thing about raising children. One thing, I know for sure, Vilda's kids would have been loved and taken care off, they would not always have material things, but they would never have abused them. Wallace was let out of jail long enough to say were he wanted the kids to go. It was a very hard time for Mom and Dad. They had lost a daughter, then six grandchildren they would not see again till the children were older.

Five of us kids got married when we lived in Hooper. Mary, Irene, Me, Myrtle, and Ray. Mom and Dad moved to Mantua with seven children, here Carolyn, Thora, and Lois, got married.

About this time we were having some problems with our baby and when I talked to Mom about it she would tell me about other people who were having similar problems, I thought she was trying to tell me to be grateful, my problems were not so bad, but now I know it was her way of trying to comfort me. When our Goldie died, Mom came and sat with me, not saying much but she will never know the comfort she gave me at that time. Ira was on TDY in Florida and was not able to get home until the next day.

Dad retired and his health went downhill. Mom did not drive and when Dad could not take Mom to the store, they decided to move to Brigham City. They sold there house in Mantua and bought one in Brigham.

Dad died in 1980, and Mom longed to be with him. They were never apart in life, and it was a very hard for Mom to be alone after so many years. It made your heart ache to see her, she loved him so and missed him dearly. Mom wanted us to help her get the house fixed up, so when she died, Kathleen would always have some place to live. We went to a lawyer and had a will drawn up. Mom got sick before we were able to get the papers signed. Thora and I were at a Woman's conference when we were called out and told she was very sick and we were to go at once to see her. All the way to Brigham I prayed she would not die. When we got there they told me she wanted me, I sat down beside her and she looked me in the eyes and said, "Why did you call me back? I wanted go, to be with your dad, "I knew at that moment what I had done, I had prayed for her to live and my prayer was answered, she wanted to die so she would not have to be without Dad any more. I can't tell you how bad I felt. I do not remember how many months she lived after that but Carolyn, Lois and Susan took care of her during the week and I did what I could on the weekend.

Mary came and stayed with her for a while. Because Mom could not be alone, and it was too hard for Carolyn to take care of her family and Mom, she moved Mom to her house and sometimes on a weekend I would go up to spend some time with her. One of those weekends Mom said, "You will not have to come up any more I am going Home, and I will be able to walk by my self, I will not need any more help." She did go home that week, April 26, 1982. She was able to be with Dad again.

Mom and Dad were both great teachers. The lesson we learned from them of love, kindness, thankfulness, thoughtfulness of others, the way they felt about smoking, and other commandments and laws, will always be remembered, and we hope we have passed these lessons on to our children. They never condemned others for any weakness, but they did let us know when others were doing wrong so we would not make the same mistake.

ALBERT RAY RICHAN: Sixth child, named after his father Edgar Ray Richan and Edmund Albert Thompson.

CAROLYN DORA RICHAN CARTER: Seventh child, named after Dora Isabell Thompson Epps and one of Uncle Bart's twins, Carlyin. Mama spelled it Carlyin but on her birth certificate it's spelled Carolyn and because of that her teachers gave her such a bad time in Hooper she started to spell her name Carolyn.

THORA ANN RICHAN SLATER: Eighth child, named after Grandma Mary Ann Richan. Thora was a name Mom liked she found in the phone book. What I Remember about My Mother and Father they always made me feel that they loved me. Dad and Mom wanted all of us to have a good education. Daddy made me know that he felt good about me knowing how to read and had me read and help him fill out things that I would bring home from school- He was always hard working and tried to raise us and give us the best that he could. I believe that Mom and Dad instilled in me a love for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and I will be forever grateful for this knowledge has helped me throughout my life and the trials I have had to go through I know that this knowledge, saying my prayers, and paying my tithing has helped me to be worthy to have such a wonderful, sweet, kind man as my Wendell! I am very grateful to Heavenly Father and our Mom and Dad.

Mom was always busy washing I remember every Monday the front room would have pile after pile of clothing stacked around. She had big wash days.

Mom crocheted beautiful doilies and baby items. Any craft that she tried she could do well. I think all her daughters have gained a love for crafts and handiwork though her. Mom was a very good cook. She could make something from almost nothing.

I don't think Mom and Dad's life was ever very easy. They didn't acquire things, instead they brought us into the world. I am grateful for them and the attitude that they had of having as many children as they were supposed to. I love and miss them both a lot.

GEORGE WILLIAM RICHAN: Ninth child, named after Grandpa William Bain Richan and Great Grandpa George Richan.

LOIS MAE RICHAN DUNN: Tenth Child, Named after Grandma Ida Mae Smith Thompson. When I came home from school one day, my mother was crying. I did not know my sister was very ill and in the hospital. I did not know what was going on. I was just in grade school. Grandma was there mixing bread and slapped my hand because I stuck my hand in the pan to get some dough. Mom never allowed us to put our hands into any thing she was making.

Dad worked very hard at a job and then he came home. He would work hard in the garden and with the sheep and in the tomatoes. I remember the love Dad had for Mom.

Mom, I can remember her washing in a wringer washer and there was always a special day set aside to do the laundry. I loved to hug that washer, because of the warmth from the washer and being in the wash room with Mom, and watching her do the wash.

I remember lots and lots of dishes, stacked sky high we would have to do. I remember the times when Aunt Dora and Uncle Neil come over, and Uncle Earl and Aunt Leora. I remember a little bit about Uncle Jim and Aunt Betty, Uncle Dillard and Aunt Laurel. Aunt Dora and Uncle Neil came to see us and we would have big dinners. Then they would stay the night. In the morning when we got up, Uncle Neil and Aunt Dora were sleeping in the car. When Uncle Neil would crawl out of the car I could not believe it he was such a tall man, I was so proud because he was my Uncle.

The summer before I went in to the seventh grade we were told we were going to move to Mantua. There were long days, my parents were not at home, and the older girls had to take care of us. They were getting the home fixed up. They took us to Mantua to show us where we were going to live. There was a fence, and cows running in and out of our house. Weeds as tall as I was. I could not believe my parents were going to move me there. I was very upset because I did not want to move there. When my parents got through, and we started to move, they took us to see our new home. It was quite a beautiful home. They had done a lot of work panting, cleaning, and fixing it up and there were no more cows. No more fence blocking it off. We had a drive way! They had made it beautiful. I was so happy there were no stairs to climb. I would not have to climb the stairs to put my clothes away on wash day. My room was just off the front room and I loved it.

When Mom decided to go to work, she had never held a job. She always wore a dress but she never wore any thing else. This might sound strange, but she wore a corset with her dresses. She was switching to a single bra, and she did not know how to buy one. So she had the girls help her. She was very nervous about making this big change, from dress to pants. I remember her changing to pants, she looked so nice in them. She changed from the olden days to the modern life. Girls were not allowed to wear pants in those days. That was a big change for Mom. She was working, and all the ladies she worked with wore pants. She wanted to change, too. Here she is, finally out of the household, after raising most of her children. She still had children home. And she was working and taking care of us. Dad didn't mind the change, I think he liked it too. He was a good father, and she a good mother. I loved both of them very much and I miss them.

Dad would say, "Automatic washer, I would not have one of those things, they would shake this house apart. She will just have to keep doing the laundry in the wringer washer." It was not long after that Mom had a washer and dryer. I teased Dad about that, I said, "Well Dad I thought this washer would shake this house apart." He said, "Well, Mom deserves it, she works hard, and she needs to have something easy." Dad fixed our house. He was a plumber, he was an electrician, he could do carpentry work. He could do anything he wanted, and he did it by himself. He fixed the house for Mom's washer and dryer. They went in the kitchen at first, then later on they went on to the back porch, to make room in the kitchen. I really appreciate my father, for thinking about my mother. At that time I thought it was kind of funny, but now I know what he was talking about-she deserves to have life easier.

At Christmas I had so much fun with Mom I would help her with Susan's Christmas presents. I liked to sew, and I had earned money and bought my own sewing machine, We would work together and make Barbie doll clothes for Susan, while Sue was in school. That was so much fun to work with Mom, to work by her side and have her teach me, and maybe that's why I like to sew more than crochet. Mom crocheted a lot but we did not do it together, but we did sew. I know my other sisters like to crochet. I would bake cakes a lot for my parents. They liked me to bake, they said I was a good cook and I liked to clean. Maybe this is why I'm a housekeeper now, they taught me how to clean. When they would leave they would tell me that when they came back the kitchen better be cleaned, the floor better be mopped, and the fridge better be cleaned out. When they would come home Dad would open the fridge door and say, "Oh, Lois the fridge looks like a new one, it looks real nice." They were always complementing me on the chores I had done. I appreciated that because that was just what I needed and made me feel good. Now I clean in my jobs I do and get paid for it. I clean the churches and I clean the bank. I think about the times my father would tell me I make things look brand new. It helps me out in my life, to support my family.

At night after work, and after dinner and the dishes were done, Mom and Dad would sit in there chairs and if Mom was not crocheting, Dad would reach over and hold her hand as they sat side by side. This has helped me in my marriage.

When we were younger, and it was time to eat our meals, there was always a prayer said on our food. Dad would say the blessing or one of us children would say it but I do not remember Mom saying a prayer. I know Mom had the faith. I think it was a respect Dad showed to Mom. I remember the respect my Dad had for Mom and always did what she wanted. Sometimes they would have a little argument, but no marriage is perfect.

Dad taught me how to do some carpentry work. I was a young girl and I think I was the oldest one at home. At that time George was gone and if Carolyn was home she had a full time job and could not help. On Saturday I helped my father lower the ceiling. I would help hold up the beams while he nailed them together. We put the ply-board up, and the new light fixtures in, then we were going to paint the walls. We had to scrape the wallpaper off and there must had been a good 30 inches of wall paper on the walls. Mom was still working and Dad had retired. When Mom came home from work she would help us. When we got the paper off, Mom taught me how to hang wall paper.

Mom got sick, and her nose swelled up as big as can be. She went into the hospital for a while. It was at Christmas time. Dad spoiled us rotten. When Mom was home, and we had candy or cookies in the house, we only got a little bit. Mom would hand it out to us. We only got one or two pieces. But when Dad was in charge he went out and bought us all kinds of candy and we could have as much as we wanted. We thought that was neat. There was me, Kathy, Howard and Susan; we got a whole bag of candy. Mom came home and she went back into the hospital to have a goiter removed from her throat. The same thing happened again and Dad spoiled us rotten. It was fun to take care of my father. He retired before I got married and so I was able to take care of him full time and love him. At night as we set around the table, Dad would say I just hate for school to start because there is so much noise around this table, everybody talked about the first day, but I think he enjoyed it.

I remember Dad's beautiful gardens and Mom working in them, the chickens they killed, and how they stunk when Mom dunked them in the hot water so the feathers would come off easier. I hated that. I am not a very good chicken eater because of that.

Our neighbors raised pigs and sometimes they had a bad pig and they would give it to Dad to raise, and how Dad would kill the pig and boil a big pot of water to dip the pig in and scrape it.

We had a old coal stove, and Dad had to carry the coal in from the back yard and fill a bin by the stove. Mom said, "I wish there was some way we could carry this coal in for Dad, he is so tired when he gets home from work." I sneaked out the door, and carried the coal in, and it took about 4 and 1/2 five-gallon buckets to full the bin up. Mom told Dad to look into the bin before he went out to get the coal. To his surprise it was full. After doing this for Dad for a while, Howard started to help me. He had a wagon Dad had made for him and we filled the buckets full and set them in the wagon. Then the gas line came up the canyon and into Mantua and we got a furnace. Before I was able to enjoy the furnace for very long I met Ronny.

Mom told me I was going to marry Ronny but I said, "I would not," he was just another boy I was dating. Ronny did ask me to marry him. Mom liked him a lot and was not afraid to bawl him out if he did something wrong. When my first child, LeeAnn, was born, my Mom came to be with me, because Ronny had to work, and his job would not let him off until the baby was born. So Mom told them the baby was born and when he got there with all kinds of orders on him from his job, expecting to see a new baby, Mom said "No, the baby is not here, but she needs you, not me, and I need to go home to take care of Dad." He was not doing very well at that time. Mom and Dad loved to take care of LeeAnn, she filled their need for a little one. They kept suckers on hand for her because she told Dad all she wanted for Christmas was a sucker.

Mom potty trained Peggy when I was in the hospital. When I was pregnant with Peggy I was having some trouble. They thought I might have a miscarriage. We went to visit Mom and Dad, no one ever sat in Dad's chair, but Mom had me sit in Dad's chair and put my feet up. I was sitting there when Ronny and Dad came in, Ronny was playing a joke on me and threw his wallet at me, I screamed because it scared me. Mom got so mad at him, and said now he was going to leave the mark of the wallet on this baby, and he had better never ever scare me like that again or he will have to answer to her. He felt more a part of our family, because she was treating him like a son.

Ronny loved Mom's home made noodles. He would call her, and ask her, if he brought the chicken and eggs, would she please make the noodles. We had home made noodles on Sunday. When Mom's hands got bad she would tell Ronny she would make noodles if Lois would roll them out.

When my parents moved to Brigham City, the roof was leaking, so some of the kids got together to put a new roof on the house. As Ronny looked down off the roof Mom and Dad was setting on a bench we had given them, and they were holding hands. Ronny said the love they had for each other was just surrounding them. He said that was the cutest thing he had ever seen. There was an apple tree in the back yard Keary liked to climb. Dad was always telling them to get out of the apple tree. LaMar did not get to go and see them as often as he was growing up because we moved to Ogden. We have now sent LaMar on a mission and I am sure they know that, but I wish they could be here to share this opportunity with us.

When Mom was ill I got to stay a couple of nights and took care of her. She had such a loving feeling about her, if you hurt her, she never got rude with you, she was always very pleasant and nice just a little sweetheart. Her modesty was very great even when she was very sick and had to have others do for her. I enjoyed getting to know her at this time. One night she told me as I was putting her to bed, "I just love you girls." She did not say that very often, so it meant a lot to me. All she wanted was for Dad to be sitting by her side, or she wanted to go and be with Dad.

After Mom passed away, I worried if she could find Dad or not, and I was angry at people who had parents still alive, because I was still young and had no Mom and Dad. Could Mom find Dad? Has she found him? Ronny's family was going to the temple and they asked us to go with them. As we walked into the temple they asked us if we had any special reason we were there. We told them no, and they asked if we would like to do Sealings. We told them yes we would. As I was sitting there waiting for my turn, it was my first time to do Sealings. As Ronny's brother and his wife knelt at the alter to do the marriages, I felt a great warmth over my body and a great satisfaction. I knew then Mom had found Dad and they were in that room with me. When Ronny's brother got up he came over to me and ask if I was all right and wanted to know if I needed to go out. I told him no, everything was fine. I had not felt better, because I knew then Mom was with Dad.

When Ronny's father died, I saw Dad in our carport with a big dog we had. In just a few hours Ronny got word his father passed away. Now I have lost three grandchildren, and I wonder were they are and what has happened to them. I have seen my parents with those little girls. Crystal has long blond hair and she was sitting on Mom's lap. Kasyandrya was sitting on my father's lap, she has long brown hair. At the time I had seen them, I started to beat on the car because I knew they were coming to tell me they were taking someone else. At that time, Tyler, Peggy's little boy, had stopped breathing. I told them no, they could not take another baby from me. We were able to save him, he is now four years old. Since then I have lost another Grandson. I have not worried about him because I know he is with Mom and Dad, they have my grandbabies. Dad and Mom are still affecting my life.

KATHLEEN RICHAN: Eleventh Child, Mary really liked the name of Kathleen and when Kathy was a red head like Mary, Daddy told Mary she could name her Kathleen.

HOWARD LEROY RICHAN: Twelfth Child named after Mom,s brother Howard Freeman Thompson. Howard died about June 19, 1992. We had just came home from our family reunion when Carolyn called to tell us Howard was dead. He had told CoyAnn, Carolyn's daughter, he was going to the family reunion, CoyAnn had tried to get in touch with him. He never answered his door or his phone. She had thought it strange, after he had said he would go. When one of his friends was having the same trouble getting in touch with him, he called Carolyn and they went to the landlord, who let them in and they found him there on his bed. They did not know how long he had been dead. We were not able to view the body. The police said he must have been there about a week.

SUSAN RICHAN SEAMONS: Thirteenth Child named after 2nd Great Grandma Susan Reynolds. The things I remember about Mom? She always liked to keep things clean and straight. Dad liked his garden. Mom would make chicken noodle soup on Sundays and everyone would come up, everyone loved her chicken noodle soup. She was cooking it one Sunday and the presser cooker blew up and burnt her arms. On Monday she went to work anyway, with both her arm's burnt and wrapped. Mom made me a lot of things, and helped to make a lot of things for Tammy and A.R. It was really nice when Howard and Kathy were gone and I was the only one there, just me, Mom and Dad it was really neat. I really enjoyed the times when all my brothers and sisters came up and Mom would cook all day for everyone.

When I was very young before I went to school Mom would make bread, then we would lay down on the couch and take a nap. Dad got really sick and could not walk. He had a inner ear infection and he would crawl everywhere. Mom got a virus in her nose and her nose swollen up and got very purple, she had to go stay in the hospital. Dad had a blood clot in his leg. I was not very big. We went to visit him in the hospital. He told me that he was going to have his leg cut off. I was very upset. He was just teasing me but it really scared me. Then he told me it was not true.

We really did not do very much when I was young, There were times when we would go to Idaho to see Uncle Ira. We would get up so early, it was still dark-about 4:00 AM. Whenever we would go any were, Dad would have to be a half hour to an hour early. I find myself doing the same thing. It really makes me nervous if I know I'm going to be late for something. I try to be an hour or so early. Sometimes when I go to work, I'm 20 minutes early. I think it's because of the way Mom and Dad taught me, They did not like being late.

Mom would wake us up real early in the morning so we would be ready for school before she would go to work. We would get up at 5:00 am. I was so tired. I liked it when Dad would fix breakfast for me. He would make oatmeal and it was very good. Mom was busy and could not fix meals for us as often as he did, before she went to work, so Dad did a lot of the cooking. On Fridays Mom would throw all the leftovers from the week in a pot and it surprisingly would taste very good.

Dad bought a camper that needed a lot of work and I helped Dad fix it up. On Saturdays Mom would give us a job to do and we had to have it done. Dad was a big tease. He would sit in his chair and look out the window at the mountains and tell us there was a deer up there. We would say, where, and he would say it's up there. When Dad and Mom were raising pigs, they would make head cheese. They said it was very good. I never tasted it because it sure did not look good.

After I got married, before I had Tammy, I would go over every day. Mom and I would make baby quilts. Dad would sit there and talk to us. Just the three of us. These times were very special to me. Dad would say, I was going to have a girl, and I would say no this baby is going to be a boy. He said, he had dreams he was sitting on the floor and playing with a little girl.

Dad wanted me to take him to get his watch and glasses fixed, but he had to do things early in the morning. He would not go in the afternoon, and I could not get around to taking him until afternoon. The day before he died I was able to take him to get them fixed. He was really happy and had a snow ball fight with A.R. The next day I was at Gloria Marshal's when they called me to tell me he had a heart attack. It was almost as if he was waiting for all these things to get fixed before he could die. After Dad died Mom was very sad. She did not take care of herself any more. She got very sick. She was at Carolyn's. We were going to California. I told her I would bring her something back, but she said never mind, she would not be here when I came back. She was right. She died when I was in California

Mom and Dad are very special people to me, they were kind and loving and I feel they did a good job of raising their children. Mom and Dad taught me how to do many things. I love and miss them.