Born Effie Branch in Wellington, Utah. Her father died when she was 5 years old, her mother was left to raise 10 children.
She married my grandfather Ralph when she was 18 years old. My dad was their second child, he was born in 1923.
This is their wedding picture.
My grandfather was diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ( Lou Gehrig's disease) in about 1940. He was treated at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. The second known case of the disease in the country. He died in 1944 leaving Effie with 7 children, the youngest about 2 or 3 years old.
Ralph, Effie and their family in about 1943.
In 1950 she married Frank, a family friend who already had 3 grown children. He is the one I know as my grandpa. They lived on a cattle ranch in central Utah.
We called her our little grandma, "little" meaning that she was only about 5 foot tall. In the late 1970s she started acting funny. It got worse after Frank passed away in 1985. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease shortly after. She passed away in 1994 on Mother's Day.
I have interesting memories of grandma. I honor and remember her this day. Happy birthday grandma! I love you.
4 comments:
that was a lovely tribute; thank you for sharing it.
Very interesting Jim
From the second photo, it is hard to tell which of the young men is your father as they are so close in age.
But easily, to see where you get your good looks.
happy day to you
I may have posted this twice,
but I was wondering from the second photo, which of the young men was your father as they are so close in age. They are quite handsome, as was your grandfather.
Effie was a common name in the french state of Louisiana where I grew up and I love it.
good day
My dad is the far right on the back row
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