Cook Family History: Ethel Proctor-Life Story Part Seven

My Book of Memories

by Ethel P. Formo

1910-1978

Dad got a job with the Utah Idaho Sugar Company so we did not stay at the farm very long. He was sent to Blackfoot where it was much closer to his work. He did not work in the factory itself but rather would contact the farmers and interest them in growing sugar beets. I was in 3^rd grade now and sometimes Mom would let me go through the field (we lived in town a ways) to play with some cousins. There were 3 girls and a boy. Geniveve was a pretty girl and my age. She passed away while very young and I really missed her. Else, Elroy and ? were all so very blond it seemed strange to me. Neither Aunt Mary nor Uncle Sam were blonde but all their kids were.

Living not too far from Uncle Sam’s was a family named Knightons. They had beautiful twin baby girls and I loved to be around them. I guess both Mr. and Mrs. Knighton must have taken a liking to me for before long Mrs. Knighton asked Mom if I could come over and help her with the work and watch the babies for her. I spent a good deal of time there. They were very religious people and spent a lot of time on their genealogy. That was really my first encounter with genealogy fanatics. Of course I was not old enough to grasp the full significance of it then but I have since. Of course I had been taught about Adam and Eve and what a tremendous effect they had upon the world but I just could not grasp how anyone could trace their genealogy clear back to Adam and Eve. The Knightons declared up and down they had, and had charts and maps etc. to back them up. But like I have said I was really too young to grasp it all except that they were connected with Adam and Eve. It made a lasting impression on me. How could anyone go back so many years and get all that kind of information—even though they had both been missionaries for the Mormon Church. Mr. Knighton was transferred to another city and I missed the babysitting job so much. Then we had to move to Aberdeen, Idaho, where Dad had to teach or try to get the farmer to grow beets. We loved the house. We called it the brown shingle house. The siding was all shingles and there was a beautiful big lawn and lots of trees all around! Of course no matter where we moved to, Mom had to plant her flowers and shrubs and hope we would be able to see them grow and bloom before we had to move again.

Ethel

We had been there only a short time with Ruth got the croup real bad. We lived just around the corner from the doctor so Mom sent me over to have him come over. He said she would have to have some kalsomine—could I run up to the store and get some? It was almost dark to Max and I scooted off. Rozella always seemed to be helping Mom. Max and I shared almost everything and became great pals. Rozella seemed to be the homemaker. I always turned out to be the errand boy but Max usually came along because he was a boy and could protect me.

We made friends easily and we had lots of them. In fact no matter where we went most everyone gathered at our place to play.

There was a small irrigation ditch which ran past our front yard and under the trees. It was off the lawn so we made a playground where we could make roads, build farms and plant whatever a child’s mind can think of. There were lots of logs to work with. Each day our imaginations would cause wrecking and rebuilding plans.

The place where we were living had a very big lawn surrounded by giant trees. It was so cool and so much fun to play outside under those trees. We had great times.

In one corner of the lawn and set quite a ways from our big house was a little two room cabin. A little old lady 85 years old lived there—all by herself. She was a sweet thing, most of the time, and seemed to love to have us kinds around. But she had her days when her mind seemed to wander and she would scare the living day lights out of us—especially when she was thinking of a son who had been killed in the war. Then she seemed to want to take her spite out on someone and it was usually Max or I. Mom seldom let us near her alone.

One day she asked Max and me to come in and visit her. She made some hot chocolate for us and gave us cookies. I loved the spoon she gave me to stir my chocolate with so she gave it to me to keep. It had been one of her treasures and she was getting old so “please would you think of me when you use it forever and ever?” I was thrilled beyond words as she gave me a big kiss and a hug. The next day we found she had died in her sleep. I still have that spoon.

Soon after that it was the 3^rd day of May, in fact, Max, Rozella, and I were out playing in the yard. The new little flowers were up and we were planting a little garden of our own out by the outhouse. We say Dad come running into the yard, so naturally we felt something was wrong and we too went running into the house—except Rozella, she stayed out by the outhouse. Dad met us in the kitchen. We could hear Mom cry out every few minutes and we knew she was hurting. But Dad just said, “Run out and play for awhile, you are going to have a new brother or sister as soon as the doctor can get here. Be very quiet and don’t get hurt cause I want to be in here with Mama and can’t come out to help you.” He patted us and away we went. We could hear Mom cry out every once in a while and we were scared and awed. Then Max discovered a nest of centipedes and our interest turned to keeping them away from us and trying to kill as many possible. We had been told they were very poisonous and to be sure not to ever let one get on us. It was scary but great fun to push them around with long sticks. We killed very few really but we thought we were doing great.

Finally Dad came out, his face was flushed and he seemed to be crying as well as laughing. “You have a new little sister. You will have to wait a while to see her she is to new and tiny and Mama is very very tired. Come in quietly and get washed up for supper.” When we had the dishes done and put away Mom called out and said, “You can come in one at a time and see the new baby if your hands and face are clean!” How we did scrub. Such a beautiful little sister!

Inez Ludlow Proctor

Ruth Elizabeth and Inez Proctor

It was while we were living here that my Dad gave me a great deal of responsibility. We lived, perhaps, eight blocks from town. Between us and town were the stockyards where they brought the cattle in to be loaded onto the train for shipment. We were never allowed to go anywhere near there. In fact we had heard so much about the men who there we were frightened of them and the place itself. If we had to pass it we were always sure a big old steer would come charging out at us and our legs seemed to have twice the speed we needed. Then we had to pass by the fair grounds and we were always afraid something or someone would be lurking in the animal pens ready to nab us. We were never allowed to walk up town after three in the afternoon. But with a new baby in the house, a three year old sister and a sister who ????

How very sorry I am that this is all that this is all the history of Aunt Ethel that I have. I am sure that she did not end right in the middle of a sentence and somewhere out there there must be more. If any of you who read this happen to know where I can get a hold of the rest of her history, please leave a comment and let me know.

Here is what I know of this sweet sweet lady. When she was 19 she married Walter Formo 21 August 1930 In Salt Lake City, Utah.