Olive Ness Betteridge Smart

Olive Ness Betteridge Smart was born in Grouse Creek, Utah on 14 April, 1908, to James W. and Emily Ness Betteridge.

When she was nine years old, the family moved to Provo, Utah.  Her new school was a couple of miles away and there were no bus service.  More than once her Dad tramped out a trail through deep new snow to lead the kids to school.

Her sisters were June, Muriel, Alpha, Eileen, Verna, Jessie and 1 brother: Bryce.

Picking strawberries in the summer was her moneymaking job, messy and back breaking in the hot sun.  Her Dad would hustle them out of bed before the sun was up.  Spending the money was more fun than earning it.

She was on the High School debate team, also plays that she participated in.  She was the valedictorian of the high school class of 1926.

She worked at the telephone company after graduation.

She met her husband, Wayne, at a dance at BYU.  This was in the fall of 1928.  They dated some and kept in touch by writing when he was out of town.  They were married in Salt Lake on January 10, 1930.

They moved to Southern California and lived in the area of Knotts’ Berry Farm, when it was a little roadside fruit market.

They lived in Arco, Idaho for two summers, leasing bees.  Crop production was good but they lost one year’s effort when they sold to a Los Angeles Honey Company that went broke before they got their money. This was part of the 1930’s depression times.

In 1936 they settled in Rexburg, Idaho.  The Miller Honey Company had a branch there for sale on terms they could manage.

Children born to them were Dean on May 12, 1937, David on May 9, 1939, and Carol on January 16, 1945.

The family was active in civic, school and church affairs.  Olive was a counselor in the Stake Primary, then became Stake Relief Society President for six years.

In early December of 1941, Olive and Wayne decided to spend the winter in the Los Angeles area.  They arrived in Los Angeles on a Sunday to see glaring headlines, “Japanese Bomb Pearl Harbor.”  Wayne got a job in a machine shop and they stayed in Southern California until April 1.  They experienced the blackouts (no street lights at night, windows heavily curtained), sirens howling, and searchlights probing the sky when it was thought Japanese aircraft were prowling aloft.

They moved from Rexburg to Salt Lake in the fall of 1970.