I was born in Etna, Utah on October 19, 1915. I was the first born in a family of six. Next was Florence, then Edna, Bernice, Dean and Deloy. My father’s name is David Ralph Tanner and my mother’s name is Chloe Kimber.

I grew up mostly in Grouse Creek, Utah and attended school in Etna and in Grouse Creek where we had 2 women teachers and 1 man teacher. My dad used to ride me on his horse to school. When I would sometimes have to walk to school, as soon as I would lose sight of my house, I would get frightened. I wore a dress to school with leggings and overalls at home. I remember coming home from school and putting Florence in an empty cupboard and teaching her everything I had learned that day. I attended high school in Brigham City for 10th, 11th and 12th grades. My favorite subject in school was math. I didn’t care for history.

I was baptized in the creek in Grouse Creek by Brent Paskett. I always had lots of friends. One of my favorite things to do was pulling taffy and making candy. I especially liked going to Relief Society with my mother. Everyone quilted and us kids played games under the quilting frames. When I got older I always liked going to church, especially mutual.

I remember my Dad would sneak up and put candy on my pillow early Christmas morning and then wake me up and say that Santa had come. I would run outside to find Santa. I never did catch up with him.

My mother would hike up the mountain and chop down the cedar tree each year for Christmas. We helped decorate it with popcorn and paper chains. One Christmas there were no presents or tree or anything and it was very sad.

I helped my mother cook food for the hired hay-men. That was my beginning love for cooking.

I remember one time when a skunk got into our house. My dad chased it until he got it into a stove pipe. Then he took a gunnie sack and trapped it and took it out to drown it.

One time our dog Tippy chased a mouse through our house until he finally caught it.

I really loved tippy a lot and he was very protective of all of us. He got rabies. We tied him to the telephone pole to keep him from biting us. We would have to put his food and water on a broom stick and push it over to him. When he died, they had to burn down the telephone pole for fear it too was infected.

My sister Florence and I threw rocks at a rattle snake one time until we killed it. I don’t think we realized how dangerous it was.

I enjoyed going to dances in Grouse Creek.

A typical supper was milk with bread. I went with my mom to do the milking but I only held the rope. She didn’t want any of us girls learning how to milk, so we wouldn’t be expected to milk when we were older. I did feed the lambs and helped raise them in the summer. My father would be out on the cattle runs and riding the range for 6 months at a time. My father was famous for breaking horses. He was well known in Utah for his skills.

Our first new car was exciting. I remember my dad pulling in and getting out to open the gate and the car crashed into the gate. He forgot to put it into park. I guess he thought it was a horse.

I liked to pick choke cherries with dad on the horse. One time mother fixed supper and brought it out to dad and me. A snake was slithering up the shovel that my dad was leaning on.

I remember going with my mother down the river to pick fresh water-cress for supper.

We ate it with our bread and butter and sometimes a fried egg.

I learned to sew while I was young and I made 2 dresses for Christmas for Florence and Edna. I have always been able to sew without a pattern and my hobbies consisted of sewing and cooking.

My favorite grandmother was my grandmother Kimber. She was so much fun and took an interest in me.

My two brothers were the only children born in a hospital. It was in Ogden. My two sisters and I were born at home with a mid-wife named Hadfield.

I loved riding in the buggy as my mother drove the horse. I never wanted to ride a horse by myself, always preferring the buggy.

When I was 10 I had to have my mastoids out and rode the train to Ogden with my mother. I had to have my hair shaved and wore a hat for many months. My father came when he could and caught a freight train into town to be with me.

When we had a tooth ache we went to a man in a big house and he would pull the tooth out with pliers.

To clean our clothes, we used a scrubbing board. We heated all our water on the stove.

Mother made our soap. We used oil lamps because there was no electricity and of course no indoor plumbing.

When we lived in Brigham City there was a very handsome boy next door named Ralph Lee. Our first date was to the movies at the Roxey Theater. We were married at my mother’s home and I wore Edna’s new yellow dress. We went for a short honeymoon and stayed in a real nice place.

We had five children. Geri, Jan, Jackie, John and Scott.