Christmas Letter ~ 1962

This will be backdated to 1962

In a previous post, a couple of Christmas newsletters from Grandma Lucille were showcased, along with some photos (see that post HERE). Another newsletter has surfaced  ... it's been retyped below for easier reading. 1962 was quite the year! Two weddings (one of those being Lamar&Margie), graduations and a horrible car accident.

On a technical note - this original newsletter has the purple print indicative of a mimeograph machine (lots of the school papers from this time frame have this look). Mimeographs were common for printing small quantities of a document, as in office work, classroom materials, and church bulletins, before photocopies and printers took over years later.

Again, Christmas Season rolls around, and the Westras wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year. This has been a very eventful year for us.

February

• February 21, 1962: LaMar became engaged to Marjorie Norman, and presented her with a diamond at the Junior Prom. The wedding set for June 29.

May

• May 15: Lucille went to the hospital with bleeding ulcers. Was in the hospital five days and went home with a strict diet (Gelusil and cream).
• May 27: LaMar graduated from the Institute of Religion at the University of Utah.

June

• June 10 and 11: LaMar graduated from the University of Utah with a Bachelor of Arts Degree (Chemistry) with honors.
• June 18: Marge graduated from Henager's Business College as a secretary.
• June 22: We bought a beautiful 1960 Pontiac Bonneville, red and white, with power windows, power steering, and power brakes.
• June 25: Marge and LaMar went to the Temple for her endowments.
• June 29: The wedding in the Salt Lake Temple, with President LeGrande Richards officiating. A wedding breakfast at Maxfield Lodge, and a lovely reception at the East Millcreek Stake Center.
• June 30: The newlyweds left for a honeymoon in Las Vegas
• June 30: Kent left for Santa Rosa, where he attended National Cash Register School for 5 weeks.

July

• July 1: The Westras left for the World's Fair in Seattle. Shannon Hopkins, Diane's friend was to share our well planned vacation. We got to Twin Falls, when Diane tried to pass a large truck, hit the soft shoulder, threw the car out of control and we rolled over 3 times, completely demolishing the car. We were all hospitalized. Shannon receiving the most serious injury, a broken back. Joe, a broken hand, wrenched shoulder, and abrasions. Lucille, a mashed face, bruises and abrasions. Steve, multiple cuts which required 18 stitches, and Diane wasn't injured, but was hospitalized for shock. Diane's fiancé, Jon Mauss, drove up to bring her and Steve home. My first airplane ride was flying home from Idaho. Shannon had to stay for 12 days, until her cast was put on, and then was allowed to come home. We were all lucky to be alive.
• Sharon flew down to meet Kent after he finished his schooling, and they vacationed in San Francisco and Disneyland.

August

• Bought a new 62 Ford Galaxie, which we like very much.
• Joe, Steve and Lucille vacationed at Campfire Lodge, West Yellowstone, Montana, and had a wonderful time. Caught lots of beautiful trout. Visited Virginia City, Lava Hot Springs, Logan and the Temple.

September

• Back to school for Steve, a Junior at Highland High.
• Plans for an October wedding for Diane and Jon.

October

• October 1: Back to school for LaMar, who is getting his Masters in Chemistry, and also teaching chemistry under a fellowship.
• October 17: Wedding day for Diane and Jon. A wedding luncheon at Harmons, and a reception at Crestwood Villa. President Lee Nelson of Wilford Stake performed the beautiful ceremony.
• October 21: Diane and Jon Mauss left for Phoenix Arizona, where they will make their home, and where Jon turns pro golfer. We have now lost two deductions.
• Shannon threw her brace away, and is well. This is really something to be thankful for.

November

• Thanksgiving at the Westras. The family was together - Westras, Bensons, Lewises, and Amanns - 17 in all. We missed our little girl and her new husband. Joe has had some heart flare-ups which have worried us. We are still on our ulcer diet (sort of). My face is still lumpy, but we have much to be thankful for.

December

• We love to think of our dear friends, far and near, and hope 1962 has been good to all of you. May 1963 bring you all success and much happiness.

THE WESTRAS

Joe - Lucille - Steve

The Wedding ~ Lamar & Marge

 

... the day it all began. June 29, 1962. Lamar and Margie with their parents, in one of the few color photos from the wedding. Below, is a larger group shot, those featuring the bridesmaids and a couple more shown a little later. You can see all the wedding photos in Dropbox (1962 folder) to enlarge or see individual pictures. 

Back in the day, the newspaper would write up weddings for free (as well as births and obituaries). The article includes quite a bit of information (including the addresses of the parents) and the fact that "the bride wore a gown of lace and tulle highlighted with pearl and sequin trim. Her veil cascaded from a pearl-studded headdress."

... the article mentions "prenuptial parties" (bridal showers) and there are a couple of pictures capturing the activities there. Putting bows in the brides hair and "creating" a dress are classic shower antics.

... more pictures from the wedding reception ...

... the little flower girls are Kathy and Kerry Howell. In addition to family (Nelva, Sharon and Diane for bridesmaids and Steven, Kent and Merrill for groomsmen) Mom/Margie's good friend Judy Shultz and Dad/Lamar's buds Frank Willardsen and Richard Van Wagonen flushed out the wedding party.

Both sets of grandparents on Margie's side were able to attend.

Let them eat cake!

The actual wedding invitation/announcement isn't saved in Dropbox (if it turns up somewhere, let me know!) but going through one of the family boxes, a personalized napkin from the reception was found and scanned in. You can see it below, along with a few other random wedding pictures.

... in addition to the napkin, this collage features the bouquet toss (nice catch! the flowers and the photo!), Mom's cousin Diana Brady there at the guest book, and of course ... the car!

Graduation 1962 x 2

Graduation day ... on the left, the year was 1961, and Miss Margie was graduating from high school. The photo on the right was college graduation a year later, 1962.  Different cap and gown ... same pose/foot placement!

Mom/Margie started her sophomore year at Murray High School, but then the family moved, and her junior and senior year were at Olympus.  Mom wrote in her history ...

Olympus was a very big school, with 720 in my graduating class in 1961, so I didn’t get well acquainted in my two years there. I went from being “a big fish in a little pond” to being “a little fish in a big pond.”

After high school, Margie went to Stevens Henager College ...

I received a full-tuition scholarship to Henager’s Business College, so I went there and graduated in 1962. I was voted by my classmates at graduation as “The Secretary most likely to Succeed.” 

Mom's memories after seeing these photos ...

I remember I graduated #20 academically out of the 720 graduates at Olympus. I only know because I asked one of my business teachers to write me a letter of recommendation, and she dictated the letter to me in shorthand and had me type it up! She found out my academic standing amongst the graduates, and wrote it in the letter.

The top 10% of graduates (I think it was) were invited to turn in a possible speech for graduation, but I don't think I bothered to do it. Then they chose the speakers from those submitted.

I'd had so many business classes at Olympus that I was able to graduate from Steven-Henager in one year. They said any of their students could come back free for a refresher course for the rest of their lives for employment help. I wondered if they would really honor that.

Just a note of interest ... Stevens–Henager College was a private college, was one of four educational institutions affiliated with the Salt Lake City-based Center for Excellence in Higher Education. Established in 1891, the college had campuses in Idaho and Utah. It closed abruptly in August 2021.

While there wasn't any memorabilia found from the high school graduation, 

there was an invitation and a program saved from the college graduation. 

Mom/Margie is there on the first page, second from the bottom on the right side. Marjorie Norman ... graduation was just shortly before the wedding, when she became a Westra. Marked with ** which meant "Graduated with high academic honors". 

Dad/Lamar graduated from South High School in 1955. While there are many memories written up (check out Dad's history, school memories and the post with his school yearbooks), no memorabilia or photo was found to showcase the high school graduation.  Dad went on to the U for a couple of years, then on his mission, then back to the U to meet Margie, and to graduate. 

There are pictures of this event.

While we weren't able to locate the actual diploma or commencement program - this outline of activities for graduation gives some insight into all the goings on. As stated, graduation was June 11th, on a Monday, with Mom/Margie's graduation June 16, that following Saturday. Busy week for young Mom and Dad!

College Complete ... Time to Work

This school ID ... looks a little like a mug shot!

Dad/Lamar finished up his mission and returned to school at the University of Utah. He graduated in 1962, then spent an additional year of postgraduate study, changing his emphasis from Chemistry to Math and Computers. He had an assistantship which paid a stipend for teaching lab and research classes in Chemistry. Newly married and done with school, it was time to embark upon a career. 

In the summer of 1963, LaMar went on two interview trips. He went to Denver by himself to check out Marathon Oil, and then both LaMar and Margie drove to San Francisco to interview with Shell Oil Company. Meanwhile, there was correspondence with a third possibility ... General Electric, in Richland Washington.

The quality of some of the scans/images isn't the best, but is hopefully readable ... Typed on an actual typewriter. Dad's responses on yellow make it easy to see which are to him and from him at a quick glance. The back and forth, in letters, snail mail, taking weeks at a time ~ very different contact than job recruitment today. 

In early February, a letter from GE to Mr. Westra, 

confirming receipt of his application.  

Later in February ... there was a job offer.

LaMar's response ... this is a big decision!

... a quick response from GE

... and LaMar accepts the job.

Now finalizing the details ... a bit of back and forth

Dad/Lamar was hired as a chemist, but never did any work in chemistry. He was assigned to work in computer programming, and spent the next 40 years as a computer programmer/systems analyst. The couple had only planned on staying in Richland for a couple years, but ended up staying for nine years before moving back to Utah.

Mission Memories ~ Amsterdam Inspired

In March of 2018,  Shane went to Amsterdam on a business trip and asked Dad/Lamar if he had any addresses or memories from his mission time there. Here's Dad's answer ...

Hello Shane,

We got your letter from Amsterdam. You asked about the addresses of where I lived, and where our church in Amsterdam was located. I had to look up in my old Missionary Journal for some details. 

My mission actually started 20 Aug 1957, and we spent 8 days in the old mission home in Salt Lake City. My companion was Elder Ron Whiting, from Basalt, Idaho, also assigned to go to the Netherlands. We studied some Dutch language and missionary lessons.

Then we traveled via train to Chicago and New York and boarded the SS Maasdam for the trip to The Netherlands, 5-14 September. Newly arriving missionaries in The Netherlands usually went straight to The Hague (Den Haag), where the mission home was located, and where the missionary school was located, where we could get additional language and culture training. However, since we had only the two of us new missionaries, and they were expecting three more missionaries in three weeks, they decided to send us out with a missionary companion to bone us up on that kind of stuff. 

I was sent to Amsterdam, where my companion was Elder Robert J. DeBry, now the famous ambulance chaser. Elder DeBry was the District President in Amsterdam, and spoke very good Dutch. He was a good teacher. We lived above the church, which was then at Weteringschans 101. It was just one of the many buildings along the street. The church was on the main level, and there were four of us missionaries living on the upper floors. 

The church was near some famous buildings in Amsterdam. One of them was Het Rijks Museum, which had lots of art work by Rembrandt, especially his famous Night Watch. The other building was Het Concert Gebouw, translated to The Concert Building. That is still in operation today. I hear on the BBC about concerts coming from Het Concert Gebouw. We had a missionary choir, and sang in lots of places around the mission, and one of the places we sang was Het Concert Gebouw. I still have the programs for this concert in my missionary journal. (See London Temple Dedication for another choir experience). 

After that assignment in Amsterdam, I went to the missionary school in Den Haag to learn more Dutch. That was at the church there, Loosduinsekade 11. That was a regular church building, and is likely still there. 

After that, I had assignments in Arnhem, by the German border, and then back to Den Haag, and then to the town of Ijmuiden, which was in the Amsterdam district. It was a town of over 100,000 but hadn’t had missionaries in over 30 years. We organized our own meetings in Ijmuiden, above a bar. We had other meetings in the nearby city of Haarlem. 

Then I returned to Den Haag, now as the missionary teacher. After that I served in Zwolle, and then Rotterdam North. 

I never did get to serve in the northern provinces of The Netherlands, Friesland and Groningen. My grandfather (Ate Westra) was born in Friesland and my grandmother (Geeske Egberts de Haan) was born in Groningen. They married in Groningen in 1902 and came to Utah in 1907. My father (Joseph Ate Westra) was born in SLC in 1911. 

After my mission ended, in May 1960, I spent about three weeks in Friesland, doing some genealogical research. Then we traveled through Europe and took a ship home, the SS United States, four days. Two of the five missionaries traveling together had purchased Volkswagons, so we traveled in those, through Europe, and put them on the ship, and drove them to Utah. 

In 1960, near the end of my mission, they were preparing to make the first Stake in The Netherlands. It was actually the first non-English speaking stake in the world. I don’t know for sure if there are now more than one Stake in The Netherlands. You can use your Dutch and ask when you go to church there. There is now one temple in The Netherlands. One of the missionaries serving with me, Elder Springer, went back to the Netherlands to help build the Temple. He is a builder and used to live in our ward in Timmerman’s house. He recently died.

You mentioned you stayed away from the shady areas of Amsterdam. We would sometimes go down to the Red Light District and call the young women working there to repentance. One of my companions actually did talk to one of the girls. Many of them were just teenagers. They would sit in a showroom behind a big window, in their pretty formal dresses. Back then, you could tell the location of the Red Light District, by the big Catholic Church, with a huge red cross on top. I think maybe the popes have since then stopped that display of obvious connection between the Catholic Church and the Red Light District. 

I’m glad you know what unsafe areas to stay away from----visitors often don’t know that. Wendy didn’t know on her mission, and was in a bad part and the buses had quit for the night. A policeman stopped and told them they needed to get out of that dangerous area. They called their zone leaders to come get them. When Janika went to Atlanta this past summer to be an EFY counselor, she met some people that had known Wendy on her mission!

The churches in the northern part of Holland were mostly Dutch Reformed, John Calvin, and the churches in the southern provinces of Holland were mostly Catholic. 

Let me know more of how your church meetings went,

Dad

From Shane: Thanks for the info, Dad, that is really cool to hear!  Weteringschans 101 is very close by where I'm staying, so I'll pass by there to see what is is now. I went to the Van Gogh museum today, it is right in between the Rijks museum and the Concert building, and I walked around part of the Rijks museum afterwards -- its a really cool building. I might go into that museum tomorrow.  I looked it up, and the Den Haag Ward is still at that same address. There are currently 3 stakes in the Netherlands; Apeldoorn, Rotterdam, and The Hague (which includes Amsterdam).  Very cool to hear about your experiences, and to be where you were 59.5 years ago!

From Mom/Margie: Dad said Amsterdam is probably 4 or more times larger than Salt Lake City, which makes it even more amazing that Shane is staying close enough to walk to where Dad lived 60 years ago, out of the entire huge city.

Check out another one of Shane's trips to Holland a little later in 2018 where he visited the city of Groningen where Dad/Lamar's grandfather lived/married/worked and returned to for a mission after immigrating to the United States. Historic Homes in Holland ~ Shane's Trip.  Shane was able to locate a number of residences and church buildings from our family history!

Grandma Olive's Childhood Memories

There is a biography of Olive Laura Cushing Erskine here on the blog, based on a history written by her daughter Lucille (Grandma Lucille to the Westra siblings). Lucille also wrote up some of her memories of her mother (I Remember Mama) with reflections of their life and relationship. Sharon (Dad/Lamar's sister) wrote down some of the things Grandma Cushing had told her grandchildren about her childhood ... the document is saved in Family Search and in the Westra Dropbox, and transcribed for easier reading below.

Fun in the Good Old Days ~

 As Told To Me By My Grandmother Olive Laura Cushing Erskine

(by Sharon Westra)

We had bonfires in the fall and baked potatoes. We also had some corn husking parties. 

Around Halloween, the boys were very mischievous. We had water running down just about every street, and the boys would knock little bridges off. People had outside toilets, and they would be knocked over. Lots of gates would be taken off. People who remembered, would take their gates in until after Halloween was over. It was fun to walk around the next day and see all the damage. Baby buggies would be hanging up on light poles. Light butcher shop carts would be hanging up something, or be placed on sheds.

Thanksgiving was celebrated with the usual family dinners, and we planned it weeks ahead. We would fix baskets of fruit and nuts, bottled fruit and jams and take as a surprise package to the poor. 

In the winter we used to go sleigh riding on the hills. My brother made a schooner which could sit about half-dozen people. Or we would fasten two or three sleighs together. We would go ice skating on the lake. No shoe skates, just clamp on skates. There would be an orchestra right on the pond at Liberty Park, and we would skate to music. They had stoves in sheds around the lake to get us warm. We used to hang on wagons and cutters and bobsleighs with our skates on, or we would stand on the runners of the bobsleigh. We would also tie or sleighs on the back.

We would have taffy pulls, house games and surprise parties. We had lots of plays and programs, dramatics and concerts.

We had a piano and organ, and I would play while everybody stood around the piano and sang. We had contest programs, and I got second prize for playing America the best. We had a children's choir, which was conducted y Evan Stevens.

At Christmas time, we sang carols. We threaded cranberries and popcorn for decorations on our tree. We also made paper chains. We hung fancy cards on the tree, and burned little candles, which was quite dangerous. 

We didn’t have many toys. A doll and book for the girls, and marbles, tops and books for the boys. We were very fond of the Chatter Box Books and the Stereopticon for viewing pictures. When we were older, we had dance clubs, and had square dances, fox trots and waltzes. 

In May we would go up on the hills and gather wild flowers. We would always have a maypole and picnics.

We went bicycle riding in the summer. The boys would go fishing and hunting. The girls would play hopscotch games and jumping rope. The boys played marbles and spun tops. The mothers were always darning the boys stockings. The boys wore knee length pants and long stockings, and after a game of marbles there was darning to be done. The boys made sling shots and wooden guns. We would play hide and seek and kick the can.

In the summer we would have excursions and picnics to Great Salt Lake and to the Parks. We had all kinds of races and games with prizes to be won. The boys played baseball. We would carry our lunch in a large clothes basket. We had to take china dishes and glasses because we had no paper plates or cups.

All in all, those were wonderful days, and we had to make our own fun, and we appreciated the fun we had.

**************************************

I'll have to ask Sharon if these memories were ones she specifically asked Grandma Olive about and recorded from an interview, or things she remembers hearing her grandmother mention and then created a compilation afterward. 

If YOU were to interview YOUR grandmother about childhood memories, what questions would you ask? What things would you like to hear about? Whatever age you are ... what memories from your childhood do you think would be interesting to YOUR grandchildren?

This inspired Mom/Margie to write up some of her childhood memories ... check them out HERE.

Olive Laura Cushing Erskine

Olive Laura Erskine was Dad/Lamar's grandmother, Grandma Lucille's mother. On Family Search, she is listed as Olive Laura Hunt, but in life (and death, as seen in her obituary) Olive used the name "Cushing" instead of Hunt (ironically, Cushing was Laura's maiden name as well as her married name.) Olive's father was Samuel Hunt. Laura, Olive's mother, remarried after her first husband Henry Cushing passed away (they had three sons together). Sadly, Samuel left Laura, abandoning her and their unborn daughter Olive. Laura had Olive sealed to her first husband and raised her little family on her own.

Olive was born October 18, 1882. She lived her entire life in Salt Lake City, Utah. Her grandparents lived nearby (they passed away when she was a teenager) and her Uncle Arthur had a farm in Sandy. As she mentioned childhood memories to her children and grandchildren, it was noted that her brothers teased her, and she once had to have her long hair cut when some boys threw burrs in her hair. She reminisced on the fun of the holidays, Halloween/Thanksgiving and Christmas, and going sledding and skating. Taffy pulls, games, plays and programs, dramatics and concerts. The colorized picture in the collage above was from a school play where Olive played Queen Ester. They had a piano and organ in their home, which was unusual for the time. Friends would come and sing around the piano. Olive played (being taught by her mother) and she sang with the Tabernacle Choir. Olive worked at Rexmeyers Millinery, trimming beautiful hats. 

When Olive and Claude were courting, he would walk down to her home from 1st Avenue, and she would walk up to meet him. They were married June 12, 1907 in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. The reception was in Laura's home, and Grandma Lucille mentioned having her mother's wedding dress in her cedar chest. Claude and Olive made their home at 836 Spruce Avenue, and there they stayed their entire married life (the location was later renamed 831 Harrison Ave). Olive's mother bought a home just through the block (837 Sherman Avenue) where she lived until she was 80, when she came to live with Olive until she passed away 10 years later. Claude and Olive talked about buying a new home, but just ended up making improvements to what they had - installing indoor plumbing, adding a sleeping porch, changing the stove from coal to gas, switching from heatrola to floor furnace, wood floors to carpeting, added a garage and patio, ice box to refrigerator.

Six children were born to this union. Five girls and one boy. The first child, Mildred only lived two days. Then came Ruth, Lucille, Maxine, Harold and Shirley. There were fun family home evenings, outings to Lagoon, Saltair, Liberty Park for skating and sleigh riding. In the nice weather, they would take hikes, picnic or camp in the canyons. They would play Croconole, Pit, Rook, Rummy. Claude would play the mouth organ while Olive played piano. Claude would bring a big bag of taffy home every Saturday. They bought their first car in 1925. Every summer they would attend an "Erskine Reunion" at Liberty Park with all the extended family.

During World War 1, they had a community garden for all the neighbors on Harrison and Browning Avenues. The children sold vegetables and bought thrift stamps. Armistice Day (November 11, 1918) was memorable with parades and celebrations (except that Maxine was sick with the flu). 

As the children grew up and got married, Claude and Olive took trips to California, the Northwest, Yellowstone, Fish Lake, Bear Lake, Glacier National Park, and all the canyons around Salt Lake, Provo, Logan and Ogden. They loved going to the Wilkes Theater to see plays and going to Saltair on picnics. They belonged to a dance club, which they enjoyed. There was a group of friends that would meet each Saturday night to play the game of "500"  ... they called this the "500 club" and met for over 40 years!

Olive was known as a peacemaker by her friends. She loved to write poems and she enjoyed performing with the Tabernacle Choir. She also sang in the ward choir, taught Sunday School and served as secretary of the Primary General Board.  Claude passed away February 14, 1953 ... Leukemia and complications from chicken pox. It was Valentine's Day, and he called the florist and ordered a bouquet for Olive before he died.  She stayed alone in the home for five years, before selling and moving in with Lucille in 1958. In August 1959, she had a heart attack, and passed away August 5th. Maxine was living in California, but Ruth and Doc, Lucille and Joe, and Shirley and LeGrande were at her bedside. Harold (living in Dayton, Ohio) arrived at the hospital just before she died. 

This history was compiled from documents found on Family Search. Originally, I couldn't find any written history for Olive, which I thought was unusual, because Lucille had been so complete with her own biography, and wrote up a history for her husband Joe, her father Claude, her grandmother Laura, as well as other memories. Looking on Family Search, there is a PDF history in Claude's Memories - 20 pages long, with only the first three pages actually being Claude's life story. There, I found Lucille's "Life of Olive Laura Cushing" as well as an "I Remember Mama" document with memories, and "Fun in the Good Old Days - As Told To Me By My Grandmother" written by Sharon. I've added these original documents to Family Search under Olive's name.