Grandma and Grandpa Ferris

My mother's parents are William Sherman Ferris and Leola Grace Scott. Because Grandpa and Grandma Hixson both died before I was 4 years old, I have personal memories only of my grandparents on my mother's side.

I knew both my Grandpa and Grandma Ferris well. We lived with them for a time, which I have

shared elsewhere in my journal writings. Grandpa was a hard worker. He had a difficult time being

involved in the Church even though he knew it was true and was a high priest. He was not very

active but always supported grandma. He loved to eat breakfast and I will always remember his

favorite cold cereal was Corn Flakes. When he ate you could hear his false teeth crackle. When he

put butter and jam on his bread he was methodical about it. Every inch of the bread had to be

covered, right to the edges. Grandma was very active in the Church and had been all her life. She

loved to quilt and she and the relief society sisters made many of them. She was also a hard worker

and supported grandpa in the peach orchard they had. She bottled food and was busy in the kitchen.

She was not the tidiest person in the kitchen – the cupboards were always cluttered and I marveled

how she could cook and prepare food. She loved to bake bread and rolls. She also made delicious

carrot pudding. She was a cook for many years at the old Woods Cross elementary school.

Grandma came to Grace once to tend us kids, while Mom and Dad were away to a Lions

Convention. I remember Mom coming home and saying I looked yellowish. She later learned

Grandma fed us tons of carrots, because they were good for us. I learned to weed from Grandma

Ferris. She made sure I understood that you must pull the weed – root and all – or it would just grow

back again. She would say to pinch and hold tight, close to the ground, and then pull slow and

steady. It was also important to have watered before weeding, so the soil would easily give way to

the pulling of the weeds.

[It is important to mention Aunt Josephine, Mom’s sister. She was very kind to me and I learned to

love her. She loved children and worked in the nursery at the Salt Lake Temple. She also took care

of premature babies and earned her associates degree in nursing. She loved to do genealogy and

encouraged me to get involved. I remember her coming to Grace and reading to us the book Mary

Poppins. Sometimes I would stay overnight at her place in North Salt Lake and can remember

hearing the trains’ whistles and seeing the reflections on the walls of car lights as they sped along

Orchard Drive].