Alma Lionel Petersen

by Step-Granddaughter Bonnie Shipley Anderson

Grandpa was born 29 September 1885, in Hyrum, Cache, Utah , to Hans Peter Petersen and Oliva Antonetta Elefsen. Alma’s Father was from Denmark and his Mother was from Norway.
Grandpa married Eva Marretta Allen in the Logan Temple, (Logan, Cache, Utah) on the 6^th of February 1907. They lived in Utah until sometime after the birth of their first son and then moved to Ucon, Idaho where the rest of their children were born.
Their children in order of birth are:
Allen Lionel
Eva Laverne
Verland Hans "Uncle Pete"
Lloyd Franklin
Lucille Marretta

Grandpa’s first wife, Eva died I always heard from complications of the Flu but I note that she had just given birth to her youngest child just 17 days before. She died 19 November 1918 in Idaho Falls, Idaho.
Grandpa married my Grandmother, Amelia Malloy Holst after many years of courtship on 9^th of July 1925. My Grandfather James Christian Holst had died 8 December 1916 in Idaho Falls, Bonneville, Idaho. They each had five children and their youngest children were, Chris 8 years and Lucille 6 years. Both children had lost their parent within the first few months of life. Grandma Petersen’s children’s names are the following in order of birth:

James Edgar "Ted"
Faye Lualta
Erma Marguerite
Madge Gertrude
Niles Frederic
Christie Reese "Bud or Chris"

The Grandpa Petersen I remember was very quiet and a very good man. He loved all of us grandchildren rather his own or step. He had already retired from farming due to his heart condition before I have memory of him. The things I do remember are his large gardens, apple orchard and strawberry patch. He always had a large number of chickens to lay eggs and to kill for Sunday dinner. He would raise bum lambs for the Summer to add food to the household and he would raise bum calfs for several months for food also. I remember him showing me how to teach a calf to drink milk from a bucket and to chop the head off of Sunday Dinner. That scared me to death and I wasn’t able to eat eggs or chicken for a long time. He was very patient and loving. I found out years later one reason he could smile with all us grandchildren crawling on and around him with all our noise was because he would turn off his hearing aid.
I loved to go to town with him and Grandma in their car. I don’t know what kind it was or how old it was but it was old. For some reason I loved that car and had a chance to buy it many years later but I didn’t know how to drive and was so sorry I couldn’t.
One early memory was when he must of just stopped farming and all his son-n-laws and neighbors came to help thrash the grain. The women cooked and we had a big feast afterwards. Other fond memories were when he got the water to irrigate the yard and gardens. He would let us play in the water that would come up pretty high on us. I was very afraid of the water but with Grandpa near by and in familiar surroundings I had just as much fun as the rest of the kids. I also remember Grandpa’s cakes and cookies he baked. The cakes fell apart and the cookies were crumbly but they were all good.
Another thing is I remember how clean Grandpa was. He always wore bid overalls and when he went to town he put on his newest pair.
My fondest memories of growing up are the times spent at Grandma and Grandpa Petersen’s house. All the families would come together to celebrate whatever excuse we could come up with.
My family moved into Grandma and Grandpa’s house about 1956 and they moved a house onto part of the apple orchard where they lived. Years later they moved back into their home and my parents moved into the orchard house.

Grandpa died 21 October 1975, in San Mateo, California. He was buried in the Ucon City Cemetery in Ucon, Idaho next to Eva.