Jeri Anderson and Kraig Anderson

[00:04] JERI ANDERSON: My name is Jeri Anderson. I'm 89 years old, and today's date is May 12, 2023. And we are located in Logan, Utah. And today, my partner to help in this recording is my son, Kraig Anderson. So I appreciate his good help and providing a backup for me.

[00:50] KRAIG ANDERSON: Okay. And I'm Kraig Anderson. I'm 57 years old. Today is May 12, 2023, and we're recording in logan, Utah, at Terrace Grove. And I am interviewing with my mother, Jeri anderson. And, yeah, I'm her son. So I guess we'll just go ahead and get started. So first thing I'd like to ask is just where and when you were born.

[01:20] JERI ANDERSON: That's quite a while ago. I was born in paradise, Utah, which is about ten to 12 miles south of where we're doing this recording, in paradise, utah. Beautiful spot in the valley here, surrounded by mountains. And this year, plenty of snow. No?

[01:49] KRAIG ANDERSON: Who were your parents? Can you say who your parents were and what were they like?

[01:55] JERI ANDERSON: Well, I was born of goodly parents, I can say. And I was born at my grandparents home, which was located in the same town, paradise. And my mother was Lenore Rock, and she was born south of paradise in a little town called Avon. And my father, Marion Olson, he was born in paradise.

[02:40] KRAIG ANDERSON: What do you remember most about your parents? What were their traits you remember most?

[02:47] JERI ANDERSON: As I look back on as I was growing up, they were both very hard workers. My dad was a turkey grower in the valley, and so my mother did a lot of work in helping him in that. And he was also a farmer, so it was a busy family life. And I was the oldest child. Eight years later, I did become older sister to my younger sister, Linda Nell.

[03:45] KRAIG ANDERSON: So grandpa was a farmer. Did you have, like, assignments or chores that you helped him with on the farm?

[03:52] JERI ANDERSON: Well, with the turkey business, yes. I attached to where you raise the turkeys in the buildings. We have a run that would attach to that, and the turkeys could go out on that run during the daytime. Then at night, you would have to crawl out through this little door and try and herd those turkeys back into the building for the night. And they are quite interesting birds. They spook, and so sometimes they'll just try to get away from you instead of cooperating. So that was what I helped when I was younger with the turkeys. As I got older and got my driver's license, I drove and north to a feed plant where I would help bring the, drive the truck back to paradise, bringing the food for the turkeys. And usually my mother, she would go along to help accomplish that task. We did it together.

[05:17] KRAIG ANDERSON: Did you have, like, chores, daily chores, or did you just help out occasionally?

[05:22] JERI ANDERSON: Well, we didn't. I think we did have maybe one cow, but I never did much with that cow, so there wasn't much. But what we did have that I spent time with as a chore was we had a, a garden spot where we grew a lot of the food that we ate during the summer and then processed it and bottled it. So we had those good fresh vegetables all during the winter. So I would help with the planting and, of course, the weeding, which we spent a lot of time doing, and. But my father would take care of the watering.

[06:13] KRAIG ANDERSON: You've talked about, like, being chased by turkeys. Is that something that happened frequently? Do you want to talk about that?

[06:21] JERI ANDERSON: Well, when, besides taking the feed into where these turkeys would be when they were older, of course, a lot of the farmers in that area would have my father bring his flock of turkeys and they would let them graze and eat the grasshoppers. And so, of course, we had to bring in water to the feeders so they would have food as they were transported from one farmer in the valley to another. And once you stop and get out, of course, they are curious. If you start to leave, part of the herd will follow you as far as they can go. So once you get out of your vehicle, you better make a beeline for where you can get over the fence and get away from them. My dad often repeated an experience. He had people coming to visit the flock and a couple, and the woman had on a beautiful diamond ring. One of those turkeys reached up and pecked at that sparkling diamond and took the set right out of her ring. So, needless to say, her husband had to replace that diamond ring so they.

[07:58] KRAIG ANDERSON: Couldn'T find which Turkey did it.

[07:59] JERI ANDERSON: No, no, or he would have met his fate right there.

[08:06] KRAIG ANDERSON: So grandpa was also a sheep farmer. Was that before you were born, or did he still have, like, a sheep camp and go up tending sheep?

[08:13] JERI ANDERSON: No, he never did. Later in the years, he went into more of a breed of sheep that he had a few that was just right around where we lived. There was pastures, and so he kept them right there where we lived. And so they did have a kind of a sheep camp that looked like one where they used. When my dad, as he progressed and got bigger and larger flocks, they did have a herders that would come and they would stay in the sheep camp. Turkey herders, I mean, yeah, to herd the turkeys, take care of them.

[09:11] KRAIG ANDERSON: Do you have a favorite memory about a family trip or spending time together as a family? Did you have time to go on vacation with all the chores on the farm?

[09:21] JERI ANDERSON: Yes, we had many fun trips, memorable times, going to Yellowstone National park, which really wasn't too far from just a good day's drive to get there. And there was always fishing and we had a lot of good fish. And in the days when we were traveling there as a family, the bears were always alongside of the road. Whenever you saw a bear, everybody would stop. As the time has passed, there's not as many bears that are right along the road when you're traveling in the park.

[10:14] KRAIG ANDERSON: So Grandpa was a fisherman. He would fish them when you'd go to Yellowstone?

[10:19] JERI ANDERSON: Yeah, whoever. There was usually a group of other couples with children and we all went. And there was always some that were fishermen that. And then in my day, there was a lot of individual wooden cabins in the park and that's where we would stay. We would rent those cabins. And the deer and the bear. Oh, let's see. Yeah, the. I guess. And the bear would come around your cabin during the night. And of course, anything that we wanted to save, we made sure that it was put away or hung up where the bear couldn't get out, anything that they could eat. So you were really kind of living amongst the bears.

[11:17] KRAIG ANDERSON: What's your best memory from grade school or high school? Do you have a favorite memory from then?

[11:25] JERI ANDERSON: When I was growing up, we had our own school right in our community where everybody could walk to school, walk home. And unless, of course, your dad had a horse in the winter they would pull you on a little sleigh to go to school. Orlando, you could ride with him on the horse, but no school buses. In my day and age for elementary gauge, that went from kindergarten, first grade to 8th grade. And then I started high school, which was about, oh, I imagine 1510, 12 miles back towards Logan. And that's where I completed my high school education. And one of the fun outings we did as we went back to Michigan and I guess we went by train to Michigan and my dad bought a beautiful black ozmobile, I think there was. And so then we, there was another couple with us, with a friend of mine, and we drove back from Michigan, back to Utah. So we did see some sites between there and getting back home. So that was a memorable time, too.

[13:35] KRAIG ANDERSON: Who was your best friend in high school? Did you have a best friend?

[13:41] JERI ANDERSON: Yes, there was seemed in those days which community you came from, all of you, kind of were a group of friends. You all stayed together, and each little community would have their youth that would be bused to high school. So we had good friends that went from our elementary days into high school. And that group that I think we had about six my age, we had a four h group, too. I was involved in that as I was growing up. And so there was a group of six of us, and we were called the Dainty six, four h club group. And so of that six, today, there's three of us that are still living and residing in the valley, many with our families that live in the Logan area.

[15:13] KRAIG ANDERSON: Is that how you got started sewing? Because I know, you know, that was. That's one of the things you're known for, is your cooking and your sewing, for being into home economics. Is that where it started, is with your four h club?

[15:24] JERI ANDERSON: More with the cooking. My sewing really started with my mother. I used to, when they got more cows, we would have to take them. We'd take them out on the street to eat off the ditch banks where there was good food. And so I would have to go along and kind of watch those cows. So she used to cut me out some doll dresses, and I would sew those doll dresses as I was herding those cows. And then my dad had, two or three blocks away was another pasture area. So every morning, the cows would have to be taken up to those fields. And that was the way that I got me a beautiful new bicycle, because I would follow those cows and get them to pastured for the day and then drive them home at night. So that was part of what I spent my summers doing.

[16:42] KRAIG ANDERSON: Oh, making money to buy a bicycle.

[16:44] JERI ANDERSON: No, I didn't.

[16:44] KRAIG ANDERSON: Is that you got the bicycle?

[16:47] JERI ANDERSON: I just remember I got the bike. I don't think they. In those days, you were not paid for everything you did. But that became. I guess I was better on a bicycle than trying to go on the horse to do the job.

[17:10] KRAIG ANDERSON: Was there a teacher in high school that influenced you, kind of guided you in what you ended up doing in college?

[17:22] JERI ANDERSON: Yes, I remember the university, Utah State University, is located only about 1210 or 12 miles from where our high school was in. In Hiram, Utah. And so I signed up for those classes, and I had a miss weeks, who grew up, and her family lived in north end of the valley in Smithfield. And she came to our school as a teacher in home ec. And so I took sewing from her, and she was a good teacher. We would sew some, and then we would pick out some, too. She made sure that what we did was good work. And as I became more acquainted with her, of course, we talked about our families. And I had an uncle, my father's half brother, who was a bachelor. And miss weeks had never been married. So as we got better acquainted, I suggested maybe I could make arrangements for her to meet my uncle. And she was very cooperative. So we got those two acquainted, and it turned into a happy family where they. The first part, I guess they had two. She had one girl, and then she was expecting another one when my uncle, who had land in the south end of the valley where we lived. So he had a horse that he would ride out there where he would work during the day. And behind their home, they had a big barn where they kept their animals and his horse. And so as he would leave every day, he would go to that barn and take down his. I guess it would be a rifle out of a casing the ledge in that barn where he could stand his rifle. And as he pulled that rifle out, it discharged and hit him. And he was found a short time later, as the milkman came by to get the morning milk. He found him in the. In the barn. Deceased. So, of course, we lived only about a good sized block from there. My father was the first one to rushed up there where the accident had occurred. So this teacher, she became a good friend to me for the rest of our lives.

[21:07] KRAIG ANDERSON: Did she marry again?

[21:09] JERI ANDERSON: Well, when he was killed, she was expecting another baby. Turned out to be a. Another daughter. Who turned out to be a beautiful young lady. And excelled in music, played the piano. Beautiful. And then they ended up a short time after. And they moved to Smithfield, where it was closer to her family, where she would get help, more help raising those two daughters. So she ended up teaching. She went back to school, and she was teaching elementary school. So she got her teaching certificate and moved into the elementary grades. And as the years progressed, her eyesight failed her. And so she went down to a school for the blind. Where she could be trained on living a life without her eyesight. So she came after that schooling. She came back and lived close to her parents and her family in Smithfield. And she became proficient of making quilts. Anybody that would come to visit her, there were good neighbors who would put these quilts on frames. And they would mark them with those big pins like you use in your corsages. So she would have something to fill, and they would mark the quilt. And then she would quilt that quilt. And then good friends neighbors would come in and take off the quilt and another one would be put on. And she made many quilts that were given to the industry there for people who needed good quilts, and they were given to them.

[23:51] KRAIG ANDERSON: So you received some awards for your sewing, too, didn't you? Did you, didn't you make your own dresses in high school? And.

[23:58] JERI ANDERSON: Yeah, I entered a wool growing contest that was put on by the wool growers, and I entered into that and was a winner. And then I, with the dress I made, and then I was involved in the state contest, too. So then when I graduated from high school, I went on to Utah State University and got my bachelor's degree in home economics education and continued in the sewing projects and the foods classes.

[24:47] KRAIG ANDERSON: And that's where you met dad, isn't it? Was while you were at the university?

[24:53] JERI ANDERSON: We both were students at Utah State. He was in the college of Agriculture. We ended up in an english class. I always tell the story. I think he got the a out of that class and I got a husband. So we had good memories. He was with the, in that day. They had a military group on campus where they would get trained. And when we, I think he graduated first, and then when I graduated, I helped pin his pins on him when he was made a. What were they?

[25:54] KRAIG ANDERSON: Lieutenant.

[25:55] JERI ANDERSON: Lieutenant. And then he, by then, we had decided, I guess this was what our life was going to be. So he went to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and I accepted a teaching position in a high school about 25 miles from where I grew up. So I taught school until he was processed out of the military. And then we continued his education, and we moved to Madison, Wisconsin. And he sort of followed his father's tradition. He was in agriculture. He was a pea and bean. What, where he developed new varieties. Yeah. And so he had served. His father was also a graduate from the Madison. So when we returned, the major professor of his father to his father was still serving in Madison, working at the university there. So that was the second generation. So we had a good relationship with this professor and his wife, spent time in their homes and out in the beautiful countryside at Madison. You know, one year we went gathering nuts, and we, we were renting in a multiple, multiple housing, big home with other students. And so we thought there was a storeroom, the room upstairs. We thought that would be a good place to store all those nuts we had gathered. By the end of the fall, though, we discovered that the squirrels that were very prolific around Madison had taken all the nuts we had gathered, had stored them.

[28:29] KRAIG ANDERSON: You had them in the attic, or where did you have them, huh? You had them stored in the attic or where?

[28:33] JERI ANDERSON: Yes, in the attic, where it was dry and hot, and they took care of our nut supply. And it was a beautiful country there. We did a lot of, in fact, when our oldest, our baby, was born, we took him out on one of those lakes there at Madison and put him in a canoe with us and had an outing with our graduate student friends. Made many great friends that many of them followed us back to Utah state and became involved in the school here at Logan. One of our friends even became the president of Utah State University. So that gave us kind of a special connection to make us aggies.

[29:32] KRAIG ANDERSON: So when you move back to Logan, I mean, you didn't return to teaching. Did you ever miss not continuing a career or.

[29:43] JERI ANDERSON: Well, when I came back, then we ended up with three sons and one daughter. So then you become involved in their life. And so I decided I was, I loved education, and so I went to an elementary school as an aide and helped the students in their reading programs. I became a reading specialist and made a difference in many of those students lives that helped them to become better readers.

[30:27] KRAIG ANDERSON: What do you think, what would be your happiest memory of your, your life? Have you ever think of one or two?

[30:36] JERI ANDERSON: Oh, I think some of the happiest memories are now our family has enlarged. We have grandchildren and about 15 or 16 great grandchildren. I think the happiest times are when we are able to be together and enjoy our time together. When our second son turned 50, he decided he had developed an interest in lighthouses. And how anybody from who had been raised in a desert state like Utah became interested in lighthouses is quite a surprise to many people. But he had continued his education and had served and went to California and received his doctorate as an electrical engineer. And so he decided he would like to plan a special family party for him. So we made arrangements and our family met in, let's see, California, Oregon. Oregon. Oh, yes, on the Oregon coast at the Aceta head lighthouse. And we rented the keeper's home, his facilities, and our family, we stayed there, and I had a delightful time. And they had one part that everybody remembers. They had two women that worked there, and they had a garden, and so they prepared our breakfast and one famous breakfast. I think we had to extend the table to get everybody around. And I think we drank all their hot chocolate that they had in the house.

[33:16] KRAIG ANDERSON: Kept them busy. That's right.

[33:18] JERI ANDERSON: And those two women served this huge breakfast. I think it was about a 20 course meal.

[33:25] KRAIG ANDERSON: Yeah, it was a big meal.

[33:26] JERI ANDERSON: And then we spent time right there at the, at the, on the ocean, ocean side. Made good many memories there.

[33:47] KRAIG ANDERSON: Yeah, it was a fun trip. It was a memorable trip, for sure.

[33:50] JERI ANDERSON: And then I can't remember why we decided to go on a cruise, but we made arrangements to take our family and go on a cruise down the cowboy Riviera right down the coast from San Diego. Some of them came early and spent a day or two at Disneyland, which was a great time for some who hadn't been there. And then the, we sailed from San Diego down into Mexico. And it was an enjoyable time because the kids were free to come and go on the ship. And for those who had younger children, they even had a nursery they provided. And it was so good that some of them preferred to be there on the ship and be entertained as being out, seeing the territory a little bit and riding the zip lines.

[35:12] KRAIG ANDERSON: How would you like to be remembered?

[35:24] JERI ANDERSON: Well, I hope I might be an example to our family, one who loved to, I've been a people person all my life, and I've enjoyed having their friends come to our home and we have good friends with their friends.

[36:00] KRAIG ANDERSON: Yeah, I know my, at school, I know my friends like coming to study at our house the best because there was always something to eat and they always felt welcome. So you had a stroke six years ago that left you in a wheelchair. What were your feelings after the stroke, and what do you think you've learned from being confined in a wheelchair?

[36:29] JERI ANDERSON: Well, I think I've learned that whatever you are handed in this life, you have to make the best of it. Put all your effort into trying to regain as much of what you lost and still continue to support your family and encourage them to choose the right path in life that will be the best for them and provide happiness throughout their lives. And they're going to have to work hard to achieve that. But we've been fortunate because our children have applied themselves in what their chosen profession is and they've excelled. And they've had happy families, and we still get along well enough that we can all get together and still have memories to make together.

[37:47] KRAIG ANDERSON: Yeah, I know. We have lots of happy memories of the annual reunions you'd planned for the family, the Anderson, the annual Anderson reunions. I think that's something that we've all appreciated is going on trips each year together.

[38:01] JERI ANDERSON: So, and we live so close to the mountains that we've spent many times. When I was growing up, there was not many places to go or people didn't have a lot of money because it was the depression that hit. And so we would spend time with extended family, with pack a little lunch and head up to the mountains to Porcupine Dam, where to this day, many people are enjoying that dam in fishing and water sports. So we were raised in a beautiful part of the state.

[38:48] KRAIG ANDERSON: When two days is Mother's Day. So I just wanna. We aren't a family that's known for expressing our love, but I just wanna say that I got this from you. I just want to say that I'm thankful that you're my mother. And this has been a great opportunity just to talk to you and relive some of these memories. And I just wish you a happy Mother's Day and want you to know that we all love you and appreciate all that you've done, done for us in the example that you set with that.

[39:48] JERI ANDERSON: Well, I know my parents were not the lovey expression people, and I guess I haven't been, but sometimes I think your love is best expressed by your example and what you take the time to make a difference in other people's lives. And I. Yeah, I think.

[40:15] KRAIG ANDERSON: I think definitely. Sometimes actions speak louder than words. And we can definitely tell by the life you've lived that you have love, not only for us, but for your friends and extended family and just for everyone. So I think that's a legacy that you definitely have left for us.

[40:36] JERI ANDERSON: Well, that's a good Mother's Day present right there. I'm sure we have all those same feelings with all of our children and now grandchildren and. Great.

[40:51] KRAIG ANDERSON: Okay, well, it's been good having the chance to record a story.

[40:57] JERI ANDERSON: I'm sure we'll think of many more experiences we've had that we forgot to mention today. But we can add them when we get together. And someday we might listen to this.

[41:13] KRAIG ANDERSON: That's right. The story will continue.

[41:17] JERI ANDERSON: So we thank our help that we received from our. Our assistant here today with StoryCorps. Appreciate what they've provided this opportunity. And this is a record that I've tried to do previously with a mic and with a video. But then I. I guess I'm getting older. Maybe I'm not quite as emotional as I was originally. It's maybe getting easier. But the stroke, definitely. I was blessed that I didn't lose my voice with my stroke, I've been able to. I've been able to use my voice.

[42:19] KRAIG ANDERSON: It was a blessing that was maintained.

[42:21] JERI ANDERSON: And my mind.

[42:23] KRAIG ANDERSON: Yep, sometimes.

[42:25] JERI ANDERSON: Sometimes they think I use my mind too many. Too much with too many ideas. But they're all. They've all been very supportive and made this trial in my life as enjoyable as it could possibly be.

[42:41] KRAIG ANDERSON: Yeah. Okay, well, just thanks for sharing your memories, and I'm sure we've got a lot more memories to come.

[42:46] JERI ANDERSON: And.

[42:47] KRAIG ANDERSON: And thanks, Restoricorps, for this opportunity.