I Had a Good Life

My sisters and I were lucky enough to get to give the life sketch for Grandmother at her funeral. I really enjoyed doing it and wanted to share it here, since this is really like our family journal. It is pretty long, so don't feel like you have to read it. But some of the pictures are pretty cool.


“I Had a Good Life”
Rhoda Frances Moulton May
November 7, 1918 – June 5, 2009
Presented by her granddaughters, Leisel May Payzant, Lexie May Hogan, and Lacey May Geddes at her funeral

Introduction
We are Frances May’s granddaughters. In honor of our Grandma, we are all wearing pink because it was her favorite color.

Today we are here to celebrate and honor the life of Frances May. She led a simple, uncomplicated life full of love, family, and hard work.

Early Life on Mormon Row
Frances Moulton was born on November 7, 1918 at Grovont, Lincoln County, Wyoming. She was named Rhoda Frances after her grandmother, Rhoda Frances Duke, but always went by Frances.

She was born in a small log cabin on the Moulton Homestead located on Mormon Row. Her parents were John Alfred Moulton and Bartha Elizabeth Blanchard Moulton. She had an older sister, Hilma, and younger brothers Boyd and Reed. Boyd and Frances were very close. He even had pet names for his sisters. He called Hilma “Susie” and Frances “Sally.”

Charles Alma Moulton, Frances’ grandfather, moved his family to Teton Valley, Idaho in 1896. In 1908, Frances’ father, John Alfred, and his two brothers obtained land on Mormon Row that was declared open for homesteading by the Forest Service. Each homestead was 160 acres. Mormon Row consisted of approximately two dozen homesteads along a straight line of road just east of the Grand Tetons and 15 miles north of Jackson.

Life on Mormon Row was hard. Each family needed to be able to survive the harsh winters and so it required each family member to contribute. Neighbors also helped and supported each other. Since they were so isolated from a town, they became a community all to themselves. They had their own schoolhouse and church. The schoolhouse taught children from first grade to eighth grade. The Grovont Branch of the L.D.S. Church was organized as a dependent Branch of the Jackson Ward.

Because of the way of life on Mormon Row, Grandma knew and was great friends with lots of cousins, aunts and uncles. She continued in friendship with many of these relatives throughout her entire life. Grandma recalls, “Many things we did together with friends from Mormon Row. [It was] a great way to grow up and not get into trouble.”

From an early age, Frances learned to work hard alongside her father and mother. She helped with the washing and ironing, hauling water to the house, and milking and feeding the cows. She also learned early on how to sew, knit, and embroider and spent many evenings with her sister making pillow cases, dish towels, tablecloths, and many other things for their hope chests. She recalls, “We really enjoyed those evenings listening, with the folks, to the radio programs, along with our busy needles.”

Even though her early life was full of hard work, Grandma’s family did take the time to enjoy activities together. She says that they “went on picnics, fished, hunted, skied, went dancing, took sleigh rides, and picked huckleberries.” She also remembers them attending Church together, reading scriptures, saying family prayers, visiting relatives, and even attending Stake conference.

Huckleberry picking was one of Grandma’s favorite activities. She continued going throughout her life, taking both her sons and her grandchildren for many years to come.

Grandma recalled: “A memory of [Hilma] and I in growing flowers up at Mormon Row. We always planted two long rows in the folks’ garden—annual poppies, sweet peas, pinks and many other kinds. Each morning before we did dishes or other work assigned to us, we had our trip to the garden to see each new flower. We knew among the poppies which bloom was new. [That was] an enjoyable memory of those days. Of course before we finished [there was usually] a call from the house by Mom, ‘Come and get your work done.’ We did spend too much time admiring them.”

As a child, her family went to town by horseback only once or twice a year for groceries. They would also get together with others from Mormon Row to travel to Victor, Idaho by horse and buggy. They would meet the train which delivered food, supplies, ranch equipment, and anything they couldn’t make themselves. If the Snake River was high, they crossed on Menor’s Ferry (in present day Moose) which cost between $1.00 and $1.50. If the river was low, it could be forded in several different locations. Even with the Ferry, the trip to Idaho was a two-day affair. The first day they traveled to Wilson and then the next day up and over Teton pass. By age 12, her family had a car, which enabled them to go to town twice a month for groceries.

In 1925, when Grandma was seven years old, she was walking home (to the north) from school with her sister when the Grovont slide occurred. A large section of land broke off from a mountain up the canyon from Kelly, Wyoming. This resulted in the Gros Ventre slide, damming the river and creating a lake. Frances and Hilma heard something but didn’t discover what had happened until they were home, looked back and saw the slide. Throughout Grandma’s life, she continued to mention and share the story of the Gros Ventre Slide.

Two years later, when Grandma was nine years old, the children at the schoolhouse were told to go home as there was a serious flood in Kelly and it might reach the schoolhouse. When they arrived home, Grandma’s father got on a horse and rode down to the nearby town of Kelly. When he returned, he reported that waves were thirty feet high and a quarter mile wide. The flood washed out part of the dam and destroyed the town.

High School
When Grandma was old enough to begin High School, she and her sister, Hilma had to spend the winter in Victor with their Grandma and Grandpa Blanchard and attend Victor High because Jackson-Wilson High School charged them tuition and the family couldn’t afford it. In subsequent years, they became part of the county school system and no longer had to pay tuition. When the Moulton children attended Jackson High School they stayed in a cabin in Jackson during the school year. They would drive home on the weekends until the road closed for the winter.

When the family wanted a new house, Great-Grandma Bartha began selling milk to the restaurants and stores in the Park and peddling to tourists in the campgrounds. Her children often came with her. It was critical to sell the milk daily as it would spoil. Great-Grandpa recalls that what the children remember most about the dairy operation is that 200 glass bottles had to be washed every day. Water was drawn from the well, heated, and changed frequently. It was a lot of work but the money earned from the milk enabled them to buy a 1930 Chevrolet to haul the milk. In the summer of 1938, they began building the “pink” house and moved in that same winter. The house cost about $1,400.00.

In Grandma’s teenage years, she and Hilma earned money by doing washing and ironing. At one time, they earned $6.00 per day which was more than their father earned.

Courtship and the War
It was during high school that Warren May began courting Frances. He was working for his uncle Joe May on a dry farm on the north end of what is currently the National Elk Refuge. Everyone on Mormon Row was aware of their courtship because Grandpa had to drive all the way from one end of Mormon Row to the other to pick up Frances for their dates. They often went to the show in Jackson which was located at the current Ripley’s Believe It or Not building. It also served as a dance hall. They dated for five years before they were married. Grandpa says they couldn’t get married before then because of lack of money.

They were married April 2, 1942, in the Logan Temple in Logan, Utah. Great-Grandma Bartha Moulton went with them. When they returned, Grandpa joined the Army to serve his country in World War II. Grandma lived in Texas and then in Virginia while he was still stationed in the States.


When Grandpa was shipped overseas, Grandma came home to the “pink” house where she grew up. Dennis was just over a year at the time and she was also pregnant with Leslie. Hilma was living there with her son Paul as her husband Clair was also in the service. Boyd and Inez were married in 1945 after Boyd had served a mission and they also lived in the pink house for their first five months of marriage. During that time, Inez recalls a moment when she came into the kitchen and Dennis and Paul had discovered a basket of eggs collected that morning. They were 1-1/2 years old. Dennis was dropping the eggs one at a time on the floor and Paul was stirring them. Inez said she laughed because she knew it was not her that had to clean up the mess.

Life on “The Ranch”
After the War ended, Warren came home and was hired by Bruce Porter on April 30, 1946. Warren, Frances, Dennis and Leslie moved into the house they still reside in which is located on the Jackson Hole Hereford Ranch just south of the High School Road. At the time, it was a three room log house with a front porch. Brent and Gary were born over the next few years and with their growing family they needed more space. The house was added onto to include a kitchen and a bathroom. Later, the living room was increased in size.


Life on the ranch was not much different from what the May family was used to growing up on Mormon Row. Warren worked seven days a week feeding cattle in the winter (regardless of the temperature), calving and branding in the spring, and irrigating and haying in the summer. Frances also worked very hard on the ranch. Some of her responsibilities included gardening, doing the laundry, sewing, cooking, and of course, taking care of her husband and four sons.

The May family grew a large garden each year and after lots of weeding, picking and canning, they ate vegetables year round. Gardening for Grandma also included lots of flowers. Everything grew under her care. She loved watching her flowers bloom and mature. She spent a lot of time growing them from seeds and then planting them, protecting them from frosts and then finally picking bouquets for friends, family, Sacrament Meeting and the county fair. She has numerous photo albums with pictures of her flowers.

Laundry was an extremely long process for Grandma. Even in her later years she continued to use her old wringer washer and hung clothes on the line to dry, no matter what time of year it was. Even from the highway, you could see the long johns blowing in the wind. When she finally did get an automatic dryer, she used it for storage instead of drying clothes.

While the boys were young, Warren began playing the drums in bands at night to supplement their income. He was often gone from 8 p.m. until 2 a.m. Then he would get up to work on the ranch. Frances worked long hours also as she cooked for and fed about 10 to 12 hay men during hay season, 7 days a week, and my dad said it was not an easy event. She would often start at 8 a.m. and finish cleaning up about 2:00 p.m. The meal was a full-blown noon meal including steaks, roasts, potatoes, homemade rolls, vegetables, and desserts. The hay men said that it was their favorite time of day because they loved Grandma’s cooking. We also enjoyed her homestyle cooking and she loved nothing more than having us down for a meal where we almost always enjoyed her wonderful homemade rolls.

Grandma loved to create things with her hands. She would sew all of her boy’s shirts when they were children and continued sewing for many of her grandchildren. She also loved to use her talents to create beautiful handcrafted items which included quilts, afghans, and embroidered pillowcases. Grandma received many blue ribbons at the County Fair for some of her creations.

Grandma was a wonderful mother, always taking great care of and worrying about her husband and sons. She also tended to all of her sons needs, including Gary’s
serious allergies and asthma, which continued to be a constant worry until he was five or six years. She also taught the boys how to work hard very early in life. They had many responsibilities on the ranch including tending to the milk cows, chickens, turkeys, and pigs.

My Dad recalls when he was about in 5th or 6th grade one spring during calving season one of the cows died leaving an orphaned baby boy. They named him “Tiny Tim” and raised him in the back porch of the house. Of course, Grandma was the one who shouldered most of the responsibility of feeding Tiny Tim. Dad said even after he was big enough to be with the other cattle, he would come up to him by the fence next to the house. The sad ending to this story is that during one meal, Warren informed the boys they were eating “Tiny Tim.”



After the boys were in school, Grandma started working at Jackson Drug as a clerk, where she stocked shelves. When we were young, she still continued to stock postcards and even took us with her at times. She often worked a split shift where she went in the morning and then again later in the afternoon. The boys were lucky enough on some occasions to be “babysat” by the Teton Movie Theatre, which was conveniently located right next door. One night the boys were playing out by the parked car behind the Drug Store. The Sheriff showed up and being that it was late at night, he took all 4 of the boys into the Drug Store to their mother, expecting Grandma to apologize for their behavior. Instead of apologizing, Grandma defended her son’s actions and the Sheriff backed down and left.

In December of 1957, the family was planning a trip to Los Angeles to see Elna and LaVor May and their family. In late November or early December the water line from Leeks Canyon to the ranch froze. It was a concern about whether they would be able to take this trip. Grandma had to haul water from town in 5 gallon cream cans each day for their washing, cooking, and cleaning. While the men on the ranch worked frantically to correct the situation, Grandma also cooked for them and delivered their meals up the Canyon. It was about three weeks before the water was running in the lines again. Luckily they were still able to take their trip as planned.

Memories From the “Boys”
The boys were always involved with exploring, horseback riding, sledding and skiing on the hillside of Leeks Canyon, ice skating in the winter on Flat Creek, playing basketball in the hayloft of the “Red Barn,” hunting, and building. And while these activities kept four boys busy, they kept Grandma in constant worry. Most of the memories that we were able to get from the boys involved Grandma and her worrying. And even her grandkids always remember Grandma wanting us to check in to make sure that we arrived home safely.

My Dad remembers one time when Brent was a toddler and fell into the irrigation ditch by the house. Grandma turned around and saw him floating down the ditch and she jumped in and pulled him out. From then on, Grandma was overly protective whenever anyone was around water.

When Dennis and Les were only a few years old, they were already very independent. They decided one night that they wanted to sleep outdoors on some old car seats under the trees. Dad is sure that his mom didn’t get much sleep that night. By the time they were 7 or 8 years old, Les and Dennis were off fishing as often as possible while their mother was home worrying about them.

When Gary was in high school, he recalls a memory of him and Hobie Griset coming home late one night and knowing that Grandma would be worrying about them. Fearing that they would be in trouble, they dreamed up a plan to push the car into the driveway and to tell Grandma that the car broke down and that they had to push the car all the way from town which was why they were late.

Another funny story Brent shared with us was a time when Frances was coming home from work one winter evening from Jackson Drug. She had Brent and Gary in the car with her. Visibility was poor because it was dark and snowing. As she approached the driveway, there was all of a sudden four dead elk in the road. Grandma screamed and threw her hands in the air. Brent grabbed the wheel and all they heard was four loud “thumps”. When they arrived at the ranch, Grandpa had to scrape one of the elk off the front of the car.

Never having had an opportunity to raise little girls, Grandma loved the opportunity to tend twin sisters, Sarah and Laura Bush, at the ranch when they were toddlers. Sarah remembers when they got into the baby aspirin and ate it like it was candy. She couldn’t imagine how that must have scared Grandma. Laura recalls “she wanted to go to church and be in Frances’ class because she would tell stories and teach the lesson in a way that made Laura want to listen and be good—just to make her smile.” Sarah also remembers Frances helping her sew a dress when she was older. She was certain that Frances sewed most of it but she made Sarah think she did it. Laura says the main thing she remembered about Frances is how much she felt her whenever she was around her, which made being around her wonderful. Sarah says that “driving by her house was very important to me when I was going to college. It was the first house I would see to tell me I was home and loved unconditionally, and the last house I would see when I left for Utah.”

When Frances’ mother, Bartha, died in 1973, Frances began caring for her father. She was a tender and dedicated caregiver to him for the next 17 years of his life (he died at 103 years old). It was that same year when her brother, Reed Moulton, died in an automobile accident on the pass.

Frances has been active in the Church all her life. She was Secretary for 6 years in the Grovont Branch; taught Sunday School for 30 years; Mutual (Beehive Class) for 15 years and a few years in Primary; and worked for six years in the Church Library. After Great Grandpa Moulton died, Frances thoroughly enjoyed the many opportunities of attending the Temple in Idaho Falls with the ladies in her Ward.

In the last six months of her life, Warren and Frances have lived in Medford, Oregon, with Gary and Beth. They were very well cared for and loved. They enjoyed being out of the cold winter and enjoyed a beautiful spring and flower season. They also enjoyed spending more time with some of their other children and grandchildren.

Grandchildren
Frances was blessed with seven granddaughters and two grandsons whom she greatly adored. Since Dennis, Brent, and Gary’s families did not live in Jackson when their children were growing up, Grandma and Grandpa would plan special trips to visit them. Some of these trips would even be for months at a time. During these visits, they attended as many of their grandkids’ activities as possible.

Grandma also loved when they came to visit her and Grandpa on the Ranch. She would talk about their pending trip for weeks in advance and for weeks after. She also greatly enjoyed receiving cards and pictures from all of them which she would display around the house for many years to come.

Because the three of us grew up in Jackson, we had the opportunity to spend much of our childhood with our grandparents. We have many wonderful memories of the time we spent with both of them.

From the time we were born, Grandma was always trying to teach us, whether it be handwriting, thrifting, crafting, or the names of flowers. We are surprised at how many flower names we still remember and are passing down to our own children.

We spent many hours playing on the ranch. Our activities varied from picnics on the lawn, throwing rocks in the creek, slumber parties on her daybed, swinging on the rope in the barn, picking raspberries, or playing in the cabin. Grandma always wanted to be apart of it. Even in her last few years, she would hike all the way down to the creek to watch us play in the water.

Since Grandma only had sons, she was very excited to have granddaughters. She enjoyed being a part of our “girly” activities like dressing up, playing dolls, dancing to old songs on vinyl records like “Daddy Don’t You Walk So Fast”, and having tea parties. Grandma let us use her special little glass dishes for our tea parties and we ate saltine crackers and chocolate chips out of a measuring cup. To this day, we all still eat chocolate chips out of measuring cups!

Grandma was also extremely frugal and thrifty. She took us to many garage sales and to Browse ‘N’ Buy to acquire new treasures that usually had very little monetary value but were priceless to her. She saved everything but was also very organized. She labeled all of her possessions with sticky notes in her beautiful cursive handwriting. And she never wanted to get rid of anything unless it was going to good use.

A memory of Grandma that always makes us laugh is the time one of the young bulls got loose on the ranch. Grandma and a couple of her grandkids were the only ones around so Grandma left all of us inside while she went to corral the bull back into the fenced area. Instead of her chasing the bull, the bull ended up chasing her!

Grandma continued to play a supportive role in our lives through our teenage years and even after we all left home and eventually got married. She attended as many of our sporting events as she could and even listened to them on the radio when they were out of town. She came to our baptisms, birthdays, holidays, graduations, showers, and weddings. She readily accepted her grandson-in-laws immediately into the family, even though they liked to tease her just like her own boys. Our husbands mentioned that she must have had all sons because she always caught them in their teasing.

Near the end of her life, Grandma had the opportunity to become a Great-Grandma. She had five great-granddaughters and one great-grandson.

Conclusion
There is a quote displayed in our home that says, “That which is loved, always blooms.” Reading this quote instantly brings to mind our Grandma May. Everything she touched truly did bloom. She took wonderful care of her sweetheart and husband; she tenderly cared for her own father after the passing of her mother; her mother-in-law lived at their home and under her care for many summers; she loved and took care of not only her own children but Sarah and Laura Bush when they were young; she treated her grandchildren like they were her own; and everything that grew under her thumb thrived. She had a complete but quiet love about her that included everything and everyone she touched. Her beautiful smile was full of warmth and affection for all around her.

She lived 90 healthy and happy years, was loved by all who knew her, and in her later years she would often say, “I had a good life.” And she truly did.




*Stories and memories contributed by:
Hilma Moulton Roberts, Dennis May, Brent May, Leslie May, Gary May, Susan May, Leisel May Payzant, Lexie May Hogan, Lacey May Geddes, Laura Bush, Sarah Bush