IN MEMORY of ELLA NIELSON BOOTHE
OUR MOTHER
By Carole Boothe Moulton
Maurice John Moulton
LIFE SKETCH
I was born December 20, 1904 in Winter Quarters, Utah to James Nielson who was born 18, October, 1860 in Laasby, Skanderborg, Denmark. My mother was Christine Smith born 22 March, 1863 at Fountain Green, Utah. My brothers and sisters were: Ida Marie Nielson, Niels Nielson, May Nielson, James Nielson, Christian Nielson, Joseph Nielson, Jennie Nielson, Caroline Nielson, James Nielson, Ethel Nielson, Martha Nielson, Decinious Nielson, Manila Nielson, and Minnie Nielson. I was blessed and baptized in Winter Quarters and attended school in Scofield, Utah. I was the 15th child of the family. My mother died with the 16th child, and I was 18 months old at the time. I was raised by my father and my sisters helped.
When I was a little girl, my father would put me in a sleigh and put a harness on the dog and I would ride all over town. In the summer he got a little red wagon for me and we went all over. There was a beautiful picture of me with light hair when I was young and I looked like Jalynn. When I was little, I had mumps, measles, and diphtheria. They always had a sign on the house, when anyone in the house had the measles. When I lived in the house in Winter Quarters, I sold the newspaper and became a news girl and sold the San Francisco Examiner. In mothers words, they charged me five cents and only gave me two cents. Then I sold the Grit and it was ten cents and they gave me four cents. I'd go on one side where the rocks were and the other side where the trees were. I'd sell all over town. I thought I was rich making all that money. I got tired of that and started tending children for a butcher and his wife. I got tired of that too.
In MIA, when I was young, we had dances in a big amusement hall. They had dances but the boys wouldn't dance. We had to dance with girls all the time. They had shows on Charley Chaplin, the silent movies. We would go there once a week and have to pay for it. When I was young, I played basketball and you should have seen my bloomers. They were black with elastic on the middle and elastic on the legs. We would go up where there were cattle and get mushrooms. My brother fished and gave us some. I went horse back riding up the hill with Winifred on Joe's horse. Oh, it was so much fun. My father went with us on picnics. He watched me skate. He would say, "Ella quit letting those girls fall on top of you." The first car I rode in was the old Model T Ford with Stanley Harvey. It made me sick as a dog. I have a picture of the school with Millicent when she was visiting us. I was dressed up with a crown on my head and a thing in my hand. I was the Statue of Liberty. Our outdoor toilet had a catalogue in it. We had dreams every time we went to the toilet probably about some of the things you couldn't get at the store. On the 24th of July we went up a big hill to Lee Marsden's. They had a bunch of lambs. The men built a great big platform and put brush on every side of it and they would give popcorn, ice cream and hamburgers free anytime we wanted. The Bishop was sponsoring it and he was the head of the mines. The Bishop's son married Lavern Parmley of Salt Lake. We had the best time. We ran races and made a lot of money, just like we did in Rupert. They played ball, and I like to play ball then. We had fun. When we got hungry again, we went back and had all the food we could eat. I would love to play horseshoe's. My brother, Niels said to me one day, "Ella you take off those overalls or I'll be mad at you and give you a licking". I went home and never liked him so much. I have a picture of me with his daughter, Julia and the big dog.
At Christmas time when I was 12 years old, it was snowing like the dickens in Winter Quarters, Utah. Tomorrow was Christmas and I wanted my Christmas tree. My dad had been to busy to get one. I put on my rubber boots, coat, and hat. I went down the hills, over the road, over the railroad tracks and walked in the water. I went way high in the hills. When I found my Christmas tree, I took my ax and cut it down. I let it roll down the hill. When I got to the water, I pulled it across the water, across the railroad track across the road and up the hill I went. When my father came home, he said, "Ella, your brothers and I could have got the tree". I said, "I don't care: tomorrow is Christmas". He said, "OK". He made a wooden stand and put it up in the room. I made popcorn, colored it pink and put cranberries around it. We put a bundle of tinsel on the tree. Its not like Darlene's. She has the most beautiful tinsel I have ever seen. On the tree, my father put handles all over the tree to put candles in. The candles were red, white, blue, green and orange. That tree was so pretty. He lit the candles and that tree was so gorgeous, much prettier than the trees are today. Lights all over the tree were blazing, blazing, blazing. They were so pretty. My father was so pleased with what I had done. I had made chains of different colors. I made little lanterns and put them all over the tree. I showed Marcie and Gayla how to make them. Underneath the tree were beautiful packages from my brothers. My father sent to Sears for a big bucket of caramels. On top of the bucket was a lid so we could use it. He sent for all kinds of candy: peanut-brittle, orange sticks and old fashioned chocolates. My, how we loved that candy. The next morning it was Christmas and I opened my packages. I got so many beautiful packages from my sisters and brothers. The most beautiful was the Elgin watch my father gave me. I loved it. I really did. I said to my father, I love books better than jewelry. Isn't that silly? I liked to read the Alger books. It was a wonderful Christmas. My brother Ed brought four boxes of caramels and one box of assorted candy. I loved my brothers, Ed and Joe so much better than the others. I was 15 when I started to date. My dad was a good sheepherder cook.
I went to the eighth grade and at the end of the eighth grade I graduated. They gave me something real nice for graduation because I was the head of the class and got all A's. I was valedictorian of the eighth grade. I sang at my graduation but I don't remember what it was I sang. I went to Scofield to school and I walked on the railroad and thought that was really fun. It was about a mile and we went past the hospital. I guess I'll have to tell you about the hospital. It was real tall and had a lot of patients in there and it divided Winter Quarters from Scofield. When I got a little better, the teacher said, "Ella, I'd like you to teach when the teacher can't teach". Another girl and I took turns. I forget her name but I remember she was quite fat but rather pretty. Once the schoolteacher I loved so well died and she was so sweet. The other girl and I had to teach more after this. One time I brought home $12.00 to my dad and he was so proud of me. My dad had the sheriff check on me as I was alone while he was at work as night watchman at the mine.
I had a sled my father gave me and it would go down the hill by the store and before I knew it, I had all the kids on top of me. We laughed all over and had so much fun in the winter. My brother, Joe, would take a sleigh to deliver groceries and I would sit on the running board of his sleigh. He had boys deliver for him and would stop at the store after and give them a big box of candy and me some also. We had a butcher shop run by Joe the Greek. If I wanted anything, he would give it to me for nothing. One day I took my friends up there and he gave us wieners and all kinds of lunch meat that we wanted. He also gave us tripe and I just loved it. You should try it sometime. Oh, he was a good old Greek. One day I went to a Greek wedding way up high above where the mines were and it took about three hours for them to get married and boy it almost makes you sick. They just yim, yum, yum all the time. Finally they took us off to eat and they had all kinds of food you could think of. Now, these Greeks were good eaters and they had so much food there that we ate and were filled to the top. It was fun and I sort of liked the darn old Greeks in Winter Quarters.
When I was still in grade school about the eighth, there were some teachers, Mr. and Mrs. Lisonby. He taught arithmetic and she taught social science. They had one room partitioned off and she taught on one side and he on the other. We had one class with him and then with her. One day he said, "Ella, will you come over to our house and bake a cake?" I made bread, cakes, pudding and everything to last a week. Then I'd go back to school on Monday. He would say again, "Ella, will you go down and make a pie?" It was that way all the time and I cooked and cooked. They moved to Salt Lake and I missed them so much. Mr. Lisonby died and also his little son. I read it in the paper, so, I wrote to her and told her how sorry I was. She wrote back and said there was nothing she could do, and said, "We love you, Ella. You did so much for us", and that is the last time I heard of her.
I wish I could go back to Winter Quarters of yesterdays. After the Harvey Girls went, I started going with two girls, Melva and Elva Hayman. Mr. Hayman was the head of the store and my brother, Joe worked for him. One day he invited me down for dinner and he sat at the head of the table and he had all the food there by him, and his wife sat at the other end. The girls and I sat at the sides. They had napkins and everything: knives, forks and spoons. He said, "Ella, what will you have"? And I said, "Anything you have". He sliced off some meat and served some potatoes and we ate that. He served us some vegetables and we ate that. He said we have the best dessert of ice cream and cake. It was nice to eat at their home because they were so sophisticated. I really liked him and Melva and Elva. One day Melva took me in the top of their house where they had toys for Christmas, and we would look and enjoy their toys where the mother had them all fixed. We were enjoying their Christmas toys when the other sister came home. She opened the door and came up to the attic and saw all the toys. She went and told her mother who was at the store as a secretary to her husband. The mother came there and scolded her but never scolded me. We had a lot of fun going up into the hills where the raspberries were and the lilies. We ate the raspberries.
When I was very young I loved to sing. When I was at church, there was a Mrs. Anderson that discovered that I had a good voice. She asked me to come to her house and she would play the piano and help me learn to sing better. My father was a good singer and he sang for us each night. I wanted to learn to be a good singer, so, I did go to Mrs. Anderson's once a week once a week to learn how to sing. When I went there she would play the piano and help me. I kept on doing this every week of the year until she had me singing pretty good. She would go different places and get places for me to sing. I would sing in public schools, in high school, in different programs the would have in churches and the church. She was very good to me. She taught me many songs. As I grew older, and the years slipped by, she kept teaching me until I could sing pretty good. All my life I have been a soprano solo singer and always loved music. My father was a baritone singer.
Winter Quarters was like Yellowstone Park. In the canyon, where the mines were, on one side of the hill, there were beautiful shrubs, pines, lilies Indian flowers, violets and strawberries. The strawberries were small but they were good. There was a stream of water and a railroad track. We lived on the back side of the mountain. Our home had only three rooms and behind there was a cave. My father owned this home. In one room there was an organ. I think my mother played it. Caroline, my sister, took care of the house. She was bright and taught me how to cook. She could make the best apple pie, bread, cakes, meat and vegetables. She swept the floor so shining white with lye water. We had no carpet. She married John Robertson, a real nice man. He came to work in the mines. They moved away to Spanish Fork, Utah. She braided my hair so tight that it made me cry. She was good otherwise. She wouldn't let my friends come into the house to play. We had to play outside the door. Aunt Martha was a little jealous over me. Father said Martha saved more money for her father than any of the other girls. Caroline would go and charge all kinds of clothing, but Martha wouldn't ask for things. We both wanted cream one day, so, Martha chased me around the heater and I fell on the stove and burned my arm. I cried under the table until my father came home because she wouldn't help me. One day she chased me up the hill with a butcher knife in her hand, but I flew so fast she couldn't get me. I beat it far away and when I got home she had calmed down a bit. I had done something she didn't like. My father made Martha quit school to take care of me. She cried and cried as she didn't want to stop.
After the 10th grade, school stopped at Scofield, so we went to price. We got on a train, Kate Gipson (Gibson), another girl that lived by the store and I. She was my age and so sweet. So, we went one the railroad train. We had lots of fun talking and jabbering. When we got to Price, there was Millicent and she was smiling. She had moved to Price and I had missed her so. She met all of us and she seemed to be the head of the group. She was teaching there and she took us to the dormitories where we would be staying and we got everything free. There was my Winifred and it was so good and I was so happy to see her. Kate Gipson was so jealous because she wanted me by myself. I went up to Winifred and I talked to her and I saw her a lot while I was there. I got some of the best pine nuts that you ever tasted and ate them a lot. In the dorms, we could eat in the kitchen; breakfast, dinner and supper free and nothing to pay for. I met a boy waiting tables. I forgot his name, but I thought he might be the boy for me and I wasn't very old either. He would write me letters and he wrote me about three letters and it faded away. I hated to leave Millicent and Winifred but they lived there now. On the way back we had the most fun eating pine nuts that you'd ever imagine. We jabbered away and jabbered away. When the train came to that big store, we had to get off. We had lots of pine nuts left to take with us. Oh! I do love pine nuts and I wish I had some now. We got off at the bottom of the hill and we had to walk up steps to the big Wasatch Store. Oh! I loved that store. On one side they had the groceries and on the other they had the linens and material to buy. The secretaries were up above and one of them was Mary Parmley, the bishop's daughter. She was the best girl I ever saw, and one day her mother died. She was rather tall but lovely and I went over to the house to see her. It about broke my heart as I sat looking at her. She had been so good to me. The Bishop was quite short and fat with a mustache and almost bald, but he was a good Bishop and missed his wife. They moved away to Salt Lake and I think the Parmley in the Relief Society is a relative of his.
I loved to ice skate and ski. I had a friend named Tarza. I loved her so. She was beautiful. We made hats. Tarza lived across from Aunt May. Between their houses was a well and in the well was buckets. They hung down the buckets and they put milk, buttermilk and things they wanted to keep nice and cool. If you wanted a drink of water, you would did it from the well. Aunt Jen taught me to cook, but Aunt Caroline was a good cook too, and so was Aunt Martha. Aunt Jen taught me how to make cakes from scratch. We made pies out of lard and they made the best pies. Darlene once had a pig and she had a lot of lard. I wonder if she still has it, probably not. Its been a long time. I went to the 11th grade of school. My father run a farm for Christian, his younger brother. Then his wife decided to let her family run it. It made them sad to leave the farm. I had an Uncle Chris. You should hear about him. He is a famous guy in my life. He was head of the trains. His office was up high in the store. When he would come over he would put me in his arms and love me and give me a book or something. I remember standing on the hill when I had the mumps, waving at the men on the track. When Uncle Chris came they would throw out lumps of coal for us and we would go get it. We had a coal shed full of coal and my father paid $5.00 a ton. There was once a big lump of coal that our Grandfather Nielson and others had brought out of the mine. His name was on it with other names and it was in the Utah State Capitol. Wayne took me there and we asked where it was. They said it disappeared. Maybe someone needed some coal. Well time went on and we decided to move again. I guess I didn't tell you about that. We lived up in a gulch in another house and that was when I was living in a boarding house working. I met a man at this time and he was so good to me. Then I met a man that taught me first aid and I took it from him. He asked me to marry him after I had only known him a week. I had a book he gave me and also his picture right by the train where he lived. He had a coach on the train and said we could go around the world teaching first aid. One day he said, "I'm strong, maybe you don't think so". He picked me up and carried me all the way up the hill. Well, he was quite a guy. He asked me again to marry him, but I said, no, and so he went on his way. I often wondered what happened to him. I went with a good looking boy who had curly hair. Right this moment I can't remember his name. He fell in love with me and ask me to marry him. I thought that I might, but my sister's husband, Pete, said he laughed like a cackle of a hen. I decided I didn't want him then and he found another girl. I decided I wanted him back so I was kind to him and he took me dancing and everything. I decided I'd go home and didn't tell him. You know what? He married the nurse who took care of him when he froze his toes and legs. I had another friend up in Eureka with red hair and he had pocks all over his face. He was the best dancer I'd ever seen. He would waltz me around and we would have more fun than we'd ever known. He was so wonderful. Every time he would take me to the dance, I'd love to dance with him. Sometimes he would dance with Beatrice, the daughter of my sister, May. She would also dance with Erwin Sack (Sax), who was a Catholic. Her folks didn't want her to marry him but she did. One day we went down by the water, where they had frogs in the water. We went on a raft. I was on the raft and Beatrice wanted to get on the raft where I was . She fell on to the raft where I was and we all fell into the frog pond. We were soaked to death and Beatrice was the cause of it.
Forest Perry asked me to marry him as he took me home from the dance as we walked up the track. When we got home, he asked me again and I said, no. He married Tarza and the live in Riverton, Utah. They say she is old and gray. They have one son that went on a mission and he owns a big brick store. I'd like to have a look at him again. I also danced with Elmer Kraus.
Our hospital was operated like this. My father only paid a dollar a month and we got all the medicine and doctor free. As the years went by, I got married to Leslie Boothe. He was a very good and kind husband. One day I went to visit my sister in Burley, Idaho and we were walking down the street. A bunch of boys were walking up the street and they stopped us. One of them I knew was Bob Adams and he introduced me to Leslie Boothe, who later was my husband. Les wanted me to get married at sixteen. I thought I was too young and wasn't ready for marriage. I told him I couldn't get married right now. My father wouldn't let me as I was too young. So, my husband-to-be went into the army. He was in San Francisco for quite a while. He had to stand as a guard with a gun over his shoulder. They had guards standing around at different places. One day, while standing his post, he fell unconscious and they took him to the hospital in San Francisco. He was in the hospital for many days, more than a month. I think that is the first time he knew he had anything wrong with his heart. He had a Rheumatic heart. We didn't know too much about that at the time. He got better and left the army and came home.
One day I was standing by the post office waiting for the mail. Our mail box was 366. I can remember that and that was many years ago. I was waiting for the mail to be put in the boxes. I happened to glance up and right close to the post office was an amusement hall. It had big steps you walked up to the top and then you went into a great big dance hall. Down stairs they had an ice cream parlor. You could get ice cream, malts, Sundays and I loved that. I saw someone walking down the steps of the amusement hall. I saw him coming towards me and I knew who it was. It was Les. He came up to me and said, "Ella, don't you know who I am?" "Yes, I know who you are. I didn't expect to see you today." He said, "lets go home." "I have to wait and get the mail," I said. After we got the mail we went towards home. The night before I told my father that Leslie Boothe was coming to visit me from Burley, Idaho. My Dad said, "If he comes here, I'll kick him out. He doesn't need to come around my daughter." My Father was home and I wondered what he would say when he saw Leslie Boothe. Leslie stood waiting to be introduced to my father. I said, "Papa here is Leslie Boothe. The man I said was coming to visit me." He was very nice to him and didn't try to kick him out. Leslie wanted to get married then, but I wasn't wanting to get married so he went back to the mines. He brought a lot of money with him so we could get married. He wanted me to keep the money for him so he wouldn't spend it. He took me to Scofield to try to but an engagement ring. It was a beautiful thing. It had rubies in it. I told him I didn't like rings. He said, "I would like you to have it." I said, "Wait a while then maybe I would like one."
Time went on and he waited and waited until I would say I would marry him. He got tired of waiting, so he went back to Burley, Idaho. After he left, I decided I liked him better than I thought. A month buy and I asked my father if I could go to Burley, Idaho to visit my sister, Jen. My father gave me money to go to Burley. They were having a celebration. As I was walking down the street, I heard someone call, "Ella." I kept going as I didn't know anyone. I turned around and it was Leslie Boothe. He quit his job selling hamburgers. We called my sister, Jen and she came and got us. I decided I really did love Leslie Boothe and we got married. My father didn't know about it until I wrote and told him. My sisters stood and witnessed the marriage. We lived right across the street from the Judge, the man who married us. Les paid ten dollars for a wedding ring, and it wasn't the one I wanted. I didn't dare tell him. If I had any sense I would of married him when he had lots of money, and I would have had the diamond, ruby ring.
We lived in an apartment house. It was called the Ames Apartment House. It was a nice apartment. Vera, his sister and her husband came to visit us and stay with us. I don't think she should have come so soon after we were married. I wanted to be alone with my husband. Vera's husband worked in a butcher shop and brought us meat; steak and such. Another apartment was empty so the moved out into that apartment. My father wanted me to come home. On the way we stopped at Colton. Something was wrong with the train and we couldn't go on. We slept in a hotel that night. The next morning we were able to go ahead to Winter Quarters. When we saw my father, he cried and cried because I had gotten married. The night before they had all met at Aunt Caroline's home. They had all kinds of good things to eat. They had fried chicken. They had expected me the night before.
My father died 11 October, 1925: his name was James Nielson. I called the mine and had Les come home and I cried and cried. I could hardly stand it. Leslie and I took my father back on the train with Melba. We went to Richfield, an ambulance was waiting to take my father to the mortuary. We stayed at Aunt Hanna's house (Anna Johanna Nielsen Brown). We stayed at the top of the house. I said to Les, "I had better go down and see what is happening". You know what they were doing? They were planning what to do with my Dad's money. They had given it all out and all I got was a ticket back to Eureka. Leslie was working in a silver mine. His dad wrote and told me to get him out of the mines or he would get consumption and die, and it would be the fault of it. We went back to Burley again and Leslie went out sheering sheep. (Mother (Ella) said she had a lot of miscarriages between all of us) Wayne Ronald Boothe was born 7 June, 1929 at Burley, Idaho. He was a beautiful baby. Wayne, you are my boy who worked so hard. All your life you've had to work hard. My, how hard you had to work to raise your family. The things you did for me and are still doing; I'll never forget you, dear. I love you and love your family too. God bless you. How proud I am of you. Beverley Carole Boothe was born 22 April, 1931 at Burley, Idaho. Carole, again had that beautiful curly hair when she was born. You had beautiful eyes like your Daddy. My how nice you looked. I loved your kind mouth too, the way we can dance, laugh at each other, do exercises and everything. Now, you be good to your family because I love you with al my heart. Maxine Olive Boothe was born 11 May, 1933 at Burley Idaho. Now, Maxine you are the tallest of the girls and you are sweet. Your hair was dark and it went light. I called you the "taffy" girl because your hair was several shades in light color... A pretty baby, and your hair turned dark again. You are the hardest working girl I ever saw. You have seven lovely children and I want you to know that I love you. Maxine was the baby of the family and was enjoyed by all) I love all my children each and everyone and all my grandchildren.
I wanted my children to have music in their lives. My children were born in the depression and it was very hard to get things they could use for singing and voice teaching. The money was scarce during the depression, so many of the children never had a choice of what they wanted to do. I did have some singers in my family. Leslie and Wayne loved to sing, "I am a Mormon Boy." Leslie would sing the first verse and Wayne would sing the second verse and then they would sing together. They sand other songs in Church. It always made me happy to hear them sing. Melba was a good singer too. She sang in the quire. She was a lovely girl and she loved to sing. (We all loved hearing our mother sing. She sang songs like; Prayer Perfect, Daddy You've Been a Mother to Me, Just a Wearying For You, Always, Some Where My Love and many others. She would sing a lullaby to us, and this is it. "Rock a by baby daddy and mother love you. Go to sleep, the sand man is coming. Can't you go to sleep my baby? Its time for you to be to bed. So rock a by my baby. Now I will kiss you good night. (She would put the name of the child she was singing to after good night, my darling, so good night) Sleep good for daddy and mother love you. Its late can't you go to sleep. Mother and dad are waiting." A cousin, Norma Oreno, told me Ella taught her children to hum and they were always humming when ever she came to her house.
While living in Burley, Leslie began sheering sheep around the country with a Mr. and Mrs. Hurst. I June of 1936, Wayne, Carole, Maxine and I went to Montana to see Les, who was working there, to ride home with him. We left Melba and Darlene to look after the cows and Leslie with Aunt Jen. I didn't want to go. We were camped in a beautiful meadow. We were living in a tent. Leslie's work was almost done, and he worked so hard. I asked dad to take us to the iron mines. He said, "I'm too tired." I insisted like I always did. We went way up there and saw the beautiful flowers like the ones at Winter Quarters, like violets and lilies. On the other side of the hill they had sego lilies. We went up to the top of the hill and we were in a Model T Ford. All of a sudden the car stopped and the brakes wouldn't hold it. We were going 35 miles an hour. We went flying backwards down the hill and the steering wheel broke in Les's hands. I don't know what we would have done if it hadn't been for those trees. Mother told Wayne this, "Somehow dad kept the car on the road although I can't see how he did it unless the power of the Lord was with him. We were coming to a place where we would surely go over a big drop and it would have been impossible to escape death. I held Maxine so tight, and almost threw her out to save her. If I had, the wolves would have probably found her. I cried out, "Oh, God save us." Somehow the car was guided of the road into a big stump that had once been a tree. The stump was caught between the wheels of the car and that slowed down our crash into some trees. Although we didn't crash hard into some trees, we got shaken up a lot. The baby lost her breath for a while. My leg was hurt badly. The crash was so bad it put a big bump on Wayne's head and Caroles nose was bleeding. That is why she needed to have that operation on her nose years later. A Ranger came and took us to his house and his wife was so nice to us. She gave me some aspirin and had me lie down for a while and then they fed us. We were alive and were able to come home to our brothers and sisters we had left home. We were happy and thankful to be alive. You can see God watched over us that day so that we could live. Then Les got the wheel fixed and we headed home." My leg was as bad as it could be and I went to the Temple looking like that. We went to the Logan Temple. One of the ladies that waited on me said, "What happened to you?" Aunt Jen and Uncle Tom took us down to the Logan Temple to get sealed. Tom stayed out while we went in the Temple. Oh, I was so happy to be married in the Temple and have all my children sealed to Les and I. Les said, "I'm so happy I'm able to take care of my children. I love them with all of my heart." (Ella and Leslie Boothe and children were sealed 7 July, 1936)
Carole wrote that, In later years Mother when blind and stayed with some of he children, Wayne and Velma, Maxine and Dwain, Carole and Maurice and their families all enjoyed her. They had some precious moments in their home that they will never forget. She especially liked it at Wayne's and Maxine's as they gave her their best bed. In less than two years she had to be put in a Convalescent Center because of her ill health. Leslie and LuElla came to visit her a lot and brought her many good things to eat such as pork chops, chicken pie and other foods she liked. She enjoyed their visits.
Leslie Boothe died 20 May, 1968 of a heart attack on the Twin Falls street while taking a walk.
Ella Nielson Booth passed away 7 February, 1981 in a Convalescent Center in Ogden, Utah, They had a service for her in Ogden and in Twin Falls. Buried in Twin Falls.
Tributes and Comments, by Ella's and Les's children But the full nine pages must be shortened. They are on file and available for the asking.
Comments from obituary; As a young girl of 12, she started teaching various Primary classes and taught for 30 years. Ella enjoyed life. She loved her family and Church. She always loved picnics, food and good music. She sang many solos and enjoyed listening to singers, especially her own family. Lawrence Welk on Saturday night became a tradition in her home. If any of her family was home, she would dance with them because she loved to dance so much. Ella knew the secret of how to teach her children to work. All of her children are good workers. Wayne remembers he had to weed the flower beds and vegetable garden and he wasn't to excited about it. When it was finished she gave such loving abundant praise on what a great job was done. The next time he didn't mind doing it. They all had their duties to perform. She was a capable keeper of the home, and a loving mother in helping her children learn to help her. Mother wanted her children to love the Lord. It was important we go to church and meetings. We walked to church as a family. We all knew that mother knew the Restored Gospel was true. What would our circumstances in life were it not for our mother and her testimony? Our love for our Church came from her. She and Dad loved each other so much. They loved and sustained their children. Mother and Dad were good for each other.
She was a Stake Missionary for 5 1/2 years. They did such great work with the Adult Aaronic and brought many people back into the Church. They loved entertaining them and had meetings in their back yard. Mother served delicious food. Ella taught in Relief Society many years. She taught Spiritual Living when it was called Theology, Social Relations, Homemaking, and Visiting Teaching. She continued even when her eye sight was so bad that she had to read the lesson with a magnifier and then write notes in huge handwriting so she could see it while presenting the lesson.
They certainly knew how to make holidays special, such as; Christmas, 24ths of July, birthdays, with fun and good food. She was a superb cook and baker. We especially enjoyed her homemade bread and pies, roast goose, root beer, frying hamburgers, in the back yard and New York Special ice-cream. Family get together's were laughing, singing, eating and happy times. Countless is the compassionate service she gave for others. She had a listening helpful heart and many were the casseroles, cakes and loaves of bread that were shared with others; those she felt needed a lift for one reason or other. She taught well the lesson of sharing with others. Ella always had beautiful flowers growing in their yard and drank deeply of their beauty. She received great joy from the simple things in life.
Comments from Beverley Carole Boothe: Ella Nielson Boothe was a very pretty lady with dark hair and blue eyes. She had a cute personality and was loved by many people. In Burley, we lived on 1st Street in a little old home with one bed room, a bigger front room, a kitchen, a little back porch where the boys slept and a little bath room. They lived in this home with their six children. The home had apple trees that bloomed all around it. We had pleasant memories of climbing the trees, feeding the lambs that Dad brought home, the house decorated so beautiful for Christmas, baths in the little round tub, going to the show every Saturday, and being given a nickel to spend. I can still see the beautiful tree Mother had decorated for us. We rented a house from Mr. Kuuno and he told mother and dad they could buy the home on Almo Street by just making rent payments. We were so happy as it was a big home. The home had a a big front room and dining room separated with an arch, a kitchen, back porch, three bedrooms and a bath downstairs and two bedrooms up stairs. We had lots of flowers all over. There are memories of the arch that went from the garden to the house with beautiful clusters of little pink roses all over it. This was in the 1940s. Dad was custodian of the Junior High and after that he worked at the Sugar Factory until it closed. Dad was transferred to the Algamated Sugar Factory in Twin Falls where he became the head electrician.
Other Comments; All of Ella's children and other members shared many memories of her, page after page of them. To learn more about Ella and her family just call for a copy of the comments.
This history of Mother was taken from tapes we had made of her speaking about her self and from her obituary or history that was read at her funeral. We also received information from Darlene Boothe, Viola and Arnold Harper, Leslie James Boothe, Wayne Ronald Boothe, Velva Jean Wells Boothe, Beverley Carole Boothe Moulton and Maxine Olive Boothe Nelson. This history was put together with great love for my mother and we felt so close to her while we were doing it.
By Carole Boothe Moulton and Maurice John Moulton
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