In Memoriam

Remembering our beautiful niece, cousin, granddaughter, daughter, and sister Allison Ann Bowers (January 21, 1999 - October 26, 2010).

(Obituary. Thoughts from Jared, November 1, 2010.)

We are, as ever, grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the promise of the resurrection and that families can be together forever after death.

The soul shall be restored to the body, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body; yea, even a hair of the head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame. And now...this is the restoration of which has been spoken by the mouths of the prophets—And then shall the righteous shine forth in the kingdom of God. (Alma 40:23-25.)

Patricia Lucille "Patty Lou" Wessman (March 13, 1957 - October 20, 1957)

Patty Wessman: Condolences

A sample of cards sent to the Wessmans.

Patty Wessman: Family Memories

Blessing day: Patricia Lucille Wessman and Grandmother Lucile Green Glade. 

From Ann:

On March 13, 1957 my mother had another baby – a girl and I was thrilled to finally have a sister after 4 brothers. We named her Patricia Lucille and called her Patty Lou. That summer my mother started looking for a new house since we had a 2 bedroom house with 1 bath, living room and kitchen and a basement. It was cramped with 8 people. She found a house closer to her mother on the east side of the valley. We moved in August a week or two before school started.

Patty Wessman: Congestive Heart Failure and Endocardial Fibroelastosis

My aunt Patty died in 1957 when she was seven months old. I never heard my grandmother Beverly talk about her until I was in college, 35 years after Patty's death.

I should have written her story down at the time, but as they say, our hindsights are better than our foresights, and when we're young we don't realize that people won't be around forever.

Besides the memories she shared that day, Beverly gave a short account of Patty's birth to granddaughter Eliza, who was collecting family birth stories. So here's what I've pieced together. First, from Beverly's account.

March 13, 1957, our sixth child was born. A beautiful little girl....

Patty was a good baby but I tried to nurse her and supplement the feedings. She did not get enough. She seemed hard to feed but I worked at it. At three months she had Roseola. I gave up nursing her. She gained barely enough to be within normal bounds. She wasn't thin or malnourished...

Patricia Lucille Wessman (March 13, 1957 - October 20, 1957)

Patricia Lucille Wessman was born on March 13, 1957. She was a cute, chubby-cheeked child, the sixth of eight children born to John and Beverly Glade Wessman the year they moved from the Rose Park neighborhood of Salt Lake City to a new home in the Sugar House neighborhood.

March 13, 1957, our sixth child was born. A beautiful little girl. After four boys we were thrilled for a change, especially [oldest child] Ann. Our small house in Rose Park seemed to burst at the seams. It was a four room home. John had built two bedrooms in the basement. We needed a bathroom which was a major expense. It was logical to me that this would be a good time to move as I wanted the children to go to school on the east side of town.... 

Patty was a good baby but I tried to nurse her and supplement the feedings. She did not get enough. She seemed hard to feed but I worked at it. At three months she had Roseola. I gave up nursing her. She gained barely enough to be within normal bounds. She wasn't thin or malnourished... (From an interview with Beverly's granddaughter Eliza.)

Two months after the Wessmans moved to their new home at 1839 Bryan Avenue, Patty became very ill and Beverly took her to the doctor. The doctor's first diagnosis was influenza, but Patty was very sick. She was taken to the hospital where she died on October 20, 1957.

Since this week is the 55th anniversary of Patty's death, this week will include a series of posts about her, concluding on October 20.

Wednesday: the cause of death

Thursday: family memories

Friday: cards and memorabilia

Saturday: a collection of pictures

Another Wonderful Jarvis-Overson Picture

It took awhile to figure out the identities of everyone in the photo, but once I realized this was Margaret Jarvis and her four daughters, it was fairly easy. Identifications were made by a few prompts from my father; looking at photos in George Jarvis and Joseph George DeFriez; and looking at identified photos in my father's digital collection.

Standing, left to right: Annie Jarvis Oveson*, Margaret Jarvis Overson

Sitting, left to right: Lois Jarvis Graham, Margaret Jarvis Jarvis, Stella Jarvis Peterson 

*No, this is not a typo. Annie and Margaret were married to brothers, but Annie's husband dropped the additional "r" that had been added to the original Danish Ovesen. (Why didn't he also switch out the "o" for an "e"?)

Here is a more recent picture of the sisters.

Back: Annie, Stella, Lois. Front: Margaret.

I've been looking at Lois's and Stella's very distinctive oriental-looking eyes (even more striking in other photos) and wondering where those came from. All four grandparents were English. Their uncle Ebenezer Godfrey DeFriez had the same eyes. Now that I'm looking closely at Grandfather Joseph George DeFriez, it looks like he was the source of those distinctive eyes. (More distinct in a different photo than the following, which is what I have already scanned.) 

It would be interesting to see a DNA test from a male in the direct DeFriez line to see where the family originally came from. Margaret Overson states in George Jarvis and Joseph George DeFriez:

The tradition in our family is that one Isaac De Friez, a Dutch Jew, was the earliest ancestor who settled in England. So certain was our Uncle, Ebenezer Godfrey Dr Friez, who was the first of our kindred to hear and embrace the Gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, (1873) or the correctness of this tradition, that soon after the work for the Dead was begun in the St. George Temple, he and his brother William had Temple ordinances performed for Isaac De Friez, Great, Great Grand-Father. But 'tho' research has continued on our lines both in person and by employed researchers for at least twenty-five years, his name has not been found in the English Records (ii:5-6).

October 18, 2012 -- Here's another picture of George, plus a picture of his son Ebenezer and his granddaughter Lois Jarvis. Lois certainly didn't get her eyes from the Jarvis side of the family!

Well, this is actually the same picture! The contrast is greater, though.

Lois's father was a DeFriez, but he took the name Jarvis and married Margaret Jarvis.