Florence Parker

HISTORY OF FLORENCE OLSEN PARKER

I was born on the 28th day of October 1901, the 4th child in a family of 12 children. My parents were Hyrum and Marie Jensen Olsen. My brothers and sisters, from oldest to the youngest, were: Hyrum, Hazel, Marie, Ernest, Melvin, Edna, Vesta, Brigham, George, Leland and Benjamin. Melvin, Edna, and Benjamin died when they were babies.

We lived about five miles from Logan in College Ward, which later became Young Ward. All of my friends were cousins. They were Winnie, Veda, Leona, and Pearl.

We had a good time growing up together. Ours was a very close family. We always did things together as soon as we were old enough, which wasn't very old. We had work to do, and were taught to take responsibility. Sometimes I thought it was pretty rough when I wanted to play, but now I am glad for the lessons it taught me. By standards of today, we were poor, but we didn't know it, because we had all the things that really count. We had kind loving parents and the necessities of life.

I married Bruce F. Parker, November 28, 1942 at Tacoma, Washington. He was stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington in the Army. We spent the first months of our married life there.

When the war was over, we started to look for something more permanent. First we went to Castle Dale, Utah, and were working in partners with one of Bruce's friends in a Title Business. But, Bruce seemed to be doing all the work and getting only half the income, so we didn't stay long there. Then we heard of a proposition in California, north of San Francisco, that sounded interesting, but when we investigated, we weren't interested in it, so we decided to go to Southern California for a visit where we had several relatives. They thought we should stay for the winter, so we rented an apartment. Bruce went to work in a furniture factory, and I went to work at Mode O'Day. We had a good time there that winter, spent many evenings with my cousin Winnie and her family, the Merlin Wright's, also visited with nieces and nephews who were living there. We came back to Utah in the spring and thought we would try Provo. Bruce worked for a Title Company for a while, and one day he saw in the paper the obituary of the County Attorney of Garfield County, who had passed away. Since Bruce had a law degree, he thought that might be a good place to start, so we moved to Panguitch. Bruce was Garfield County Attorney and Panguitch City Attorney for the 25 years we lived there. We also had a Title Business with which I helped him.

We had a good life in Panguitch. The people were friendly and we were busy in Church and civic affairs. I taught 4-H Advance Sewing for 22 years. My girls always won blue ribbons in county and state fairs and two of them went on to Chicago. We were independent, went on many nice trips and really enjoyed life.

Florence Olsen Parker , 99, passed away Friday, March 9, 2001, at Sunshine Terrace. She was born Oct. 28, 1901, in College Ward, Utah, to Hyrum and Maria Olsen . She attended school in College Ward. She married Bruce Fayette Parker of Kanarraville, Utah. They moved to Panguitch, Utah, where Bruce was county attorney and together they had a title and abstract business. Florence was an accomplished seamstress, and taught sewing to the 4-H clubs for many years while in Panguitch.

After Bruce's retirement in 1971, they moved back to Logan where they spent their remaining years. Bruce passed away in 1983. They were never blessed with children of their own, but loved and were loved in return by their many nieces and nephews. Florence was the last of her 12 brothers and sisters.