Born in 1922 in the small town of Spanish Fork, Utah, she lived most of her adult life in our nation's largest cities. After receiving a degree in Clothing and Textiles from BYU she lived in Los Angeles, New York and then Chicago, where she raised her family. While living and working in New York she received a masters in Retailing from New York University. After marrying Walt Lewis, she moved to Chicago and devoted her life to her husband and 4 children.
Orpha was 28 when she was married. The birth of their first child, George, thrilled her. She once told me that he was the 'most beautiful baby' she had ever seen. Her joy with this little guy is evident in her radiant smile.
George, baby #1 was born on October 1, 1951 
Karen followed on September 15, 1953.
John made his appearance on September 18, 1954, just after Karen turned one and just before George turned 3. So for a couple of weeks she had 3 children under the age of 3! And she didn't drive. Can you even imagine taking 3 little children on a city bus? George remembers running and hiding from her in the clothing department of the store. Turns out there is a great hiding place back behind the clothes racks.
Here are the 3 Lewis children on a vacation to Utah. The photo was taken in May of 1960. We aren't sure where they are but I can see the Y on the mountain so somewhere in Provo.
I especially love this photo as it looks like it could be in an advertisement for Christmas in the 1950's. I love that George received a doll house and a doll! Quite progressive thinking for the early 50's.
4th child Tammy didn't join the family until 9 years later.
I wanted to share a few memories of her that George wrote down just after she died in 1998.
- Mom loved music. I took piano lessons from her friend who was a concert pianist. When I practiced and made a mistake, I would hear her call out, "WRONG"! from the kitchen.
- While walking in the badlands of South Dakota, Mom slipped and sat right down. The kids got a laugh from calling her. "Sitting Cow". Mom didn't think it was that funny.
- In the 1960's I would often discuss or argue with her about the value of the hippie theory.
- Mom was always 'doing'.
- She loved shopping and merchandising, always looked for value for money.
- Mom was a determined, intelligent, well educated woman who put her commitment to her family FIRST.
- Mom and Dad had stake callings way back when the Chicago, Illinois Stake covered many, many miles. They put 100's of miles on the car fulfilling their stake callings.
- Mom was always faithful to the gospel - without question.
- When I was quite young, I had saved enough money to buy a set of golf clubs. Unbeknownst to Mom, I rode my bicycle to the store and purchased them before realizing that I couldn't ride my bicycle home carrying the golf clubs. When I called to tell her that I needed a ride home, she came.
- John's Siamese cat had been trained to jump up on John's shoulder. It could reach about the middle of the back and then would use its claws to climb the rest of the way. The cat would jump on Mom's shoulder too but it wasn't as comfortable for Mom since she normally wore a thin cotton blouse as opposed to the jean jacket John wore.
- Mom loved crossword puzzles. I inherited that from her.
For all of the years that I knew her, 1975 - 1998, she suffered terribly from rheumatoid arthritis. I know it must have been so difficult for her to not be able to participate fully with her children and grandchildren. Yet as the daughter-in-law, I never heard her complain about the difficulty she had been dealt in life. The grandkids adored her kind, sweet, temperament. She was always willing to read a book or hear a story.
1988 - Mary, Matt, David, Andrea, Johnny and Scott. She would have been thrilled with the 7 grandchildren that were added to the family when Tammy married Richard. And the multiple great grands we have since added. I'm sure she has kept a close eye on things from her heavenly home.
Thank you, Marilyn. This was a lovely tribute to our mother.
ReplyDeleteThe picture in Provo was when my father was bishop of the Logan Square ward in Chcago. We drove to Utah for the 1960 April General Conference. We stayed in Spanish Fork with my mother's parents. We went to Provo to visit my mother's friend, Ethelyn Taylor. She took us to the BYU Academy building to play on a jungle gym there. That is the location the picture was taken-- on the north side with Y-Mount in the background.