My mom, Glenna Pearson, passed away on February 3, 2008. I gave this life sketch at her funeral; the sketch was based on a series of interviews of her. (Note: the marker in the photograph to the right incorrectly indicates that she passed away on February 1, 2008). Here is the sketch:
Glenna Lucille Fullmer was born in Lost River, Idaho on January 13, 1918 to Fanny Verona Whiting and William Price Fullmer, Jr.
Before Glenna was born, her parents and her older silbings lived in Wallsburg, UT. Her dad ran a small grocery store there. He was called on a mission from there at a time there were 8 children at home and, when he returned, he was made the Bishop.
A few years later, Glenna's dad bought a farm in Lost River and Glenna was the first child born there. They stayed there for about 8 years after which they moved to Menan in about 1926.
They bought the Eames farm in Menan and signed a large note. In addition to farming, the family had a garden and an orchard and they sold fresh vegetables and apples. Glenna's mom baked 8 loaves of bread every other day. They washed the family's clothes on a washboard until they were able to buy a hand-powered washing machine. This required someone to move a lever back and forth to operate the agitator. Later they added a motor.
Glenna's dad was a high counselor in Menan. Whenever he spoke at another Ward, he always took his wife and one of his children. They traveled to these meetings in a car in the Summer and on a sleigh in the Winter.
After about 7 years on the farm, in about 1933, Glenna's father died. He became sick prior to this and the Stake Presidency visited him, saw how sick he was, and insisted that he finally seek medical care by going to the hospital in Idaho Falls. He died there.
After the funeral, Glenna's mom spoke to an attorney in Rigby who advised her to sell the farm, move to Idaho Falls, and put the children to work there. Glenna's mom did not take this advice saying she wanted to continue what her husband had started: farming. This might be an indication where mom got her stubborn streak.
One of Glenna's brothers took over the farm and, with the help of his siblings and their mother, paid off the note in the late forties. They had survived through the Great Depression and came out the other end with no debt. Maybe Glenna's mom was correct to ignore the attorney in Rigby.
Between Glenna's Junior and Senior years of high school, Glenna's sister Maude was able to pursuade their mother to have Glenna go to Berkley, CA to tend Maude's boys while Maude worked. This would have been about 1934.
After Berkley, mom worked sorting pea seeds. She was able to save enough money to buy clothes including a nice dress suitable to wear to a dance. She also saved enough money to help finance her college. Glenna finished high school at Midway High and then received a National Youth Administration fellowship to attend Ricks.
She lived in the dorms at Ricks and, as such, was required to work in the kitchen. That is where mom met a handsome young man named Bill Pearson. Mom asked Bill to a big dance at the ball room in the Bonneville Hotel in Idaho Falls. She wore, for the very first time, the dress that she had bought with pea sorting money.
She was 20 when she graduated from Ricks with an AA degree. Her first job was teaching at Rose Grade School. She then transferred to Rigby Elementary school where she taught for two years. She married Bill Pearson on November 5, 1941 while teaching at Rigby.
Bill and Glenna went up to Moscow to finish up at the University of Idaho; when he graduated he got a job as a chemist at the Sunshine Mine in Wallace, ID. This job kept him out of the war until 1944.
Mom and dad lived with dad's sister and her family in Kellogg, ID, while he worked at the mine. They stayed there until dad was ordered to report for a draft physical and which time he joined the Navy. More about his Navy service can be seen on this blog under the heading "My Dad."
Dad spent most of the war in the Canal Zone. While he was gone, mom had to take care of us without his help.
After the war, Dad got a job teaching general science at the Junior High in Idaho Falls and, later, was asked to transfer to the high school to teach chemistry. The job did not pay that well and he soon had five children. So, in addition to teaching, he took part-time jobs as a clerk at Montgomery-Wards, a movie theater checker with MGM, and a chemist at the sugar factory in Lincoln, ID (where his dad had worked).
We lived in the basement of his parents' house. I remember mom getting up before everyone else, wadding up newspaper as kindling to build a fire in the stove to both warm the apartment and to cook breakfast. She worked hard to keep house for us. She would go up to Menan and can fruit and make soap for us.
In about 1951, the AEC (now Department of Energy) opened a facility in the desert West of Idaho Falls. Dad was hired at a salary at least equal to what he earned working the four jobs. This made it possible for them to buy a house on North Boulevard in Idaho Falls. It was $200 down and $60 per month. I remember them wondering if they could afford it. When we kids got a little older, mom went back to work teaching school; she spent most of her career at Riverside Elementary.
A typical day for her would be to get us up, fix breakfast, get us dressed and out the door. Then she would go to work. She came home, made dinner and got a small amount of help from us with the dishes and cleaning. Then she had to force us to go to bed. Meanwhile, she a some significant church callings including Primary President and Relief Society President.
In 1960, mom and dad built the house on Ada Avenue. I remember I suggested to them that they buy a lot in another part of town, but they made it clear they wanted to live in the 18th Ward, where their friends lived.
Dad died in the Fall of 1989, so they missed their Golden Anniversary by 2 years. Mom had been a widow for 19 years before she died.
As mom got older, she spent time in Las Vegas and St. George to be with her kids who could help her with her daily needs. She did not like to leave her home and her friends in Idaho Falls, but we could often get her to warm areas for at least part of the Winter. This past Winter she lived with Kathy and Doug in Las Vegas and then went to St. George to live with Susan and Ray. Her health failed and she passed away on Sunday February 3, 2008 in the early morning hours.
She worked hard for us giving us her best years. Now she can rest. We miss her.
love,
Jon
