The latter part of
February (1940) I took the train to Salt Lake City, where I enrolled in the
Dietetics Course under the direction of Katherine Bilby. I would like to say a word about her. I was shocked when I met her because of her
size. She was about 5 feet tall and
weighed close to 200 pounds. She could
hardly pull herself out of her chair and waddle across the room. She had an assistant who was in charge of the
kitchens and Miss Bilby took care of the teaching. As I recall the classes consisted of about six
students each half year. We were housed
above the laundry room –a dinky apartment with a front room, and three bedroom
areas and baths and laundry room. It was
hot and steamy especially during the summer months. Of course we had the run of the kitchen area
so our meals were all taken care of.
Miss Bilby was a good teacher and she knew her dietetics, but she was
often the butt of many jokes among the Dietitians and Interns.
The
morgue was situated in the basement near the kitchens, and often at night we
witnessed some of the autopsies that were performed there. Dr Saunders was always on hand to shock us
with the stories of the hospital. I was
embarrassed and used to “blush”, which
only egged him on with comments such as , “How far down does it go?” This only deepened the “blush” for me.
The
delivery room was on the top floor of the hospital just across from our
apartment. We witnessed a delivery or
two. In the summer months when our
windows were opened we were often awakened with the noise and cries from that
important part of the hospital. Often
the interns were very flippant about the mothers’ pain and would say, “Shall we
call the whole thing off?” and other smart
remarks. I’m sure the mothers did not
appreciate this.
There
is so much I could tell about my experience there in Salt Lake City, such as: my
experience in singing with the Allegro Chorus, my many invitations to sing in Wards all over
the City, my Ward just a block from the
Hospital where many of the General Authorities of the church attended, my roommates
–many of whom were not members of the Church,
and other experiences. I remember
the boyfriend I had who was not a member of the Church. I became acquainted with him through Mary
Downs, one of my non-member roommates.
This boy, Francis Teehan, was later sent to India, and on July 17, 1941
was killed in action. He was a
bombardier. I received a letter of
condolence from the War Department.
Francis’s mother and I corresponded for several years after his
death. How sad she was to lose that
fine boy.  |
| Lovely Affairs |
One
very serious boyfriend I had at this time was Knight Kerr, whose father was a
University of Utah professor. Knight
came from a very prominent Utah family, he was a brilliant man, and was serving
as an instructor for the artillery in ROTC at the University of Utah. Our romance was very serious and lasted for
several years until I met Willis, who, by the way, had been one of Knight’s companions
in France while serving on a mission there.
Knight took me to many lovely affairs, and I have always held the
highest respect for him.
After my year at the LDS Hospital, I graduated and accepted a job at the Dee Memorial Hospital in Ogden, Utah. This was a Church owned and operated hospital of approximately one hundred beds or more, a real nice little hospital. I was the Therapeutic Dietitian. One interesting little incident occurred when the Interns brought a duck for me to cook for them. They expected me to be an expert on everything. I had never cooked a duck, had hardly ever seen one, dressed, so I went to my cookbooks to find a recipe. I don’t think I did a very good job, at least I was never asked again, and I heard very little comment about the bird.
I
lived with a wonderful non-Mormon Irish family by the name of Tarran. The father was a brick-layer, the mother was
a wonderful homemaker whose hands were never idle. They treated me royally, like one of their
own children. The World War II was on in
full force so many of the young men were in the Armed Service, however, their
son Dick, was exempt because of a hair-lip and cleft-palate. He had had many operations to correct it and
was a wonderful, courageous, kind, young man.
Our friendship was immediate and he was a good companion to me during
this year. Or course, there were hardly
any young men my age left but I made many wonderful friends at the Ward. One inspiring Gleaner leader encouraged me to
get my Golden Gleaner Award. This was
just a new program in the MIA, so I did this, and was the first Golden Gleaner
for that Stake and also for Snowflake Stake.
During this year, even though my salary was very low ($90 per month), I
collected many beautiful things to go in my Hope Chest. It was here that I purchased my Irish Linen
tablecloth and napkins, and many of my beautiful wool blankets. This was truly a year of growing for me.
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| Golden Gleaner Pin |
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| My Hope Chest |
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