How My Dearest Grandmother Influenced My Life~

My Grandma and Me~

This is a picture of my grandma and I. My grandma's name was Dora Alice Peterson Tuttle Ogden.
I was her oldest granddaughter. Grandma was my Mother's Mom. She was the only Grandma that I knew. She had a profound impact on my life for just the few years that I was privileged to know and love her. She passed away when I was 12 years old.   It was so hard to lose her because I was blessed to be around her a lot. She was married to my Step Grandpa Ogden who was the only Grandpa that I had at the time. He was so kind and I knew he loved me as a granddaughter too. 
I have many fond memories of staying at their home and they would often take me in the summer to Fish Lake. We would stay in a trailer home that they had there. We went fishing on the lake and I loved being with them. Grandpa Ogden owned a dairy with a Ice Cream shop in front. I remember when I was about 5 years old they took me to the Ice Cream drive up window and Grandpa ordered me an Ice Cream cone. When I got it for some reason I smashed it up on the inside roof of the car. This car was a fairly new Cadillac. My Grandpa was so kind; he didn't even get after me. 
I loved sleeping in the extra bedroom in their home. It was a comfy bed and I felt like a princess. In the summer Grandma and I would go out on a porch swing and shuck peas. The fresh peas were so delicious. We would also break the ends off of the string beans. 
One time I went into the bathroom and found my grandmother's false teeth on the sink; I didn't have a clue why they were there. Later she came in and then I knew they were hers because her mouth was so misshaped with out the teeth.    
My sweet Grandma would tell me stories about her life. Most of her stories were about her years as a home town nurse in Richfield, Utah. These stories shaped my desire to become a nurse. I am so grateful for her loving example to me. 

My Grandma in her nursing uniform~

SHORT HISTORY OF THE NURSING CAREER OF

 DORA TUTTLE PETERSON OGDEN

MOTHER OF LEONE PETERSON GLEDHILL

            Dora Peterson was left a widow when her husband Ernest Peterson passed away on, April 5th, 1922 from the complication of the flu; pneumonia. Thus leaving her with three small girls to raise, Della, Leone and Alene. She was very ill with rheumatic fever the first winter after her husband died; and after she got well she decided she wanted to become a nurse. She was accepted for training to be a Practical nurse at the Cottonwood Stake Maternity home in Murray, Utah.

          It was very hard for her to leave her three little girls. Della stayed with our Grandpa and Grandma Tuttle in Glenwood, Utah during this time. Leone stayed with our Aunt Lill and Uncle Bill Sorenson at the Glenwood Fish Hatchery. Mother took Alene with her to Salt Lake City where she stayed with our Uncle Charles Peterson. After her training she returned to Richfield and bought a small home in the First Ward. We were all so happy to be together again.

          She started in Nursing in 1924 and it was so hard for her, she had to sell our car after our Father died, so most of the time she had to walk from one end of Richfield to the other, taking care of mothers and their new babies. There weren't very many people in those days that had automobiles to give her a ride. The babies were all born at home and she would take care of them for 10 days or more, night and morning. She received very little money and sometimes she didn't get paid at all. The most she would receive for each one was about $16.00 for the whole 10 or 12 days. She had to furnish her own bundles of sheets and clothes worn during the birth, which she had to wash and keep sterilized. Her Uniforms were all white cotton that she had to starch and iron; she was always immaculate with everything she did.

          She worked with all the doctors in Richfield, who were the following: Dr. H. Asay Dewey, Dr. John G. McQuarrie, Dr. Thomas R. Gledhill, Dr. Steiner, and Dr. David Gottfredson.

          She took care of about 600 mothers and babies during her nursing career; she also took care of patients with pneumonia, people recovering from surgery and anyone needing special care. She not only nursed some of them she helped clean their homes and anything they needed her for. She loved her work, so was good at it and was dedicated; everyone loved her and respected her.

          She decided to open a Maternity home in about 1928. She rented the large Jorgenson home on 1^st East and 3^rd South in Richfield. She took care of Patients other than maternity. They came from all the small towns in Sevier County, and Piute. It became too hard for her at that time; her girls were still so young and too much expense. She had to have extra help with cooking and cleaning, and she still had patients to that she took care of in their own homes in town.

          She didn't have time to have much of a social life. Her whole life at that time was her children and her work.

          In 1935 she decided to try having another Maternity home so she rented the Oluf Lund home on 4^th south and 1^st West in Richfield. The only hospital they had at that time was the home on Center Street ran by Mrs. Bean, which is now the home of Walter Wayland. She operated the only two Maternity homes they have ever had in Richfield.

         Grandma's life wasn't easy. She worked hard for many years. She married my Step Grandpa Ogden in 1938.  They were married for 20 years. She didn't have to work and she enjoyed her life with him. He treated her so good. They did travel some and she was able to have many of the finer things of life. She loved our Savior Jesus Christ and was a faithful member of the Church. She was kind and loving and I felt her love everyday that I had with her. My heart was broken when she passed away. 

Grandma wasn't well for the last two years of her life. She had to go to Ogden to have her gallbladder removed. The doctor said she wouldn't survive the surgery but she was given a blessing that her mission on earth wasn't over and she would survive. She did survive for two more years. She began having problems with her heart. She died June 10, 1958 in the Sevier Valley Hospital from a cerebral hemorrhage. I was so sad to lose her. She was my friend and best Grandma ever. I treasure my memories of her. 

OBITUARY OF DORA TUTTLE PETERSON OGDEN

Mrs. Dora Tuttle Peterson Ogden, 70 wife of Charles Ogden of Richfield died in a Richfield hospital Tuesday following a lingering illness. She was born on November 5, 1887 in Pinnacle, North Carolina, a daughter of Josiah and Sarah Catherine Barr Tuttle. She was married to Ernest L. Peterson Oct. 18, 1911 in Glenwood, Utah. He died April 5, 1922.

She was married to Charles L. Ogden August 12, 1938 in the LDS Salt Lake Temple for time only. (At this time she was sealed to her first husband Ernest L. Peterson, deceased)

For 15 years, Mrs. Ogden was a Practical Nurse having worked with local doctors on many cases. She was an active member of the LDS Church.

Survivors include her husband, three daughters, Mrs. W.W. (Della) Morehead, Dupont, Washington; Mrs. Millan (Leone) Gledhill, Richfield, Utah; Mrs. Kirtley (Alene) Bell, Monroe; eight step-children: Reed, Grant, Woodrow, Garth and Homer Ogden; Mrs. Max (Helen) Evans, Mrs. Kenneth (Dora Dean) Hendrickson, all of Richfield and Mrs. Sheldon (Shirley) Nielson, Springville; two brothers, Lee Tuttle, Salt Lake City; Jay Tuttle, Choteau, Montana; four sisters, Mrs. Georgia Powell and Mrs. Lizzie Daniels, Richfield; Mrs. Eva Heilesen and Mrs. Lillian Sorenson of Glenwood; 45 grandchildren; 13 great grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held in the Richfield Fifth Ward Chapel, Saturday at 2 p.m. the family requests that in Lieu of flowers, contributions be made to the American Heart Association Fund in her behalf.

I truly had an awesome Grandmother that influenced my life for good. I am so happy that I chose to be a nurse. I have so many tender experiences of being a nurse that I will share sometime. 

Wishing all of you wonderful grandchildren and great grandchildren the best that life has to offer. Just know that I love you each with all my heart and pray for you by name every night and morning. You are my precious ones.