6 February 1961 

I, Mary Hansen was born April 27, 1896, at Elkhorn, Idaho, a little valley near the mountains. I was born in a little two room log cabin, in a field near a running stream of water, which was covered with willows and wild rose bushes, also wild fruit such as yellow currants, choke cherries…The fields were green with alfalfa. At a very early age, I would run down to the stream which was hidden by the bushes and get a willow and sit on the bank and paddle in the water. 

At about the age of three, my parents bought a large home and small grocery store, about two miles east of our old home, on a main road which we called them in those days. Here we were very happy with our new surroundings, the large home and the new furniture. But it was a very short period. 

My mother worked in the grocery store a great deal. Three days before Christmas, she had spent the morning in the store. My brother, Dewey, who was two years younger had enjoyed being in the store where my parents had been opening Christmas candy and nuts. At noon my mother brought my brother and myself into the house and prepared our lunch. She stepped back out to the store to tell my father lunch was ready. In just a minute the school teacher came over from the school to get a pail of water for the children’s lunch, and he discovered our house was on fire. He called to my parents and they rushed to the scene and they had a great struggle to get us out of the burning house. My brother was burned very badly, especially his face. For three months they didn’t know if he would live. 

My father broke a window to get some of our belongings out, such as clothes, and got a piece of glass in his arm. He suffered much pain, and was crippled for over a year. This was a great sorrow for us and we had to go back to humble living quarters. All the neighbor men went to the mountains to cut logs in bitter cold weather and built us a two room home which we were thankful for. The women brought us quilts, homemade rugs and many other household articles to make us as comfortable as possible. They were not LDS people. The kindness of these people gave my father and mother new courage to make a new start. 

About 10 years after this setback my sister was born, October 10th. It was a very beautiful morning. My father got me up and said he would have to go for a doctor and to go ask Mrs. Lewis, who was a very dear friend, to come stay with my mother until he could return. I will never forget her sweet face and how fast she was in getting to my mother. She had me stay with her daughters and how kind they were to me. At about 3 pm my father came down to the Lewis home and told me we had a darling new baby girl with lots of black hair. That was the most heavenly experience I had ever had. My brother who was two years younger than me spent many hours watching her grow up and looked forward to the day we could take her for a ride in the little red wagon. We spent a great deal of time riding through the fields in that little old wagon picking wild flowers as we went. When the day came she could go for a ride, we took her exploring the fields. She had many a fast ride and sometimes received a few hard bumps. 

Five years later my mother gave birth to a baby boy, who was the pride and joy of our home. My mother’s health was very poor for a couple of years after he was born. I was always thankful to my Heavenly Father, that he guided me and protected my brother while I had to care for him. Kenneth was a very dear brother and always seemed like my own son. He was very kind and loyal to me all of his life. The last few years of his life he was very generous with his money and did many things to make my life and the children’s more rich. We really felt his warmth and kindness in our time of need. 

At age 15 I went to live at the home of my aunt, who was my father’s older sister. She made me very welcome in her home, which was large and had many luxuries which enriched my life. Her yard was full of crocuses, roses and every other beautiful flower your mind could imagine. I spent three happy school years at her home. I spent the summer mainly on the farm with my family. I didn’t like farm life. 

Being very lazy in school, I decided to go to work at age 17 as a sales lady in a general merchandise store. I spent three happy years there. 

I had not been baptized up to this time. My mother was a member of the church, but my father’s people did not belong, most of them had gone to the Reorganized Church or Josephites, as we called them. Father did not join any church. I was baptized in a river. They had to cut the ice so they could baptize me. This was on October 17, at the age of 17. 

While working in the store I met Edgar John Hansen, a young man from Hyrum, Utah. We saw a great deal of each other and seemed to be attracted to each other. On October 20, 1920, we were married in the Logan Temple. The next two years of our married life were spent on a large grain farm in Pocatello Valley. We worked very hard and had many hardships. In June 1921 we had a stillborn son. On January 1, 1922, we moved to Pocatello, Idaho, where my husband worked for the Ford Motor Co. We were active in the church and made a lot of new friends. On December 18, 1923, a daughter was born, which brought happiness in our home and then on September 6, 1924, Edgar Howard came into our lives which made us very happy. Then in 1926 we moved to Ogden, Utah, where my husband was a car salesman. We spent a most enjoyable summer and fall there. The drive up Ogden Canyon is something you’ll never forget. In November of that year he came home one day and said he had decided we should move to California. The babies and I went home to my parents in Malad and stayed until January until my husband sent for us. I was concerned if I would be able to go to the LDS church there. Well to my surprise I have always been within walking distance of a church. We first attended the Adams Ward (in LA) for three years. While we were there, Douglas was born. He was a very precious baby, he seemed  to always have a smile and was able to cope with hardships. We were very blessed during the Depression because my husband had employment with the city of Los Angeles. 

We then moved to the Manchester Ward and spent 33 years there. Soon after moving there our 4th baby came, a darling girl, Ruth. Then five years later a son was born which was a great surprise to everyone, because they thought I was too old to have another baby. 

His name was Kenneth. Quite often his schoolmates would tell him his grandmother was coming to school, which hurt his feelings. He let them know quite frankly that I was his real mother. 

It didn’t seem long before the three oldest children were grown-up and in High School. While in High School, Howard and Douglas took a great part in sports, which paid off for them. Neva Mae went to UC Santa Barbara for two years and then to BYU majoring in physical education instruction. Howard went into the service and became a Marine pilot. Their father met with an accident while at work. He was hit by a bus. His health broke down and was not able to support the family. We all had to make some adjustments. The children all carried heavy responsibilities. They all went out and got part time work and also went on in school. I also went to work, we all had to do our share to keep the wolf from the door. 

In 1950 Howard’s wife, La Von, passed away leaving him with two little sons. My husband also passed away two weeks later. Howard came home with the boys so I could stay home with my Ruth and Kenny who were teenagers and also so I could help mother his two little boys. About a year after he had moved home, Howard got a call from Edmonton, Canada, to play professional football which he accepted because they did not play on Sunday in Canada. 

After being there he decided to have his sons and sisters come live with him there. But while taking them all up there they had a car accident and the oldest boy was killed. Only nine months later Howard met his death while climbing Squaw Peak in Provo, Utah, leaving Dennis the only member of his family living. 

The next December after Howard’s death, my mother’s health became very critical and I took her into my home and cared for her for two years. She was suffering from cancer and the aftermath of surgery for it. I was always thankful the Lord gave me strength to care for her so she didn’t have to go to a home to be cared for. She was a very patient and lovable person. She had such a great love for little children. After she passed away, my sister and I accompanied her body to Malad, Idaho, where she was buried next to our father. 

The day after the funeral, my nephew Ronald Nicholas said to my sister and I, “Before  

We drive back to Pocatello, I think I’ll drive you girls up to Yellowstone. You have lived in Idaho most of your lives and never been there.” We went up to the park and spent two pleasant days there. My sister was very interested in the bears around the park. She opened the window once and a big black bear gave her a kiss on the cheek. I am sure she has never been so frightened in her life. Then the window went up fast. 

The following summer I made a trip to Denver to visit my mother’s sister, Mary. I spent ten delightful days with her and then returned to Los Angeles and picked up Dennis who was out of school for the summer and went to San Francisco, Lake View, Oregon, also Nampa and Caldwell, Idaho. We had a very delightful month. 

Then the March after Howard’s death, Neva Mae, Dennis and I went up to Provo to Neva’s wedding. She married Trevor Tippetts in the Salt Lake Temple. The weather was cold. There was a lot of snow and ice. We welcomed getting back to good old Los Angeles. 

Two years later Ruth was married to Keith Bateman, a return missionary from the Texas Mission. They were married in the Salt Lake Temple. This was a very happy occasion because we were all there as a family.