Memorials › Alberta McEwan Walker

Alberta McEwan Walker

20 Mar 1900 – 16 Apr 1971

Birth	20 Mar 1900
Death	16 Apr 1971
Cemetery	Provo City Cemetery Provo , Utah County , Utah , USA
Added by	SRBentz on 03 Nov 2009
FaG	https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/41279055

Bio

Daughter of William McEwan and Mary Ellen Haws Wife of Richard Lionel Walker, married 8 Jun 1921 in SLAKE Temple in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah I was born in Vernal, Uintah, Utah, Mar 20, 1900, to William and Mary Ellen Haws McEwan. My parents had lived in Provo but moved to Vernal in about 1885. I was the youngest of eight children. There were three boys and five girls. My father was a farmer by occupation in his early married life and grew hay, grain, potatoes, and apples. Don't suppose there ever was much money in our home but we got along nicely--most families do. My childhood was a happy one and didn't present any problems unless it was when I couldn't catch my riding horse as quickly as I would have liked to have done. I was rather a tomboy and I would rather ride a horse than eat when hungry. (Times have changed since then) I spent my early life herding cows. Years later, after I was married I got the chance again to herd cows, but on foot and it was no fun. I had to chase them all over the place till it ruined my disposition. I learned to cuss a little and I've hated cows ever since. Sometimes I used to ride horseback to Sunday School as we lived about three miles from the church. I used to chew hay with the cows while they were in the corral feeding from a feed-rack. Another thing I remember doing as a little girl was to dress up in my father's vest which incidentally came to my ankle--pinned all kinds of bright pieces of ribbon and cloth down the front of it and then when anyone other than my other family came near me, would run and hide under the table or some other available place of concealment. Father was a stocky man with a ruddy complexion, black curly hair, and dark brown eyes. He was very patient and very honest with everyone. My mother was rather tall, a possessor of lovely brown wavy hair, and had hazel-colored eyes. She wasn't very well when I was a child and would have to rest when we took a short walk. She died when I was nine years of age. Mother was a good cook and sometimes a peddler who bought their vegetables would have dinner at our home. I was seven years of age when I entered the old Maesar school for the first time. Yes, it was a little "red" schoolhouse. When I was eight years old and before my first school year ended, my father sold his farm and we moved to Provo, Utah to make our home. We moved because of my mother's health and thought the change of climate would improve her condition, but she lived one year longer, dying of Bright's Disease when I was nine years old. I remember when my mother realized she was dying she called me to her bedside and told me several times to always be a good girl. I think that her words of caution made a lasting impression on me because I've never forgotten what she said and I've always lived a morally clean life. I went to the old Parker School in the second grade. I attended the B.Y.U. Training School in my third year and I graduated with the right grade. I learned to sing alto and learned to sing musical notes. I sang a duet with a boy named Alden Chatwin and we rated 100% in an examination. After the death of my mother, my sister looked after my brother and me. Father worked in Knightville at that time but we lived on the avenue until 1912 when he bought a home for us where I lived until my marriage in 1921. I attended the B.Y.U. High school for four years and after I left school, I used to attend the dances in Provo. I met Richard Lionel Walker in the late summer of 1920. he was a good-looking returned missionary from Pleasant Grove and that counted with me. I always thought in my younger days that missionaries were just about perfect. Didn't think they had any bad faults; I put them on a pedestal. We also went to the dances all that winter, mostly in Provo. We attended church in my ward frequently. Dick would have had us married in March but I told him I couldn't get ready that soon. We set the date for June 1st but my sister passed away from a cerebral hemorrhage and was buried on that date, so we were married one week later on June 8th in the Salt Lake Temple, to this union we have 5 children. For our honeymoon, we stayed two days in Salt Lake City and selected our kitchen and bedroom furniture with care. We lived with Dick's parents for two months before the little red brick house on the farm in Orem was ready. I think when our children were young we were quite a happy family struggling along and striving to bring our children up right. After a few years of hard farming, Dick supplemented our income by buying and selling cattle which improved our living conditions greatly. He was a good provider for his family. I learned to drive a car while living on the far which proved to be an advantage to all of us. When we moved from the farm, on Mar. 17th, 1931 I was expecting Ellen Dawn who was born Arp. 2nd, we lived with Grandmother Chastina Walker until May 1932 when we moved to Lindon and Dick managed the service station that he and Ren Harris owned together. Dick bought Ren's share and a few years later, built a nice new stucco station in 1937. It was September of that year my father passed away at the age of eighty-nine. Incidentally, my father was born on the plains of Nebraska in 1848 which makes me a daughter of a pioneer and I am proud of my pioneer heritage. We had several enjoyable trips with friends. since living in Lindon I've worked as an organist in the Ward Primary and M.I. A.; also taught a class in Mutual. Sang in the Mutual Chorus in the Salt Lake Tabernacle under Noble Cain. This chorus was composed of five hundred voices. This was a most thrilling experience for me & I enjoyed every moment of it. I began singing with the Singing Mothers choruses when they were first organized, both ward and stake. Dick & I worked on the finance committee and helped with ward banquets that were put on to raise money for our Lindon church building. I have 17 grandchildren; 10 grandsons, and 7 granddaughters until June 10th, 1961 when my oldest grandchild Tommy Adams met a tragic death on a motorcycle in Provo Canyon near Wildwood. The whole community was shocked & saddened by this fine lad's death. I can't erase those terrible moments when I learned of his death and how stunned I was. I mourn his death as deeply as though he were my very own son. I think God must have had a mission for him to do, taking him at the tender age of 16 years and so I've come to accept His will. In 1958 Bishop Leon Walker surprised me greatly by asking me to consider going on a mission. When I could catch my breath, I accepted, but when Brother Theodore Tuttle interviewed me and found that I had foot trouble to contend with I was no longer considered; for he said much walking was involved in missionary work, so I was out before I was in. After many years of working at non-paying jobs, I began as a part-time lunch worker at the Lindon School in 1954. then I was transferred to Pleasant Grove Jr. High School for two years. If throughout this autobiography there might be detected a note of boasting, it isn't so for I certainly haven't intended to leave that impression. I've merely put down the facts in various enterprises; not bold or hazardous but common everyday living. I know I am living in a fast-moving age and in perilous times but if I live my Heavenly Father's Commandments I will indeed be a happy individual. I have enjoyed good health nearly all my life and I thank my Father in Heaven for His goodness to me. By Alberta McEwan Walker-15th day of August 1961. She passed away on 16 April 1971 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, and was buried in Provo City Cemetery by her parents.

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Parents

Spouse

Richard Lionel "Dick" Walker 1898–1983

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