Father: John
Mother: Hazel

I grew up in Reno. My grandfather and grandmother died when I was quite young. They had three girls, and one of them was my mother. They moved to Reno where there was more going on; more job opportunities especially.

I felt like I was one of the privileged children growing up in our area because everyone knew my father. He owned the Chevrolet dealership. He was the first Chevrolet dealer in the state of Nevada. As a result of this, the teachers didn’t treat me with deference, but the kids did. We weren’t wealthy but we were well – known, and my father was a very popular figure around town.

My mother was a very dedicated community worker. Her maiden name was Hazel Dunlop. Fun thing about my mother and father was that my mother became a teacher. While she was a young woman she lived in Virginia City. My father graduated from the University of California with a degree in engineering. He worked in the gold and silver mines around Virginia City. They met in Virginia City and were married in 1910.

My grandfather had three gold mines. I still have a gold necklace made of gold from my grandfather’s mine.

My grandmother died when she was around 38, and my grandfather died when he was about 42. They left three daughters. One was twenty, one was ten and one was just an infant. So we girls were each ten years apart. My oldest and became the mother/sister to the girls.

Because my grandfather had not expected to die he asked, in a casual way, to look out for the girls in case anything happened. Well, they didn’t look out for us. They looked after themselves. Everything was lost due to graft!

My mother used to enjoy sitting in that magnificent opera house that still stands in Virginia City. She used to sing some songs from Gilbert and Sullivan to me.