Last Updated on March 5, 2022 2:13 pm by Steven
Anna Janette Dahle 1874 – 1954
Anna Janette Dahle
Submitted by Marvin W. Loosle (Grandson)
I also had the advantage of being the oldest Grandchild of Grandmother Loosle, which meant that I was pampered and well taken care of. It seemed that whatever I wanted, I would only have to go next door to Grandmother Loosle’s house to get all of goodies I wanted. Things that I particularly remember and enjoyed as a kid were catnip tea, gingerbread, and cinnamon cookies. As I remember, she was very calm, kind and gentle and would do anything for others. My earliest recollections of her was getting to sleep with her at night and she teaching me to say my prayers while kneeling in bed under the covers (and not have to get up on the cold floor). I always thought that I was her favorite although I still don’t know whether that was only an illusion and if others thought the same.
Submitted by Jeanette Loosle Moore (Granddaughter)
Grandma Loosle was always there for us. I don’t remember her going much. It seemed like she was always at home. I can remember many times running into her house, never knocking, just opening the door and running yelling “Grandma, I have to go to the bathroom”. By the time I got it out of my mouth I was already in the bathroom. We had only one bathroom, and with six kids and Mom and Dad, someone was always in it. Grandma had a furnace in the hall between the living room and bathroom. There was a big grate on it, and the heat would come up. We girls always loved to stand on it to get warm. I also remember Grandma opening the oven door (in her old coal stove) and putting a big towel on it and letting us sit on it to get warm. Of course, that was when we were young. Grandma had a fun kitchen. She had big bins where she kept flour and sugar. I loved helping dip out the flour and sugar when she was baking. She was always cooking something good. The thing I remember most were her doughnuts. She would cook them and let us eat them warm. She gave lots away to others.
One of her highlights was that I would go over and sleep with Grandma. She would let me wear one of her white cotton nightgowns, and her bed had lots of feather ticks on them. You would lay down and just sink. It was a wonderful thing for a young girl to do. I stayed with her many times. I am sure some were for me when I was young, but as I got older, it was to help her. I remember sweeping and dusting her furniture. I would sit on the floor and dust the legs of the table. She always said I could have her table when she wasn’t around anymore (I do have it, it is wonderful and I love it.) She would let us comb her long hair. It was dark, quite thin, but long down to her waist. She would braid it and wind it up on her head. I don’t remember Grandma going to Church with us, but she may have. I do remember her falling down her basement steps and she broke her hip. She was in the hospital for a while, but Mom and Dad brought her home and she stayed in our house. Mom took good care of her.
I do remember when she died, at the time the viewing of the body was in the home, not in the Mortuary. They brought her to our house, and had the casket set up in our living room, so people could come and view her that evening, and then she was taken to the Church the next day for the service. I thought it was kind of weird, but now I think it would be great.
Submitted by Darrell K. Loosle (Grandson)
I remember spending lots of time in Grandma Loosle’s house. She would put the stove door on her wood stove down. After it was warm, she would put a towel down so we could sit on it and be warm.
I loved to eat her muffins. Perhaps that why I still enjoy eating muffins and drinking catnip tea. I must have really enjoyed it, because for years we raised it in our garden and I enjoyed drinking it.
Her kitchen had cupboards with glass doors. I remember the bright yellow plates that she had. In her living room was a large dresser. It had a large mirror. I would go through the dresser to see what she had in it. In one of the drawers was a collection of newspapers clips. Most of them were obituaries. I enjoyed reading them even though I didn’t know many of the people who had passed away. In the hallway was a grate where the heat could come from the downstairs furnace. It kept her house warm in the cold weather. In her living room was a single couch, that made into a bed. Above the bed was a rug that was on the wall. I thought it looked like a Persian Rug.
I enjoyed going downstairs which had one bedroom, a furnace and coal, and an area to wash clothes. It the bedroom there were quite a few books. There were books on Phrenology. There were also a series of books titled “The Brighton Boys and the engineers at Catigny”. They were novels written about the first world war.
I do remember sleeping overnight with Grandma. She would have us kneel on the bed (Under the covers) to say our prayers.
She owned a small red wagon. Most of her groceries she bought was by Mother and Dad and Uncle Norman and Aunt Veda taking her to grocery stores. But I do remember her pulling the wagon to Brig Griffin’s store and pulling the wagon home with groceries in the wagon.
I do not remember seeing Grandma Loosle in Church for Sacrament Meeting or Sunday School. She was very active in Relief Society which was held during the week.
Grandma Loosle owned a Stereoeoptic picture viewer, which would magnify pictures, most of which were taken from about 1880-1920. There were slides of cities and well as parks and other things. I would spend hours looking at them. There were two sets of pictures. I have one of them. Our children and grandchildren still enjoy looking at the pictures.
I remember when Grandma and Mother were packing their suitcases to take a train trip to visit Uncle John in Ithaca, New York. He was a Professor at Cornell University in the State of New York. I am sure Mother went with her to make sure she arrived and returned home safely.
Grandma Loosle was a very kind, gentle person. I never heard her raise her voice to anyone. She would do anything for anyone. She helped quite a few families by helping them cook and feed their families. Dad and his two brothers always referred to as “Mother”, and were very respectful. Her husband, in his writings in his notebook, referred to her as “Maw”, , but I am assuming it was an expression of affection.
I remember Grandma working out in the garden. I was quite a large garden, just east of her Red Brick Home. She also loved flowers.
I remember when Grandma fell down the stairs and broke her hip. She likely had a stroke that caused the fall. She spent time in the hospital and with Mother and Dad. She never totally recovered from the fall. After that her memory began to fail.
I remember the casket being in our house the evening before the funeral services so people could view her in her casket. Having the casket in a home for the viewing was commonly done during this time.
I have fond memories of spending time with my Grandmother Loosle.
Andrew L. Heggie, whose mother was a sister to our Grandfather Loosle, said when we were visiting him at his home, that “she made the best doughnuts in town).
Submitted by Evelyn Humpherys (Granddaughter)
I learned how to braid hair by braiding Grandma Loosle’s long hair. It was so long she could almost sit on it. She would sit in her rocking chair when I did it.
Jeanette and I often took turns sleeping with her at night and then eating breakfast there and then going to school.
I remember the good tasting muffins she used to make.
We tried to make perfume from the yellow roses that grew on the front and side of the house.
I still remember playing her old record player which includes such songs as K-K-Katy.
The big floor by the bedroom and bathroom had a big floor heater. We would stand on it. It was so nice and warm,
When Grandma passed away, her body was kept in the living room of our house for viewing before the funeral services.
Submitted by John (Jack) Loosli- (Son) Written in 1978
Monday was wash day and it was an all-day job. We would bring buckets of water from the hydrant outside of the kitchen door and heat two big 20 to 30 gallon boilers of water on the coal stove. Soap was sliced thin and dissolved in one of these. Clothes were then put to be boiled a while then they were transferred to the hand-turned washing machine and agitated a while. Next, they were wringed though a hand-turned wringer into a round tin tub of cooled water before finally being wrung out and hung on the clothesline to dry. Several batches were put through the routine in sequence. Mother needed help. The climate was dry so there was no problem getting the clothes dry, except in winter when the clothes would freeze stiff about as soon as they were hung on the line. Even then they would freeze in a hour or two. One had to be careful when taking frozen clothes off the metal line or they would be torn. Most clothing was either wool or cotton and needed to be ironed, except underwear. The dry clothes had to be sprinkled with water, rolled up tight for a while to become evenly moist before ironing would take out all of the wrinkles. Many things were even starched to improve appearance. Ironing was done with a stove-heated iron with a removable handle. It took about three hours, two being heated while one was being used. Care was needed to not use too hot an iron on woolen trousers or shirts. Cotton and linen things needed more heat for best results. Ironing was a job we were taught to do fairly young. The biggest problem was to keep the irons hot enough to do a nice wrinkle-free job, and everything had to be ironed then-cotton, wool, linen, or silk all wrinkled badly when worn or washed. Wash and wear clothing had not been developed. (Note from compiler “We have come a long, ways”).
- FAMILY HISTORIES INCLUDING PICTURES, DOCUMENTS AND STORIES CAN BE FOUND IN FAMILY TREE # KW2B- 251
- THIS DOCUMENT INCLUDES MEMORIES AND RECOLLECTIONS BY A SON, AND HER GRANDCHILDREN,
By Darrell K. Loosle xxxxxx@xxxx.com
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