Last Updated on March 5, 2022 3:03 pm by Steven
Veda Ann Barson Loosle 1907 – 1981
Veda Ann Barson Loosle
Submitted by Lyle B Barson (Nephew)
When they lived in Great Grandfathers home, the white brick one, I was quite a small fry. Anyway, Dixie was about the same age as I was, to I went to play once in a while when I was, say, six years old. The home ways seemed big to me. I don’t know if it was a hard and fast rule, but the front door was always off-limits to me, so I always entered at the back door. It was the closest to our home, since I traveled not on the roads, but through the back-yards of Uncle Rudgar and Uncle Norman.
Aunt Veda’s home was always clean and neat. The attic was off-limits to me and I suppose the other children. I always wondered what was up there when I was a young lad. Aunt Veda always seemed a tall lady when I was growing. I suppose it was because of her high heels and the fact that she wore her hair up on top of her head rather than down. I was somewhat surprised after I grew up to see that she was not nearly so tall. It may have been partly due to the fact I was somewhat shorter in my early days.
In the pre-Christmas season, we would holler-down the heating vent as opposed to holler-up the chimney. The house didn’t have a chimney so we couldn’t use it. It was a fun experience that has remained in my memory banks all these years. I never did know which of the many Santa helpers was helping that evening.
I got to know Aunt Veda more personally when I was going to Utah State University. She was a secretary (now days she would have been an executive assistant) to the head of an extension service group headed by Dr. Owens. My wife was also a secretary to the Dean of Women and was part of the carpool, learning from Aunt Veda as we traveled the Cache Valley roads. Aunt Veda was dedicated to Dr. Owens. She protected and defended him at all times and all places. She was a total professional woman and dressed the part. Always in a dress or suit, hair up, makeup applied, nylons and high heels.
Aunt Veda had the best nose for telling what I had for breakfast. Many mornings as she got in the car, she would venture a guess on our breakfast fare. I don’t ever remember her making a mistake.
Aunt Veda had strong opinions on the drivers of Cache Valley. If we had a driver that failed to follow the “laws” in Newton, then Newton and Amalga were the worst in the world. If the driver happened to be in Smithfield, then it was the Smithfield and Logan drivers that were the worst. And when she had a driving incident, it was never her fault.
Many days after school and work, we would hit the weekly bargains at the stores in Logan. I remember one time she bought about a ton of Coke products among other items. This has helped my wife, Janice, because she is also a great bargain hunter and uses similar techniques in her shopping approach. As we helped carry the pop in the house and down the basement stairs, I was shocked at the amount of pop already on the storage shelves. She was a great one to follow the Mormon food storge, although I don’t remember it if contained other more substantial products that would fit the food storage suggestions. After we got the pop in the basement, Uncle Norman’ only comment was, “I was lucky today, it only cost me a hundred dollars to save five today”.
Aunt Veda had a pretty tough last years of her life because of her illness. She was in the LDS Hospital in Salt Lake many times. She always seemed to have a good outlook on her medical situation even though she had many operations and spent much time in the hospital.
I was very happy when I got a call to help return her to Clarkston from the hospital. We had a Dodge van with a full bed in the back for camping. Aunt Veda needed to be in a comfortable position during the two plus hour ride from Salt Lake City to Clarkston. It was a very bad weather day in the winter time. We, Bill Oliver and myself started out with confidence, but by the time we reached Beaver Dam the roads were very slick, and snowing with poor visibility. I had nightmare thoughts running through my head about ending up off the road in a snow bank as we climbed to cross over into Cache Valley. We made it safely and I was very happy. I loved Aunt Veda for her sweet spirit, the good times we had in the carpool and ability to make those around her happy.
Submitted by Darrell K. Loose (Nephew)
My first recollection of aunt Veda when I was in elementary school, probably about ten years of age. During the summer people in Clarkston would milk their cows at home and then take them to the pastures outside of town to graze and then be brought home to milk. I had the job of taking Uncle Normans cow to the pasture. Once in a while Uncle Norman would be just be finishing milking as I arrived at their House. Aunt Veda would invite me in and gave me a piece of toast and some hot chocolate. This happened more than once in a while when I was “taking cows” to the pasture.
My recollection of her when I was entering my teen age years was that she spoke excellent English. Her grammar and vocabulary were very proper and I knew that she was an education person.
Whenever I saw her she was very well dressed. She always wore a dress. I never remember seeing her in slacks or levis. He hair was always well combed.
When I was finishing my Bachelor’s Degree at Utah State, I attended summer school. I commuted back and forth from Clarkston and Logan. One summer I commuted with Aunt Veda, Marilyn Griffiths, and Ray Arthur Sparks who was working on a Master’s Degree and was teaching in California. I enjoyed my association with her. She had a good sense of humor. She was very knowledgeable on political issues and what was going on in the world. Our conversations made the twenty-two mile trip go very fast. I appreciated knowing her in a way I had not known her before.
After I was married, we would stop and visit Uncle Norman and Aunt Veda. She was always very gracious and interested in what we were doing. We made a visit once when she was quite sick. She was still positive and optimistic about life. She tolerated her illness with dignity
- FAMILY HISTORIES, INCLUDING PICTURES, DOCUMENTS AND STORIES CAN BE FOUND IN FAMILY TREE # KWZB-25T
- THIS DOCUMENT INCLUDES MEMORIES AND RECOLLECTIONS BY NEPHEWS
By Darrell K. Loosle
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