Sylvia Yancey & Jared Oliver Anderson

Memories of  Sylvia's Passing by Alice Mae Anderson Colton

When I was a senior at BYU University my mother was expecting a baby in January. About the middle   of January, I received a message from home which just said, "Come home immediately". It really worried me since I new mother was expecting a baby. I immediately got a ride to Pocatello on the bus. We had a short stop at Malad. I picked up a newspaper that was there, and on the first page was a small notice about the death of a business man's wife, Sylvia Anderson. I cried the rest of the way home, and a cousin of me was there to meet me and she could see that I already knew what had happened.

My father was so sad, I tried to comfort him as much as I could. His sister who lives in Montana had  come down and she too tried to perk him up. I was in my senior year at the BYU and all of my relatives thought that I should continue the 4 months necessary to finish. At my graduation, Dad came to be there and also his brother and her wife (Austin and Hazel).

My Dad had trouble sleeping and would get up during the night and walk up and down the highway.  We all tried to sooth him, but he was so sad. He received a kind letter from a friend of mother's. Her name
was Alice Haroldsen. She was on a mission at the time in the middle eastern states and had heard about mother'S death. Her letter was very helpful, and Dad began to talking to her on the telephone. It really soothed him. At the end ofthe summer, she finished her mission and came back to Pocatello. Before long, they decided to get married. Members of her family tried to talk her out of it (7 children to raise) but she convinced them and it really worked well. She wasn't the speedy worker my mother was, but she was very kind and everyone soon cared for her. I was teaching school at Lava at the time, so I wasn't around except on weekends.

Alice had one child of her own as well as the others to raise. Since I was not there much, her sister came and helped her. Together they named him John Oliver Anderson.

Although I am over 20 years older than John, we like a lot of the same things and enjoy working out puzzles together. He's a fine pianist and we have had fun playing duets.

Alice Haroldsen Anderson
the 2nd Mother to the Anderson children