Eva Amanda Gribble

The picture that was posted previously was taken in 1958 in front of our first "new home" in Fort Collins, Colorado. Grandma Hyde would have been 78, my mother, Pearl, was 55, I was 25, Russ was 5 and Ron was 2. My sister Beth was 10. This post is about my grandmother, Eva Amanda Gribble who was born in Mt. Pleasant, Utah on June 22, (birthday anniversary tomorrow) 1880. Her parents were Joseph Smith Gribble and Phoebe Jane Reynolds. She grew up in Mt. Pleasant and met her future husband on the first day of school. They felt they were meant for each other and 12 years later, on Oct. 10, 1898, she married Frank Edmond Sanders in Centerfield, UT. They were later married and sealed to their children in the Logan Temple. Eva's father, Joseph Smith Gribble had been born in Nauvoo, Ill in 1845, but he later had a falling out with the church and so Eva was one of the only members of her family who was active in the church. I'll write more about Joseph Smith Gribble and Phoebe Jane Reynolds at a later time. Frank and Eva's first home was in Gunnison, Utah where their first daughter, Valeria was born. She died at 20 months and is buried in Gunnison. In February, 1901, a second daughter, Ethel, was born and later that year they left Gunnison, with a party of relatives to make their home in the Big Horn Basin of Wyoming. Frank had gone ahead while Eva and other family members waited in Diamondville, WY. When they finally got the word to come, they left for the Big Horns. In her own words she said "We were on the road 23 days from Diamondville when our horses gave out, our money gave out and we were still 40 miles from Meeteetse, Wy. We were all waiting for the horses to rest when we saw a rider coming on horseback. We were so glad, anyway we could ask him for help and how far it was to the next town. When he got closer, we could see it was Pap (Frank). He had a sack of flour and a little sack of sugar on his horse - he had come about 80 miles to meet us. He had been told we were getting hungry from some one from on high - no one else knew it." It was a new country and it was hard to scratch out a meager living. My mother, Pearl Viviette, was born in Otto on February 24, 1903. She was very close to her sister, Ethel, being only 2 years and 9 days apart. Pearl was devistated when Ethel passed away from the flu epidemic on Dec. 28, 1917. Through the years, Frank worked as a store-keeper, blacksmith, sheep-shearer, farmer and helped to build many miles of railroads and canals. Nine more children were born to Eva and Frank and they were happiest when the children were gathered around them by the fireplace singing songs together. In August, 1923, the family moved to Marysville, ID to make their home. A year and a half later, Frank died from a heart ailment at the age of 47, leaving his wife with 7 children at home. She was left in dire circumstances, but many good friends, relatives and neighbors came to her aid. She married Frank Odell in 1926 and they had one daughter. After 19 years of marriage, they were divorced and in 1945 she married William Hyde. He died six years later. She passed away on August 22,1959 in Ashton, Idaho, at the age of 79.
We didn't see Grandma Hyde very often, as she lived in Idaho and we were in Wyoming. My mother never lived in Idaho with the rest of the family, as she and Volney were married shortly after her family left Otto. Grandma came to Laramie in August, 1958 and lived there with Volney and Pearl until Feb., 1959. She really wasn't happy in Laramie and longed to be back in Idaho where most of the rest of her children and grandchildren were living. Her visit to our home in Ft. Collins was a rare occasion and I was glad to spend some time with her there.