Carl about Mariane
Mariane was ten when I was born. One of my earliest memories of her was on a family outing. Pop loaded us up in that old 1932 Chevy of his and we headed for the hills. Mariane began reciting a piece she’d learned in a drama class about a chauffeur named James. The image of Pop behind the wheel while we were laughing fit him perfectly. Apparently the car was no match for the steep grade of the mountain and we ended up turning around and coming home, but we’d definitely been entertained.
My next vivid memory was her wedding reception. She and Calvin had been married in the Mesa Arizona temple (the L.A. temple was just a gleam in President Howard W. Hunter’s eye at that point) and had the reception in the El Monte recreation hall. I remember them marching down the isle toward the cake, cutting a piece and exchanging bites, and then kissing.
Calvin worked for Standard Oil and had been in Arabia teaching the Saudi’s how to do his job. After the reception, they were headed back there to start a new life. They came home about every two years for a vacation. They came home for good in 1958. They settled in El Monte, and that is when my memories begin. As I have been thinking about her, it occurred to me that one thing that set her apart was her interest in the family. By family I mean not just her immediate family but the family of her girlhood --her brothers and sisters and her nieces and nephews. The family of Mom and Pop is her family. Over the years I have been very impressed with this extraordinary attention and dedication. While her own children are paramount, she has never slighted the rest of us. She faithfully sends out birthday cards, keeps track of the new babies in the family (I think that even each great-grandchild has a received a baby quilt from her) and is interested in whatever anybody in the family is doing. When it comes to family gatherings, parties, reunions or any other opportunity to be together she reveres and relishes them with special interest. She is keeper of the archives; updater of the family address’s and is always ready to be of service, and however she can. This service and interest in the family has taken her on many trips. She has come to Utah to visit all of us, up to Santa Rosa to see Ralph, to Oregon for her grandchildren, and even to China to visit David Scott and his kids. She has even been known to be in Mesquite when Chris, Ralph, Carl and Mike are playing golf.
As Mom and Dad’s oldest child, the appellation of Matriarch could rightfully be hers and she exemplifies all things good that the title implies. As matriarch she oversees a family of many nationalities and ethnic backgrounds and all members of the family. To watch her in action, one may think that she must have had a happy and care-free life--when, in fact, it has been laden with difficultly and hardship. We all have our crosses to bear, but in Mariane’s life crisis and tragedy have been unrelenting. The difficulties and hardships are well known to the family. The disease that took Calvin was hard. The attempts to find an LDS companion met with dubious results until she met Cliff Ferguson with whom she spent thirty years. The loss of three of her children has been hard. In spite of these difficulties, she has endured the hardships without acrimony and recrimination and has put her trust in the Lord. She has maintained a character of charity and optimism with cheerful readiness that all will be well. I treasure her as my older sister and suggest that if there are saints, she is one. Love, Carl
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