Margie Jensen
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- Written by: Jeff Summers
Margie Jensen passed away at 11:28 PM on October 8, 2024. She died peacefully in her sleep and is now reunited with her husband Wendell, son Lonny, and granddaughter Lindsay. Those simple words cannot convey the magnitude of a person’s life and what she has meant to everyone she has touched.
While I am not technically her child, she has been my mother for longer than my own mother lived. Society jokes about mother-in-laws but I found Margie the most gracious, loving, and caring person I knew and I was blessed to be fortunate enough to marry into her family.
First Pitch
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- Written by: Jeff Summers
Introduction
The last remnants of autumn sunlight filtered down upon the playing field at Bank One Ballpark. It was a beautiful September evening for the last regular season game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Diego Padres. The ballpark roof had just opened; the cheers of the crowd were beginning to subside. Forty-eight thousand fans were now settling into their seats waiting for what promised to be a memorable end to the Diamondbacks inaugural season. The pre-game festivities were in mid-stride. Along the base paths and in the outfield, the starting players were going through their final warm-ups before the game started. As game time approached, I quietly stood near the on-deck circle with my family. The children gazed about taking in all of the sights and sounds of this historic game. None of us could have imagined we would be standing here on the field as the grounds crew put the finishing touches on the baselines and batters boxes. Nor could I have anticipated the events that were about to occur.
My Blogs
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- Written by: Jeff Summers
With the advent of the weblog or “blog” for short, my writing venues changed forever. Now rather than keeping my stories and diatribes confined to a notebook that was locked away I was able to share them with others.
A Year in Review
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- Written by: Jeff Summers
It started as a way of remembering the events of the past 12 months. As I have gotten older it seems time travels faster while my memory cannot keep up. After moving to Arizona we found ourselves separated from family members who had become such an important part of our lives. In an effort to keep those ties close to our hearts and share our new adventures I began writing a newsletter that was included in each year's Christmas cards.
Life Sketches
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- Written by: Jeff Summers
There are times when I wonder why I have been given the gift of writing. How should this gift be used? Am I to write a book that will somehow touch the soul of a reader enabling them to fulfill their potential? Am I to write in order to help society understand the world that is around them?
Dean Olsen
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- Written by: Jeff Summers
Dean Olsen was born on December 12, 1915. He was the seventh child out of eight born to Heber and Mary Eliza Olsen. They made their home in Logan Utah in what was referred to as “Little Berlin”. It was so named because of the German immigrants who made their homes there. Grandpa once said that when the residents of the neighborhood made sauerkraut, no one could stand to be in that part of town because of the smell.
Velene Summers
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- Written by: Jeff Summers
Velene J. Hess Summers was born on April 22, 1916. She was the fifth child out of eight born to Jesse Wells and Kate Ellen Monson Hess. They made their home in Goshen Idaho where great-grandpa Hess farmed. As a child, Grandma Summers had many chores around the house, She milked cows, did house work, and any other task she was asked to do. Grandma was a hard worker and never complained about work that had to be done. Her brothers and sisters all commented on what a hard worker she was and she always seemed to get the dirty jobs and never complained. Grandma once said that when it came time to clean the chicken coop, her sister Norma would stick her finger down her throat and make herself throw-up saying the smell of the chickens made her sick. Great grandma Hess would then tell her to go lay down, Velene would finish the job. Grandma never minded doing the work that was asked of her.
Don Summers
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- Written by: Jeff Summers
Donald Summers was born on September 7, 1916. He was the tenth child out of twelve born to Joseph George and Evelyn Bagley Summers. Don had four older brothers and five older sisters. When he was born, the family lived in Shelley Idaho where his father farmed on the “Hayes” project. As a boy, Don worked around the farm helping his father raise sugar beets and other crops. From an early age, Don exhibited a great sense of humor. He was constantly playing jokes on his family and friends. Don was always the life of any group he was with and everyone fed off his love of life. Every Halloween Don and his friends would spend the evening playing jokes on the neighbors. During that time, nearly all of the houses in the neighborhood had outdoor plumbing. The pranksters would be on their horses and hide in the shadows. When an unsuspecting victim would travel to the outhouse, Don and his friends would wait until the door closed then they would lasso the outhouse and pull it over. They were always careful to make sure the outhouse fell door down trapping their victims. They would then ride off laughing. As a student, Don did not show interest in formalized education. Although he went through the eighth grade, he quit during his freshman year to try and earn money to help his family make ends meet.
Velma Olsen
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- Written by: Jeff Summers
All my life I have tried to stay close to my grandmother. Part of that closeness was out of respect, something I have been taught all of my life. Probably the bigger reason though was because of the immense love I had for Grandma Olsen.
It was easy keeping in contact; all I had to do was pick up the phone and dial her number or jump in a car and go to grandma’s house. I always marveled that within two words she knew who it was and was always excited to visit.
VelDean Summers
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- Written by: Jeff Summers
Each time I sat down to begin writing mom’s life sketch; something would always pull me away. As I sat looking at a blank screen, all I could think was that mom is probably looking down and telling Grandma and Grandpa this is yet another example of Jeff waiting until the last minute to do his homework. Mom was one of the few people who could always see through my schemes and would gently remind me that it was much easier getting things done early rather than waiting until the last minute. She would explain that time spent up front would result in better grades and less stress. I never really learned that lesson very well so I’m sorry mom.
