Reva Maxine Moulton Owen Webb
The Matriarch of the Owen Clan celebrates her 92nd birthday on July 17, 2014.
She is a living treasure house of great wisdom.
A few years back I wrote up something for a birthday memory. I thought I would share it again.
My Mother, Reva Maxine Moulton Owen
Webb
Written by Cyndy Weiss for 89th
Birthday on July 17, 2011
Your successes…
- We begin the list with 9 of them: Ralph, Cynthia, Louise, Sandra, Steven, Diane, Donald, David, and Teresa.…add to those nine all their children and grandchildren. Your ever increasing posterity honors you for your faithfulness.
- You were a loving, supportive "help-meet" to Jim Owen.
- You were a wonderful spouse to LaVarr and loved his family as well!
- You are a competent organizer, office manager, secretary, accountant, family historian, carpenter, and nurse.
- You are a successful editor and publisher!
- You are an eager learner.
- You are totally unafraid of modern technology.
What you taught me…
- That I am a daughter of God.
- To love Jesus Christ and to serve in His Church.
- To follow the Prophets.
- To appreciate my ancestry.
- How to work without complaint.
- How to watch my expenses and stretch my income.
- How to enjoy the arts.
- How to sew.
- To make the best of whatever comes.
How we are alike…
- We share interest in reading.
- We love learning and enjoy lectures broadcast on BYU-TV.
- We share interest in our ancestors.
- We share interest in "scrap collecting" and trying to figure out how best to store and share our memories.
How we are different…
- You love cooking, and I don't.
- You are quieter.
- You are fearless about solving technology challenges.
How I saw you when I was in High School…
- I was pretty self-centered and don't really remember all that you so unselfishly did so that I could be focused on "my things".
- You were obviously very supportive, or I couldn't have enjoyed all that I did during those formative years.
How I see you now…
- I marvel that you have had the strength and energy you have been blessed with all these years.
- I am inspired by your ability to do so much on your own even in your advancing years.
- I love how you "sparkle" when your family is around.
- I love helping you check off everything on your list when we visit.
How you raised me…
- To trust that God would take care of me.
- To keep commandments that would protect me.
- To honor the Priesthood.
- To love my country.
- To love children.
- To love learning.
- To work hard.
My best memories of you are…
- Going with you to see "Man of LaMancha" at Portland Civic Theater.
- Helping you can tomatoes and peaches and watching you baking whole wheat bread.
- Going to the Salt Lake Temple with you as my escort.
- Getting letters and packages from you while I was on my mission--when I received a dress that I marveled that you had found time to sew it.
- Coming home from my mission and seeing how you managed while building the house in Leeds.
- Seeing you happily settled in your different homes when we would come to Utah.
- Your strength after Dad, LaVarr, and Evelyn died.
- Coming to visit us in Redmond when Samuel was born and later William.
- Meeting you at the airport when you were flying (standby with David's passes) to Sea-Tac airport to visit us.
- Watching you enjoy your Moulton family gatherings with your own brothers and sisters after moving back to Salt Lake once more.
- Watching you during all the Owen reunions-busying yourself to help make everyone feel welcomed. (Remember when we came to Leeds for Thanksgiving and moved the shed!)
- Being with you at our "Sisters Reunion" at Kala Point when you told us wonderful "dating stories."
What you love to do…
- Read.
- Collect and perfect recipes.
- Crochet slippers, afghans
- Needlework (temple aprons).
- Organize memories.
Why I'll always respect you…
- Because you lived through tough Southern Utah days with grace.
- Because you figured out how to survive during challenging days of Dad's illnesses and go forward with faith.
- Because you have kept the family strong ties through newsletters, email communication and Family Reunions.
- Because you supported and nursed and lifted so many during their last days of life. (James Owen, LaVarr Webb, Evelyn McDougal, and Julie Webb.)
- Because you are grateful for all you have been given.
- For enduring the daily challenges…preparing meals, doing laundry, housecleaning and getting "things" done that I didn't really understand until I became a mom.
What you do for others…
- You reach out to include all.
- You make encouraging responses to email and Facebook entries.
- You make beautiful temple aprons and afghans.
- You teach others how to knit and crochet.
- You tell stories about your loved ones.
- You let us know that you care for us.
How I feel about you…
- I love you with all my heart and am so appreciative of all I have learned while watching your example.
- I am so proud you, Mom. Proud of how you have lived your life and continue to be an example of righteous GRANDmotherhood.
- I am grateful to be your daughter.
Your Patriarchal Blessing says…
- That you are "honored and favored of our Father in Heaven."
- That you "promised Him (Father in Heaven) that you would implant in the hearts of His children a desire to know of His ways."
- That you are blessed "with a strong mind and with a determination not to be thrown off the straight and narrow way."
- That you will say, "What have I done to receive these wonderful blessings?"
- That you "will not lack for bread and raise up friends to administer unto your needs when you will be in need of those blessings."
- That you will "be permitted to open the door of salvation to many of His children."
- That your "life will be prolonged here upon the earth until your hair becomes gray and your form totters with age."
- That "those days will be the golden days of your life, when you can look back with joy and satisfaction."
- That people will "come to you with sorrowing hearts and will be cheered up through your spirituality and through your kind words."
- That you will be blessed with "sons and daughters that will be a delight and a comfort to you and an honor to your Father in Heaven."
- That "there is no blessing like that of being a mother in Israel."
- Some blessings still await you…
- "Blessings will be in store for you in the Kingdom of our Father in Heaven awaiting you when life's mission is complete."
- "You will come forth in the morning of the first resurrection."
And so another year has come and gone. How thankful we are for your HD (High Definition-Humility and Diligence) living.
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| Maxine and Cyndy in 2009. |
Thanks for sharing all your memories. Someday I will retype your personal history we composed together way back in 1976-79. Your memories of growing up in Heber Valley and Salt Lake City have become precious to me. Thanks for being so great about sharing them and your "Legacy of Faith".
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| Family History has always been one of Maxine's interests. She organized all the Moulton family photos and made a CD for extended family in the 1990's. |
I love the Patriarchal promise you received that your "life will be prolonged here upon the earth until your hair becomes gray and your form totters with age" and that "those days will be the golden days of your life, when you can look back with joy and satisfaction." I have lived long enough to see that blessing fulfilled.
It takes someone special to become a true Matriarch. You did it!
Reva Maxine Moulton in 2012.
A Brief History of our Matriarch compiled by Cyndy Weiss and detailed in Reva Maxine Moulton Owen's Personal History (through 1979) in possession of Cyndy Weiss.
- Childhood in Heber City, UT.
- Maxine's teenage years in Salt Lake City.
- Meeting Jim Owen at BYU and marrying in 1948.
- Moving to Burley, ID to teach seminary.
- Jim getting polio and returning to SLC to be close to Veterans Hospital.
- Iron Lung and long weeks in recovery.
- Jim learning how to walk again (with help from baby Cynthia).
- Moving to Portland, OR for Jim to attend Western States Chiropractic College.
- Being janitor (with family slave labor) for LDS church and Chiropracic College to help pay for school.
- Living in 6 different homes in Portland areas--mostly SE.
- Surgery to repair enlarged stomach.
- Finding home that would work for Clinic and home in Sellwood area.
- Maxine worked in office of Willamette View Chiropractic Clinic.
- Jim's vision problems. Kidney failure. Move to St. George, UT (Leeds, UT)
- Homeschooling children in Utah (Diane, Donald, David, Teresa).
- Maxine is "foreman" as Jim supervises the building huge "dream home" in Leeds.
- Trips to SLC for VA appointments and dialysis treatments and training.
- James passes away at VA Hospital.
- Maxine dates LaVarr Webb. Remarries.
- Public Communications Mission to New Jersey cut short because of illness.
- Move to Salt Lake City, UT- trailer court in West Valley City.
- Maxine assists LaVarr in self-publishing his books.
- LaVarr Webb dies from leukemia after a 17 year battle.
- Evelyn Moulton MacDougal, Maxine's sister, moves in with Maxine until Evelyn's death.
- Carbon monoxide poisoning. Maxine very sick then slowly recovers.
- Move to Perry, UT to live in house built by Louise and David Daniels.
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| Clegg Family Reunion in Liberty Park in 1945. Can you find Maxine? |
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