The Matriarch of the Owen Clan

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.   

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".  

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.

 Just before Tiffany Owen left on her mission in 2013 she came to see her Great Grandma Owen. 

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.

Clegg Family Reunion in Liberty Park in 1945.   Can you find Maxine?

"Become the Rock the River Cannot Wash Away"

We can find many stories from the lives of our ancestors that demonstrate "Spiritual Stamina".   These stories have blessed my life as I came to believe "I can do it because they did!"  Richard Maynes in LDS General Conference of October 2013 spoke of this kind of endurance and quoted an anonymous author:   "You must become the rock the river cannot wash away."

"Many of the challenges we face in life can be solved and overcome; however, others may be difficult to understand and impossible to overcome and will be with us until we pass on to the next life. As we temporarily endure the challenges we can solve and as we continue to endure the challenges we cannot solve, it is important to remember that the spiritual strength we develop will help us successfully endure all the challenges we face in life.

"Great examples of spiritual stamina come from our own family histories. Among the many stories from our ancestors, we will be able to find examples that demonstrate the positive characteristics of endurance."    (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/10/the-strength-to-endure)

As I have researched the lives of my family, I have found many examples of individuals who simply woke up each morning to faithfully face the challenges each day presented.  Here are but a few.

My mother: Reva Maxine Moulton Owen Webb
She is nearing 92 years and gracefully enduring to the end.  She has nurtured her faith and that of her own 9 children over all these years.  Her early years of poor health and challenging life didn't dampen her faith.  She has watched many in her own family have "crossed over" and patiently awaits her turn to join them.  Like Paul she taught by example how to "run with patience the race that is set before us."  (Hebrews 12:1)

My father:  James Austin Owen
His own father died when he was only a boy of seven.  He honored his widowed mother by living a good life.  He suffered polio when he was a young father.  As a former high school and college athlete, it was a challenge for him to relearn to walk and use his weakened legs and arms.  He returned to school to became a doctor of Chiropractic medicine in a day when some thought it was "quack medicine."  His strong ideals caused him to battle "Big Government" for many years.  Diabetes and kidney failure took his life at age 59.   He never wavered in his faith, but shared it with all who would listen.  His greatest joy was to hear that his children "walk(ed) in truth" 3 John 1:4.

My step-father:  LaVarr B. Webb
This man shared our lives for 20 years.  He was the only grandfather my children knew.  From butcher to college professor, he showed his posterity that going back to school and "re-tooling" oneself was possible.He battled with Leukemia for 17 of those 20 years and pressed forward.
He taught his children "to walk in the ways of truth and soberness." (Mosiah 4:15).

My 3rd Great Grandparents:  Thomas and Sarah Denton Moulton
It took fifteen years of scrimping and saving coins in a fruit jar and the help of the "PEF" (Perpetual Emigration Fund) for the Moulton family to come to America and join their fellow "Saints" in Zion.  They were willing to suffer, sacrifice and even start over their life in rural mountain area of northern Utah to bring the blessings of freedom and faith to their numerous posterity. 

 "And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.

 "And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem"  (Isaiah 2:2-3)

My 3rd Great Grandfather:  John Griffiths
John Griffith's sacrifice touches my heart deeply.  He worked for 15 years as a tireless missionary and branch president building up "The Kingdom of God" in England.  Then he finally makes the difficult journey to America, pulls a handcart to Utah Valley, buries his two sons (ages 9 and 11) along the trail, and dies the very night he arrives in the Salt Lake Valley.
Like Paul, John Griffiths could say: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I havekept the faith.  Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day" (2 Timothy 4:7-8).

My 2nd Great Grandparents: Henry and Margaret Griffiths Clegg
Henry "wasted and wore out his life" (D&C 123: 13)  building up Zion.  He watched  his first wife die on the trail. Then he buried their baby son in her arms. He "kept moving."  He was a soldier, a musician, a builder, a storekeeper, a beloved Heber City Bishop, and a great father.  He died young and left his widowed wives to care for a large family.   Margaret was a beloved "handcart pioneer" and a faithful visiting teacher to the end of her long and difficult life. 

My husband's 3rd Great Grandparents: Isaac and Phebe Ogden Chase
Isaac and Phebe left their good life in New York to join the cause of the restored gospel.  They gave of their resources and their time and talent to build Zion.  They sacrificed all because they recognized the truth in the doctrines taught by living prophets.   Father & Mother Chase lived faithful to the end despite what others perceived as being wronged by leaders.  They knew what mattered most. "Seek not after riches nor the vain things of this world; for behold, you cannot carry them with you. (Alma 39:14)

My husband's 3rd Great Grandparents:  John and Amelia Croft
Leaving England to come to America and begin a new life together, the newlyweds made their way to Enterprise, Morgan County, Utah.  They built up a life and did the best they could to provide for their large posterity.   He worked the railroad, built up his farm, served as postmaster, and did whatever he could to provide. His willingness to move to Star Valley after building up a life in Morgan County showed his determination to heed the call of a living prophet.  "Yea, we can see that the Lord in his great infinite goodness doth bless and prosper  those who put their trust in him" (Helaman 12:1).

My husband's 2nd Great Grandparents:  Max & Annie Weiss
Leaving Belarus to come to America in the early nineteenth century was a manifestation of their desire to provide for a better life for their young family.  Living in Vernal, Utah in pioneer times was not for the faint in heart.  Annie's faithfulness to her Jewish traditions while living in the midst of "Mormons" was an indication of her great faith.  She raised two grandchildren when their own parents died and was widowed for 21 years.    "Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard? He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength... they that wait upon  the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint" (Isaiah 40:28-31).

Richard Maynes reminds us:
"Every morning when we wake up, we face a new day filled with the challenges of life. These challenges come in many forms: physical challenges, financial setbacks, difficulties with relationships, emotional trials, and even struggles with one’s faith.

"Heavenly Father has organized our journey through life to be a test of our character. We are exposed to both good and evil influences and then given the moral agency to choose for ourselves which path we will take.

"Because we face challenges every day, it is important that we work on our spiritual stamina every day. When we develop spiritual stamina, the false traditions of the world, as well as our personal daily challenges, will have little negative impact on our ability to endure in righteousness.

"Great examples of spiritual stamina come from our own family histories. Among the many stories from our ancestors, we will be able to find examples that demonstrate the positive characteristics of endurance."

I am thankful for the faithful lives of my ancestors that show me how to "become the rock the river cannot wash away."