52 Ancestors Wk4 - Ida Lovina Ellison

This week's theme is 'closest to your birthday', and since I already did someone with whom I share a birthday, I went with the next closest birthday (the day after mine).


Ida Lovina Ellison, 6th child of Lovina Clarissa Dye from last week, was born Nov 10, 1892 in Provo Utah. Having 12 brothers and sisters, I'm sure she grew up in a busy, noisy, house. She met her husband William "Bill" Merryweather dancing in the 2nd Ward Amusement Hall in Provo. They loved to dance, and went out whenever they could. Bill took her around on his bicycle. After several years of courting, and Bill moving to Cedar City, they decided to get married.
Ida and Bill were married Mar 29, 1916 in the Salt Lake Temple, and made their home in Cedar City, Utah (which took them 3 days to drive to in their model-T after the wedding).

Bill was a plumber, and not too long after getting married, he and his brother-in-law started the Southern Utah Plumbing and Heating company. While Bill was off plumbing, Ida worked with children in their church, and sewed. Soon they started having children of their own. They had 6 girls, 4 survived into adulthood (3 still alive today). Their 3rd child, Eva, died at 6 months old from pneumonia; and their youngest was stillborn.


During her married life, Ida got to travel around Utah and the surrounding areas. Bill was a good plumber and worked in several national parks including, Zion, Bryce, and the Grand Canyon. He also did plumbing in the St George Temple. Ida did sewing for the temple and the workers there. She spent many nights sewing burial clothing for people in the area. For a time she also served as a stake missionary.

In the 1950's Bill and Ida became temple workers in St George, doing genealogy too. And in 1957 they made St George their permanent home.

Ida Lovina Ellison Merryweather died on Sep 30, 1980, at 87 years old, in Springville, Utah and was buried in the Cedar City Cemetery.

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