Doc’s Memories of Laura

Laura went to school at Eden Elementary, Huntsville Junior High and Weber High School. She had one real problem getting to school. She would get car sick. She tried to get the driver to save a seat right up front for her. If he did not then he would have to clean the bus. This was a real problem because she rode the bus down the canyon to Weber High. She was an average student and got along well with her fellow students.

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Laura in 1937

Laura 1937 right

Laura on the right with school friends in 1937

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After graduating from High School she was somewhat lost. Mother had died and she did not get along well with Dad, he had trouble communicating with us. When Mel got out of school, she did a lot with him. She got an apartment on the corner of Lincoln and 25th Street. She met and married Stevens and had a son Guy. He abused her so she divorced him.Then she married Lee Saunders.

Laura Guy & Lee Martin Sanders

Laura with Lee and Guy

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Laura and Lee Sanders

Laura and Lee had two daughters. While I was going to High School they had a donut shop on Washington by 21st Street. I worked with them there for a while. He was in the Navy and was transferred to San Diego. I moved in with Laura in West Ogden on F Avenue until she decided to go to San Diego with her husband. He then was transferred to Oskalosa, Iowa. She decided to go there with him.

Laura letter p1

Laura wrote this letter to her parents as she and Lee prepared to move to the Mid-west. They planned to stop and visit on the way, which would have been the last time she saw them. She died two months later.

Laura letterp 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They got a house several miles in the country. They just moved in. He was working midnight shift. On his way home he stopped for gas and the attendant asked him if his wife was home that night. He said yes. The man said “your house burned down.” It was foggy and he drove past the place before he found it and all there was were ashes. The four of them had died in the fire.

Laura & children

Laura with her children

 

These local Newspaper Articles tell about the death of Laura and her children, how the family was informed and burial plans.

Laura SE article cr

The Ogden Standard Examiner
Ogden City, Utah, Friday Evening, September 15, 1944
Four Lose Lives As Fire Ruins Home in Midwest

Mrs. Laura Eggleston Stephens Sanders, 23, and her three small children, all of Ogden, were burned to death Thursday morning at Oskaloosa, Iowa, in a fire that destroyed their home, according to a telegram received by Mrs. Sanders’ father, Joseph S. Eggleston of Eden, through the Red Cross.
The other dead are: Guy E. Stephens, 4; Laura Lee Sanders, 2; and Bethene Fern Sanders, 15 months.
The family formerly resided at 252 F. avenue, West Ogden.
Mrs. Sanders and the children had gone to Oskaloosa, Aug. 1 to be with Mr. Sanders, who had been transferred there for training. He is a fireman first class in the Navy.

Bodies Cremated
A second telegram gave the information that the bodies had been cremated and were being taken to San Gabriel, Calif., the home of Mr. Sanders’ parents. Mr. Sanders was accompanying the remains.
Mrs. Sanders was born Nov. 20, 1920, in Eden, a daughter of Joseph S. and Cuma Cheney Eggleston. She graduated from Weber county high school. She was married to Avelon Stephens in Ogden, Aug. 31, 1939. They were divorced in July, 1941. They had one child, Guy E. Stephens, one of the children who lost his life. In August, 1941, she was married to Lee Martin Sanders of San Gabriel, Calif., in Malad, Idaho, Aug. 30, 1941.

Survivor List
Survivors besides her husband, her father and stepmother are the following brothers and sisters: Wesley Eggleston, Ogden; Orland Eggleston, Eden; Leiut. Melvin Eggleston, USMC, in a New Hebrides hospital; Sgt. Dale Eggleston, U. S. Army, France; DeLoss Eggleston and Mrs. Leon Richard, El Monte, Calif., and Mrs. Phillip Gorder, Milton.
Guy E. Stephens was born June 20, 1940, in Ogden. He is also survived by his father, with the U. S. Army air corps, Italy; his grandfather of Eden, and his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. William Stephens, Ogden.
Laura Lee was born April 21, 1942, in Ogden, and Bethene Ferne was born June 6, 1943, in Salt Lake City. They are also survived by their paternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Sanders of San Gabriel.

Laura article cr

The Salt Lake Tribune
Friday Morning, September 15,1944
Eden Woman, 3 children Die in Blaze

Tribune Intermountain Wire
EDEN, Weber Co. – Mrs. Laura Eggleston Stephens Sanders, 23, and her three small children, all of Ogden, were burned to death Thursday morning at Oskaloosa, Iowa, in a fire that destroyed their home, according to a briefly worded telegram received by her father, Joseph S. Eggleston of Eden, through the Red Cross.
The other dead are: Guy E. Stephens, 4; Laura Lee Sanders, 2; and Bethene Fern Sanders, 15 months.

Accompanied Husband
Mrs. Sanders and the children had gone to Oskaloosa, Aug. 1, to be with Mr. Sanders, who had been transferred there for training by the navy.
Further details of the tragedy were lacking but a second telegram which arrived late Thursday gave the information that the bodies had been cremated and were being taken to San Gabriel, Cal., the home of Mr. Sanders’ parents. Mr. Sanders was accompanying the bodies, the telegram said.

Born at Eden, Weber Co.
Mrs. Sanders was born Nov. 20, 1920, at Eden, a daughter of Joseph S. and Cuma Cheney Eggleston. She attended Weber county schools and graduated from Weber county high school. She was married to Avelon Stephens of Ogden. They had one child, Guy E. Stephens, one of the children who lost his life. They later separated. In August, 1941, she was married to Lee Martin Sanders of San Gabriel.
Survivors besides her husband, her father and stepmother are the following brothers and sisters: Wesley Eggleston, Ogden; Orlando Eggleston, Eden; Lt. Melvin Eggleston, USMC, in a New Hebrides hospital; Sgt. Dale Eggleston, U. S. Army, France; DeLoss Eggleston and Mrs. Leon Richard, El Monte, Calif., and Mrs. Phillip Gorder, Milton, Box Elder county.

Father in Army
Guy E. Stephens was born June 20, 1940, in Ogden. He is also survived by his father, with the U. S. Army air corps, Italy; his grandfather of Eden, and his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. William Stephens, Ogden.
Laura Lee was born April 21, 1942, and Bethene Ferne was born June 6, 1943, both in Salt Lake City. They are survived by their father, grandfather of Eden and paternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Sanders of San Gabriel.

 

Laura funeral notice cr

Ogden Standard Examiner
Friday Evening, September 22, 1944
Services Held for Mother, Children

Funeral services for Mrs. Laura Eggleston Stephens Sanders and three children, Laura Lee Sanders, Bethene Fern Sanders and Guy E. Stephens, who burned to death when their home in Oskaloosa, Ia., went up in flames, Sept 15, were held at the Mission Park ward, L.D.S. church, wilmar, Calif. Internment was in the Rose Hills memorial park.
Mr. Sanders and the children had gone to Oskaloosa, Aug. 1 to be with Mr. Sanders, who had been transferred there for training with the U. S. Navy. They formerly resided at 252 F avenue, West Ogden.

 

 

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