Grandma Gladys

My grandmother, Gladys Hope Ryckman, was born January 25, 1904 in Pontiac, Michigan, to Fredrick Ryckman and Myrtle Day. She had one sister, Joyce Day Ryckman. Grandma was a young woman during the roaring twenties, and judging by the way I remember her, I'll bet she loved it!!
The 1920 Michigan census shows her being 15, and working as a "complaint clerk" at a furniture store. Doesn't that sound like a fun job for a teenager !!!

This is a picture of Grandma and my Grandpa Campbell on their wedding day June 10, 1922. The bridesmaid is Aunt Joyce. They stayed married for about 10 years. They had two children: Jack LeRoy, who died from pneumonia at 9 days, and Mom.



This picture is of Grandma with Mom, after she and Grandpa had separated.

Grandma then married Bud McBride and had two more children, Lawrence Cary, and Gaye Marie.





This is a picture of Grandma and me when she came to see us in California not too long after I was born.

Grandma and Bud divorced after quite a few years. And several years later, she married Bob Arrendale. He was quite a bit younger than her, and spent a lot of time in and out of prison in California, with grandma visiting him there. Eventually, they also divorced.

After the divorce with Bud, Grandma went to school to become a Licensed Vocational Nurse. During this time, Mom quit school to help tend Larry and Gaye. Throughout her career she worked as an industrial nurse, a private duty nurse, and as a charge nurse in a care center in California. In later years, she became an apartment manager.

In my opinion, she seemed to have a hard time with the concept of being a mom. When Larry was 12, she was going to send him to military school, because he was "too hard to handle", so he lived with us for year. When Gaye was 16, she was going to go to work somewhere that needed a live-in nurse. Gaye would have been left on her own, so she came to live with us until she graduated from high school. While I enjoyed having Gaye with us (even if she did share a room with me!!), I never could understand how Grandma could just go off and leave her.

Grandma could play the piano really well. She played the treble hand as written but just chords for the bass hand. It had sort of a "ragtime" type sound to it. I have a lot of music that she copied. Someday maybe I'll find something creative to do with it. Grandma liked her beer and enjoyed spending time at the local taverns, where she often was found playing piano for her friends. Her favorite "hangout" in Southern California was called the Copper Bucket. I'm not sure how many of her friends knew her true age. The joke in the family was that sooner or later we would all be older than her!!

When I was about 8, grandma and her third husband, Bob, moved from Michigan to California. They rented our old house from Mom and Dad for awhile. One night my brother Richard, and I, spent the night with them, and the next morning Grandma fixed us brains and scrambled eggs for breakfast. I seem to remember we were required to eat it!!



Other memories include bowling and swimming in the ocean with Grandma and Bob. Visiting her in her apartment. Styling her hair for her once a week. I can't say I ever felt really close to Grandma. She wasn't the "huggy", comfortable to be with, kind of grandma. She wore spiked heeled boots and had bleached blonde hair, well into her 70's. Even when living in a "retirement-type" apartment building with activities for the tennants, she wouldn't go because she didn't want to hang out with all those "old people".


Eventually though... grandma too, got "old" as we all do. She had an episode that caused her to fall and injure herself while in her California apartment. It was decided that she could no longer drive, or live alone. So, her car was sold and she was moved into a care center in California. She lived there for a couple of years and then Mom and Dad decided she needed to come to Utah where they now lived, and could be closer to them. They rented a motor home and drove her back to Utah in that. She never forgave them for bringing her here. She lived in the Cedar Care Center, with mom visiting often, taking her to hair appointments, bringing her home to dinner, and the grandkids visiting her. She eventually lost her hearing, but wouldn't think of hearing aides. We all wrote notes to her. She became a little senile also. Kari remembers going over to play checkers with her and Grandma getting upset about something and turning over the checker board!!

At the age of 89, Grandma fell getting up in the night at the Care Center, breaking 7 ribs. This put her in the hospital with pneumonia and she died in October of 1993. I was able to be her nurse while she was in the hospital, which was a special experience for me.