Myra Lucy Snodgrass

My Mother's Mother was Myra Lucy Snodgrass. Her Mother's name was Palmyra Curtis. Myra Lucy is a bit of a mystry to me because her life was so entwined with my Grandfather William Christin Dewar that my Mother told me few stories about her. She migrated from her family in Kansas to work at a hotel in Denver. Mom said she was tired of being a full time babysitter for her sisters children. She had 4 or 5 sisters. She met my Grandfather in Denver while she was working as a maid at the hotel. They married and moved to Murray Utah. Grandfather Dewar started a newspaper in Murray. While there she had a baby (James) who died at birth and is buried in the Murray City Cemetary. In the early 1890's they moved to Eureka Utah to work on the Eureka Reporter. My Grandparents were very social, political, and religious people in Eureka. They belonged to several Lodges and fraternal organizations. Mom always spoke of her Father as an Episcopalian so I assume Grandmother was also. Uncle Fred, Aunt Elizabeth, Uncle Dan, and Mother were al born and partially reared in Eureka. I believe Grandmother presided over a very happy home. Neither Aunt Elizabeth nor Mother ever said anything negative about their home life or about either Grandmother or Grandfather Dewar.

In about 1910 they moved to Salt Lake City. Grandfather worked as a printer for the Salt Lake Tribune and Grand Mother ran the home at 300 North and 500 West. The home has been restored and is headquarters for a Mormon History Foundation. When Grandfather Dewar died, Grandmother was left without financial means to care for herself and her children. Uncle Fred, Aunt Elizabeth, and Mom all worked to provide for the family. Uncle Dan was married and had established his own home.

Near the end of her life the doctor limited her consumption of tea to one cup per day. This would not do for a Scot-Irish lady. When she finished her cup of tea she would proclaim it wasteful to throw a tea bag away while it still had "life". "Give me another cup of hot water". When the tea got weak near the end of the second cup she would want a "fresh bag". She loved her two grandsons Bill Caudell and Don (Jr.) Dewar. My cousin Beverly said she was reserved around little girls. Neither Uncle Doug or I were born when she passed. When my Father started dating Mother he became a favorite of Grandmother Dewar.