Ida May Willis was born on March 6th 1922 in Liverpool,
England. She was the
youngest of 6 children. Her parents joined the church
of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints in the early 1900’s before she was born. She remained an active member her whole life.
She remembers going to school as a child and listening to
her teacher warn the class about “evil Mormons”. The teacher told them that
Mormons had horns and wore black capes. And that they kidnapped young women and
took them away to the walled fortress of Salt
Lake where they were never heard
from again.
As a child, Grandma struggled with childhood diseases and
several other serious conditions. She stayed a month and a half in the hospital
when she was about 7 years old. At
another time she spent a month in bed because of a heart condition, and later
she spent 2 months in bed with rheumatic fever. Her mother started giving her
cod liver oil 3 times a day for several years. Grandma hated this but it must
have done the trick because she lived nearly 92 healthy and full years. When
she was 16, her mother died. She was 57 years old and had not had an easy life.
In the spring of 1939, before the war started, Ida went to a
Youth Conference in Sheffield. Young people from all
over the British Mission came for 3 days. President Hugh B. Brown, was the British
Mission President and his family came with all the missionaries.
(Enter Handsome Elder Frodsham, also known as Grandpa)
Ida was walking down the road and she heard someone calling
out to her. She turned around to find a very good looking missionary trying to
get her attention! In Grandma’s words,“He had black wavy hair and the sparkliest
brown eyes! Very attractive!”
Later, Ida learned that when Lee saw her that day he turned
to his companion and said, “You see that pretty little English girl? I’m going
to marry her.”
This handsome missionary asked who she was and where she
lived. He introduced himself as Elder Frodsham, who was serving in Rochdale.
He was the manager of the Rochdale “Greys” Baseball Team.
This was a team of missionaries who played ball as well as did regular
missionary work. President Brown thought it would be a great way for the
missionaries to meet people. The “Greys” played all over England
and started many teams at schools. Baseball was virtually unknown in England
until this time
Rochdale,
where Elder Frodsham served was quite a long way from Liverpool
and Ida didn’t think she would ever see him again. But he wrote her a letter saying after his
mission was over he would come to Liverpool so they
could become better acquainted. In the
meantime, on 2 occasions the Liverpool members rented a
bus to go watch the “Greys” play local teams and Ida went along. They met
briefly again. One time they came to Liverpool to play
and stayed over to attend the Liverpool Branch and of course Ida was there so
they had met about 4 times altogether.
Unfortunately Lee’s plans to return to Liverpool
after his mission were foiled when all the missionaries were sent home when the
war started. Ida thought that would be the end of their brief friendship. However, after Lee had been home for a little
he wrote to her and they corresponded for awhile. Lee knew Ida was the one from
the first time he saw her, and in a letter asked her to marry him!
Getting married
seemed impossible to Ida, there was 7000
miles between them and there was a war going on, which
meant she couldn't leave England
because she was of military age. Young men and women were being drafted for the
war effort. But they decided if the opportunity for them to be together came,
they would get married.
Lee joined the National Guard for a years training which all
young men were supposed to do at the time, thinking he would get it out of the
way in case Ida could get to the U.S.
But just a few days before his year ended, the Japanese bombed Pearl
Harbor, so the U.S declared war on Japan
and Germany
too. Lee’s one year of training turned into 5 years.
Lee and Ida would have to wait
At this time, it had been 3 years since they had seen each
other and all they really knew of one another had been through letters which
they wrote everyday. Cook’s travel agency had been trying to find a way for Ida
to get to the U.S for 2 years, but since she could not get a visa or passport
things were at a standstill. Then one day, Cook’s called and said they could book
a flight for her on a plane and get her a temporary passport (which required
she get married within 48 hours of being in the U.S.)
She planned to do so.
However, before her departure date a plane was shot down
over Lisbon. There were no jets in
those days and propeller planes could not make it across the Atlantic
Ocean without stopping to refuel in Lisbon.
This cancelled all the bookings and really slowed things down.
Lee and Ida would have to wait
A couple weeks later, Cook’s called Ida and asked if she
would be wiling to go by boat. This was risky because the Germans had
submarines all over the Atlantic and had been sinking a
lot of US and English ships. Ida decided she had waited long enough. She would
go by boat. She was booked on a British ship, the SS Hillary, which was set to
sail in just 2 days. There were only 100 passengers. Mostly Jewish refugees
escaping from Europe and the Germans. They had to leave
everything they owned behind except what they could carry on their person.
In her own words, she recounted, “When
the time came, it was very difficult to leave; my father had died a few months
earlier, so my sister Mae and I were living alone. I didn't want to go and
leave Mae alone and felt very relieved when a girl who was a friend decided to
move in with Mae and share expenses. I wondered, when I left that morning,
whether I would ever see any of them again. Mae and Joan and two other close
friends came down to the Pier Head with me. They were the only people who knew
I was leaving that morning on a ship. (I had been warned not to tell anyone of
my departure, because there were spies everywhere and we didn't want them to
know when there was a ship sailing) They could only come so far down the pier
with me, and then I had to go on alone. That was the hardest part, and I had a
very lost and lonely feeling as I waved a last goodbye.
"There were several ships traveling
together in a convoy for protection. In
an effort to dodge submarines, the convoy zigzagged across the ocean, turning
the normal 5 day voyage into 3 weeks. One very stormy night when the ship was really tossing in a rough sea, a submarine found the convoy. In the small hours of the morning we were roused from sleep by a ship's steward and told to get our valuables together and go to our lifeboat stations. We dressed in a hurry and for our passports and visas and whatever else we valued and could carry. I grabbed a pair of nylon hose (not yet heard of in the England) which Lee had sent me, which I been keeping to wear to my wedding! We huddled close to our lifeboat stations for what seemed like hours, but which probably was only an hour or two, and were finally told we could go back to bed. I don't know how they could even have launched a lifeboat in that rough sea, let alone being set adrift in one. The next day we discovered that the ship next to us had been torpedoed in the night, and our ship had been hit, but for some unknown reason the torpedo had not exploded. Perhaps because we were all praying so hard. The Captain tried to keep it all quiet so as not to panic the passengers, but one of the ship's officers sat at our table in the dining room so we got the news."
“We
arrived in New York City - a
subdued and very grateful group. The sight of the Statue of Liberty was
impressive but also reminded me that once more I would be alone, as the friends
I had made during the 3 week voyage would all be going their different ways."
She flew to Salt
Lake City, hoping Lee would be there to meet her, but
discovered that while she was on the ocean for 3 weeks, Lee had been transferred
to Officers School
in Georgia. His
family came to meet her and took her home to Brigham City.
The next day a FBI agent came to the home and asked about Ida. During the war,
they followed up on all arrivals to the county, even friendly aliens. She told him that Lee was in Georgia
and that her visa specified that she had to be married within 48 hours, which
was impossible now. He gave her a week
to get back to Georgia
and get married or she would be sent back to England.
She got on a train and rode for 3
days and 2 nights. Lee could only get out of camp for 24 hours, so they were
married by a Justice of the Peace and as soon as Lee graduated, they traveled
back and were sealed in the Logan Temple.
Nine months later, Lee was sent overseas for the war.
Lee and Ida would again have to
wait.
Ida stayed in Burley with his family. Three months later,
their oldest son Lee Willis was born, It was 2 years later when the war in
Europe ended and Lee could come home and meet his son, who was now 2 years old!
Lee went to Chiropractic
College and set up practice in
Burley. He was a very good doctor and had a successful practice. He enjoyed a
good reputation in the community.
They had 3 more children, Terri, Linnell and Janice. After
Grandpa retired from the office, they served 2 missions together. The first in Dallas,
Texas and then in Oakland,
California.
Grandpa became ill in 1990 with prostate cancer and passed
away in 1995. Grandma and Grandpa would again have to wait.
Grandma remained in the house they shared together in the
country for a little over a year, but it was a big house and a lot of work, it
became too much for her. She moved into town just up the road from her daughter
Linnell and family. She was able to meet many new great grandchildren born
during these years. She remained healthy and independent for the majority of
the 18 years without Grandpa.
In the years she stayed in her home, she enjoyed the
companionship of a caregiver, Nada Olsen. Nada became a much loved friend and
visited Grandma regularly at Highland Estates. We so appreciate Nada and the love
she showed our Grandma.
Grandma spent the last year and a half at Highland Estates.
She found great love and friendship among the staff and residents there. During
her life, Grandma enjoyed sewing, quilting, crocheting, reading and all
flowers. She and Grandpa loved to travel and visited Europe
several times, including her birthplace in Liverpool England.
She loved doing genealogy and spent a lot of time trying to find her ancestors
and complete their temple work. She was always a lady and had beautiful hair,
polished nails and never left the house without lipstick. She was gracious and
kind to everyone. She was soft spoken and gentle, a loving mother, wife, grandmother
and great grandmother.
Grandma and Grandpa wait no more and are now reunited, this
time forever.
Grandpa's Story....
I was born on Aug. 21, 1917 in Wheelon, Utah. My mother, Mary Adelpha Priest was 16 when she married my father, Frank LeRoy Frodsham. He was called Roy and he was 18. I was their 3rd child, youngest brother to Dan and Jay. My sister Blance was born when I was three years old. She was a delicate child.
My father died when I was five years old of a ruptured appendix. Surgery was performed but he did not recover. I remember him taking me by the hand and saying “Come on Salty Bob, lets go down to the barn”. I also remember seeing him on his horse. After my father died my family was very poor. We had moved to Brigham Cirty. In those days there were no widow’s pensions, or Social Security, or even church welfare. My mother did sewing in her home to provide for us. She worked very hard but we lived barely above starvation conditions.
Two or three years after my father died my mother married Jesse Ver Hobson, a widower with two children, Nona and Clifford .Jesse peddled fruit to Rockland and up through the Bear Lake country for several years and later worked for the city. He made a pretty good living and we all got along pretty well. He was a good stepfather to us. I was a shy kid and Jesse was very kind to me. I was small for my age and the bigger kids always teased me and gave me trouble. Jesse taught me how to box and defend myself and before long I became known as the terror of the neighborhood!
My mother and Jesse had three children, Jesse Vaughn, known as Vaughn, Dahris, and Mavis. With his, hers, and theirs, they had nine children altogether!
I started boxing when quite young and started fighting at boxing matches when professional matches were held. At first I fought in the curtain raisers and was paid 50 cents, which was a lot of money for a little kid in those days. When I was about 14, I started fighting in the premiminaries and would sometimes make as much as $5.00. I won most of my bouts, and represented my high school in the 140-150 weight class all four years. I still have a broken nose as a reminder of those days!
I loved sports of all kinds and played most during high school, including basketball and football, but I really excelled at track and most especially in baseball, which I played for years, pitching and playing third base, even playing semi professional ball.
In December 1937 I was called to serve a mission in the British Isles. After a week in the Mission Home in SLC I, with others serving in the same mission, made the six day voyage to England. We arrived at Southampton, went to London by train to the Mission Home and received our assignments from President Hugh B. Brown, our Mission President, the great missionary! Later he became an Apostle and a member of the first Presidency. It was a tough mission in those days. We worked hard, but averaged only one convert per missionary per mission. During this time they were starting professional baseball in England. The Sheffield franchise asked President Brown if he could supply missionaries who had played semi-professional baseball in the U.S. to join with some Canadian professionals, to form a team in this league. President Brown felt this would be a good missionary tool. I was chosen as the player-manager for this team of missionaries. We played baseball but we also did missionary work. We worked very hard to put in almost as many hours as regular missionaries. We met a lot of people and made a lot of friends all over the country while doing this and became very well known. Our team was called the Rochdale Greys. Unfortunately British baseball died during WW II and never recovered.
Toward the end of my mission in the spring of 1939 my companion and I were attending a huge British youth conference in Sheffield. We saw two girls walking across the field. This was to change my entire life. I turned to my companion and pointed out one of the girls who was the prettiest girl I had ever seen. I said “See that girl over there?” He said “Yeah?” I said “That’s the girl I’m going to marry!” He gasped as said “What’s her name?” I said “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out!” Later I found out her name was Ida Willis. I shook her hand and got her address and convinced her to write to me. I had intended to go to Liverpool after my mission was over to get to know her but war broke out in Europe and all us missionaries were sent home. My mission was ended a few months early.
I returned home and soon it became clear that we were going to be going to war too so I joined the army with the Utah National Guard. In time I made Corporal. In time I joined the Military Police. Ida and I were still writing. I went off to Officers School. I had proposed to Ida and about this time she got her Passport to come to the U.S. I was stationed in Georgia so we were married by a little justice of the peace. As soon as I graduated we got a two week leave so we headed to Utah to be sealed in the Logan temple. During the war years we didn’t have to wait a year after marriage to go to the temple, because couples could only go when the serviceman had leave.
I soon shipped overseas, leaving Ida, expecting our first child, with my family in Idaho. I made it safely through the war, serving in England, France, Ireland, etc. and two years later I came home to my wife a new son I had never met. I decided to go to Chiropractic College so we were off to Iowa for a few hears then on the Los Angeles College of Chiropractic for additional education.
Finally we moved back to Burley, Idaho to be near family. We decided Lee needed a sister so soon Terri was born, then Linnell and finally Janice. I built a very successful practice in Burley and loved my patients. They were truly my friends. I served in my ward in many callings including Bishop. I was active in my community. I retired after 30 years and truly loved spending time with Ida and visiting my kids and grandkids, which have always been the light of my life. The things that have mattered to me in my life are my faith and my family and a powerful love of my Savior Jesus Christ.
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