LIFE SKETCH OF IRIS FREDERICKS Iris Beatty Fredericks, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, passed away peacefully November 18, 2008 due to complications of old age. She is survived by her sister, Evelyn, and brother, LaVon, her 2 sons, Adrian and Terry, 17 grandchildren, and 39 great grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her parents, 4 sisters, Isabelle, Zelma, LaJean, and Pearl, 1 brother, Bill, and her husband, Adrian, and only daughter, Judy. She was born January 12, 1923 to Archie Edmond Beatty and Mary Isabelle Stewart in their home in Toquerville, Utah. She would have turned 86 in January. She lived in several towns as she grew up including Toquerville, Pintura and Cedar City, Utah. According to Iris’ sister Pearl, she said that at age 3, Iris could run away faster than most, and many anxious minutes were spent looking for Iris. Quite often they would find Iris under the grape vines along the walk to the old family home in Toquerville. A favorite memory involved her brother LaVon and sister Pearl. Her older sister Pearl took Iris and LaVon to visit a friend of hers. LaVon and Iris were playing outside with a BB gun of the family they were visiting. LaVon, who always was one to delight in teasing Iris, threatened to shoot her. So Iris took off running with LaVon after her. She ran into the old Ward House that happened to be open and closed the door. LaVon put the BB gun up to the keyhole and threatened to shoot. Iris didn’t believe he’d do it and she really thought it was accidental. But he shot the BB gun and it hit Iris on the arm. She let out such a yell he thought he’d killed Iris for sure. Anyway, he ran off and Iris went hollering to Pearl. After she’d calmed Iris down, they went looking for LaVon and couldn’t find him. They ended up getting a good share of the town people out searching for him. He was found after dark under a bench in the Ward House. The tears had streamed down his face. He was afraid he’d killed Iris.
Iris loved the family reunions, the family dinners and all the food! Iris loved sports…her favorite positions were pitcher and 1st base. She loved softball, volleyball and basketball and played these sports in grade school, high school and college. In school, there were only 8 students in her class from 1st thru 8th grade. Her family didn’t have much money and she went to school several times without shoes. She loved books. They had no library in her school and arrangements were made to have a box of books shipped from St. George each week. Iris was in charge of checking the books in and out to the students.
In her personal history Iris mentions the fun thing she did growing up. She used to love to ride horses to the old swimming hole to cool off and then by the time they world get back they would be all sweaty and hot again. She played jump rope, hop scotch, and ball and jacks. She loved to play kick the can in the beautiful cool evenings when the full moon would make it so light.
She learned to play the harmonica. Iris, and her dad, and brother LaVon, and sister Evelyn, formed a family band and used to play at parties in Pintura and at old folks homes. Iris said her mother would let her get out of helping with the supper dishes so she could play with their family group. And Iris loved to sleep outside under the stars! They moved their beds outside in the summer and they only moved them inside when it rained.
She attended grade school in Pintura and later she attended Hurricane High School. After high school, Iris worked in Zions Park for one summer. The bus that was taking the girls to their cabins for the summer work was stopped by a mudslide that had earlier covered the road. So Iris and the other girls had to get out with their suitcases and walk over the slide (it was hard now) and walk the rest of the way to Zions Park carrying their suitcases! In High School she had loved sports and thought of being a PE teacher, but decided to work toward being a home economics teacher since she also loved sewing. After High School she attended and graduated from Branch Agricultural College in Cedar City, Utah. Iris worked and paid for her own college education as her family was not financially able to help. In college she won a Duberry Pattern Sewing Pin for a dress she had made which she could change into several different outfits which she was very proud of. Iris was very shy in high school and she mentioned in her history that she came out of her shell in college and had so much fun.
World War II broke out and Air Force cadets were stationed in Cedar City. This is where she met her future husband, Adrian Fredericks, who was a cadet stationed there going to school and getting in flying time. Iris worked at the airport in Cedar City. Shortly thereafter Iris was transferred to the SLC airport and she lived at the Beehive House…former home of Brigham Young…where young girls working at that time could stay. One day one of her bosses was going to Cedar City and asked if she wanted to go…Iris says it was her 1st and only trip in an open cockpit airplane!!! She had to put on overalls and wear a helmet. She wrote…This was an exciting trip!! When Adrian was on furlough to his home in New York, Iris took a bus back east to meet his parents. It was on this trip that he proposed to her. Adrian was then transferred to Kearns, Utah and it was there that he joined the Church and was baptized in the Salt Lake Tabernacle. Then he left for overseas in World War II. When the war ended, he returned and they were married in the St. George Temple on April 25, 1946. They moved back to Long Island, New York were Adrian worked as an airplane mechanic and worked on precision parts for the space program. While in New York they raised 3 children: Adrian, Judy, and Terry.
When her 3 children went to college at BYU and Ricks College, she worked at Doubleday Book Company to help pay for their education. She served faithfully in her church callings. She worked in the MIA as a teacher; in Primary as secretary, teacher, and president and in Relief Society as visiting teacher, homemaking teacher, counselor, and eventually president. In 1972, after 26 years back East, they moved to Orem, Utah to be close to their children who were settling down in Utah. Iris enjoyed many camping and fishing trips with their family. They used to go early in the week and save spots for their children who couldn’t come up until the weekend. She and Adrian loved to travel and visit the National Parks and historical sites.
She spent a lot of time on her genealogy and history and had several boxes full of her genealogy.
She was a very skilled and accomplished seamstress and also very good at crocheting, knitting and needlepoint. Many family members and friends were recipients of her talented creations. Her selfless love, devotion and sweet spirit will be sorely missed. She will always be remembered for her positive attitude and optimistic spirit that sustained her through her lifetime. In the end, blood clots in her lungs put her in the hospital, and Iris spent her last 5 months there. Though her physical frame was aged and unable to move on its own now, she persisted resolutely in staying the course, preserving her gracious smile, confirming her faith and trust in the Lord, asking only how others were doing and being positive at every turn. Though she has gone to he heavenly reward and is with her husband and daughter Judy now, her “example of hope and faith” will live on for all her posterity...
What will we remember most about Grandma Fredericks? After brainstorming these are the thoughts that came to our minds as family members.
I will remember the SMELL of Grandma's house.
Grandma had her own chair where she spent most of her leisure time reading and working on projects. She was surrounded by boxes and bags full of yarn on the floor. She was an expert when it came to crochet. She has made several items as gifts such as blankets, pot holders, dolls, and barbie clothes, along with many other things for holidays and special occasions.
She was an incredible seamstress. In fact most of the outfits we wore as small children were made by my grandmother. We all wore matching outfits. She also made other gifts for us as well. She made our Stockings, Easter Baskets, Pound Puppies, and Cabbage Patch Dolls. She even took the time to sew the dolls clothes. She is amazing!
Grandma loved to read. Her book shelves were stacked and stacked with books.
She loved plants. She had several plants inside and a big rack in her room covered with different plants. She loved flowers and seemed to know every name of every flower we would come across outside. When I think of the flower "Iris" I think of Grandma. We spent time outside watering all her plants and flowers and watching her care for her garden. We also enjoyed the fruits of her labors and even tried different foods such as rhubbarb. Grandpa and Grandma worked hard to have a well kept yard and garden.
She loved to cook. Grandma introduced different foods such as brussel sprouts, asparagus and spinach. She was famous for certain dishes such as her Orange Relish, Pickle Dip and Mince Meat Pie, fruit cake, during the holidays. She made a mean potroast and cheesecake. She was famous for bringing a potato salad to every picnic. We made cookies with Grandma on several occasions. When ever we slept over we always enjoyed a big breakfast with small dixie cups filled with Tang. We also had several patio barbeques outside. Grandma and Grandpa loved to sit in their lawn chairs and enjoy the fresh air. We loved spending time with them outdoors. We will always remember the birdbath in their yard.
She loved the outdoors. Camping was a favorite past time. We spent several reunions on campouts. Often times we would get together for conference. We loved to swing on their hammock and watch the birds enjoy the bird feeders and spend time in the trailer.
We spent a lot of time with Grandma. She would take us to parks One in particular stands out. There was a park in Provo that had a stream. The name I have forgotten. The stream is no longer there but we would come in our swimsuits and play in the water and then play on the playground. We spent time outside running in the sprinklers. We spent time at the library. Grandma even took us on a bus ride. My younger siblings remember going to the Zoo, the canyon, and going fishing. We took rides in Grandma's white satellite. I don't think we will ever forget Grandma's classic car. We had several sleepovers since my dad played in a band. He was off playing gig after gig on the weekends. Mom was usually supervising to make sure he behaved himself. For several years we brought in the New Year with Grandma and Grandpa for this reason. Grandma always watched the ball drop. We never made it till midnight but we partied hard. We always seemed to pay special attention to the cuckoo clock. We looked forward to sleepovers. Grandma always had an assortment of snacks, crackers, chips, and dips, veggies, fruits and many other goodies. We loved to put on Talent Shows for my grandparents. We would dance and sing as if we were real movie stars. There were many things to do. We played with toys (from my fathers childhood). Who can forget the Sock Monkey. We worked on countless puzzles and liked to play board games and Labrinyth. My grandma always pulled out the old movies such as Shirley Temple. One memory I have is tub time. Grandma would always wash out the tub with comet before we took a bath. We also spent time doing several special gifts for my parents at my grandparents home.
Every year we would decorate Grandma and Grandpa's Christmas tree. We would hang several ornaments and candy canes on the tree. In fact my Grandma was known for giving us candy canes all year round.
When we would come to visit she always insisted on getting us some kind of goodie or drink and then tried to send a little goodie home. Whenever we would leave she would walk outside with us and wave as we drove away. She stayed outside until we were no longer visible. She did this until it became hard for her to move around.
Jana and I spent time doing my grandparents hair over the years. It's time we will always treasure.
Who could forget my grandma's giggle or laugh. She was a very happy, cheery person. She NEVER EVER complained.
Here are a few famous words from Grandma: You don't have to go yet?! Oh Foot! (when she was disgusted) Fred! (Grandpa's name, We heard this often. My grandpa was a character!) Crying Tears! When asked how she was doing her reply: Pretty good, Pretty good. I'm coming along. I'm plugging along.
Grandma we will miss you. We love you. Till we meet again!
