Page 1 of 28 
 
Washington Women’s Heritage Project records, 1900-2000 
University of Washington Libraries Special Collections 
Etta May Bryant Alldredge 
February 4, 1998 
Cassette 4, Side 1 
 
 
Etta Alldredge  00:02 
Yeah. Then I get thinking about this, and then I get thinking about this, and then I'll think about... 
[Laughs.] 
 
Stephanie Holan  00:07 
I do that too. Like, everything that I have to do for the next few days-- 
 
Etta Alldredge  00:13 
Yeah. 
 
Stephanie Holan  00:14 
--things that have happened that I--  
 
Etta Alldredge  00:16 
Yeah. 
 
Stephanie Holan  00:16 
--you know... It's insane, how much you cover. 
 
Etta Alldredge  00:20 
Makes me so mad at myself. 
 
Stephanie Holan  00:25 
Yeah, wow. So then-- oh, what I was gonna ask-- this is ticking. 
 
Etta Alldredge  00:32 
It working? 
 
Stephanie Holan  00:34 
Oh! [Tape cuts.] 
 
Etta Alldredge  00:36 
--trouble [inaudible]. 
Page 2 of 28 
 
 
Stephanie Holan  00:37 
No troubles? 
 
Etta Alldredge  00:37 
No.  
 
Stephanie Holan  00:38 
That's cool. And so, how long-- what was your day like in Wallingford? 
 
Etta Alldredge  00:44 
Housework [laughs]. 
 
Stephanie Holan  00:45 
Housework? And Ward would go...? 
 
Etta Alldredge  00:47 
He was selling real estate.  
 
Stephanie Holan  00:49 
Real estate. So he would be gone during the day, and you would do housework. 
 
Etta Alldredge  00:53 
Yeah, washing and ironing, and getting meals... [Inaudible] the girls could come home for lunch.  
 
Stephanie Holan  01:02 
Oh, from school?  
 
Etta Alldredge  01:03 
Yeah, because it was so close.  
 
Stephanie Holan  01:05 
So was that nice, to have people home in the middle of the day?  
 
Etta Alldredge  01:07 
Yeah. 
 
Stephanie Holan  01:08 
And then they would go back to school for a few hours. 
 
Etta Alldredge  01:11 
And then when the war was going on, I went to work in the schoolhouse, like in the kitchen 
[inaudible]. And I worked there one year.  
 
Stephanie Holan  01:25 
Did you like it?  
Page 3 of 28 
 
 
Etta Alldredge  01:26 
Yes, I liked it. There's four or five women, you know, cooking all. And then we all-- yeah.  
 
Stephanie Holan  01:32 
That must have been cool.  
 
Etta Alldredge  01:34 
Yeah. And then-- I worked there, and then that year, I decided I didn't it was com-- school was 
out, in the spring, and I didn't have no one to leave her with, and I didn't like her running around 
the street by her-- staying home all by herself all the time.  
 
Stephanie Holan  01:56 
This is Wanda? 
 
Etta Alldredge  01:57 
Yes.  
 
Stephanie Holan  01:57 
OK. 
 
Etta Alldredge  01:58 
So I quit working and stayed home with her. 
 
Stephanie Holan  02:03 
Was that hard to work--  
 
Etta Alldredge  02:04 
Yeah-- no.  
 
Stephanie Holan  02:05 
--and then take care of-- did you take care of the house, too, while you were working?  
 
Etta Alldredge  02:09 
Oh, yes.  
 
Stephanie Holan  02:09 
And was it hard to have--  
 
Etta Alldredge  02:11 
Oh, it was-- it kept you busy.  
 
Stephanie Holan  02:13 
Kept you busy?  
 
Etta Alldredge  02:14 
Page 4 of 28 
 
Yeah.  
 
Stephanie Holan  02:14 
Did Ward help around the house? 
 
Etta Alldredge  02:16 
Well, when he was there, yes, 
 
Stephanie Holan  02:17 
When he was there?  
 
Etta Alldredge  02:18 
Yeah.  
 
Stephanie Holan  02:19 
So he was gone an awful lot--  
 
Etta Alldredge  02:20 
Yeah. 
 
Stephanie Holan  02:21 
--a lot of the time? 
 
Etta Alldredge  02:21 
Oh yes, selling real estate, yes. 
 
Stephanie Holan  02:24 
And how was-- was it hard to have him gone all the time? Did you mind?  
 
Etta Alldredge  02:26 
Oh, no, he came home at night.  
 
Stephanie Holan  02:28 
At nighttime? 
 
Etta Alldredge  02:29 
Yeah. 
 
Stephanie Holan  02:29 
And then what did you-- what did you guys do for fun? 
 
Etta Alldredge  02:33 
Well, we-- radio came on then.  
 
Stephanie Holan  02:40 
OK. 
Page 5 of 28 
 
 
Etta Alldredge  02:41 
And this-- a friend of Ruby's, they wanted to sell their little-- little--they had a little television. 
And they wanted a big one. So that told they'd sell to Ruby that television for $125. So I bought 
that-- I bought it. So that's what we did most at night.  
 
Stephanie Holan  03:07 
So what year, like, what time-- what time frame are we looking at now? Like, how-- about how 
old were you when that--? 
 
Etta Alldredge  03:14 
Now, what? 
 
Stephanie Holan  03:15 
How old were you when you got the television?  
 
Etta Alldredge  03:17 
Me? 
 
Stephanie Holan  03:17 
Yeah. 
 
Etta Alldredge  03:19 
Oh, gosh, I forgot. I see... Oh, I bought it in my 40s, some-- 38 and 40s, yes, that's right.  
 
Stephanie Holan  03:35 
OK. 
 
Etta Alldredge  03:36 
Yeah.  
 
Stephanie Holan  03:37 
So then... and you've been married to Ward for how long during that time, about 20 years? 
 
Etta Alldredge  03:47 
Well, see, Ruby was-- how old are they when they graduate in high school?  Yes, she was about 
18. Oh, I had been with-- all together, I was with him -- just two, three years of being 50 years.  
 
Stephanie Holan  03:53 
About 18 when you graduate.  Oh, wow. So then you were living in Wallingford, and Ruby 
graduated, and then if you-- and then you and-- so then it was just-- blah blah blah [laughter]. So, 
how long did Ruby live with you before she--?  
 
Etta Alldredge  04:28 
Oh, no, they-- he brought a place out in North End--  
 
Page 6 of 28 
 
Stephanie Holan  04:34 
OK. 
 
Etta Alldredge  04:34 
--up in Northgate. 
 
Stephanie Holan  04:36 
Oh, OK, so not too far from Wallingford.  
 
Etta Alldredge  04:38 
Oh, no, no, no, oh, no. And then while we was there in Seattle, after he-- after the war closed, we 
went down [?to ferry?] and that was in '61. 
 
Stephanie Holan  04:49 
Oh, OK. To the World Fair?  
 
Etta Alldredge  04:51 
Yeah. 
 
Stephanie Holan  04:52 
What was that like? 
 
Etta Alldredge  04:53 
Oh, fine. After I would get through work, I'd go down in the evening, lots and lots of times, just 
foolin' around in the evening, just to watch people.  But anyway, we bought in the grocery store.  
 
Stephanie Holan  05:05 
Oh, OK.  
 
Etta Alldredge  05:06 
I ran that for-- we ran that for about three years. The girls were all gone by that time.  
 
Stephanie Holan  05:16 
Was it hard to see the girls go? 
 
Etta Alldredge  05:19 
Wanda was hard to-- Wanda go. I couldn't hardly stand it when she went.  
 
Stephanie Holan  05:23 
Aww, your baby. 
 
Etta Alldredge  05:25 
Yeah, the baby. 
 
Stephanie Holan  05:26 
But then when she left, you got the grocery store?  
Page 7 of 28 
 
 
Etta Alldredge  05:30 
Yeah, yeah. She married, and then they moved-- her and her husband moved to Coos Bay. 
 
Stephanie Holan  05:35 
So they were quite a ways-- 
 
Etta Alldredge  05:38 
Yeah. 
 
Stephanie Holan  05:39 
--away?  
 
Etta Alldredge  05:39 
But they would-- he had a job down there. And then... what was I talking about?  
 
Stephanie Holan  05:49 
Wanda moved to Coos Bay. 
 
Etta Alldredge  05:50 
Yeah.  
 
Stephanie Holan  05:50 
And Ray had a job down there.  
 
Etta Alldredge  05:51 
Oh, yeah, after she moved-- when she moved out, then we bought in this store.  
 
Stephanie Holan  05:58 
So that must have made it easier--  
 
Etta Alldredge  05:59 
Yeah. 
 
Stephanie Holan  05:59 
--to have the store to take up some of your time, so you didn't miss Wanda so much. 
 
Etta Alldredge  06:04 
Yeah.  
 
Stephanie Holan  06:05 
But did you talk to her on the telephone? 
 
Etta Alldredge  06:11 
I suppose we did. I don't remember [laughs]. 
 
Page 8 of 28 
 
Stephanie Holan  06:15 
So then you had the grocery store for about three years, you said?  
 
Etta Alldredge  06:19 
Yeah, about almost three years, I think.  
 
Stephanie Holan  06:21 
Was that fun?  
 
Etta Alldredge  06:23 
Oh, yeah, I just loved it. 
 
Stephanie Holan  06:25 
You loved it? And then how-- what happened after three years? 
 
Etta Alldredge  06:32 
Oh, we-- when-- the day that Lincoln-- Kennedy was shot, the guy came with money -- and we 
had the place up for sale -- and he came with the money in his hands, and he bought us out that 
day. 
 
Stephanie Holan  06:48 
The day that Kennedy was shot?  
 
Etta Alldredge  06:50 
Yeah.  
 
Stephanie Holan  06:50 
What ha-- just go back to when Kennedy was shot, because everybody always talks about what 
they were doing when Kennedy was shot. So you were selling your store?  
 
Etta Alldredge  06:59 
[Laughter] Yeah. And I-- Ward was-- I was in the kitchen, and he was tending to the store. It was 
all together, had a living quarters in the back.  And he came in [inaudible] says, "Kennedy's 
shot." I said, "Oh, no." And then after-- right after that, that man came in with our money. 
 
Stephanie Holan  07:15 
OK. Wow. So that was kind of a crazy day for you guys. 
 
Etta Alldredge  07:34 
[Laughs] Yes it was. 
 
Stephanie Holan  07:35 
So then you lived in the store, too.  
 
Etta Alldredge  07:37 
Yeah.  
Page 9 of 28 
 
 
Stephanie Holan  07:38 
And he bought your store. So then what did you guys do?  
 
Etta Alldredge  07:41 
Well, then we bought the place up on... we moved back up in the-- onto [?my home?], the place 
up on Wallingford.  
 
Stephanie Holan  07:52 
Up in Wallingford. 
 
Etta Alldredge  07:53 
Yeah. 
 
Stephanie Holan  07:54 
So were you happy to be back in Wallingford again? 
 
Etta Alldredge  07:56 
Huh? 
 
Stephanie Holan  07:56 
Were you happy to go back to Wallingford? 
 
Etta Alldredge  07:58 
Oh, I hated to give up the store, but... 
 
Stephanie Holan  08:02 
Can I go-- I'm sorry, can I go back? Why were you selling the store?  
 
Etta Alldredge  08:07 
Why were we selling the store? Well, Safeway had went in, and everybody was going to 
Safeway store. So there wasn't much-- 
 
Stephanie Holan  08:19 
Much business?  
 
Etta Alldredge  08:21 
--enough business. And then-- I don't think he ever liked it in the store, anyway. He never took to 
it as much as I did.  
 
Stephanie Holan  08:30 
So it was more your-- you kind of ran the store, a little more than he did? 
 
Etta Alldredge  08:35 
Yeah, I enjoyed it more than he did. 
 
Page 10 of 28 
 
Stephanie Holan  08:37 
Did you do the books and all that kind of stuff, or was he in charge? 
 
Etta Alldredge  08:40 
Huh? 
 
Stephanie Holan  08:41 
Did you do the financial stuff, or did Ward--? 
 
Etta Alldredge  08:44 
No, we hired a guy to do all the-- 
 
Stephanie Holan  08:45 
You hired? 
 
Etta Alldredge  08:46 
 Yeah. 
 
Stephanie Holan  08:46 
OK. 
 
Etta Alldredge  08:47 
Yeah. 
 
Stephanie Holan  08:47 
So then you sold the store, because it was-- the business was kind of dropping off? 
 
Etta Alldredge  08:53 
Then we moved back up to-- on Wallingford. 
 
Stephanie Holan  08:55 
To Wallingford? And how old were you around then, when you sold the store? 
 
Etta Alldredge  09:00 
Oh, I must have been in the 40s. 
 
Stephanie Holan  09:02 
Forties? 
 
Etta Alldredge  09:04 
Big 40s. 
 
Stephanie Holan  09:04 
Late 40s? And then so you moved to Wallingford, and then what did you guys do? 
 
Etta Alldredge  09:10 
Page 11 of 28 
 
[Laughs] See... Oh, he passed away. We moved in that-- we rented a house in the Wallingford 
district, close to the-- down towards, um... 
 
Stephanie Holan  09:38 
Ballard?  
 
Etta Alldredge  09:38 
No. Down below Wallingford, quite a ways.  
 
Stephanie Holan  09:46 
In the U-District?  
 
Etta Alldredge  09:46 
Yeah-- down towards the... Well, anyway... 
 
Stephanie Holan  10:12 
That's OK. You can just [inaudible]. 
 
Etta Alldredge  10:15 
We rented a house after he bought the store out, then we moved up to a house up just the street, 
up the street a little ways.  
 
Stephanie Holan  10:24 
OK. 
 
Etta Alldredge  10:25 
And that's where Ward took sick, and he passed away, of course, in the hospital.  
 
Stephanie Holan  10:31 
What was he sick of? What was he [inaudible]? 
 
Etta Alldredge  10:33 
A heart attack.  
 
Stephanie Holan  10:34 
Oh, he had a heart attack? 
 
Etta Alldredge  10:35 
Yes. 
 
Stephanie Holan  10:35 
Wow, that must have been hard. 
 
Etta Alldredge  10:38 
Yes it was. 
 
Page 12 of 28 
 
Stephanie Holan  10:40 
And so you were only 50 at the time?  
 
Etta Alldredge  10:44 
Yeah, I've been... Yes, I wasn't very old.  
 
Stephanie Holan  10:51 
Yeah. 
 
Etta Alldredge  10:52 
No. I was in the-- I think I was about 60. 
 
Stephanie Holan  10:57 
Oh, it was later, then, when you were about... So you lived--  
 
Etta Alldredge  11:00 
I [?wanted?] to be sure, but I [inaudible]-- I have to think about that. 
 
Stephanie Holan  11:07 
OK.  
 
Etta Alldredge  11:07 
Yeah.  
 
Stephanie Holan  11:07 
So he died of a heart attack.  
 
Etta Alldredge  11:10 
Yeah.  
 
Stephanie Holan  11:10 
What was that day like? Do you remember? No? 
 
Etta Alldredge  11:16 
He was in the hospital two or three days, and then one night, about 10 o'clock, the nurses are 
callin' me up, a doctor called me up and said that he'd passed away. So we went down there, and 
we stayed there, and he told us all about how he died, and everything. 
 
Stephanie Holan  11:40 
Did that just break your heart?  
 
Etta Alldredge  11:43 
Oh, yes.  
 
Stephanie Holan  11:45 
I just can't imagine what that must have felt like.  
Page 13 of 28 
 
 
Etta Alldredge  11:49 
Yeah. 
 
Stephanie Holan  11:49 
I can't imagine. So then he passed away, and you had to have the funeral...  
 
Etta Alldredge  11:57 
Yeah. And then we had about-- up towards where we used to live, up, I mean, where I was 
raised, up in the Arizina district, they had a graveyard up there, and that's where we buried him. 
We'd bought lots up there, and that's what he bought. I still got him over there now, yes.  
 
Stephanie Holan  12:23 
Yeah. And then, so did you stay in Wallingford after he passed away? Or did you stay in your 
new house after he passed away? 
 
Etta Alldredge  12:42 
Thinkin'. Oh, I stayed-- yes, I stayed in that house, yes. 
 
Stephanie Holan  12:48 
By yourself?  
 
Etta Alldredge  12:49 
Yeah.  
 
Stephanie Holan  12:50 
Was it hard to live by yourself? 
 
Etta Alldredge  12:52 
Well, I had to. And then while I was living-- and then Wanda lived just down the street from me.  
 
Stephanie Holan  12:58 
OK. 
 
Etta Alldredge  12:59 
So we lived there-- I lived there for two or three years, and then I bought a trailer. I moved up to 
Northgate. I lived there about six years in this trailer house. 
 
Stephanie Holan  13:16 
So what did you do during your day? Did you work after that, or? 
 
Etta Alldredge  13:21 
No, I never worked.  
 
Stephanie Holan  13:22 
You never worked? 
Page 14 of 28 
 
 
Etta Alldredge  13:23 
No. 
 
Stephanie Holan  13:24 
Did you like living by yourself, or did you--? 
 
Etta Alldredge  13:29 
Oh, I did crochet, and I never feel lonesome. 
 
Stephanie Holan  13:35 
That's good, because I know my grandmother-- my grandfather is-- he had a stroke.  
 
Etta Alldredge  13:40 
Yes, I know, that you told me.  
 
Stephanie Holan  13:43 
And so she-- it was really hard for her at first. She was really lonely.  
 
Etta Alldredge  13:48 
Did he pass away, or anything?  
 
Stephanie Holan  13:49 
No, he's still around, but he's, you know, he's getting on. I mean, he's had two or three strokes 
now.  
 
Etta Alldredge  13:55 
Oh.  
 
Stephanie Holan  13:55 
And so he's-- 
 
Etta Alldredge  13:56 
Oh, she has lots of work to do, then, don't she?  
 
Stephanie Holan  13:58 
Yeah, she's-- and she works too.  
 
Etta Alldredge  14:01 
Oh, she works? 
 
Stephanie Holan  14:02 
She does appraisals. So she keeps really busy, but I know it was really hard for her at first. After 
he passed away, she wouldn't sleep in their bedroom. 
 
Etta Alldredge  14:10 
Page 15 of 28 
 
Oh, I know. I know it's hard.  
 
Stephanie Holan  14:13 
Yeah, so I can't imagine.  And then you lived in Northgate after-- for a few years, 
 
Etta Alldredge  14:21 
Six years in that trailer house, there. And then they bought us out. And somebody, some-- down-
- bought us out for $4,500. And I took that money and moved-- had it moved, my trailer moved, 
up to Kenmore.  Oh, OK.  And that's where I lived there for five years, and then I moved over 
here. 
 
Stephanie Holan  15:03 
To [?Nancy's?]?  
 
Etta Alldredge  15:04 
Yeah, that's about it.  
 
Stephanie Holan  15:09 
Well, so you were living in Kenmore. 
 
Etta Alldredge  15:14 
I see, I think about four or five years, I think in [?Kenmore?]. 
 
Stephanie Holan  15:21 
So how-- so then-- OK, so... What time is it, 4:30? Should we stop here, and maybe pick up next 
time?  
 
Etta Alldredge  15:31 
No, that's about it. 
 
Stephanie Holan  15:33 
That's not about it, you have, like, thirty years to go!  
 
Etta Alldredge  15:36 
Well, I-- [they laugh]. 
 
Stephanie Holan  15:41 
Should we wrap-- should we stop here for today? [Tape cuts]  Want to keep going? Okay, we'll 
keep going. Well, I know-- I know some things about you, just because, you know, I know 
Nancy.  
 
Etta Alldredge  15:52 
Yeah.  
 
Stephanie Holan  15:53 
Page 16 of 28 
 
So I know you l-- I didn't know that you lived in Kenmore. But you lived in Northgate, and was 
Nancy-- how old was Nancy when you when you were living in Northgate?  
 
Etta Alldredge  16:05 
Oh, the kids were little.  
 
Stephanie Holan  16:06 
They were just little?  
 
Etta Alldredge  16:07 
Yeah.  
 
Stephanie Holan  16:08 
And well, so, see, you haven't even told me what it was like to become a grandma! You didn't 
even tell me about when your grandchildren were born.  
 
Etta Alldredge  16:17 
Oh, my gosh. Oh, there's so much [laughs]. 
 
Stephanie Holan  16:21 
Oh, it's OK, see, that gives us something more to talk about!  
 
Etta Alldredge  16:25 
Oh! 
 
Stephanie Holan  16:28 
So let's go back to when Barbara had her first child. Can we-- do you want to go back that far? 
 
Etta Alldredge  16:33 
Well, yes, I-- [they laugh]. Oh, oh, God, I didn't forget about but [they laugh] I was living in 
Colville, and she was living-- her and her husband were in the service station in Kettle Falls. 
 
Stephanie Holan  16:48 
So they weren't that far?  
 
Etta Alldredge  16:50 
Huh?  
 
Stephanie Holan  16:50 
They weren't that far away?  
 
Etta Alldredge  16:51 
No, no.  
 
Stephanie Holan  16:51 
OK. 
Page 17 of 28 
 
 
Etta Alldredge  16:52 
No, no, [inaudible] all around. And when JoAnn was born, why, she-- I was with her in Colville, 
when she had her-- when she was born there in Colville on the Mount Carmel hospital. 
 
Stephanie Holan  17:08 
So-- OK, so now you've got... because Wanda was still little, then, wasn't--?  
 
Etta Alldredge  17:13 
Yeah.  
 
Stephanie Holan  17:13 
And then Barbara has your first grandchild.  
 
Etta Alldredge  17:18 
No. Now, wait. Yeah, she's my first grandchild, yeah. 
 
Stephanie Holan  17:28 
I mean, that must have been incredible. 
 
Etta Alldredge  17:30 
[Laughs.] 
 
Stephanie Holan  17:32 
What was that like?  
 
Etta Alldredge  17:34 
Well, pretty exciting! I've had my great-great-grandchild just [inaudible] here not long-- about 
two months ago. I have three great-great ones. 
 
Stephanie Holan  17:49 
So you have, like-- well, I guess, yeah, because Barbara's in her-- is 76.  
 
Etta Alldredge  17:58 
Yeah.  
 
Stephanie Holan  17:58 
So then JoAnn is-- 
 
Etta Alldredge  18:00 
[?A little older than that.?] 
 
Stephanie Holan  18:02 
--is 50.  
 
Etta Alldredge  18:03 
Page 18 of 28 
 
Yeah. 
 
Stephanie Holan  18:04 
And then her children...  
 
Etta Alldredge  18:06 
Yeah, one's a teacher, and one's li-- one of her children lives in the Mills College down here in 
Oregon. She works there.  
 
Stephanie Holan  18:19 
Yeah. 
 
Etta Alldredge  18:19 
She's married, and had-- she just had her first baby. 
 
Stephanie Holan  18:23 
So that would be your-- 
 
Etta Alldredge  18:25 
Great-great one. 
 
Stephanie Holan  18:26 
--great-great-- wow.  
 
Etta Alldredge  18:28 
And then my-- Barbara has another son. He lives in Alaska. And [?then he has?] another son. He 
lives in Florida, down at the Keys down there in Florida.  
 
Stephanie Holan  18:40 
Wow.  
 
Etta Alldredge  18:41 
They're just as far apart as they can get. 
 
Stephanie Holan  18:43 
So, she had JoAnn, that's the first grandchild.  
 
Etta Alldredge  18:47 
Yeah.  
 
Stephanie Holan  18:47 
And then-- and you were there.  
 
Etta Alldredge  18:50 
Yeah.  
 
Page 19 of 28 
 
Stephanie Holan  18:51 
And so, did you help her out a lot with the children?  
 
Etta Alldredge  18:54 
Well, yes, when the baby was-- well, she lived in that little house in a service station, had little 
house there.  
 
Stephanie Holan  19:02 
Yeah.  
 
Etta Alldredge  19:03 
Yeah, but she was home an awful lot with the youngsters.  
 
Stephanie Holan  19:07 
And did you go over there a lot-- 
 
Etta Alldredge  19:08 
Yeah, we--. 
 
Stephanie Holan  19:09 
--with Wanda?  
 
Etta Alldredge  19:09 
Yeah.  
 
Stephanie Holan  19:11 
And then how man-- and then the next grandchild came, and that was-- 
 
Etta Alldredge  19:17 
Yeah, yeah. Then Bruce came along.  
 
Stephanie Holan  19:20 
And how many years later was that? 
 
Etta Alldredge  19:24 
Not very many years, about a couple of years, I think, between them. Two, three. Maybe three. 
 
Stephanie Holan  19:29 
Two, three years? And so how old was-- how old were you, and how old was Wanda when you 
were ha-- when Barbara started having kids? 
 
Etta Alldredge  19:40 
When Barbara-- 
 
Stephanie Holan  19:41 
When your first grandchild was born, how old were you? 
Page 20 of 28 
 
 
Etta Alldredge  19:44 
JoAnn, you mean, or my--?  
 
Stephanie Holan  19:46 
When JoAnn was born, how old were you? 
 
Etta Alldredge  19:52 
I'm not-- I'm dates on me. I can't remember dates [laughs]. 
 
Stephanie Holan  19:56 
That's OK. 
 
Etta Alldredge  19:58 
I was old enough.  
 
Stephanie Holan  20:00 
You were old enough? [They laugh]. So, she had children. And then how old was Ruby when 
she started having kids?  
 
Etta Alldredge  20:12 
Well, she had-- she married when we was in the store.  
 
Stephanie Holan  20:18 
OK, OK.  
 
Etta Alldredge  20:20 
And then she worked for te-- for the telephone company. And then when-- after he was born -- 
now, I don't know how long she worked with telephone company, exactly.  
 
Stephanie Holan  20:31 
OK. 
 
Etta Alldredge  20:32 
But after he was-- after he was born, she took a leave of absence from this telephone for 10 
years. 
 
Stephanie Holan  20:47 
Oh, wow, that's a pretty big leave of absence.  
 
Etta Alldredge  20:51 
Oh, yes, well, she was making homestead and buying furniture and stuff like that. And so then-- 
10 years. Then she had a little boy, then his name was Jimmy. He's married now and got two 
children of his own.  
 
Stephanie Holan  21:08 
Page 21 of 28 
 
Wow, that's incredible.  So then she's got kids, and then how-- and then, but Wanda was already 
married when you had the store, right? 
 
Etta Alldredge  21:20 
Yeah. 
 
Stephanie Holan  21:20 
Just to clarify that. So then, how old was Wanda when she started having kids? 
 
Etta Alldredge  21:44 
[?Twenty-two?], I don't know, but anyway, after they moved back from Coos Bay, he was 
working for Sears and Roebuck, and then... she had Laura Rae. And then two years after, well, 
then she had Nancy, and then [?a few?] years after that, she had Connie. 
 
Stephanie Holan  22:21 
So how old-- do you remem--? OK, how old was Ward when he passed away? 
 
Etta Alldredge  22:36 
He was... 
 
Stephanie Holan  22:39 
Because he's older than you.  
 
Etta Alldredge  22:41 
Oh, yeah, eight years older than I was.  
 
Stephanie Holan  22:43 
So he was about... 
 
Etta Alldredge  22:45 
Now, wait, just a minute now.  
 
Stephanie Holan  22:46 
OK.  
 
Etta Alldredge  22:49 
Well, we lacked three years of being married 50 years.  
 
Stephanie Holan  22:53 
So that'd be about 47. 
 
Etta Alldredge  22:56 
[?I was about 40.?] 
 
Stephanie Holan  22:58 
And you were 18 when you got married.  
Page 22 of 28 
 
 
Etta Alldredge  23:00 
Yeah, 19.  
 
Stephanie Holan  23:02 
Nineteen. So that's about... 
 
Etta Alldredge  23:07 
I was in my-- oh, 50-- I was 55-- 56. About 56 I guess when my Ward passed away.  
 
Stephanie Holan  23:20 
So he was in his 60s.  
 
Etta Alldredge  23:22 
Yeah. 
 
Stephanie Holan  23:22 
He was-- so then did Ward get to meet Wanda's children? Was he still alive when all the children 
were born?  
 
Etta Alldredge  23:31 
Oh yes.  
 
Stephanie Holan  23:32 
Yeah. And then--  
 
Etta Alldredge  23:35 
He was just like a old [inaudible]. He took care of the kids. He just were awful good with the 
kids. 
 
Stephanie Holan  23:44 
He just loved his little grandchildren? 
 
Etta Alldredge  23:46 
Yeah, he just loved every minute of them. 
 
Stephanie Holan  23:49 
Was it neat to watch him with the kids? 
 
Etta Alldredge  23:52 
Yeah, he was good with them. He never raised his m--. But still, anything he saw that they didn't 
get in the mischief and things like that.  
 
Stephanie Holan  24:07 
Page 23 of 28 
 
Was he-- now, when-- let's go back a little bit, because we didn't talk about when you had kids, 
before-- when they were still little, who was the disciplinarian? Like, who-- they were naughty, 
who put them straight? 
 
Etta Alldredge  24:21 
He was. He never was cranky with him, but he'd just tell them what was right. And we both 
corrected them when they thought-- when they thought-- [?when they was?] naughty. 
 
Stephanie Holan  24:36 
But it was pretty much equal.  
 
Etta Alldredge  24:38 
Oh yes. 
 
Stephanie Holan  24:38 
It wasn't like he was the big scary.  
 
Etta Alldredge  24:40 
Oh no, no. He never miscarried-- or treated us or anything.  Oh, I have to tell you, one time, 
when we was in-- Barbara came-- after I came back from the hospital for Barbara, we had a 
picnic down on-- with a whole bunch of people down on the Columbia River. And my husband 
took it and made a sling and hung it up between two trees, and we put one Barbara to sleep in 
that hammock. And then we went down on the Columbia River and we all went swimming. She 
was six weeks old.  
 
Stephanie Holan  25:24 
Oh, she was just little.  
 
Etta Alldredge  25:25 
Oh yes. We all went swimming in the Columbia River-- or, Mississippi, I mean, River. Oh no, it 
wasn't the Mississippi. No, Missouri River. Missouri River.  
 
Stephanie Holan  25:40 
The Missouri River?  
 
Etta Alldredge  25:41 
Yeah. We wasn't back east [laughs].  
 
Stephanie Holan  25:44 
Well, that must have been fun. 
 
Etta Alldredge  25:45 
Yeah, we had-- oh, we-- and then we'd go to each houses and we'd have parties and stuff like 
that. 
 
Stephanie Holan  25:53 
Page 24 of 28 
 
Did you take the kids when you went to the parties?  
 
Etta Alldredge  25:55 
Took Barbara. 
 
Stephanie Holan  25:57 
Took Barbara?  
 
Etta Alldredge  25:57 
Yeah, oh, yes. I took her everything. He-- when we went on horseback ride, I always let him 
carry her, because I was always afraid I would drop her. 
 
Stephanie Holan  26:11 
That's amazing. That's really amazing. Oh no [gasps]. 
 
Etta Alldredge  26:13 
And another thing, one of our friends there, my husband knew him before he home-- was 
homesteadin'. He broke his neck, and he was in a cast all the time. Oh, he was a married man, 
had this-- growing children and everything. And when was on this picnic, he started to get into 
the wagon [inaudible] and this had a cap. And it slipped down here between his collar and shirt. 
And he paralyzed, because he was-- didn't have--. And he kept pointing at his neck like this, and 
nobody knew what he was talking about. And finally it dawned on us that he was trying to-- 
something was wrong with his [inaudible]. And he had this cap had slipped down and got in 
between the--.  Yeah. So they found that out. They corrected that [laughs]. Oh, you have so many 
things happen in your life. 
 
Stephanie Holan  27:26 
Yeah, see, that's just incredible. 
 
Etta Alldredge  27:32 
And I've saw five presidents in my life, live. 
 
Stephanie Holan  27:40 
So you've seen... 
 
Etta Alldredge  27:41 
Roosevelt. 
 
Stephanie Holan  27:42 
Roosevelt. 
 
Etta Alldredge  27:44 
And Truman.  
 
Stephanie Holan  27:45 
Truman. 
Page 25 of 28 
 
 
Etta Alldredge  27:47 
Nixon. 
 
Stephanie Holan  27:49 
OK, Nixon. What did you think about Nixon? 
 
Etta Alldredge  27:52 
Well, he was all right. [They laugh.] And then there was, um-- 
 
Stephanie Holan  28:03 
Kennedy.  
 
Etta Alldredge  28:03 
Kennedy. And then there was another one, let's see... Oh, and then there was-- they took over 
between-- oh, no, Truman took that. Oh, now, wait [laughs]. Let's see. There was Roosevelt-- we 
went to dedication-- Wanda was seven years old, or seven months old, and we went down to that 
dedication, Roosevelt.  
 
Stephanie Holan  28:36 
Oh, you did?  
 
Etta Alldredge  28:37 
Oh, yes, [?seen that face before it was ever--?].  
 
Stephanie Holan  28:42 
In Seattle, there?  
 
Etta Alldredge  28:43 
I was living in Seattle. No, I was living in Kettle Falls at the time. 
 
Stephanie Holan  28:47 
Wow, that's neat.  
 
Etta Alldredge  28:50 
Let's see, there's Roosevelt, Truman, and Nixon, and Ford.  
 
Stephanie Holan  29:00 
Ford, I forgot about Ford.  
 
Etta Alldredge  29:02 
And then who took the place of--? 
 
Stephanie Holan  29:08 
There was Ken--  
 
Page 26 of 28 
 
Etta Alldredge  29:09 
Johnson!  
 
Stephanie Holan  29:09 
Johnson. 
 
Etta Alldredge  29:10 
That's five.  
 
Stephanie Holan  29:11 
And then you've seen Carter.  
 
Etta Alldredge  29:14 
Oh, yeah-- no, I never saw Carter.  
 
Stephanie Holan  29:16 
Oh, you've seen them personally?  
 
Etta Alldredge  29:18 
Yeah, seen him personally.  
 
Stephanie Holan  29:19 
Oh, I thought you were saying, like, the span of presidents that you-- 
 
Etta Alldredge  29:23 
Oh, no, no. I see-- Kennedy was just like, I was as close to him as just like out there in the 
driveway. 
 
Stephanie Holan  29:30 
So was he as handsome as everybody said he was?  
 
Etta Alldredge  29:32 
Yeah, he waved at us.  
 
Stephanie Holan  29:34 
Oh, you've-- oh! That's, see, that's ver-- you've seen five presidents. 
 
Etta Alldredge  29:39 
Yeah. Oh, I went down to Seattle -- I lived in Seattle at that time. I went down when Truman-- 
or, I seen Roosevelt at the dam and seen Truman in Seattle, right close. My sister and I went 
down there the time her husband came to the Seattle, why, we was right there.  
 
Stephanie Holan  29:40 
Oh, wow. 
 
Etta Alldredge  30:02 
Page 27 of 28 
 
I saw Nixon during the World Fair.  
 
Stephanie Holan  30:05 
OK, yeah.  
 
Etta Alldredge  30:06 
And there's Truman. And then the Johnson, I saw Johnson. And then I seen Ford-- no, I don't-- 
[?why'd?] I see Ford [inaudible]. No, I don't think I've seen Ford.  
 
Stephanie Holan  30:19 
You didn't see Ford. 
 
Etta Alldredge  30:20 
No, I think just four. If I had did, I forgot about it.  
 
Stephanie Holan  30:26 
[Laughs] Wow. 
 
Etta Alldredge  30:31 
Did you ever see any president up close? 
 
Stephanie Holan  30:33 
I've never seen any presidents up close. Ever. The only people I've seen up close are musicians.  
 
Etta Alldredge  30:39 
Well, every time a president came to town, we went down there and got right down there early, 
so we were sure in time [laughs]. 
 
Stephanie Holan  30:46 
And it was you and your sister?  
 
Etta Alldredge  30:47 
Yeah. 
 
Stephanie Holan  30:48 
Which one? 
 
Etta Alldredge  30:49 
Huh? 
 
Stephanie Holan  30:49 
Which sister?  
 
Etta Alldredge  30:50 
My sister with this photo in here.  
 
Page 28 of 28 
 
Stephanie Holan  30:54 
Oh, your older sister? Oh. Wow. 
 
Etta Alldredge  30:58 
Yeah, we'd take-- Wanda was a little girl, and her-- she had a little son by the name of Henry. 
She'd take him, and we'd go-- and we'd go down and stay all day, if we had to, just until we saw 
the President.  
 
Stephanie Holan  31:10 
Oh, how fun. That must have been really fun. Wow, that's incredible.  
 
Etta Alldredge  31:17 
Well, that's about comes up-- oh, there's a lot in between that I can remember, but I can't 
remember all of it. 
 
Stephanie Holan  31:25 
Maybe we should stop for today.  
 
Etta Alldredge  31:27 
Yeah, I think so. 
 
Stephanie Holan  31:29 
And I'll listen to the tapes and I'll come up with more questions.  
 
Etta Alldredge  31:32 
Well, all right. 
 
Stephanie Holan  31:33 
How's that? [Laughs.] 
 
Etta Alldredge  31:35 
You'd better think of-- I've run out [laughs]. 
 