Perhaps the most difficult family history couple to share is that of your own parents. I have written more in my own story which has been added to bit by bit but not finished. This is a brief history of my parents who I admire so much for their ability to endure hard things and for their love and service, especially my mother. The above picture is one of only two I have seen where both are in the same picture.
Gary R Ostler was born on 26 May 1928 in Idaho Falls, Idaho to George
Lloyd Ostler and Georgianna Ricks. He grew up on a farm near Sugar
City, Idaho that had originally been been homesteaded by his great grandfather, John Lloyd Roberts, then farmed by his grandfather, Alfred
Ricks, and his father, George. He bought the farm from his father in
1955. He continued to farm much as his father had and with a large herd
of Jersey cows. He grew mostly alfalfa on his 80 acres. He would often
take his prize cows to the Madison County Fair. He would create a "play
pen" out of straw bales. People going by would compliment him on his
"blue ribbon" children. During the winter he worked in the laboratory at
the sugar factory in Ammon, Idaho. He had rheumatic fever as a boy and many health problems during his life. He attended Idaho State
University, served in the Southern States Mission, and met his wife
while in the Ashton Hospital. One day he came in from the fields having
lost sight in one eye. His health continued to decline from that point.
He and his family moved to Tempe, Arizona in 1964. In 1976 the family
then moved to Provo, Utah where he continued to be bed ridden until his
death on 17 January 1978. He is buried in the Provo Cemetery.
Gary with his brother, Max
A closeup of Max and Gary
I think my school pictures as a child looked most like this one and I had freckles, too!
He had lots of black wavy hair his whole 49 years but his facial and body hair was red.
That squalling baby he is holding is me.
Gary holding his only son, Farrell
His children through the years. . . when there were five.
Now there are six with their sweet mother, Velva.
Gary was now bedridden and unable to be in the picture.
All six children together in 2009;
Laurel, Farrell, Janis, Lynette, Becky, and Jolene.
Velva on front porch of her parents' home in Ashton, Idaho.
Velva between her two oldest brothers on back row at the beginning of WWII.
Velva Ruth Nyborg was born 7 July 1924 at the ranch in a log home on a hill north of Conant Creek. She married Gary R Ostler from
Sugar City, Idaho, and they became the parents of six children:
Laurel Ann,
Farrell Lynn,
Janis Ruth,
Lynette Deon,
Rebecca Jean,
Jolene Nyborg
She received three years of schooling at Drummond and five years at
France. She attended the first three years of high school in St. Anthony
where she lived with the Roy Callow family who had a farm in the France
area and a winter home in St. Anthony. She attended her last year of
high school in Ashton graduating in the Class of 1941.
Upon completion of high school, she began nurses training, and during
World War II, joined the Women's Army Corp (WACS) serving most of the
time in an Army hospital in Oakland, California. Upon her discharge, she
attended Brigham Young University in Provo, where she completed her
studies as a medical laboratory technician. She was the first in her family to attend college and it was made possible by the GI Bill. She returned to the Ashton
area and worked in the new Ashton Hospital with Dr. A.A. Krueger as the
first lab technician when Ashton Memorial Hospital opened in June 1950.
Her father was so proud to have his oldest daughter serving the community. While working at the hospital, she met a young man from Sugar City, who
was a patient there, and they later married. They lived south of Sugar City
and north of Rexburg for several years where they farmed, had a dairy, and Velva worked at
Madison Memorial Hospital. In the mid 1960s they moved to Tempe,
Arizona, because of Gary's failing health. Velva worked at the
Arizona State Hospital for a time before joining a medical clinic and opening a lab for several doctors. When
their children were of college age, they moved to Provo, Utah, where
Gary passed away. Velva worked at Utah Valley Hospital as the laboratory supervisor until she
retired and moved back to Arizona. Velva died on 12 October 1999 in Arizona. Velva is buried in the Provo Utah Cemetery next to Gary.
Velva with her brother, Lowell, on the ranch at Conant Creek.
Her brother, Elden, pulls Velva and Lowell in their wagon.
Percy Nyborg sits in his car while his children sit on the running board.
Velva is holding her younger sister, Elna.
Velva signing in as a WAC during WWII with her brother, Elden, in the background.
Elden and Velva in Ogden, Utah
Formal WAC portrait
Velva with her mother and siblings on the ranch in 1967.
Back row L to R; Elden, Nola, Lowell, Elna, Milton Gerald, Velva, Keith.
Rhoda Ann Foote Nyborg sits in front.
Picture taken in early stages of dementia which would slowly take her life for eight years
Sketch by my son, Ryan, from a picture taken in the later stages of the disease.
Grave marker in the Provo Cemetery
