Alice Grace Garlick is mentioned only in passing as one of the attendees at the Artena's initial reception dinner. History has proven her to be one of the more resilient women in the field of labor.
Prior to her mission, Alice had only two years of high school, and upset her father when she went to work at a Libby Cannery (peaches and pears). She was fired from Woolworth's for "wrapping packages too perfectly." Alice then worked at the Peerless Cracker Company, where she attached marshmallows to cookies and dipped the assemblies in chocolate.
Her children say that—while on her mission— Alice's hair took too long to fix, so she cut it all off. Alice was reprimanded and nearly sent home. Instead, she was transferred to Laramie, Wyoming, where she happened to meet her future husband. Later, the mission president apologized for losing his temper.
Of Alice's seven children, two were stillborn and another two died before the age of one. She replaced each of her lost children with a foster child, whom she raised as her own. Thanks to her generosity, Alice had a nice big family after all.
After the death of her husband, Alice—then age 74—married one Abel C Kunz, age 80. They were divorced a scant three years later. Alice proceeded to live to 98. My goodness.
In Her Own Words...
"The young woman who went out with me from the Sacramento area was Bessie Steinagel. Her brother Herman was courting my sister Maude. Her older brother Charles was going out with our cousin Viola Prince. We had our farewell the same evening and each of us received $35.00 to help us on our mission. When we reached Salt Lake and then the Denver Depot, we were greeted by 10 lady missionaries who then went out to tract.
"I spent a few weeks in Denver and then went to Colorado Springs and had Oscar Kirkham's daughter for a companion. She was years older than I and would go in the bathroom and take all the time and I couldn't get my long hair combed in time for class. My hair reached down to my knees. So I went to town and had my hair cut and when President Knight heard I had cut my hair he was very upset and said he felt like sending me home. He later apologized to me.
I was then sent to Laramie, Wyoming with a new companion, Wilmirth Johnson. We lived with an old 81-year-old woman who had given her money and house to the church if they would send lady missionaries to stay with her. It wasn't always too easy to be there but 11 months of my 19 months were spent there. It was there I met my future husband, Elder Perry E. Tingey. I was released in September 1924 and returned to Sacramento." (Source: FamilySearch.org)
#familysearch #westernstatesmission #artenaarising #sacramento #ancestors #commitment #alicegracegarlick #personalhistory
Photos courtesy of FamilySearch.org
Comments