Della May Hibbert was one of the first lady missionaries Artena met upon her arrival in Denver, and the two often encountered each other in regional meetings. In Artena Arising, she is seen singing a solo, speaking on baptism....and—ahem—boring Artena, who was too hot to pay attention at a church meeting.
Della was a few years older and had a year's more missionary experience than Artena. She had also worked as a schoolteacher in the Phoenix region, where she was from. Instead of a formal portrait like so many other missionaries, her LDS mission photo was cropped from a casual picture of Della and her four sisters. She, like Artena, was assigned to Nebraska.
Della went by "May," her middle name. She married pretty late for those times—age 30—and settled in Fresno. Orin Jarvis, her husband, was 19 years her senior and had previously served in the Southern States "field of Labor," as LDS mission-hood was commonly called.
Della "May" Hibbert Jarvis had only daughters and lived only in warm climates. She was widowed in her early 60s and lived 84 years.
Della 'May's' timeline is incredibly similar to Artena's: a rare lady missionary, a relatively late marriage to an older man with mission experience, an unfortunate early widowhood and a nice, long life.
Photos courtesy of FamilySearch.org
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