Phoebe Madeline Henderson Fortier

Phoebe was born in Pocatello, Idaho on September 6^th, 1905 to Charlotte and John Henderson in their home. She was baptized on her 8^th birthday which fell on Saturday. Her friends had a surprise party for her which she thought was so fun.

After Phoebe turned eight, she started taking piano lessons. From that time on, she studied piano for several years. She went to the “Teck”, now Idaho State University, and studied piano for four years and accompanied many students during their recitals.

Phoebe had wonderful memories of her childhood. She felt she had many good neighbors and friends that she kept in touch with over the years. She said she had a nice yard to play in growing up. They lived close to the church building which was nice.

Her parents were kind and their home always full of love and sincerity from her parents. They were always understanding and also proud of their kids.

Her father was a railroad man and was gone a lot. Her mother was always there for her children and giving them her time, love, and care.

Phoebe had three brothers and two sisters. There was always lots of music in the home and they had a great time. Her brother played piano and she played the piano and her sister Verda played the violin.

Phoebe didn’t like to practice the piano. She always used practicing the piano as an excuse to get out of dinner dishes though. She used to play the piano in primary as a young girl. She also played at school for the kids to march into school and out to recess. She played the piano a lot in high school as well.

Phoebe played in a dance orchestra and earned money doing so. She traveled a bit doing that and had so much fun. They traveled by train. She even played on the Indian reservation once and was fascinated by the Indian culture and people. She would play almost every night at a dance club from 9 to 12. She said her parent never worried about her and her sister Verda because she always knew where they were.

As she got older she became the ward organist and that took a lot of her time as she had to play for so many things. The organ she played was an old one that had to be pumped with foot pedals and it became hard work, especially during choir practice when they were working on a program.

Phoebe met her future husband, Walt Fortier, at a football game at the university. He came from Wisconsin for a summer job to work at Loob’s Cheese Factory. He was to return in the fall to finish school but he never did go back because they started dating.

They “went together” steady for over a year before they became engaged. She said the day he asked her to marry him was the biggest day of her life. They went to the University that same night to hear John Phillip Sousa Band. It was such a thrill to her to hear such a great band. One day Walt called her up and said “Let go down and get a license and get married”. After they got the license she got cold feet and backed out. This was in the fall. They kept the license and got married on December 17, 1926 in her old home on north Harrison. They went on a little honeymoon to Logan. After three months of marriage they moved to Salt Lake City, Utah where Walt started to work for a company called Inter-Mountain Dairy Supply. They sold out to Monroe and Crisell where he worked until he died.

They were very happy. Two years after marriage they had a little girl who they named “Shirley Virginia”. Five year later they had another girl and named her “Joan”. Two years later they had their third and last child, another girl named “Janice Fay”. They cherished all their children.

Phoebe and Walt were married for 22 years when Walt got sick and died. Phoebe never did remarry. Two years after losing Walt, Joan died at the age of 15 from polio. Shirley soon got married after that so it was just Phoebe and Janice together for a long time. Phoebe worked on the railroad during the war and then worked at Western Motor Lodge where she worked until she retired. They didn’t have much but they made it through. She worked 30 years as a widow. Phoebe enjoyed her grandchildren very much. She always had a very tidy, but very simple and meager apartment. She would hide her sweets under the couch cushions when her grandchildren came to visit. She had a boisterous laugh and would get the giggles. She always wore a hat and gloves whenever she went anywhere.  She was a very kind and sweet lady. She died on September 21, 1981 in Salt Lake.