ROSS LINDHOLM and REVA JENKINS LINDHOLM
Ross Lindholm was born in a small homestead on the lona hill. The cabin was located in a grove of serviceberry bushes at the north end of the hill where the Thunder Ridge water slide now stands. He was bom May 5, 1912 and was named for his mother's only brother Ross Smith. His early years were spent on the dry farm and the farm north of lona now owned by George Bitter. Ray Frandsen and others have built homes on the south 40. Reva Grace Jenkins Lindholm was bom December 1, 1913 three miles west of Rigby in a small shack where her parents lived when they moved from Utah to Idaho. At that time, the roof leaked so badly when it rained that the water would run completely through the piano. This piano was a prized posession they had brought from Utah in a wagon. The piano is still in use. Ross attended school in lona and Idaho Falls. He had various jobs on farm and ranches in this valley and in Swan Valley and Jackson. Reva attended school in Rigby and graduated from Rigby High School in 1932. Ross and Reva met June 14, 1931 in Rigby but didn't begin dating until the spring of 1932. They were married March 29, 1933 in the Salt Lake Temple. The legal age for marriage in Utah at that time was 21 and Ross lacked just 35 days of being 21 so his mother-in-law had to sign for him so they could get their marriage license. Ross and Reva lived in the farm home north of lona for 23 years. Brent and Elaine were both bom at this home; Brent on January 11, 1934 and Elaine on February 5, 1936. Neal was born in the Idaho Falls LDS Hospital December 4, 1938. LaRue was bom in the LDS Hospital on July 2, 1945 and Evra Ann on July 14, 1952 at the Rigby Maternity Home . Ross was a very good farmer. The neighbors loved to borrow his machinery after he had it all set up to cultivate beets or potatoes. He always stacked his hay with nets instead of Jackson Fork and they were the biggest and straightest haystacks in the neighborhood. He fed and fattened large herds of cattle, making daily trips to the sugar factory with a team and sleigh to get a load of beet pulp for cattle feed. In the coldest weather, he would walk along side the sleigh to keep warm. Harvest was the best time of year. Ross would trade work with the neighbors going from one farm to the next getting the haying and threshing done. It was always Elaine's favorite time of the year with all the cooking and preparing for up to 22 people at a time. Ross fanned with horses until 1947 when he bought his first tractor a Minneapolis Moline. Ross and the boys learned to use the tractor but Reva continued to cultivate potatoes and mow or rake hay with the horses. The tractor was also used as a derrick horse. Ross always loved his horses and had two teams as well as a saddle horse or two. He always took very good care of them. There was a time when his brother, Elmer, wanted to use the horses. Ross proceeded to tell him exactly how he wanted them tended and Elmer said, "Alright, I'll take care of them as if they were my own." Ross replied, "No, don't take care of them as if they were yours. I want them taken care of as if they were mine. Ross was getting weary of farming, he decided to sell the farm and try something else. The farm was sold to Parmer Woolf in October of 1954. They lived in the Wetzel house in lona a few months and then moved to Cocolala about 17 miles south of Sandpoint, Idaho. Ross worked on the boat docks at Bayview and at The Dalles, Oregon. While living at Bayview, Ross had an accident with a gun and was in the hospital at Coeur d'Alene for two weeks. He died August 9, 1956. Reva has lived in lona, Idaho Falls and Pocatello. She recently retired from a job with the Forest Service and now lives in Idaho Falls.
This was an article published in one of the Iona History books. The picture of the family with the car was included in the article
MEETING ROSS
By Annie Wiederstein
After graduation, I worked in the seed house sorting pea seed. It was the summer I graduated that I met Ross Lindholm. We became engaged on my birthday December 1, 1932. We were married on March 29, 1933 in the Salt Lake Temple. I’ve thought about it a lot and can’t think of much that took place while Ross and I were going together. [Want a bet? Keep reading! A.W.]
We met at a June 14th celebration at Rigby in 1932. He and Leonard Bateman were together and Altha Kinghorn (Phippen) and I were together. They took us home from the celebration and other than that, I can’t remember that we did anything. I know that we didn’t meet again for over a long time. I can’t remember where or when.
While we were going together, he had a 1926 Ford Roadster, in which we had a lot of fun. During the summer, when he wasn’t away working, he would come to see me at least twice a week. When he got about two miles from the house, he would start blowing the exhaust whistle that he had on the car and of course all the neighbors knew as well as I who it was. He got a lot of kidding about it.
I remember on Saturday evening he came and got me to go for a ride. He said he had to go see a man who lived a mile south of Ammon. So, we were riding along nicely by the sand hills just west and south of where we used to live. (South of Ammon) Suddenly there was a skunk in the road ahead of us. There wasn’t room to go around him, so we followed along behind him for almost a mile before he got out of the road.
We used to go to dances, once in a while, mostly at Riverside Gardens. I loved to dance, but Ross wasn’t crazy about it.
Ross was quite bashful around my Dad and Mother. I remember on Sunday when he came to see me, Mother had dinner just about ready so when we sat down to eat, Dad asked him to eat with us and Ross said, “Ah no, I’m not hungry.” And Dad said, “Oh, come on and eat with us. I’d rather feed a man who says he’s hungry, than one who says he’s not. They don’t eat half as much.”
Dad really liked Ross and would trust him to do things for him, when he wouldn’t trust his own sons. I remember this, because one Saturday evening after we were married, we were at my folks and some neighbors dropped in to visit. Dad excused himself to milk the cows, and Ross offered to do it for him, so Dad could visit. It really impressed Dad and they got along really well after that.
