Ida Lucille Richardson Bates

Ida was short, blue eyed and had white hair. She was quiet and shy, in her words she described herself as slow at subjects but she excelled in art and sewing. She had a great sense of humor but was quiet about it. She had long hair when she was young that she wore in braids wrapped around her head, her brothers pulled her hair and she didn’t like that. As a result when she was older she wore her hair short. Ida had a short pug nose, her mom said she had a “pugger” from falling on it when she was learning to sit up. As a child she like to play outdoor games like hide and go seek and kick the can, jump rope, jacks, baseball, and floating the canal with a tube or railroad tie. She liked picking berries, going on picnics, ice skating, and roller skating. When she got her roller skates she stayed up until 2:00 a.m. skating wildly through the halls of her home. Ida was a pleasant person to be around, she was kind, thoughtful and did not speak ill of others. She loved to share the stories of her youth as she traveled with family, her favorite thing was being with family. For many years she helped Alma Rae in her flower shop and enjoyed the work and family time very much. Ida’s dad was a railroad conductor so the family moved often to different towns along the 65 mile route from Helper to Provo, Utah. Her mother was a mother of the era and worked hard in the home. When Ida graduated from High School she worked for a year as a telephone operator. She met her husband Bill over the telephone. 

"I knew I'd met someone special when I met William Mckinley Bates because he was a very kind man and very quiet. He wouldn't quarrel or argue. "You can't argue alone."

I worked in the telephone company at night. Bill worked at the Railroad Station at night. Bill used to call the operator and talk to her. (And I told Bill I was going to start charging him for his calls, so her started calling me.)

He came down to the telephone office eventually to see who he had been talking to. Bill then started walking me home from Helper to Martin. Our dates were picnics and gathering pine nuts with my family."

Ida and Bill were married November 16, 1927.

"We were married at Price city Courthouse. On the day we were married mom had Thanksgiving dinner and wedding dinner together. My wedding dress was black with rose colored trim. I also wore a hat. (Bill threw away that hat because he thought I had too much junk.) 

Edna Richardson, my mother, and Margaret Lee attended the wedding. Bill had come to Provo Utah looking for work. His family lived in Oregon at the time of the wedding and could not make it.

Check gave us salt and pepper shakers and Ruth gave us glasses.

Bill had to go to work after the wedding and I had to clean a dirt oven."

(interview wit Ida Bates by Leslie (Bates) Nielson) 

 Bill found work in the coal mines and with the railroad. They lived in the mine camps moving where work was available. They had four children. James, John, Dennis who died at birth and a daughter Alma Rae. After Ida’s husband died she worked six summers at the Bryce Canyon Resort in Southern Utah, Nine Winters in Sun Valley, Idaho and five summers in Fire Island, New York. After settling down again in the Price, Utah area she worked 9 years editing and contributing to the senior citizens newspaper. Three areas that Ida felt she truly excelled at was sewing, needlework and painting. Her claim to fame is contributing to the wall murals in the CEU Prehistoric Museum. Ida was a proficient artist passing her beautiful works on to her children and grandchildren where they are cherished as heirlooms.