Iva May Rollins was born on May 29,
1916 in Centerville, Utah. Her parents
were Elizabeth Ellen Rampton and
George Wallace Rollins. She was the
youngest of the family. She had two
older brothers, Charles Wallace Rollins
and George Athen (Nate) Rollins and
her oldest sister, Leona Rollins.
A little about Iva's parents.—George
Wallace Rollins was born on September
20, 1870 and spent his boyhood on his
father's farm in Centerville, Utah
(Which he later bought a portion of and
raised his family there too). He enjoyed
sports of all kinds and was on the town's
baseball team. George Wallace Rollins
served two full-time LDS missions
without purse or script. One of these
missions was in New Zealand and the
other was in the southern states in the
United States of America. His wife,
Elizabeth Rampton was born on March
17, 1885. She lived on a farm in
Syracuse, Utah. Elizabeth Rampton met
George Wallace Rollins at a LDS church
dance. Elizabeth's mother, Ada Alice
MacDuff Rampton, did not want her to
date that "Rollins boy" because she felt
that he was too old for her. (He was 15-
years older than Elizabeth). But
Elizabeth continued dating George
Wallace Rollins. Then on December 5,
1907 George Wallace Rollins and
Elizabeth Ellen Rampton were married
for time and all eternity in the Salt Lake
City Temple.
George Wallace Rollins was born on
August 23, 1908. He had heart problems
and so was not a normal active boy.
Leona Rollins, the eldest daughter of
George Wallace Rollins and Elizabeth
Ellen Rampton Rollins was born on
November 23, 1910. For the first eight
years Leona was sick and very thin.
Leona Rollins regained her health and
has always been full of fun. On February
23, George Athen (Nate) Rollins was
born. The parents called him Athen. And
the rest of his family and friends called
him Nate. He was a son whom was very
athletic.
Then was born Iva May Rollins on May
29, 1916. As she was the youngest in the
family she was babied. Her father,
George Wallace Rollins, was quite
patient with her as he took her to the
fields with him. As a child, Iva May
Rollins, had short fluffy blonde hair. He
r mom always called he r little ‘cuddly
chickie'. When young, Iva used to have
stomach problems (gull-bladder) and
would lie on the couch for days. When
she would get better, her eyes would
sparkle.
When Iva May Rollins was four-yearsold,
she decided to mow the lawn with
the push lawn-mower by herself. She cut
the tip of one of her fingers off. The
doctor sewed it back on, but if you look
at her finger, that tip is smaller than the
rest of the finger. It never grew any
larger.
Iva May Rollins was a very small wellbehaved
girl. She didn't like to wear
dresses and loved to ride the horses. She
was very daring and you might even call
her a ‘tom-boy'. She liked to help her
father on the farm. She would ride her
horse up into the canyon and turn in the
water to irrigate the farm. She loved to
do that chore for her father. She even
helped her father milk the cows.
At the age of six, Iva May Rollins
started her first day of school at
Centerville, Utah. She walked a mile
everyday to school. At the age of 14 she
went to Bountiful, Utah's Junior Highschool.
The Junior-high at Bountiful
consisted only of the freshmen level. Iva
then attended the Davis County Highschool.
During the summer, Iva and her
friends would sneak watermelons from
her neighbors and even her father's field.
She and her friends love to ride horseback
down the great Salt Lake and go
swimming. Of course, they loved to visit
the "Lagoon" (a theme park with many
rides) in Farmington, Utah.
As a teenager, Iva May Rollins didn't
chase after the boys. She would never
leave home without telling her mother
where she was going and when she
would be back. Both Iva and her best
friend, Esther loved to ride on Esther's
brother's motorcycle. Iva's sister, Leona
rode on it once and it scared her to
death, but Iva loved it.
On February 23, 1928, Iva May Rollins
oldest brother, Charles Wallace Rollins
died of heart trouble. Then, four years
later in 1932, the father of the family,
George Wallace Rollins died of stomach
cancer. Iva was 15-years-old at the time.
Iva May Rollins graduated from the
Davis County High-school in 1934 at
the age of 17. She then worked at the
dress shop in Salt Lake City. Also at the
age of 17 she served as queen of MIA,
an LDS church organization.
At the age of 20, Iva May Rollins met
Marlin R (Rushforth)? Green. At that
time, he was a junior at college . She
didn't like college guys because she said
they were "too smart-aleck". But after
she turned down Marlin Green for a date
on more than one occasion Marlin
finally got her to go on a date with him.
Iva May Rollins Green's mother,
Elizabeth Rampton Rollins did not
remarry until all the kids were married
and gone, She married her dead sister's
husband, Truman C. Barlow.
*************
Iva May Rollins was born 29 May 1916
in Centerville, Davis Co., Utah. She
dearly loved her parents but was
especially close to her father. She loved
to follow him everywhere on their farm,
helping with the animals and chores. She
was very sad when at age 16, her father
died of stomach cancer in 1932. It was a
very painful illness for George. They
didn't have the medicine for cancer then
as they do now. The tumor was on/in his
stomach and it was painful for anything
to touch his stomach. Iva's brother
Charles Wallace had died four years
before Iva's father with heart problems,
when Iva was 12 years old. Iva lived
with her mother Elizabeth Ellen in
Centerville helping take care of the farm
and the chores around the house.
Iva met Marlin R Green because of a
date arranged by mutual friends. They
dated for months. Marlin asked Iva to
marry him two times. Each time Iva said
no. Iva told her mother that Marlin was a
smart aleck college boy. Finally Marlin
decided to give it one more try…and this
time Iva actually said YES. Third time is
a charm, so they say. Iva and Marlin
were married 6 May 1938 in the Salt
Lake City Temple. They lived in many
places in Utah while Marlin worked on
his college degree in Civil Engineering
at Utah State. Their first son Marlin K
Green was born in Logan, Utah on 26
January 1939. Iva loved having her new
little son to care for. She was a very
loving and patient mother.
Phillip Carl Green, 2nd son was born 17
June 1940 in Spanish Fork, Utah. Now
Iva had two boys to care for. They loved
and enjoyed these two little boys. They
used many reels of film on these two
boys. Soon afterwards, the parents
forgot how to use the film camera.
Marlin graduated from college and
moved to Spanish Fork to be asst city
engineer.
Charles Dee Green was born 28
February 1943 in Wenatchee, Chelan
Co., Washington. His Grandmother
Green came to visit the family and she
said she heard the birds constantly
saying…"Chicky Dee Dee… Chicky
Dee Dee". She nicknamed this little
baby….Chick. Soon afterwards this little
boy became "Chick" to all family
members until he died.
The family moved to a wooded property
in Renton, King Co., Washington
(18032 Springbrook Rd) in 1946 and
Marlin built a "stump" farm on the 5
acres. We called it a stump farm because
Marlin had to cut down many trees to
provide room for planned new house
and large garage. This left a lot of tree
stumps which were eventually removed
with charges of dynamite. Marlin
enjoyed using that dynamite too.
Marlin began building the large garage
first. But because of limited finances,
this garage was made into the home. The
family lived on this small farm the
longest they had lived anywhere before.
Their first daughter, Karen Larane Green
was born in Auburn, King, Washington
on 1 March 1946. The boys looked in
anticipation of when they would no
longer have to do dishes. Iva now had a
little daughter.
Judy Ann Green was born 23 October
1947 in Renton, King, Washington. The
boys loved having Judy for a
sister….she loved everything they did:
dirt, snakes, worms and such.
Third daughter, Marlene Green was born
26 April 1950 in Renton, King Co.,
Washington. Their fourth daughter Iva
Janet Green was born 18 July 1953 in
Renton, King, Washington. Iva had
problems after delivery with a reaction
to adhesive tape on her leg. Marlin had
to bring the new little baby home and
Iva stayed in the hospital. We all took
turns feeding and changing the new
baby.
The home in Renton had cement floors.
The living room even had a floor drain
in the living room where small bathroom
once was. Much to Iva's
dismay….Marlin taught Chick and the
girls how to scrub the floor in his special
way. He moved the furniture out of way,
and then brought the water hose into the
living room and we squirted the floor
with water to get it all wet. Then he
sprinkled washing soap around the wet
floor. He then showed us how to slip and
slide all over the floor. We got that floor
sparkling clean. We could do it for
hours…but then Iva came home… It
took longer to clean it up than it did to
make the mess.
Iva now had seven kids at home. During
the summer she would go down to
Umbedacht's Fields to earn extra money.
She and Marlin "K" would pick beans
and peas at the huge farm field and then
at the end of day they would give her
tickets that showed how much she
earned for each load of beans or peas
that she turned in (about 65 cents for a
large bushel basket). Phil would baby-sit
Chick and the girls. Sometimes we
would walk down (about 2 miles) to
meet her at the end of the day. We
would play in the bean rows while Iva
finished picking beans. Then we would
all walk home which was about one
mile.
We always had a garden outside near the
house. Iva helped care for the two
gardens and picked produce from it. The
gardens, 1500 square feet each, were 4-
H gardens for Marlin "K" and Phil. She
also canned fruit and jam. She loved to
make bread and the boys would some
times sneak the insides out of the warm
loafs of bread. She would make us what
we called dough gobies (scones). We
loved those. We would put butter, sugar
or jam on them hot out of the frying pan.
She taught us how to make butter by
putting the cream in a mason jar and we
would roll it on the floor. The family
raised 2 milk cows, pigs, rabbits, and
chickens. The boys milked the cows and
fed the animals.
In summer of 1956, the family prepared
to spend the summer in Noxon, Montana
where Marlin had a job setting up the
large gravel producing pit for the new
Noxon River Dam. Marlin "K" and Phil
stayed in Renton to care for the animals
and work on Umbedacht's farm driving
tractors and planting fields.
The family packed the bare necessities
and headed for Montana. Marlin built a
small, bare essentials cabin in the
woods. The family consisting of Chick
and girls, camped there for three
months. Marlin was in heaven but don't
think Iva was. It was just a small cabin
with two rooms. No kitchen, just space
for parents and the kids to sleep. Marlin
even built bunk beds in the kids'
bedroom, dirt floor remember. Iva had
an open campfire to prepare breakfast,
lunch, and dinner. No baths…just
swimming in the cold stream that ran
along the side of property we camped at.
No electricity, no hanging out clothes
either. We lived in our swimsuits. Iva
did make us cookies once on the
campfire stove, just to prove we could
still have cookies. No floors to sweep,
just had to watch for the many bears all
day long. Our thrill of entertainment was
to all pile in pickup and drive to local
dump. We would all pile in the front end
of pickup (5 kids + parents) and sit
quietly for ten minutes. Then suddenly
the dump would come alive with 6 to 10
bears searching through the garbage
rubble for food.
At the end of the summer of 1956, the
family packed all their belongs and
moved back to Renton for the kids to
attend school. Marlin "K" graduated
from Renton High School. After school
was out in the Spring of 1957 the family
prepared to move to Helena, Montana.
Marlin had a new engineering job in
Montana. The family went from a rainy
Seattle to a snowy Helena, Montana.
The family experienced real snow. A
favorite activity in winter was the whole
family going ice skating on the frozen
pond where Marlin worked. We would
all shovel off paths so we could skate on
the frozen water. You would get out in
middle of pond and hear a loud "crack".
Everyone would skate as fast as they
could to get back to shore. We also
started a tradition of going camping and
fishing on the weekends. Such
wonderful memories.
In December of 1960 the family moved
to Lewistown, Montana about 170 miles
from Helena. Marlin had a new job as
the managing engineer for a road
construction company. He travel lots
and was usually gone during the week.
Chick stayed in Helena to finish his
senior year. When the family moved to
Helena, they moved Phil prior to his
senior year of high school. They didn't
want to do that again. Phil beautifully
carved a sign he hung on his bedroom
wall above his bed that said "Life in
Hell" and spelled Helena as "Hellena".
Moving him his senior year was not a
good decision. So Chick stayed behind
and lived with some friends when we
moved to Lewistown. Now we had a
house of girls. Iva worked at a Anthonys
(a department store) and she worked in
the material section of the store. That
was her specialty. She taught her girls
how to sew and provided the material
for all their projects. We ate differently
with our father gone. We no longer had
to have hamburger meat and gravy. We
would have spaghetti, macaroni, and
goulash. Iva didn't like to waste energy
with a dryer….she had one…but she
would have the girls hang clothes
outside even if it was freezing and
snowy. She didn't even use the washer
like a normal person. She didn't want to
waste the water. So she would wring the
clothes out after the wash cycle finished
and give them to us girls to hang up
outside. We had a choice to fix dinner,
clean house, or hang out clothes on wash
day.
In 1965 the Green family left Lewistown
and moved to Great Falls, Montana. It
was Judy's senior year and there were
only the three girls living at home. The
other kids were either married or away
at college. Iva worked at a material store
again.
Then about 1967, the Green family
consisting of Judy, Marlene and Janet
moved to Richland, Washington. Marlin
had a job as city engineer in Richland.
They lived on a small farm on the
outskirts of Richland. They did have a
couple of horses and 3 or 4 head of
cattle. They all enjoyed the acreage. The
remaining two girls, Janet and Marlene
graduated from Richland High School.
Each town that Iva and Marlin moved
to…they gain a son or daughter-inlaw…
except Great Falls. Mom and Dad
used to laugh about that. They often said
they stayed in Richland too
long….gained an in-law they later didn't
want.
In 1969, Iva's youngest son Charles Dee
was drafted into Army. He was sent to
Vietnam. While many other draftees
were fleeing to Canada, Chick
committed himself to serving his county.
One summer morning early in June,
Marlin and Iva were notified that their
son had been killed in Vietnam on June
11, 1969. It took over a week for his
body to be returned to the states. He was
buried there in Richland, Washington.
Iva and Marlin dearly suffered the loss
of their son. It was a hard time for them,
both waiting for his body to be returned
and not having him with them. Marlin
never really got over Chick's death.
They lived in Richland until June of
1970 when they moved to Coeur
d'Alene, Idaho after Janet graduated in
Richland. Marlin was the new city
engineer in Coeur d‘Alene. Janet was
still living with them. Marlin had also
purchased some property in Noxon,
Montana to retire to when that time
came. Most weekends when they could
they would travel to Noxon (2 hr drive)
to build their retirement home. They
both loved Noxon and their beautiful 40
acres with the mountains all around
them. The whole family enjoyed this
new farm. They had many fun visits
from their kids and grandkids. Many
memories were built on this farm over
the years they live there.
Marlin and Iva moved to Sandpoint,
Idaho about 40 miles from Coeur
d'Alene about 1976. Marlin was the city
engineer there at Sandpoint. They were
also an hour closer to their farm in
Noxon. It worked out very well for
them. Iva stayed home and enjoyed life.
In 1980, Iva and Marlin retired and
moved to Noxon, Montana.
About 1985, Iva was diagnosed with
Alzheimer's. One morning, Iva's
daughter Karen went into kitchen there
at the home in Noxon and there was Iva
standing at the stove frying eggs for
breakfast as she usually did. She made
the best ‘sunny side up' eggs. Only
thing, the eggs were still in their shells
cooking in the hot grease. Suddenly,
things began to click. We knew
something was wrong but didn‘t know
what. Karen made an appointment for
Iva at a Dr. McLandress in Coeur
d'Alene. At the beginning of the
appointment Dr. McLandress explained
to Iva that Karen was worried about her
and that they were going to do some
tests to make sure that Iva was okay so
that Karen would feel better. They did
blood work, x-rays, cat-scan, and such.
At the end of the day, they were taking
blood out of Iva's arm. Iva looked over
at Karen and said "are you feeling better
yet?" The doctor ruled out everything
and then told us that Iva had
Alzheimer's. What a change in all of our
lives, but especially Marlin. He was
slowly loosing his wife he had lived
with for 50 years.
In 1988, Iva and Marlin celebrated their
50th wedding anniversary. Every one of
their six living children came to this
special celebration with their spouses
and family. We held the activities at the
Noxon school. Great facility with lots of
room. Grandkids and great grand kids
came to the special event. We had a fun
Green family reunion with activities all
weekend.
Excuse this - I am changing to first
person in sharing these experiences:
Iva's illness was hard for all of the
family. We experienced many events. I
had thought that the day my mother
didn't know who I was would break my
heart. The day came, I told myself that I
STILL knew who she was and that it
didn't change my relationship with my
Mom. Iva was someone who was dearly
loved by her husband and her children.
She was mainly cared for by her
husband Marlin, and then the last year
cared for by her daughters Judy and
Karen.
Marlin died 23 April 1991 at the farm
there in Noxon. Iva was living with Judy
at the time. It is assumed that Marlin
went down to lower field below the
pond to cut down a tree. He cut the tree
almost down when he must have ran out
of gas in the chain saw. It appeared he
turn to walk back to house for more gas
when a gust of wind came and knocked
the tree down, falling on Marlin and
killing him. Marlin was supposed to go
to a neighbor's for lunch. When Marlin
didn't arrive, the neighbor came up to
farm to check on Marlin. He searched
the house and then searched the fields.
He found Marlin under the tree.
About end of August, Iva left Judy's
house and moved in with Karen. Judy
had told her sister that Mom kept asking
for Karen so Judy knew it was the right
thing to do. Karen was extremely
grateful to her sister for this opportunity
to care for her mother again. About the
last week or so, Iva would cry and run a
fever at night. Karen was feeding her
mother with a large syringe. Iva couldn't
drink from a glass. One day Karen
blended up a Campbell's bean soup and
put it in the syringe. Karen put the
syringe into Iva's mouth. Iva took a deep
breathe and then said "that is SOO
good". It was several months before
Karen could walk down the soup isle at
the grocery store.
Karen called the doctor and told him
about her mother only weighing about
80 pounds and the pain she was in at
night. The doctor told Karen that Iva's
body was trying to shut down and that
Karen force feeding Iva was causing her
body stress and Iva was unable to
naturally die. The doctor then told Karen
the necessary steps to allow Iva's body
to shut down. Karen told the doctor she
couldn't do that to someone she loved so
dearly. The wonderful doctor then asked
Karen, "what would your mother want?"
So on Saturday Karen stopped force
feeding her mother. Iva stopped running
a fever and stopped crying out in her
sleep. She just started sleeping 24 hours
a day. But in a very peaceful sleep. On
Sunday morning, while the rest of the
family was a church, Karen kneeled by
her mother sleeping on the bed in the
living room. Iva suddenly opened her
eyes, and they were suddenly so clear.
She reached over and held Karen's hands
and said so clearly, "I love you". Those
were her last words spoken. Iva died
Thursday afternoon with Judy, Karen,
and Norm beside her.
With Marlin's accidental death because
of the tree hitting him, he did not have to
mentally and physically suffer from his
wife's death. He did not have to attend
her funeral. He did suffer greatly with
her illness. He had a hard time
understanding the "WHYS" of it all. Iva
did not know who Marlin was at his
funeral, so she did not experience the
suffering of his death, someone she
loved most on this earth.
Iva was a wonderful mother. She loved
her children. She was very soft spoken
and enjoyed being a wife and mother.
She was very devoted to her husband.
She was so content to do what ever he
was doing. She never wanted to
experience things without him by her
side. When she passed over to the other
side after death, I know she was so
happy to see her husband (after telling
him he wasn't so smart to let a tree hit
him), her loving father and mother, her
son Chick, her brother Nate, and her
brother Charles Wallace, who she often
asked for after she had Alzheimer's. She
dearly loved her children. She once said
she wished she had seven more…..but
already raised.
Iva's posterity numbers: 7 children, 32
grand children, 125 great grand children,
and 3 great great grand children on this
earth.
Written by Karen - 2011
Edited by Marlin "K" - 2012