Lynda Jo Overbey

Lynda Jo Overbey passed away July 2, 2020, at 9:00 a.m. at Panorama in Lacey, Washington. The following life story was written by Lynda to her grandchildren (Robert’s children) in 2005: “You said you want to get to know me better. I’m glad you asked. Here’s my story… “My parents and grandparents all lived in Kansas. My parents, Harold and Sarah Watkins, moved to California to seek their fortune. All they got was me on July 15, 1937, so they moved back to Kansas when I was two. I have an older brother, Ronald. He was born in Wichita, Kansas, on February 29, 1936 (leap year). “When we moved back from California, we lived on a farm in Kansas near Argonia, where my grandparents (dad’s parents) lived. My mother’s parents lived in Wichita. My brother and I had many adventures. He wasn’t much to play house and dolls with me, so I did the things he liked to do and grew into a regular ‘tomboy.’ I did have a lot of dolls; I would get one every Christmas and birthday…and I loved to play with them. But I also climbed trees, fed the farm animals, etc. “My brother and I went to school together in a one-room schoolhouse. There were only 10 kids in the school from grades one to eight. Can you imagine? We walked to school about a mile, snow up to our armpits and uphill both ways. J The name of the school was Frog Pond. Really! “The teacher would call each grade up to her desk one at a time to be taught. My brother was the only one in 2nd grade and I was the only one in the 1st grade. I would go up with him when he was called and she taught both of us the 1st and 2nd grades together. At the end of the school year, she said I had learned the 2nd grade already, so they put me in the 3rd grade for the next year. That’s how I ‘skipped’ a grade and eventually graduated from high school in 1954, when I was only 16. Okay, so I was 17 a couple of months later. “We moved to another place in Kansas near Cheney. Still on a farm. One Christmas when we went to the living room to open gifts, there was a Shetland pony standing there nibbling on the Christmas tree. We were so excited! That year, we rode ‘Skipper’ to school along with some friends who rode their horses as well. One time, we stopped at a gas station and someone gave Skipper a small cherry pie to eat. He loved it! From then on, Skipper refused to pass the station until he got his pie. In fact, he went right on inside the station to get it. “We moved almost every year while I was in School, but always in Kansas, and almost always on a farm. “When I was 12, my parents got divorced. They both remarried shortly after. After a time, my brother and I ended up living with my dad and stepmother (known as Great Gma Watkins) and her daughter, Judy, who was eight. I loved by dad and stepmother, and we had a happy life with them. I liked Judy, too, but that made me the middle child, and you know how that is! I am very close to Judy now, but we had some adjustments to make back then. We did have good times together. We pretended we had a daycare together, and that’s what she wanted to do when she grew up. She didn’t though. I wanted to be a nurse, but I didn’t do that either. “I started junior high 7th grade in Wichita while living with my dad. It was the first time I had been in a ‘big’ school, where we changed rooms, and sometimes floors, for every class. I was so scared. I got lost the first week and didn’t know where my next class was. But the teachers were very nice and helped me get there. “We lived with my mom and stepfather near Haysville for 8th and 9th grades, then back with my dad for junior and senior years in high school. My mom and stepfather had two children, Joyce and David. So there I was, a middle child again. It’s a wonder I even survived my childhood. Ha, ha! I liked high school and had some very close girlfriends. We went to football games and dances and slumber parties. The big thing in music was the ‘original’ Rock and Roll, Bill Hailey’s Comet’s ‘Rock Around the Clock,’ etc. Also, Glen Miller’s orchestra. Tommy Dorsey had a big, nationally known band then, and he played at our senior prom!! “My grandmother bought my prom formal. It was light blue net over taffeta with rows of ruffles across the bust. And it was strapless! I just loved it. It was the first dress I ever had like that. “After I graduated from Wichita East High School in June 1954, I went to Wichita University for a year and a half. I was in a three-year program, where I was to go to college for two years and nursing school for a year. The college classes were math, science, etc. that related to my future as a nurse. I liked it a lot, but after a year and a half, I met your dad’s father (Jack Frazier), fell in love, got married and quit college. Never did get to be a nurse. “Your grandfather and I had three boys, Kelly, Robert and Terry. Oh my! Robert was a middle child, wasn’t he? Do you remember meeting Kelly, Terry, their wives and children when you came to visit us in Texas? “I guess I have worked on this long enough. Just a few other things about me… I became a Christian and was baptized when I was 12. My favorite color is blue or teal. Favorite pet is a cat. Favorite foods are shrimp or spaghetti with meat sauce. Favorite place to live is Washington State. Favorite music is oldies from the ‘60s or ‘70s. Favorite movies are mysteries, thrillers and comedies. “Love you all, Gma Lynda.” Please leave condolences or share memories and photos on the Tribute Wall to the left.