HILTON, Sally Electa

The White Mountain Independent, Show Low, Arizona ~ August 21, 2008 Sally Electa Palmer Hilton died Aug. 17, 2008, in Clifton, Va. She was born Oct. 24, 1914, to John E. Palmer and Mary Alice Brimhall Palmer in their cabin located in Oklahoma Flats, now known as Overgaard. She is survived by her sons, Dale Clair of Mesa and Steven Lyle (Heidi) of Clifton, Va., and a brother, Kent (Sue) Brimhall Palmer of Taylor, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Her only daughter, Donna Jeanne Hilton Gardner, preceded her in death Nov. 13, 1995, and her husband, Lyle Hilton, on Aug. 17, 2001. Below is a brief history of her life as written by her father, her brother Otto and herself in their personal histories. Father: "In the spring of 1909, my wife, myself and our two children, Otto and Dorcie, took up a homestead of approximately 160 acres of lovely dark sandy loam at a place called 'Oklahoma Flats' located about four miles east of Heber and across the road northeast of the location that would later become the town of Overgaard. We first lived in a tent the front of which faced north." Otto: "We soon moved from the tent into a one-room log hut with a dirt floor and dirt roof that my father had built. Later my father built a two-room frame cabin with a fireplace in the front room. It was in this room my sister Sally Electa was born." Father: "My wife did not want to go to town for this important event, so my father (Alma Zemira Palmer) brought a midwife, 'Aunt' Fanny Standifird, out by team and buggy from Taylor. Because they arrived a little too late for the 'party,' my sister Sally had to act as midwife. We named the baby girl Sally Electa, in honor of the new midwife." Electa: "Otto, who was about 7 years old when I was born, has told me often of his feelings as he listened to all the sounds of preparation for birth. Since he was separated from the scene of action only by a curtain, which divided the cabin into rooms, he could hear people coming and going ... Otto has described his feeling of excitement, anxiety and finally relief when he heard my first cry and was told that he had another little sister. Perhaps his near presence at my birth generated the tender feeling and kindly attitude he has shown toward me throughout my life. "In the spring of 1917 (my father) sold the ranch at Oklahoma Flats and the home in Taylor and bought a farm in the Salt River Valley, where he engaged in cotton and dairy farming. It was in Mesa that my brother, John Rex was born on my third birthday. It was also here in Mesa that I began my first year in elementary school at age 5. "My father enjoyed marked success and prosperity in his farming endeavors until ... the devastating cotton crash of 1920. In deep discouragement we packed up and moved away to make a new start elsewhere. We settled in Colonia Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, where we lived for about three years. My youngest brother, Kent Brimhall, was born while living in Mexico. "My father was needed to help run the A.Z. Palmer & Sons store in Taylor so began our journey by way of a covered wagon. My sister Mary Alice was born in Taylor on Aug. 20, 1925, in the house my grandfather Alma Palmer had built for his family years ago. We lived in Taylor for about 22 years. "Most of my high school days were spent in Snowflake Union High School where I graduated with honors in May 1932. I served as student body vice president in my junior year and as senior class president. I received a scholarship from Northern Arizona State Teachers College at Flagstaff. I attended this school for three years then taught third grade in Holbrook for one year, returning to Flagstaff the following summer to complete requirements for a bachelor's degree in education. "I married Lyle Hilton, a handsome young insurance salesman who came into my home in Taylor one summer day for the express purpose of selling me some life insurance. He succeeded and has been paying the premiums ever since! My teaching career ended when we were married in the Salt Lake Temple on June 8, 1939. "Ten months after our wedding day we welcomed a big, beautiful baby boy, Dale Clair, into our home. He was joined 23 months later by a little sister, Donna Jeanne. Ten years later Steven Lyle was born. "As I look back across the years, I shrink a little from the knowledge that I have often wasted time and ignored opportunities to improve myself and to serve others better. I have experienced few trials and very little sorrow. It has been my privilege to live with one of the kindest and most thoughtful men who ever lived on this earth. His every thought and deed seemed to be directed toward my comfort and well being. The Lord blessed me with three wonderful children, each one dear and precious to me. "Though I often wonder if I am worthy of all that has been given me, I do have a sincere desire to measure up, to show forth gratitude for the experiences of mortality and to continue to work toward that greatest of all rewards - eternal life." Services will be held Saturday, Aug. 23, at 11 a.m. at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Mesa at 933 E. Brown Road with interment held at the City of Mesa Cemetery.