Grandma passed away in the summer of 1982, in Mesa, AZ. I was beginning my sophomore year in high school. She was sixty years old. Born in 1921, in the mining town of Miami, and grew up in the small town of Safford, AZ. Wait! I’m getting ahead of myself here, I need to back up to 1921 in Miami …

Cornetta “Karen” Nielsen is my 2x great-grandmother. Her daughter June McBride is my great-grandmother. Cornetta was born on the 15 May 1874 to Harriet Amanda Brown and Peter Nielsen in Washington City, Washington, Utah Territory. I have previously written about Cornetta’s grandmother Harriet Amanda Sheldon who crossed the plains after leaving Kirkland, Ohio. According to my first cousin once removed, …