CHARLOTTE ANDERSON LARSEN
by Berneice Larsen Robbins, daughter

     CHARLOTTE ANDERSON LARSEN, my mother, was 'born of goodly parents", i.e.
John H. Anderson and Anna charlotte Eliason on January 8, 1889, the second of nine
children, and the eldest daughter.

     Charlotte was a happy, inquisitive child.  When she was about 3 1/2 or 4 years of age,
her father homesteaded a ranch in Cache Valley.  She told me of the time when she
found a 'pretty ribbon" in the wood shed and, before she could pick it up, her grandpa
killed it - a snake.  She was so close to her "Papa", and adored him so, as he did her.  At
about this point in her life he wrote the following letter to her:

     "Dear Charlotte:

            You are my Darling Rose.  A little rosebud among the sage toddles along with
daddy dear, who plowed the unbroken ground.  Heaven's benediction hallowed our
efforts.  Winters and summers have come and gone.  May the sweet memory of innocent
childhood ever brighten your pathway throughout life.  May my rosebud, now a rose, ever
be sweeter and fairer than all the roses that grow.

            With Love and Blessings,

                                                    Your Father
                                                                          s/JOHN H. ANDERSON"
[see original note]

     Mother also adored her Mother, toward whom she felt very protective.  One of her
most cherished memories was of the summer the family spent at a sheep camp in Logan
Canyon, while her Mother recuperated from an illness.

     Charlotte was known for her sense-of-humor, and was not above a prank or two.  In
fact she told me that she got blamed for everything, probably because about three-fourths
of the time she actually did it.

     At the age of seventeen she received a beautiful Patriarchal blessing from Patriarch
Christian John Larsen, whose Grandson she married three years later.

     CHARLOTTE and RUBE had a long and perfect marriage, full of love and close
companionship.  He once wrote to her:

        Dearie:

                    "Dearest treasure, how I love you.
                     As you linger near my side
                     There is naught on earth above you,
                     You're in truth my joy and pride;
                     Fondly now I stop to greet you -- "

                                            Your Sweetheart,  RUBE
[see original note]

     J. RUBE LARSEN (Joseph Reuben Larsen) and CHARLOTTE were married 63
beautiful years before they were separated by his death in 1971.  He always thought of
her and treated her as "his Queen".

     Drama was always a dear love of Mother's.  She acted, directed and produced
successfully in many plays, and gave many book-reviews and readings.  She said that
many wards in Cache Valley were paid for largely from the returns from plays that she
and her sister put on for that purpose.

     Education and learning were an important part of Mother's life.  She was always
studying and always belonged to study-groups of all kinds.  She was an honored member
of the "Ladies Literary Club" in Salt Lake City, where again she demonstrated her talents
with plays and readings and book-reviews.

     Throughout her life she was guided in every thought and action by her strong,
unwavering testimony of the Gospel.  She loved it !  Indeed, if we but recall the 13th
Article of Faith which states  "We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent,
virtuous, and in doing good to all men;  indeed, we may say that we follow the
admonition of Paul -- We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many
things, and hope to be able to endure all things.  If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of
good report or praiseworthy, we seek after those things,"  we are but outlining Charlotte's
life.

     Charlotte's family always came first in every way.  She was the Mother of five
children;  Anna Berneice, born March 21, 1912; LaFay, born July 16, 1914; Louis Clair,
born August 17, 1917; John Anderson, born March 16, 1922; and Joseph Reuben, Jr.,
born May 21, 1927.  The greatest sorrow of her life was the loss of her precious little
daughter, LaFay, at the age of nine in 1923.  Her greatest pride was in the
accomplishments and achievements of her children and grandchildren, of which there
were 22, and great-grandchildren, now numbering 48, and one great-great-grandson.

     All three of her sons have served as bishops in the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints.  Two of them are at present serving as Stake Presidents and one is at
present on the Stake High Council and an active Temple-worker, as did her beloved
father.  All three sons have emulated her love of learning, and have been awarded
Doctorates in their respective fields of endeavor.

     During her years of active Church service she was called to high positions of
responsibility in every auxiliary organization in which women can hold those positions,
but her greatest joy in serving came during her eleven years on the Relief Society General
Board.  I, too have the love she implanted in me for drama, for music, and for reading. 
And as I prepare my "Spiritual Living" lessons each month to present to the Relief
Society sister, I think of her great accomplishment in writing a year of lessons for the
Relief Society Magazine.

     "We hope to be able to endure all things" surely was a guide to Mother all the days of
her life.  She truly endured to the end; through every trial, tribulation, test and temptation
she was of good report and praiseworthy.

Bernice Larsen Robbins
      Daughter