Father: Preston Phelix OWENS
Mother: Saloma Ann LONG
Spouse: William Elzie BACKUS
Grew up and attended schools in Foard Co., TX.
Nona left Crowell before WWII and moved to southern California. She went to LA initially to visit brother George and decided to live in LA, and she worked as an accountant for a building supply company.
Met fellow-Texan Bill Backus through brother George. (Ironically, Bill's cousin lived in Crowell.) Bill and Nona married and built a 2-story home in LA.
They remained in CA for years. She told about them being some of California's earliest skiers -- before resorts and ski lifts -- when they had to climb the mountains using snowshoes, carrying their skis on their backs, before they could ski down. She said they skied all over the Sierra Nevada range.
Backus worked for the U.S. Postal Service in registered mail. Nona said she worked in an accounting office in California for years, employed by a home-building supplier. Brother George lived in LA, just four miles away from Nona.
Following Preston's death in Crowell (c1950), mother Saloma moved to LA to live with Nona and Bill. Then Bill's health broke, and (c1960) Nona decided to sell the house in LA and move the trio to Crowell (Bill had a cousin there, and Saloma had her family there). Nona bought a small house in Crowell and redid the interior. Bill died of lung disorder in 1969 in Crowell, and Saloma died in 1973. Later, Nona moved to Lubbock, TX, in residence with sister Gladys and near sister Ora.
Seems that all her siblings looked to her to "hold things together" whenever times were trying.
Nona and her sisters visited Fort Worth relatives many times in the 70s and 80s, and cousin Everie and John Todd invited Nona to travel with them several times. They went to Canada, California, Colorado, Virginia, and Kentucky together that I can recall. They always enjoyed Nona.
--Gary Owens TODD
Mother: Saloma Ann LONG
Spouse: William Elzie BACKUS
Grew up and attended schools in Foard Co., TX.
Nona left Crowell before WWII and moved to southern California. She went to LA initially to visit brother George and decided to live in LA, and she worked as an accountant for a building supply company.
Met fellow-Texan Bill Backus through brother George. (Ironically, Bill's cousin lived in Crowell.) Bill and Nona married and built a 2-story home in LA.
They remained in CA for years. She told about them being some of California's earliest skiers -- before resorts and ski lifts -- when they had to climb the mountains using snowshoes, carrying their skis on their backs, before they could ski down. She said they skied all over the Sierra Nevada range.
Backus worked for the U.S. Postal Service in registered mail. Nona said she worked in an accounting office in California for years, employed by a home-building supplier. Brother George lived in LA, just four miles away from Nona.
Following Preston's death in Crowell (c1950), mother Saloma moved to LA to live with Nona and Bill. Then Bill's health broke, and (c1960) Nona decided to sell the house in LA and move the trio to Crowell (Bill had a cousin there, and Saloma had her family there). Nona bought a small house in Crowell and redid the interior. Bill died of lung disorder in 1969 in Crowell, and Saloma died in 1973. Later, Nona moved to Lubbock, TX, in residence with sister Gladys and near sister Ora.
Seems that all her siblings looked to her to "hold things together" whenever times were trying.
Nona and her sisters visited Fort Worth relatives many times in the 70s and 80s, and cousin Everie and John Todd invited Nona to travel with them several times. They went to Canada, California, Colorado, Virginia, and Kentucky together that I can recall. They always enjoyed Nona.
--Gary Owens TODD
Father: Preston Phelix OWENS
Mother: Saloma Ann LONG
Spouse: William Elzie BACKUS
Grew up and attended schools in Foard Co., TX.
Nona left Crowell before WWII and moved to southern California. She went to LA initially to visit brother George and decided to live in LA, and she worked as an accountant for a building supply company.
Met fellow-Texan Bill Backus through brother George. (Ironically, Bill's cousin lived in Crowell.) Bill and Nona married and built a 2-story home in LA.
They remained in CA for years. She told about them being some of California's earliest skiers -- before resorts and ski lifts -- when they had to climb the mountains using snowshoes, carrying their skis on their backs, before they could ski down. She said they skied all over the Sierra Nevada range.
Backus worked for the U.S. Postal Service in registered mail. Nona said she worked in an accounting office in California for years, employed by a home-building supplier. Brother George lived in LA, just four miles away from Nona.
Following Preston's death in Crowell (c1950), mother Saloma moved to LA to live with Nona and Bill. Then Bill's health broke, and (c1960) Nona decided to sell the house in LA and move the trio to Crowell (Bill had a cousin there, and Saloma had her family there). Nona bought a small house in Crowell and redid the interior. Bill died of lung disorder in 1969 in Crowell, and Saloma died in 1973. Later, Nona moved to Lubbock, TX, in residence with sister Gladys and near sister Ora.
Seems that all her siblings looked to her to "hold things together" whenever times were trying.
Nona and her sisters visited Fort Worth relatives many times in the 70s and 80s, and cousin Everie and John Todd invited Nona to travel with them several times. They went to Canada, California, Colorado, Virginia, and Kentucky together that I can recall. They always enjoyed Nona.
--Gary Owens TODD
Mother: Saloma Ann LONG
Spouse: William Elzie BACKUS
Grew up and attended schools in Foard Co., TX.
Nona left Crowell before WWII and moved to southern California. She went to LA initially to visit brother George and decided to live in LA, and she worked as an accountant for a building supply company.
Met fellow-Texan Bill Backus through brother George. (Ironically, Bill's cousin lived in Crowell.) Bill and Nona married and built a 2-story home in LA.
They remained in CA for years. She told about them being some of California's earliest skiers -- before resorts and ski lifts -- when they had to climb the mountains using snowshoes, carrying their skis on their backs, before they could ski down. She said they skied all over the Sierra Nevada range.
Backus worked for the U.S. Postal Service in registered mail. Nona said she worked in an accounting office in California for years, employed by a home-building supplier. Brother George lived in LA, just four miles away from Nona.
Following Preston's death in Crowell (c1950), mother Saloma moved to LA to live with Nona and Bill. Then Bill's health broke, and (c1960) Nona decided to sell the house in LA and move the trio to Crowell (Bill had a cousin there, and Saloma had her family there). Nona bought a small house in Crowell and redid the interior. Bill died of lung disorder in 1969 in Crowell, and Saloma died in 1973. Later, Nona moved to Lubbock, TX, in residence with sister Gladys and near sister Ora.
Seems that all her siblings looked to her to "hold things together" whenever times were trying.
Nona and her sisters visited Fort Worth relatives many times in the 70s and 80s, and cousin Everie and John Todd invited Nona to travel with them several times. They went to Canada, California, Colorado, Virginia, and Kentucky together that I can recall. They always enjoyed Nona.
--Gary Owens TODD
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