Olive Lucille "Muzz" Eriksen

Olive was born on 19 May 1897 in Midvale, Salt Lake, Utah, USA to Olof William Eriksen and Olive Marie Drown. Their last name was at times spelled Erikson. Her father was from Norway and spoke Norwegian and English. She was the fourth of four children with an older brother and two older sisters (twins) who all died before she was born. Her mother, Olive, died when young Olive was only three and a half months old.

Her father later married her mother's sister, Clara Valeria Drown.

In 1900 when Olive was only three years old she lived with her grandfather Ole and his wife Edith, their infant daughter Heilma, her uncle William, her aunt Clara (who was now her step-mother) and her two year old daughter Valera (her half sister), but she also died when Olive was about thirteen. There is no mention of her father in the 1900 census.

According to her granddaughter, she was raised by her aunts() (we don't know which ones) in a large house. They were "wealthy", and her grand daughter remembers rollerskating on the hard wood floors in the library some time in the 1940's. I believe the aunt in question would have been Clara, who ended up marrying her father.

She married Eterick Arthur "Doc" Miller on December 20, 1915 when they were both eighteen years old, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

On the 25th of May in 1917 their first daughter was born. They named her Ruby Lucille. She was a beautiful blond child (as all their children would be), but sadly only lived for two and a half short years. She died on December 13th, 1919 of edema of the glottis, which is a swelling of the larynx. Her death certificate states that it was a result of severe laryngitis. They lived in a rented house at 144 Main st. in Bingham Canyon, Utah at the time, and she was buried at the Sandy City Cemetery.

In 1920, Olive was 22 years old and living with Doc in Bingham, Utah.

Their second child was born on May 7th, 1921 in Salt Lake City, a blond haired, blue eyed boy they named Roland Edward.

Doc and Muzz

Their third child [still living in 2013], was born on October 10th, 1929 in Salt Lake City, UT.

In 1930 she was 33 years old and lived in Salt Lake City, Utah with her family.  Their son, Roland (Roddy), was eight years old and their daughter was an infant. Some time before 1934 they moved to the rear lot at 1035 7th East, Salt Lake City, UT.

They still lived there in 1940 and paid $30 a month for rent. Doc was the proprietor of his own retail grocery business and worked an average of 72 hours a week.

Muzz

Muzz with her children, son in law and granddaughter

By September 21st, 1942 they lived at 511 E Center, Midvale, UT. Roddy's wife moved in with Muzz and Doc around 1942 when he was sent to the South Pacific during WWII. Elva was pregnant with their first grandchild and had a difficult pregnancy.

When Olive became a grandmother, she decided that she never, ever wanted to be called "Grandma". Her first grandchild called her "Muzz", and she was forever afterwards knows by that name by all of her grandchildren and great grandchildren.

She died in October 1985 in her hometown, at the age of 88. She was buried in the Sandy City Cemetery in Sandy, UT.

Did you know Muzz? Do you have any memories, photos or information to add? I would absolutely love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below to add your information. If you have photos to share, please send them to me along with any other information at tomebug (at) gmail (dot) com.