Snyder Family 2016 - Person Sheet
Spouses
Birth6 Jan 1934, Orofino, Clearwater Co., Idaho
Death8 Jul 2011, Lewiston, Nez Perce Co., Idaho
FatherBlaine Bonner (1906-1993)
MotherCleta Mae Nines (1913-2002)
Marriage15 Jul 1949, Orofino, Clearwater Co., Idaho
Notes for Perk Lyda
By Alannah Allbrett
Clearwater Tribune – Orofino, ID – MAY 26, 2011
When Perk Lyda was a small boy, he lived in a “two room shack” on Whiskey Creek where their rent was five dollars a month. Born in Orofino in 1928, Perk was one of six children born to Perry and Pricilla Lyda. He was “third from the top,” he said in pecking order among his siblings. Times were hard. His dad worked as a fire fighter for the Forest Service and built roads and bridges for the county for a dollar a day through the Works Progress Administration or WPA, as it was called during the Great Depression. “There weren’t enough beans to go around,” said Perk, so he and an older brother “were farmed out” to Lewiston to go to school.
During grades one through three, he lived in a children’s home in the old Hurlbut Mansion, which he said is still standing. Then, he and his brother came back to Orofino and attended Banner School from the fourth through eighth grades. Banner school was in use between 1936 – 1954 until the Orofino School on Michigan Avenue was built which housed all the grades through high school. Carrying their lunches in paper sacks, he and his brothers walked a quarter mile to school in all kinds of weather. “There were no school busses, and we did not own a car or a telephone either,” said Perk. “Some kids had to walk a lot further than we did. And then when Orofino School was built we walked three miles to high school. Dad got a ride to work with somebody who did have a truck” said Perk.
Banner school started out as a one room school house located just beyond Konkolville, right in front of the rail road trestle. There was also a small well house on the property but no place for the teachers to live. They had to live across the road in a small trailer. “They sort of camped out,” Perk said. “It had to be cold in the winter!” “The thing I enjoyed as a boy was watching the logging train go across the trestle pulled by a steam engine,” said Perk. “The windows of the school would just shake and the whole building would vibrate. I wish the picture, with us front of the school, had been taken when the train was going by” he said.
A typical day at Banner School was one spent with portable gas lights, no electricity, and a big wood stove to heat the place. Using a drag saw, Lee Willoughby cut and split all the wood for the school. The teacher would carry the wood in and build up a fire in the stove each morning.
During recess the children would play ball or marbles. When asked what they brought for lunches Perk said, “We ate a lot of beans and taters. Everybody was poor during the depression in the 1930’s,” said Perk. “Sadly, WWII pulled us out of it and there were lots of jobs then.”
As the school was added on to, there were four grades to a classroom. The teacher would teach one class at a time. The first teacher at Banner was Maybelle Kern. She taught all eight grades. She was still teaching when Perk began there in the fourth grade “The next year,” said Perk, “We had two teachers, a man and his wife, Ed and Olive Weakley. Then Albert and Charlotte Morris came next.”
The basic subjects they were taught were arithmetic, spelling, geography, penmanship, English, and reading. The teacher would divide the time between the various classes. “You could ‘rubberin’ on the next class,” said Perk, “if you wanted to learn something more.” Rubbering-in was the term people used about eavesdropping on a neighbor’s telephone conversation via a party line.
Some of the school books the children would have used were The New Silent Reader with subjects such as: Pets & Playmates, Growing Up, New Friends, The Wonder World, Facts and Fancies, Whys and Wherefores, Scouting Through, Pioneer Trails, and The Round-up. Other required textbooks were The Kinscella Readers: Music Appreciation; the Buckley- White Activity Speller; the Eichel Treasure Chest of Literature, and the Gates-Huber-Ayer Work Play Books.
In 2008 a Banner School All Class Reunion was held. A commemorative book was printed with family and school photos and pictures of those who attended. Perk Lyda, along with other alumnus-contributed articles of their memories at Banner School. Maurice Snyder made a DVD of the well-attended event. Perk said there were lots of people from classes that followed his. But only about four or five people came from the early days, with whom he went to school.
When asked where they bought their groceries, Perk said, “At the corner store,” referring to a small grocery store that was on the corner of the lot (at Michigan and Barlett Street) where Glenwood IGA now stands (owned by J.J. Johnson). There were two large weeping willow trees between the store and the “pole lot,” telephone lot across the street where Orofino Elementary School now stands. The land behind the corner store was a big garden.
Perk remembers food and gas rationing during the depression. “If you had a pick up, you were allowed five gallons of gas a week. If you owned a car, you got three gallons a week. If you had to travel any distance to work you could apply for more,” said Perk. “Everything was rationed,” he said; “even meat and sugar. You couldn’t buy tires, so we cut the bead off a tire and put it on the outside of another tire and ran it as far as it could run. We always carried tools to fix the car. We would get out the jack and irons and fix a flat right on the road – patch it, use a tire pump, glue, and everything. We had a lot of flats because tires were pretty thin.”
Perk served in the Navy for two years during WWII. He spent 18 months of that time overseas on a Landing Ship Tank (LST). He served in Quadjalene, Manus Island (near Australia), Guam, Saipan, and Tinian (which became the busiest airport in WWII with two B-29 airfields). Perk is a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW).
Perk now lives on a hillside above Orofino with his wife Doris Bonner Lyda and their beloved
black poodle Buffy – his “pride and joy.” Perk invited me to come
by his place and said when you get to the road below it, just look
up and you’ll see a BIG American Flag flying 24 hours a day.
Clearwater Tribune – Orofino, ID – MAY 26, 2011
When Perk Lyda was a small boy, he lived in a “two room shack” on Whiskey Creek where their rent was five dollars a month. Born in Orofino in 1928, Perk was one of six children born to Perry and Pricilla Lyda. He was “third from the top,” he said in pecking order among his siblings. Times were hard. His dad worked as a fire fighter for the Forest Service and built roads and bridges for the county for a dollar a day through the Works Progress Administration or WPA, as it was called during the Great Depression. “There weren’t enough beans to go around,” said Perk, so he and an older brother “were farmed out” to Lewiston to go to school.
During grades one through three, he lived in a children’s home in the old Hurlbut Mansion, which he said is still standing. Then, he and his brother came back to Orofino and attended Banner School from the fourth through eighth grades. Banner school was in use between 1936 – 1954 until the Orofino School on Michigan Avenue was built which housed all the grades through high school. Carrying their lunches in paper sacks, he and his brothers walked a quarter mile to school in all kinds of weather. “There were no school busses, and we did not own a car or a telephone either,” said Perk. “Some kids had to walk a lot further than we did. And then when Orofino School was built we walked three miles to high school. Dad got a ride to work with somebody who did have a truck” said Perk.
Banner school started out as a one room school house located just beyond Konkolville, right in front of the rail road trestle. There was also a small well house on the property but no place for the teachers to live. They had to live across the road in a small trailer. “They sort of camped out,” Perk said. “It had to be cold in the winter!” “The thing I enjoyed as a boy was watching the logging train go across the trestle pulled by a steam engine,” said Perk. “The windows of the school would just shake and the whole building would vibrate. I wish the picture, with us front of the school, had been taken when the train was going by” he said.
A typical day at Banner School was one spent with portable gas lights, no electricity, and a big wood stove to heat the place. Using a drag saw, Lee Willoughby cut and split all the wood for the school. The teacher would carry the wood in and build up a fire in the stove each morning.
During recess the children would play ball or marbles. When asked what they brought for lunches Perk said, “We ate a lot of beans and taters. Everybody was poor during the depression in the 1930’s,” said Perk. “Sadly, WWII pulled us out of it and there were lots of jobs then.”
As the school was added on to, there were four grades to a classroom. The teacher would teach one class at a time. The first teacher at Banner was Maybelle Kern. She taught all eight grades. She was still teaching when Perk began there in the fourth grade “The next year,” said Perk, “We had two teachers, a man and his wife, Ed and Olive Weakley. Then Albert and Charlotte Morris came next.”
The basic subjects they were taught were arithmetic, spelling, geography, penmanship, English, and reading. The teacher would divide the time between the various classes. “You could ‘rubberin’ on the next class,” said Perk, “if you wanted to learn something more.” Rubbering-in was the term people used about eavesdropping on a neighbor’s telephone conversation via a party line.
Some of the school books the children would have used were The New Silent Reader with subjects such as: Pets & Playmates, Growing Up, New Friends, The Wonder World, Facts and Fancies, Whys and Wherefores, Scouting Through, Pioneer Trails, and The Round-up. Other required textbooks were The Kinscella Readers: Music Appreciation; the Buckley- White Activity Speller; the Eichel Treasure Chest of Literature, and the Gates-Huber-Ayer Work Play Books.
In 2008 a Banner School All Class Reunion was held. A commemorative book was printed with family and school photos and pictures of those who attended. Perk Lyda, along with other alumnus-contributed articles of their memories at Banner School. Maurice Snyder made a DVD of the well-attended event. Perk said there were lots of people from classes that followed his. But only about four or five people came from the early days, with whom he went to school.
When asked where they bought their groceries, Perk said, “At the corner store,” referring to a small grocery store that was on the corner of the lot (at Michigan and Barlett Street) where Glenwood IGA now stands (owned by J.J. Johnson). There were two large weeping willow trees between the store and the “pole lot,” telephone lot across the street where Orofino Elementary School now stands. The land behind the corner store was a big garden.
Perk remembers food and gas rationing during the depression. “If you had a pick up, you were allowed five gallons of gas a week. If you owned a car, you got three gallons a week. If you had to travel any distance to work you could apply for more,” said Perk. “Everything was rationed,” he said; “even meat and sugar. You couldn’t buy tires, so we cut the bead off a tire and put it on the outside of another tire and ran it as far as it could run. We always carried tools to fix the car. We would get out the jack and irons and fix a flat right on the road – patch it, use a tire pump, glue, and everything. We had a lot of flats because tires were pretty thin.”
Perk served in the Navy for two years during WWII. He spent 18 months of that time overseas on a Landing Ship Tank (LST). He served in Quadjalene, Manus Island (near Australia), Guam, Saipan, and Tinian (which became the busiest airport in WWII with two B-29 airfields). Perk is a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW).
Perk now lives on a hillside above Orofino with his wife Doris Bonner Lyda and their beloved
black poodle Buffy – his “pride and joy.” Perk invited me to come
by his place and said when you get to the road below it, just look
up and you’ll see a BIG American Flag flying 24 hours a day.
Notes for Doris (Spouse 1)
Doris Lyda, 77, Orofino
Doris Bonner Lyda, 77, passed away Friday July 8, 2011, at St Joseph Regional Medical Center in Lewiston within a month of a cancer diagnosis. She died peacefully with her loved ones by her side.
She was born in the family home in Orofino, to Blaine and Cleta Bonner on January 6, 1934. She lived her life to the fullest in the beautiful Clearwater County. She met her life’s partner when she opened the family door to a disheveled but handsome young man needing help with a deer. Doris and Perk Lyda were married July 15, 1949, in Orofino, and would have celebrated their 62nd Anniversary this Friday.
The young couple spent their honeymoon years living at Johnson’s Mill where Perk worked, while Doris honed her wonderful cooking skills. It was at this time their loving daughter, Kathy Ann, was born. She died in 1996.
In the late 50s, Doris wanted to follow her dream of becoming a nurse and attended school in Lewiston. She discovered she was much too tenderhearted for this and happily moved into cosmetology where she delighted in visiting with her clients as she met their beauty needs.
She loved being outdoors whether to work or play. Perk became a professional fishing guide on the Clearwater River and they met many wonderful, some famous, people from all over who came here to fish with them and enjoy Doris’ great cooking.
These lasting friendships led to many interesting traveling experiences, several to Nashville where they often were invited backstage at the Grand Ole Opry. But Doris was happiest when at the ranch they bought on Grangemont where they nurtured a commercial Christmas tree farm for 26 years, rode 4-wheelers in the summer and snowmobiles in the winter.
Her close-knit cousins are more like sisters and brothers and she loved spending time with them on trips to Montana, the Oregon Coast, at the Clearwater County Fair, and at the Bonner Mountain Music Festival. Also precious to her, were the times spent with friends, especially the campouts at Wilderness Gateway, playing cards or Bunko, and at weekly jam sessions she and Perk hosted.
Doris was always kind and generous, and patriotic to the bone; she was also spunky and never afraid to speak her mind. She endeared herself to many and will be missed by all who knew her.
She is survived by her husband Perk and dog Buffy at their Orofino home of 55 years, her “girls” Cheri Jenks and Karen/Bird Goodwin, and many cherished cousins and friends.
Doris was preceded in death by her parents; daughter Kathy; and brother, Glenn Bonner.
A memorial service will be held this Saturday, July 16, at 11 a.m. at the Orofino Riverside Cemetery, just below the American Flag. Phil Bonner will officiate and a small dinner for family only will follow.
In lieu of flowers a donation to the Clearwater Humane Society, PO Box 2063, Orofino, ID, is suggested.
Doris Bonner Lyda, 77, passed away Friday July 8, 2011, at St Joseph Regional Medical Center in Lewiston within a month of a cancer diagnosis. She died peacefully with her loved ones by her side.
She was born in the family home in Orofino, to Blaine and Cleta Bonner on January 6, 1934. She lived her life to the fullest in the beautiful Clearwater County. She met her life’s partner when she opened the family door to a disheveled but handsome young man needing help with a deer. Doris and Perk Lyda were married July 15, 1949, in Orofino, and would have celebrated their 62nd Anniversary this Friday.
The young couple spent their honeymoon years living at Johnson’s Mill where Perk worked, while Doris honed her wonderful cooking skills. It was at this time their loving daughter, Kathy Ann, was born. She died in 1996.
In the late 50s, Doris wanted to follow her dream of becoming a nurse and attended school in Lewiston. She discovered she was much too tenderhearted for this and happily moved into cosmetology where she delighted in visiting with her clients as she met their beauty needs.
She loved being outdoors whether to work or play. Perk became a professional fishing guide on the Clearwater River and they met many wonderful, some famous, people from all over who came here to fish with them and enjoy Doris’ great cooking.
These lasting friendships led to many interesting traveling experiences, several to Nashville where they often were invited backstage at the Grand Ole Opry. But Doris was happiest when at the ranch they bought on Grangemont where they nurtured a commercial Christmas tree farm for 26 years, rode 4-wheelers in the summer and snowmobiles in the winter.
Her close-knit cousins are more like sisters and brothers and she loved spending time with them on trips to Montana, the Oregon Coast, at the Clearwater County Fair, and at the Bonner Mountain Music Festival. Also precious to her, were the times spent with friends, especially the campouts at Wilderness Gateway, playing cards or Bunko, and at weekly jam sessions she and Perk hosted.
Doris was always kind and generous, and patriotic to the bone; she was also spunky and never afraid to speak her mind. She endeared herself to many and will be missed by all who knew her.
She is survived by her husband Perk and dog Buffy at their Orofino home of 55 years, her “girls” Cheri Jenks and Karen/Bird Goodwin, and many cherished cousins and friends.
Doris was preceded in death by her parents; daughter Kathy; and brother, Glenn Bonner.
A memorial service will be held this Saturday, July 16, at 11 a.m. at the Orofino Riverside Cemetery, just below the American Flag. Phil Bonner will officiate and a small dinner for family only will follow.
In lieu of flowers a donation to the Clearwater Humane Society, PO Box 2063, Orofino, ID, is suggested.