Alby and Gloria on their wedding day.
“Gloria Betts was born in Echuca and was one of eleven children, being 4 boys and 7 girls in the family. Gloria said that she was no. 9 “the bottom of the barrel”. She said they lived in an old Cobb & Co Inn. With 13 in the family it would have been necessary to have such accommodation.
She said they were all allocated jobs. She had the worst one, for a period of time, which was cleaning 11 pairs of shoes each day. She said, “ I was thrilled when I graduated to ironing the tunics for the 7 girls in the family.”
Gloria’s father, Jim, ran a trucking company while her mother worked in the office. Gloria remembers well, going to church all dressed up in finery in the back of dad’s stock truck. She said the stock sale would have been the previous Friday and the condition of the truck was a bit doubtful. She said she often felt like a heifer, as she jumped off the back attempting to maintain some dignity.
She was fortunate to grow up in a loving family and looks back on those early days with fondness.
One day her dad arrived home with a shy, skinny boy of 14, Alby Shultz.”……………….. …..
