Gloria and Ted Olsen, who live in Draper, Utah, recently discovered a pristine graduation certificate from LDS Business College given to Gloria's mother, Tessie, in 1920.
Teresa Tessie Davis was born May 14, 1904, in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was the sixth of seven children born to Joseph Hyrum and Annie Cecelia Condie Davis.
We have fond memories of my mother, said Gloria. She was a very loving, caring and generous person. She was also very talented on the piano. She could play by ear most anything her listeners wanted to hear.
She was an energetic and interesting person, recalled Ted. After Tessie graduated from LDS Business College in 1920, she went to work at the Salt Lake Tribune as a stenographer using the business training she received at the College. During World War II and after raising her children, she worked at the Remington arms plant, again using her stenographer skills.
Tessie married Walter Dewey Ray in 1919, said Gloria. She had two children Robert Keith Ray and me. She was later divorced, then married Harry H. Skillhorn in 1942. Mom died on January 22, 1997 in Salt Lake City at the age of 92.
LDS Business College was founded in 1886. In 1920, 278 students attended. Today, more than 2,300 students attend the college.
Stenography and subjects such as typewriting and shorthand haven't been taught for decades. The subjects have been replaced over the years by two-year degrees in accounting, business management, health sciences, computer operating systems, cybersecurity, interior design, entrepreneurship, project management, global supply chain management and social media marketing.