Introduction 39

Sweet as the breath of the valley

Where zephyrs with peach-blossoms dally,

Where the birds and the honey-bees rally,

Was Helen — our sister, our friend.

Simplicity’s mantle adorned her,

Humility haloed her brow;

Veneration for all that is holy

For the good, the meek and the lowly

(Ah, blessed thy friends were to know thee!)

Was Helen’s — our sister, our friend.

A flow’r from the hand of the Father

She descended to gladden the earth,

To blossom and bud for a season,

Then return to the gardens alysian.

O God! do Thou grant us submission

Like Helen’s — our sister, our friend.

Rudger Clawson likewise praised Owen in a 1904 letter to his mother, Emma Woodruff:

He accomplished a work of great magnitude, and his memory will ever be green in the hearts of the Latter-day Saints. His life and labors, his devotion to the Cause of Truth, his purity of life, his winning manners and lovable ways will continue to exert a power and influence in the earth when other things are forgotten.

Admirable character traits were shared by Helen and Owen and Avery. However, at the reburial of Owen and Helen in 1993, church leaders once again voiced high praise for Helen and Owen, while Avery remained absent and unmentioned.

After Owen and Helen’s death, Avery communicated from Mexico frequently with Emma regarding the Woodruff children. She even attempted to live with Emma as a co-caregiver, but Emma’s strong personality eventually drove her away. The LDS Church, especially Elder Cowley, may have supported Avery initially, but Avery independently raised her own daughter for ten years before remarrying. She met and married George Lambert, a widower with one child, in 1914. Avery died in El Cerritos, California, in 1953 and is buried alongside her second husband in the Cyprus Lawn Cemetery. Ruth grew up in Avery’s care and