Vera Calder Stratford, known to the world as Sally, was the sister I never had.
Vera was the only daughter of Aunt Nellie and I was the only daughter of her younger sister Edna. There was a great difference in our ages. She was teaching high school long before my time. She married Dick Stratford and moved to Portland, Oregon.
My husband Bryant Alfred Alder and I came to Portland to enter dental school in 1947. The only people we knew to contact were Dick and Vera Calder Stratford. We called and they welcomed us into their home with open arms! They became our very best friends. More than that, they became our family.
We did everything together.
We worked in the LDS Church, and we spent our social lives with Dick and Sally. They were our family.
We traveled together! We went on many trips to Canada and we made the trip of a lifetime to Japan and to Asia, traveling for three weeks together.
Dick had many contacts throughout the Orient and he made many special arrangements for accommodations and for tours throughout the country. We have traveled everywhere since then, but nothing can equal that trip with Dick and Sally to the Orient!
My children grew up calling her “Aunt Sally.” She fulfilled that role well. Aunt Sally was our family and she was involve din our lives every day.
We loved Dick and Sally! We remember them with love and affection. They still mean the world to us.
Afton Alder
May 2020
Sally Stratford 