Edith Tielman is a hostess at Maddox Ranch House in Perry, Box Elder County. She is a stately, elegant woman who brings dignity to her duties.
Tall, European, with a clipped Asian accent, she has obviously lived more than a run-of-the-mill life.People in Box Elder County would be intrigued to learn, for instance, that Edith was born to Dutch parents in Indonesia.
But they'd be shocked to learn that this kind, cultured soul was once a prisoner of war.
In Indonesia, her family had servants and lived well. They were a military family. And Edith met her military husband when she ordered a cake from his cake-making family.
"He was so polite," she says today. "He was only 19, but he was a real gentleman."
That was enough to win her over.
During World War II, however, the Japanese troops did not take politeness into consideration. They threw Edith and husband into prison on the the Island of Java.
Edith spent a week there for "giving my brother-in-law some candy and fruit."
The experience changed her life.
She was kicked ("My kidneys have never been the same") and verbally abused. She grew very ill.
Her polite husband fared even worse, however.
He spent 4 1/2 years as a prisoner of war, building the Burma railroad and doing forced labor on the famed bridge on the River Kwai.
Edith is convinced the experience shortened his life.
Today, when the memories return, so do the tears.
"The Japanese government has never made any reparations to us," she said. "And there are no records of what they did."
But getting out of Java was only half of the Edith Tielman story.
The other half involves the Tielmans getting to northern Utah.
After the war the couple ended up in Holland and began looking for ways to understand their ordeal and find a way to embrace life again.
Edith turned to religion.
"I wanted to go to church," says Edith, "but couldn't decide which way to go, Catholic or Protestant. I wrote to a reverend in Indonesia. I sent two cards. After I sent the second card, two Mormon missionaries came to the door. They were so polite. They reminded me of my husband when I first met him."
The rest of the story is easy to guess.
The Tielmans came to Utah and began raising a family.
Last year, Edith returned to Holland for a visit and found the memories to be sweet and stark.
Back in the United States, at age 74, she decided to come out of retirement go to work once again at Maddox.
The reason?
"There was a Chinese rug I wanted to buy," she says.
Edith Tielman has gained and given up much in her life.
But there are two things that could never be taken from her:
Her character.
And her class.