Historic photos of President Kennedy's visit to Salt Lake City on Sept. 26-27, 1963, published in the Deseret Morning News this past Sept. 22, sparked a memory for Rebecca C. Petersen, 82, Sugar House, who stood in front of the former Hotel Utah and snapped a quick shot of the president.
"I was standing on the corner of North Temple and Main Street on the west side of the hotel (present-day Joseph Smith Building) and was lucky to get that picture," Petersen said.
Just as she put her camera to her eye, the president turned in her direction and waved to her. Petersen said she was virtually alone on the corner with her two sons, Glenn, 9, and Curtis, 12.
"Glenn reached out and touched the president's limousine and a nearby cop said, 'I saw what you did."'
Petersen said she was able to take her two youngest sons out of school to see Kennedy, but her late husband, a schoolteacher, made the two oldest boys stay in school.