By CHARLENE PAUL
Moapa Valley Progress
Retired school teacher and longtime Overton resident, Ora Mae May has been chosen as the Grand Marshall for this year’s Moapa Valley High School Homecoming Parade which takes place Wednesday, October 16 at the high school at 5:00 pm.
“When they asked me, I asked them ‘Why?’,” said Ora Mae in an interview last week. “I couldn’t figure out why they would choose me.”
But all it takes is a look back on Ora Mae’s life to know exactly why she was chosen.
Born in Delta, Utah on January 11, 1929; nine months before the stock market crash that started the Great Depression; Ora Mae was the youngest of eight children Her father was a dairy creamery manager and she said she never knew they were poor.
As a teenager, Ora Mae loved music and loved to dance, especially with Richard May, her favorite partner. Richard served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints beginning in January 1949. Ora Mae also served a mission for the Church, and returned just before Richard. They were married in the Salt Lake Temple in March 1951.
The Mays raised nine children.While their family was young, they lived in Sutherland, Delta, Lake Shore, and Cedar City, Utah; and Fredonia, Tucson, and Flagstaff, Arizona before settling in Overton, Nevada.
Ora Mae became known as the bread lady. She baked countless loaves of bread to support her growing family, as well as her missionaries. She also shared her loaves with friends and neighbors.
Richard continued his schooling taught elementary school and special education at the high school. He served on the Water Board, Town Board, and as a 4-H leader. While working at a swimming pool one summer, he suffered serious injuries to his lungs after an accident with chemical gasses. He died unexpectedly at their home in 1980.
After Richard’s death, Ora Mae returned to school and received her Bachelor’s degree from Southern Utah State College and her Master’s degree from Northern Arizona University. She taught fifth grade at Grant M. Bowler Elementary School for nineteen years. She made over 500 of her famous candy trains to give to her students who read at least 5,000 pages.
“I loved the kids,” she said. “I wanted them to succeed. I expected a lot of them. I told them if they could read and do math, they could do anything.”
When Ora Mae saw the need for a music teacher at Bowler Elementary, she decided to exchange textbooks for music books. She taught music at the school for the next two years before retiring at age 73.
Living across the road from what is now Lyon Middle School afforded Ora Mae many opportunities to serve. “Sometimes the kids would forget their lunches,” she said. “But they knew I always had bread and milk, so they would come over for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. One day, I fed the football team a breakfast of hash browns and eggs. They won that night. So, that became a bit of a tradition.”
For years during the holiday season, Ora Mae made more than a hundred-dozen donuts for the lucky residents of Moapa Valley. “Ora Mae’s donuts were some of the best you’d ever taste,” said Dick Clark, a childhood friend. “They were better than anything you’d find in any bakery.”
After her retirement, Ora Mae served a mission for her church in Nauvoo, Illinois. “I worked hard, but it was a wonderful time,” she said.
She played the xylophone every night, sometimes in multiple performances. She was even given her own parking spot so she could be at all of her shows. She celebrated her 80th birthday while on her mission, and eight of her nine children flew out to surprise her.
Never one to stand still long, Ora Mae has traveled extensively, visiting places such as Tahiti, Austria, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, England, Switzerland, Holland, Brazil, China, and Hawaii.
Ora Mae is the mother of nine children and their spouses, grandmother of 91, and great-grandmother of 126. “My oldest grandchild just graduated from high school,” she said. She still sends each one of them a birthday card with a two-dollar bill in it every year.
Ora Mae’s smile and love of life, family, and friends is contagious. It only takes a few minutes of speaking with her before her enthusiasm spills over. Even at the age of ninety years, she sees the joy life has to offer.
“The valley’s been good to me,” she said. “People are so kind. Everything I did, I loved it.”
Still, she admits to getting a little down once in awhile. “When I get to feeling sad or blue, I bake a batch of bread to take to friends and others,” she said. “It boosts me.”
Ora Mae May still might not quite understand why she was chosen as this year’s MVHS Homecoming Grand Marshall. But anyone who has received one of her candy trains, loaves of bread, game-day breakfasts, world-class donuts, or dazzling smiles can tell you exactly why she was chosen.
Ora Mae is a gift to Moapa Valley. She is loved as she loves. She is a precious gem in the Pirate treasure chest. Thanks for everything, Ora Mae.
