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Lois returned home after her year abroad, and with the Christmas season approaching, she and her brother, John, decided to drive to Sun Valley, Idaho, to ski. On the way, they stopped over in Salt Lake City and attended a Mormon fireside singles social event. Lois was introduced to Bryant Cannon, a handsome six-foot bachelor and a former University of Utah football star who worked for IBM. He was seven years older than Lois, and quite dapper. They talked and clicked.

Lois and her brother drove on to Sun Valley the next day, but the skiing conditions were poor, so they decided to return to Salt Lake. That night they had dinner at the home of Lois’s college friend Alice Creer. Lois was looking for someone to ski with the next day. During dinner, Bryant Cannon called Alice to confirm his date with her the following night. Alice mentioned that Lois was there, and suggested to Bryant that he take her skiing. Remembering Lois from the fireside singles event, he responded positively, possibly a bit too quickly for Alice’s liking.

Bryant picked up Lois and they skied all day together at Utah’s Alta resort. The snow glistened in the crisp winter air as they rode the chair lifts, talked, and swooshed down the hill. That night Bryant had the nerve to cancel his date with Alice and take Lois out instead. And Lois had the nerve to accept! Her friend Alice recognized that love was in the air and encouraged Lois to be cautious of this very popular Salt Lake bachelor. Disregarding the advice, Lois skied with Bryant the next two days as well. Already, their budding relationship was gathering momentum.

The following night was New Year’s Eve, and Bryant invited Lois to a party at the Fort Douglas Club. It was a gorgeous enchanting evening with mistletoe inside, and light snow falling outside as the couple danced their way out onto the porch balcony. Bryant looked at Lois adoringly and kissed her. Lois responded, and apparently bells rang for both of them. Bryant moved fast, as if he were running for a touchdown. “I think we should get married,” he said.

Amazingly, Lois found herself replying, “I think that would be perfect.”

As far as she was concerned, this was a match made in heaven. Although they had known each other for less than four days, she felt that Bryant was the man for her. He was handsome, physically appealing, highly intelligent, a great skier, and best of all, he came from one of the most prominent Mormon families in America.

They planned to marry in February, less than two months away, just in time to catch the boat to Europe for Bryant’s next assignment with IBM.

Lois and her family spent the short window of time preparing for the large wedding in Phoenix. The Cannon family arrived and everyone began to get acquainted, since few of them had met previously. Lois commented, “I am so happy to get married and raise a family, and I’m never going to teach school again.”

“Never?” Bryant asked. “What if we don’t have enough money and we need you to teach?”

“Oh, you have a good job,” Lois replied. “We’ll always have enough money.” Bryant’s concerns about money should have been a red flag to Lois, but, in the midst of her pre-wedding bliss, she ignored it.

Bryant’s brother, Mark Cannon, a Harvard Ph.D. who later developed a career as the administrative assistant to U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger, unwittingly provided keen insight into Bryant’s personality As he surveyed the Driggs family home, he remarked to Lois, “I guess your reputation is true. You are known as one of the richest and cutest girls in the church.”

Lois took Mark’s words as a compliment; she should have taken them as a warning.

Lois and Bryant were married in the Mormon church, though in their daily lifestyles neither of them adhered strictly to its religious standards. After a second reception in Salt Lake, they were off to Europe. Lois and Bryant remained married for twenty-seven years. For all that time, she was as happy as a lamb and never suspected that