things,â said one relative. âThat was just Ana, a sweet girl.â
The family began as Catholics, but over the years Trina converted to Jehovahâs Witness, a devout religion that takes exception to mainstream practices, including blood transfusions for the sick or injured and celebrating holidays such as birthdays, Easter, and Christmas, arguing that they have pagan roots. Particularly known for their dedication to active evangelism, members circulate through neighborhoods, house to house, ringing doorbells to hand out literature and share their faith.
Over those early years, Trina began as a hotel cleaning lady, eventually earning a management slot at a Travelodge. Later, she held a series of positions at the Wally Door factory, progressing from stacking wood to running a finger joiner machine that processed twelve pieces a minute. Ultimately, her industriousness led to the title of quality-control manager.
At the door factory, Trina met the foreman, Russell Gene Tharp, an exânavy man whoâd gone to Chico State College in California and once worked as an installing engineer for Georgia Pacific. Also a Jehovahâs Witness, Gene, too, was raising four children. In Trina, he found a good match. An upright woman who made a good impression, she shared his faith and his family values. He admired that despite their modest means, Trina and her children were clean and well dressed, the house orderly.
Gene and Trina married when Ana was eleven, and from that point on she, along with Geneâs oldest, cared for the six younger children. âThere were four brown kids and four white kids,â said a family friend. âGene and Trina worked, and Ana was like a little mother, watching over them. Very loving. They all called her âSissy.ââ
Even then, as a child growing up in a recently blended family, one where the parents had to work long hours to support their young, Ana seemed somehow to be looking for more in life. From the beginning, friends wouldremember how she loved expensive things. âAna wanted what she couldnât afford,â said a relative. âEven when she had no money, Ana found a way to dress well. And in that small town, she took risks, wearing things the other girls wouldnât.â On the playground, Ana stopped and polished her patent leather shoes or fixed her hair bow, not wanting to have anything out of place. Far from a tomboy, yet strongly built, she disdained being dirty.
After their marriage, Trinaâs children all called Gene, âDad.â Their own father absent in their lives, they took to their stepfather. It might have helped that their mother was the disciplinarian and Gene the parent who more often agreed to their requests. In many ways, Ana was a good daughter, but despite her parentsâ devotion to their faith, Ana rejected their beliefs. âEven as a child, she didnât want to go to church,â said a relative. âShe refused, and she resented her parentsâ religious practices.â
By middle school, Ana was an outgoing young girl, one who exuded energy and, despite her trials, happiness. With her bright smile, she was beautiful. In high school, she was voted best dressed and most popular. There was something else about Ana that would resonate decades later. From childhood on, Ana showed an intense interest in a world she couldnât see. As a child, she played with a Ouija board in the house, despite her motherâs objections. Ana appeared fascinated by the possibility that there was a way to communicate with spirits.
Yet day to day, it was the physical world, occasionally unfair and too often painful, that surrounded her. Over the years, the Tharps moved their family to Cleveland, Texas, and to Orange County, California. While in California, Ana would later say she felt the sting of prejudice. In response, Trina sent Ana back to the Phoenix area to finish high school.
As she moved into adulthood,
The family began as Catholics, but over the years Trina converted to Jehovahâs Witness, a devout religion that takes exception to mainstream practices, including blood transfusions for the sick or injured and celebrating holidays such as birthdays, Easter, and Christmas, arguing that they have pagan roots. Particularly known for their dedication to active evangelism, members circulate through neighborhoods, house to house, ringing doorbells to hand out literature and share their faith.
Over those early years, Trina began as a hotel cleaning lady, eventually earning a management slot at a Travelodge. Later, she held a series of positions at the Wally Door factory, progressing from stacking wood to running a finger joiner machine that processed twelve pieces a minute. Ultimately, her industriousness led to the title of quality-control manager.
At the door factory, Trina met the foreman, Russell Gene Tharp, an exânavy man whoâd gone to Chico State College in California and once worked as an installing engineer for Georgia Pacific. Also a Jehovahâs Witness, Gene, too, was raising four children. In Trina, he found a good match. An upright woman who made a good impression, she shared his faith and his family values. He admired that despite their modest means, Trina and her children were clean and well dressed, the house orderly.
Gene and Trina married when Ana was eleven, and from that point on she, along with Geneâs oldest, cared for the six younger children. âThere were four brown kids and four white kids,â said a family friend. âGene and Trina worked, and Ana was like a little mother, watching over them. Very loving. They all called her âSissy.ââ
Even then, as a child growing up in a recently blended family, one where the parents had to work long hours to support their young, Ana seemed somehow to be looking for more in life. From the beginning, friends wouldremember how she loved expensive things. âAna wanted what she couldnât afford,â said a relative. âEven when she had no money, Ana found a way to dress well. And in that small town, she took risks, wearing things the other girls wouldnât.â On the playground, Ana stopped and polished her patent leather shoes or fixed her hair bow, not wanting to have anything out of place. Far from a tomboy, yet strongly built, she disdained being dirty.
After their marriage, Trinaâs children all called Gene, âDad.â Their own father absent in their lives, they took to their stepfather. It might have helped that their mother was the disciplinarian and Gene the parent who more often agreed to their requests. In many ways, Ana was a good daughter, but despite her parentsâ devotion to their faith, Ana rejected their beliefs. âEven as a child, she didnât want to go to church,â said a relative. âShe refused, and she resented her parentsâ religious practices.â
By middle school, Ana was an outgoing young girl, one who exuded energy and, despite her trials, happiness. With her bright smile, she was beautiful. In high school, she was voted best dressed and most popular. There was something else about Ana that would resonate decades later. From childhood on, Ana showed an intense interest in a world she couldnât see. As a child, she played with a Ouija board in the house, despite her motherâs objections. Ana appeared fascinated by the possibility that there was a way to communicate with spirits.
Yet day to day, it was the physical world, occasionally unfair and too often painful, that surrounded her. Over the years, the Tharps moved their family to Cleveland, Texas, and to Orange County, California. While in California, Ana would later say she felt the sting of prejudice. In response, Trina sent Ana back to the Phoenix area to finish high school.
As she moved into adulthood,
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