Vera Mae (Primley) York, 05 Nov 1926 - 14 Jan 2020

YORK, PRIMLEY, SLAYMAKER, SCHMIDT, RHINEHART

Posted By: Sarah Witte (email)
Date: 1/23/2020 at 13:38:12

Vera Mae Primley York 93 of Marengo, formerly of Ladora, Iowa, passed away Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020 surrounded by family.

A celebration of Vera’s life will be help at the victor Methodist church on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 11:30 a.m., with a burial to be held at a later date.

Vera was born and raised in Ladora, where her parents (Alford & Nellie Slaymaker Primley) were farmers. She went to a country school, Honey Creek No. 4, where her 4 siblings and she would pump water from a pump for drinking water. She was proud to have acquired this pump in later years, where she restored it and it sat regally in her yard where she could admire it daily from her “bug house”.

A young Harlan York caught her eye at a very young age. She told of watching him out the window of her playroom in the barn, while he worked in the field. She carved the initials V.P. + H. Y. in the wood and had no idea that would be the story of her life.

She married her childhood sweetheart, Harlan, on Oct. 30, 1946 and the couple built a life and family with 5 children, Dick, Peg, Pat, Harley and Amy, that were her prides and joy. The couple loved to travel the country to enjoy new experiences which she recalled vividly until the end. During their marriage they loved to go dancing, socialize and play cards with friends, play bingo and gamble, and start new endeavors, such as owning and operating a Maidrite and building York Storage in Ladora.

During her child-rearing years and beyond, Vera could often be found in the kitchen. She was an excellent cook and would even sell her pies to the restaurant in town. Vera had several jobs during her lifetime and has great memories from all. She worked at Amana Refrigeration, Marengo Memorial Hospital as a cook, Pioneer and the Ladora Stora, to name a few.

Once retired, Harlan and Vera loved to spend their time on the go. They would go for daily drives to look for animals or in their words, “go deer hunting”. They also loved to garden and had a yard full of beautiful flowers and a passion for feeding the birds in their yard. They had legions of birds that knew their routine of feeding and would reward them by visiting them daily so they could enjoy their beauty.

After Harlan passed in 2009, Vera moved to Marengo where she continued to socialize with her friends, baking and cooking for them, and always offering loving words and encouragement. When she felt she needed more assistance, she made the choice to move to RoseHaven Nursing Home where she continued to make friends with both residents and staff and to reconnect with people she had known from her youth.

Vera stayed very active until she went to be reunited with the love of her life, her husband. You would often find her watching her beloved Hawkeyes, coloring in her books that she dispersed to family and friends, or enjoying a sweet treat. She was proud to have been the oldest living person from Ladora and was honored by being chosen to be the Grand Marshall of the sesquicentennial in 2018, and also was interviewed by KRNA, the local rock station that was there broadcasting.

Recently, she was interviewed for a piece about High Schools in Iowa that have closed, and because of her impeccable memory, she was able to recount the name of the contractors that built the school along with the names of the workers who her mother fed for lunch each day.

Vera took great pride in her appearance and loved to dress in beautiful colors, one being her favorite lilac, and would always have co-coordinating jewelry. She was lovingly referred to as the Energizer Bunny because she had bounced back from many health issues and adversities, especially in the last few years (she broke the record at St. Luke’s ICU for lowest potassium lever ever).

She loved her family fiercely and leaves them with a legacy of love, laughter, compassion and the advice to live life to its fullest. She encouraged them to travel and experience the world while you can, because her stories and memories were what she held dear til the end. She will be missed terribly by her family and also her RH family, but we are comforted and confident she is gloriously celebrating with her husband and other loved ones in Heaven.

She is survived by her son Richard (Dick) York (Suzette), Peg Schmidt (Merle), Pat Rhinehart, James (Harley) York (Julie), and Amy York (Scott). She was blessed with 11 Grandchildren, 18 great grandchildren, 1 great-great granddaughter and several nieces and nephews.

Published in The Hometown Current 22 January 2020