Eva May (Jensen) TAYLOR

TAYLOR, JENSEN, NEWMAN, KNOWLES, HOLTAN, CUSTER

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 10/13/2010 at 11:21:25

March 8, 1922 -- September 11, 2010

MASON CITY - Eva May Taylor, 88, of Mason City, died Saturday (Sept. 11, 2010) while vacationing with her husband Gordon, near Lewistown, Mont. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m., Friday, Oct. 1, at the First United Methodist Church, 119 South Georgia, with the Rev. Jim Stiles officiating. Interment will be at Memorial Park Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 30, at Major Erickson Funeral Home, 111 N. Pennsylvania Ave.

Eva was born on March 8, 1922, in Klemme, the daughter of Martin and Laura Jensen. Martin and Laura were born in Copenhagen, Denmark, immigrating to America on their honeymoon. Eva lived in the Klemme area and attended Country School in Liberty Township. The family moved to Mitchell, where Eva graduated from High School in 1940. During World War II, Eva worked at the Charles City Oliver Plant and in Osage, at the Egg Plant, drying and shipping eggs for the military troops. Eva entered nurses training in 1946, at St. Joseph's Mercy Hospital in Mason City, graduating in June of 1948, as a registered nurse. Eva was united in marriage to Gordon E. Taylor on Sept. 26, 1948, at her family farm, west of Mitchell. Following their marriage, they lived on the Taylor farm near Swaledale. Eva was employed at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Mason City, along with working on the farm. The last years of her nursing career, she was working as a Public Health Nurse in Mason City. In 1957, the couple moved southeast of Mason City where they raised their two children, son, Mark and daughter, June. In 1974 they purchased the Reisch American School of Auctioneering, where Eva worked as a secretary along with her nursing career. After selling the World Wide College of Auctioneering in 1993, she continued being an important part of the business as a clerk at her husband's auctions and also working as general secretary in their office. Eva enjoyed nursing, crocheting, knitting, and gardening. Most of all, she enjoyed spending time with her two children and grandchildren. She was a member of the Methodist Church in Swaledale, Hanford Community Church, rural Mason City, and most recently, the First United Methodist Church of Mason City.

Left to cherish her memory is her husband of almost 62 years, Gordon E. Taylor of Mason City; son, Mark Taylor and his wife Martha of rural Mason City; daughter, June Newman and husband Mark of rural Garner; grandchildren, Travis Taylor and wife Kristina, Laura Knowles and husband Chris, April Holtan and husband Travis, John, Amber and Amanda Newman; great grandchildren, Emma, Lily and Calvin Holtan; brother, Elmer Jensen and wife Violet of Sterling, Ill.; sister-in-law, Mary Jensen of Mitchell; brothers-in-law, Howard and wife Elaine of Clear Lake, Donald and wife Betty of Mason City; sisters-in-law, Marilyn Custer and husband Warren of Hugo, Okla., Shirley Jo Taylor of Tucson, Ariz., and Margaret Taylor of Maderia Beach, Fla. She is also survived by many nieces, nephews, cousins, and several relatives from the Copenhagen, Denmark, area. Eva was preceded in death by her parents; her brother, Melvin Jensen; two brothers-in-law, Ralph Taylor and Wendell Taylor; and several aunts and uncles. Arrangements with Major Erickson Funeral Home & Crematory, 111 N. Pennsylvania Ave., Mason City.

Mason City Globe Gazette - Iowa
September 26, 2010