Edna Marietta Foran Obituary

Edna Marietta Foran, 99, of Grinnell died November 6, 2012, at St. Francis Manor in Grinnell.

Funeral services are scheduled for 10:00 a.m. Saturday, November 10, at the Smith Funeral Home in Grinnell with Pastor Brian Carter of Des Moines officiating. Pallbearers will be Walter Bond, Jr., Bryan Davis, Randy Ervin, Scott Gruhn, Larry Hoch and Norm Reinier. Honorary bearers will be Andrew Bond, D.J. Davis, Dave Dayton, Lance Little and Allen Patterson. Burial will be in Ivy Hill Cemetery in Malcom.

Visitation with the family present will be held from 6:00 to 8:00 Friday evening at the funeral home.

Memorial contributions may be directed to the Edna M. Foran Memorial Fund or to PALS in Grinnell.

Edna was born August 31, 1913, in Cincinnati, Iowa. She was the 4th youngest of 14 children of Harry and Lydia Stinston Foran. She was raised in Cincinnati and attended school there where she played basketball and sang in both the school and church choirs.

On July 26, 1930, she was united in marriage to John Ervin, in Laurel. The couple had seven children together and she enjoyed having other children around which she helped raise. She was a homemaker and helped with the farm work. She enjoyed sewing, quilting, making clothes, harvest time and caring for her animals. She loved animals, especially sheep and dogs. She always had a dog in the house and passed her love of dogs on to her family.

Later in life, Edna began a career in nursing, which she was very compassionate about. She was employed in the Emergency Room at Grinnell General Hospital and later at Mercy and Osteopathic Hospitals in Davenport. She also worked in several nursing homes. She always felt nurses and aids deserved respect for all the hard work they put in.

Edna leaves behind four children, Jeraldine Bond of Malcom, Richard "Red" (Darlene) Ervin and Arthur "Rusty" (Luvica "Vicky") Ervin of Tama, and Mary "Maddy" Ervin of Grinnell; one son-in-law, Earl Davis of Malcom; 10 grandchildren; 27 great-grandchildren; 22 great-great-grandchildren; and many friends from St. Francis Manor. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; one son in infancy; two daughters, Eleanor "Sissy" Davis and Nyta Lemke; two son-in-laws, Albert Lemke and Walter Bond; 13 siblings; and a special friend, Marion "Cotton" Gibson.