Viola Meyer Eden

Viola Meyer Eden was born Sept. 24, 1932, to Pete and Emma (Alberts) Meyer, the first of five children, near Davis, South Dakota.

Having attended Middleton Township District No. 23, a one-room school, for the first eight years, she graduated from Hurley High School in 1950. Viola attended Northwestern Jr. College in Orange City, Iowa, earning a teaching certificate for rural schools in SD. After teaching for three years, she attended Black Hills Teachers College in Spearfish, South Dakota, before transferring to Seattle Pacific University (then Seattle Pacific College) from which she graduated in 1956 with a BA in education. She taught in Glenora, Spangle, Lind, Rockford and Freeman, Washington schools from 1956 to 1982.

Viola married Loren Eden on June 6, 1959, at Menno Mennonite Church where she was baptized as an adult and became a member. Viola followed Loren as he farmed in the Lind area and then settled near Valleyford, where she assisted him with numerous farming procedures during vacations from teaching. They enjoyed learning to know school staff families wherever Viola taught, and supported missionaries financially and with letters.

After retiring from teaching, Viola was active in Pacific Northwest Association of Church Librarians working at Valley Fourth Memorial Church Library and Resource Room. Becoming a widow in 1996 after 37 years with Loren, she was instrumental in starting a ministry to widows, The Widow’s Might, which offers a time of fellowship and an encouraging educational feature helpful to widows.

The loneliness of widowhood led Viola to enjoy a short marriage to Bob Kidder, a widower and former school custodian, from Dec. 17, 2002, to June 13, 2003, when a heart attack caused his death. In 2007 Viola and Joe Goodman, a widower and retired missionary, were married to share seven years of companionship during which time she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Joe passed away May 7, 2014. For nine years until her death, Viola was well cared for at Guardian Angel Homes in Liberty Lake, Washington.

Viola enjoyed sewing, crafts, gardening, scrapbooking, snowmobiling, softball, reading, traveling, and riddles. Most recently, she entertained young and old alike by asking riddles from her own spiral-bound riddle book!

Viola was preceded in death by her parents, sister Joan Meyer, brother Peter Meyer, Jr., and each of her husbands. She is survived by brothers Robert (Florene) Meyer and Stanley (Sharon) Meyer; nieces Pam (Terry) Plimpton, Dawn (Dale) Froese and Faith (Steve) Penner; nephew Reed Meyer; two great-nieces, two great-nephews, a great-great-niece and a great-great-nephew.

A private burial took place at Menno Mennonite Cemetery on June 9. A service celebrating Viola’s life will be held at Menno Mennonite Church, 1378 N. Damon Road, Ritzville. Washington, on July 1, 2023, at 3 p.m. Service will be available via livestream at mennomennonite.org/eden.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Widows Might, Inc., PO Box 14051, Spokane Valley, WA 99214; or Union Gospel Mission, 1224 E. Trent Ave., Spokane, WA 99220.

Please express your thoughts and memories at www.kayserschapel.com. Arrangements are under the care of Kayser’s Chapel of Memories of Moses Lake, Washington.