Viola A, Calvin

  Viola Augusta (Jackson) Calvin, 93 years young, of Bryan, Ohio, passed away or "simply ran out of steam" as she would say, at 9:55 P.M. on Saturday, April 26, 2014, at Genesis HealthCare, Bryan, surrounded by her family, after a brief illness. Born on October 8, 1920, in Cleveland, Ohio, the daughter of Charles Phillip and Mary Alice (Bowman) Jackson, she grew up and played around Hinckley, Ohio. While flying kites with her brother, Chub, and his girlfriend, Jenny, she met her husband to be, Ralph Calvin, and they all decided to run off and get married on June 21, 1946, in Perryville, Maryland. She graduated 6th in the 1938 class of Montpelier High School. "Vi" enjoyed skating, accordion, sewing, crocheting, canning, square dancing, traveling, camping, fishing and playing dulcimer with her friends. She worked at Morris Dime Store in 1939 for $12.50 per week, at Ryerson Steel in 1943, then attended Aircraft Training School, in Detroit, Michigan, and went on to work as a "Rosie" the Riveter for $1.20 per hour in a wartime factory. She then became a devoted farm wife and mother, worked at Beam Stream and retired from Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service office in 1987 with twenty years of service. After World War II, Vi and Ralph tackled dairy farming in 1950 and had the first Grade A milk parlor set-up in Williams County near Bryan. Together they farmed 300 acres and were very active in the farming community. Their most rewarding challenge was being foster parents to many children. She told many stories of lessons of tough love, funny times, and ornery tricks her kids played on each other while raising children, nieces and nephews on a busy farm. They loved nature trips, being outdoors, and teaching all to swim and fish at their favorite family vacation camping site, Huyck’s Lake. With their spirit of adventure, Vi and Ralph traveled to many states, but their favorite past time was camping and playing dulcimers with friends on the log cabin porches of Mt. View, Arkansas. She was a 4-H Club leader for five years and was an active member of West Bethesda Church from the age of twelve, where she played piano, was a secretary of NARFE Chapter 1136, and a member of the Fountain City Squares. Teaching the dulcimer was a passion of hers and in 1994 she was the founding member of the Top of Ohio Dulcimer Friends, which spent close to twenty years practicing in her basement. The group became famous "in these parts!" Vi also was a hospice volunteer in the 1990s and enjoyed knitting preemie baby hats, mittens, and blankets for the "Stitches from the Heart" charity. Survivors include three adopted daughters, Cathy (Jim) Clark, Nancy (Joel) Bryce and Clara Woods, all of Bryan; ten grandchildren; numerous great- and great-great-grandchildren; and nephews and nieces. She was preceded in death by her husband, Ralph, on December 26, 1992, two half brothers, Del and Charles (Skeeter) Jackson, one half sister, Mabel Jackson, her brother, Herbert (Chub), and her sister-in-law, Jenny Jackson. Services will be held on Thursday, May 1, 2014, at 5:00 P.M. in the Krill Funeral Home, 860 West Mulberry Street, Bryan, with Pastor Tawree Laryman officiating. Visitation will be held prior to the service, beginning at 2:00 P.M., in the funeral home. Private interment will take place in West Bethesda Cemetery. The family wishes to say thank you to the staff of Community Health Professionals Hospice, Genesis HealthCare of Bryan, Krill Funeral Service and West Bethesda Church. Memorial contributions are requested to Community Health Professionals Hospice or West Bethesda Church , Montpelier, Ohio.