Myrtle Adams Taft
Myrtle Adams Taft had a happy childhood and a happy marriage.
Mrs. Taft died Monday, Oct. 31, 2011. She was 93.
She was born in Lunenburg County, Va., on August 8, 1918. Her parents had the biggest tobacco farm in the county. As one of eight girls in a row, she grew up helping her parents with household chores and farm work, picking black cherries, making ice cream, growing peach trees and corn, harvesting tobacco and wheat and even slaughtering hogs.
She collected memories of her childhood in her 2000 book titled "Recollections: My Childhood On The Farm, 1923-1939." She wrote with gentle and sweet emotions about her early school years, her life on the 600-acre farm and her time with her parents and siblings.
She and her husband, William Taft, late professor at the Missouri School of Journalism, married in 1941.
"My mom wasn't so sure whether she should marry my dad. She liked him, but there was a big difference in their education. My dad was a Ph.D, and my mom only had one year of college. Then my mom's father said, 'Why not? Go ahead and marry him. He has book learning and you have common sense.'," Bill Taft, son of Myrtle Taft, said.
The marriage, about which Mrs. Taft was hesitant at first, lasted 70 years. She loved her husband and supported his work all her life.
In their early days, when William Taft held more than one job, Mrs. Taft stayed at home, took care of the kids and did all the housework.
"Sometimes Dad would wash dishes when Mom cooked. We kids helped them dry dishes or clean the table," Bill Taft said.
In 2008, William Taft wrote a book about his wife called "Created in Heaven: A Love Story."
In their later years, the couple enjoyed traveling together. They went to Turkey, Mexico, Denmark, Italy and other countries. They particularly loved historical sites and musicals.
Mrs. Taft was fond of making crafts. She made gifts for her children and friends on Halloween and Christmas. She made gingerbread houses and beautiful cans to decorate Christmas trees.
She was active at Missouri United Methodist Church, delivered flowers to shut-ins and homebound people, took part in her church circle and taught Sunday school for decades. She had arthritis, so she joined the Missouri Arthritis Advisory Board to make a contribution.
David Jones, parish visitor of Missouri United Methodist Church, knew Mrs. Taft since his teenage years.
"She was a wonderful lady," Jones said.
Mrs. Taft is survived by her children, Marie (Taft) Margolin and her husband, Chris, Bill Taft and his wife, Chris, and Alice Taft and her husband, Charles Fisher; grandchildren, Linda Medina and her husband, Michael, Larry Taft and his wife, Trina, Michael Taft and his wife, Bory, and Mathew Margolin; great-grandchildren, Emily, Hannah, Marielle and Christian; and siblings, Rebecca Price, Helen Nolte and her husband, Frank, Lois Julian, James W. Adams Jr., George Adams and his wife, Flossie, Horace Adams and his wife, Pat, and Howard Adams and wife, Janis.
Services will be 1 p.m. Saturday at Missouri United Methodist Church, 204 S Ninth St. Visitation will follow.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Arthritis Foundation, 9433 Olive Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63132 or to info.emo@arthritis.org. The Caring Ministries program at the church will also accept donations.
Online condolences may be left at parkerfuneralservice.com.
