Iva Eileen Edmunson

Iva Eileen (Yensen) Edmunson, 97, died peacefully in her home on Sunday, August 9, 2020, of natural causes.
Iva was born April 7, 1923, in Collister, Idaho, to Chris and Hulda Yensen. When she just was a toddler, the family moved to Long Valley, where she grew up in McCall, Roseberry and Donnelly. One of her treasured childhood memories as an eight-year-old, was when she and her brother, Jack, carried all of the shakes up the ladder to help complete their family barn, which is still standing today. While in school, they also worked as the school janitor earning $2.50 a month, which she used toward the purchase of a guitar and music lessons. She graduated from McCall High School in 1941, where she excelled academically, played on the boys’ baseball team, snow skied, and rode horses. Like every other “true Finn,” she sat in a hot sauna with the older generation and she enjoyed a strong cup of coffee (later those daily hazelnut lattes).
Upon graduation, she went to Pocatello to train as a telegrapher and depot agent for the Union Pacific Railroad, mastering Morse Code as their means of communication. She worked for the railroad in Pocatello, Nampa, and then Harper where she met and married John Edmunson of Westfall, Oregon, in 1946. Their young married lives took them from Westfall to Prairie City, Oregon, to Star and later to Boise, where they built their family home and raised their three children.
During their 66 years of marriage, they enjoyed going to dances in their early years, attending PTA meetings in Star, tending to their family acreage, enjoying various church functions, RV camping and raising their children and grandchildren. She was employed by Star Elementary, Cole Elementary, and Fairmont Junior High as a lunchroom manager for over 20 years.
Throughout her lifetime she enjoyed going to church and learning about Jesus, snow skiing, huckleberrying, reading (later her “talking books”), sewing, cooking, hosting Pinochle parties, taking road trips with her Roadway Chapel family, sharing her precious memories with whomever would listen, and most especially spending time with her family. Her large, extended Yensen family has held their family reunions every summer for over 90 years. When she returned to Boise later in life, she rarely went any place in town without either being related to or knowing someone. She just never knew a stranger.
Surviving Iva are her son, Johnnie Chris Edmunson of Emmett, her daughters, Judy Pope and Susan Austin, both of Boise, six grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren: Amy and Mike Henry, their children Cian, Carter and Carly; Michael and Michelle Austin, their children Matthew, Sean, Gus and Jane; Summer Edmunson; Michele and James Gibson, their children Iva, Betty and Finn; Nathan and Amanda Pope, their children Matthew and Jonathan; and Maria Austin. She is also survived by her sister-in-law, Pauline Yensen, of McCall, Idaho. Iva was preceded in death by her loving husband, John, her brother, Jack Yensen, and her sister and brother-in-law, Ethel and Howard Koskella.
The family would like to extend gratitude to her longtime pastor and friend, Don Wilson, for his guidance, prayers and devotion while visiting her at home when she became unable to attend church. These weekly visits were a highlight for her, providing encouragement and peace about God’s plan for her life here on earth and later in heaven.
A viewing will be held at Cloverdale Funeral Home on Friday, August 14, 2020, from 5:30-7:00 pm. There will be a graveside service at Star Cemetery on Saturday, August 15, 2020, at 10:00 am.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in honor of Iva to Idaho Talking Book Service (https://libraries.idaho.gov/donations). Services are under the direction of Cloverdale Funeral Home