Eva West

Eva West April 27, 1913 - November 3, 2011

Waseca native Eva Melissa West, age 98, passed away Nov. 3, 2011, at the Medallion Retirement Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. A private family memorial service will be held. Melissa West was born April 27, 1913, in Eddy County, N.D., to Ralph L. and Elsie (Wardall) West. She lived on the family farm in North Dakota, then on her grandfather''s farm in Itasca County near Grand Rapids until 1918, when the family moved to Waseca, where her father practiced veterinary medicine. She was the valedictorian of the Waseca High School Class of 1930. She then enrolled at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, graduating in 1934 with both a bachelor''s degree and a master''s degree in education. She later studied at the Sorbonne in Paris, France, at the University of Mexico in Mexico City and at the University of Montreal in Canada. After receiving her degrees, she taught French and English at St. Mary''s Hall in Faribault for three years, the Rochester public schools for two years and at Lewis and Clark High School in Spokane, Wash., for several more years. In 1943, she moved to Washington, D.C., to do her part in the war effort. She did research for the National Security Agency until 1970, including spending a year on a military mission to Myanmar (then known as Burma) in the 1950s to learn the language. In 1970, she returned to Waseca to care for her aging parents. While there, she worked part-time at the LeSueur-Waseca Regional Library and was active in the local AAUW chapter and a book club. Shortly after her parents died, her brother Daniel was incapacitated by a stroke, so she cared for him for several years before he died as well. In 1987, she moved to Colorado Springs, to be closer to another brother, Leland. She cared about her family above all else. She is survived by her brother, Leland, and 12 nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her brothers James and Daniel and her sister Margaret "Peggy" Douglass, and one nephew. Memorials are preferred to the Waseca Area Foundation.