Vivian Carlson

Vivian A. Carlson, 104, of Dayton, Iowa, passed away on Thursday, December 7, 2017, at Grandview Health Care Center in Dayton. Funeral services will be held 2:00 p.m., Monday, December 11, 2017, at Emanuel Lutheran Church in Dayton. Pastor Russ Crouthamel will officiate. Visitation will be Sunday, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m., at Carson – Stapp Funeral Home in Dayton. Burial will be in the Dayton Cemetery. For online obituaries & condolences visit: www.carsonstappfuneralhome.com Vivian was born on September 11, 1913, on a farm 3 miles south of Dayton on Hwy 169. The farmstead was on the southwest corner of the intersection, but it has been gone for many years. Vivian was the daughter of Carl "Monnie" and Eva (Soder) Eklund. She had an older brother, Verl and two younger sisters, Inez and Marian. Her father died in a farm machinery accident when she was 5 years old. Later her mother married Bernard Bjornson and they had four children, so Vivian had three half-brothers and a half-sister, Melvin, Maurice, Harold and his twin Harriet. Vivian lived most of her life in Dayton, except for a few years in Nebraska after her father had died and for a short while in Laurens, Iowa, after her mother remarried. She attended and graduated from Dayton High School in 1931. On January 18, 1936, she married Joy Carlson in Dayton. He was an auto mechanic and eventually opened his own business at their home. They had two children, Diane (Esperson) of Dayton and Richard Carlson of Fort Dodge, and an adopted daughter Marilyn (Ferguson) of Dayton. Joy passed away suddenly of a heart attack in October of 1960 just a week after his 46th birthday. They would have celebrated 25 years of marriage the following January. Vivian has been a widow since then and lived in the Grandview Apts. from 1979 until 2008 when she moved to her current residence at Grandview Health Care Center. She is a member of the Emanuel Lutheran Church in Dayton. She was currently the oldest Dayton resident having celebrated her 104th birthday on September 11, 2017. Her parents, husband, and seven siblings preceded her in death. Survivors include her children, Diane Esperson, Richard Carlson, and Marilyn (Bryan) Ferguson; four grandchildren and five great grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews. Memorials may be left to the discretion of the family.