After a twelve year struggle, Evelyn Barron, 70, of Dayton, Iowa, succumbed to the ravages of breast cancer on Sunday, August 29, 2004, at Kavanagh Hospice House in Des Moines. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, September 3, 2004, at McGuire Bend Church in rural Dayton. A private family scattering of ashes will be held at a later date. Carson Funeral Home in Dayton is in charge of arrangements. Evelyn D. Dayton was born on September 27, 1933, in Iowa City, Iowa, the daughter of Thurman and Lottie (Davis) Dayton of rural Lehigh. She lived in several small towns in northern Iowa until 1944, when she was placed in the Lutheran Children's Friends' Society Orphanage in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She always claimed these as the happiest years of her life.
In 1948, she came to live with cousins Dorothy and Alvie Dutcher of rural Stratford. In 1950, she married Duane Kopp of rural Dayton. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in speech communication in 1972 from Iowa State University. She earned her Master of Arts degree in interpersonal and organizational communication in 1979 from the University of Northern Iowa. After working for two radio stations and two small companies, she became the Cooperative Education Coordinator at the University of Northern Iowa. In late 1990, she took early retirement from UNI and returned to her farm home in southwest Webster County between Dayton and Stratford. In semi-retirement she taught communication classes at Hawkeye Tech in Ellsworth; Des Moines Area Community College in Ames; and then ten years at Buena Vista in Fort Dodge. She served United Way of Fort Dodge as Director in 1995 and 1996. She is survived by four children, Mike Kopp, DeLayne Noble, Paula Youngdale, and Mark Kopp.
Copyright Des Moines Register, August 31, 2004, page 5A.