Iris Marvel Corcoran Update

It always pays to cross check. I decided to do an idle check for Iris on Ancestry.com. A family record was added for her that indicates the following:

Marriage #1 = Albert Owen Bates (Children: Glowrene, Jacqueline, and William)
Marriage #2 = Eldred Floyd Charley 30 May 1950 in Reno, Washoe County, NV (Children: Curtis and Kevin)

So that solves the mystery of why Iris would have been in Hawaii without Eldred.

The family record at Ancestry includes a lovely photograph of Iris as a young woman.

Iris Marvel (Corcoran) Charley, 1917-2011, California and Oregon

I have a number of outstanding McKee-related requests for lots of stuff from lots of different places. The Rogue Valley Genealogical Society recently fulfill one of my picture requests at Find A Grave. I was looking for a picture of Glowrene Dee (Charley) Gwin's grave site. On a whim, I checked to see who else was buried in the cemetery. Glowrene's parents Eldred Floyd Charley and Iris Marvel Corcoran Charley are in the same cemetery. The memorial for Eldred is complete; however, Iris was outstanding. Since she was born in 1917 and had no date of death, I decided to google her name and her obituary turned up in the Mail Tribune, Medford, Oregon, 19 Nov 2011.

"GG" (for great grandmother) was the name that Iris preferred. GG's obituary starts with a description of an iris: "The iris flower means faith, hope, wisdom, courage and admiration and is the perfect match for the life of Iris Charley."

The obituary notes that her parents were William and Fern Corcoran. Iris was their oldest child. The family starts out in Sacramento where Iris was born. The Corcoran family moved to Medford in 1930. According to the obituary, Iris was an early driver. At age 12, she drove her father to the doctor when he was suffering a case of appendicitis. At age 13, Iris drove the second car behind her father as the family moved from California to Oregon.

Iris attended school at the Butte Falls School District. During the depression, families with children in the school received a small subsidy. In the case of the Corcoran family, they received $20 for Iris and her sister Carol. Iris eventually graduated from the two-year old South Medford (Central) High School.

I don't have a marriage date for her but sometime between her graduation and 1937, she married Eldred Floyd Charley. Eldred and Iris had the first of five children 12 Dec 1937. The couple had the following children: Glowrene, Jacqueline, Loyal, Curtis, and Kevin.

Early in her marriage--the obituary doesn't say why--Iris had a front row seat on history.
"On December 7, 1941, she was a witness to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. She was living on a hill overlooking the Navy base, and she told stories of being able to see "the whites of the eyes" of the Japanese pilots as they flew above her house before sweeping down on the harbor. After the attacks Iris, while pregnant with her first son, Bill, and her two daughters, Jacque and Glo, were relocated to the mainland in transport ships under the escort of Navy destroyers. During the voyage, Iris could hear the depth charges as the Navy responded to sightings of Japanese submarines."

In addition to their five children, Iris and Eldred raised foster children--over 100 boys, many of whom stayed in touch over the years.

Eldred preceded Iris in death (FAG 59794431) as did her daughter Glowrene (FAG 68915736). All of Iris' remaining children survive along with their spouses and 16 grandchildren, 35 great-grandchildren, and 10 great-great-grandchildren. The obituary lists them by name.

According to her obituary, Iris kept abreast of the event, trials, and triumphs of each of her descendants. She made a point of making sure that all 94 people in her family received a Christmas gift. Iris was treasured for her unconditional love. The obituary reports that among her last words were "I had a beautiful life."  

You can find Iris on Find A Grave at memorial 59794432.



See update for more information. Iris was married twice.

Edna Irene (Woodside) Monia, 1876-1956, Illinois to Nebraska to California to Oregon

Medford Mail Tribune, 23 May 1956, Page 15

MRS. EDNA MONIA

Funeral services for Mrs. Edna Monia, 80, who died Monday in Jacksonville, will be held in Conger-Morris chapel at 1 p.m. Thursday. The Rev. William Piper of the First Christion church will officiate. Committal will be in Brownsboro cemetery.

Mrs. Monia was born Feb 4, 1876, in Coulterville, Ill. In 1898 at Guide Rock, Neb., she was married to Jacob Monia, who preceded her in death in 1926. She was a member of the First Christian church.

Survivors include two sons, Clarence Monia, Medford, and Bill Monia, Central Point; three daughters, Mrs. Mary Charley, Central Point, Mrs. Velda Dahlke, Medford, and Mrs. Donna Charley, Crescent City, Calif.; one brother, Albert Woodside, San Bernardino, Calif.; 17 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. Another son, Ivan Monia, preceded her in death.

The details that get included in an obituary vary based on the time, location, and newspaper. They can also vary based on who provides the information. Here are the vitals on Edna and her family.

Edna Irene Woodside d/o James Martin Woodside and Mary Agnes Campbell
b. 4 Feb 1876 Coulterville, Randolph County, Illinois
d. 21 May 1956 Medford, Jackson County, Oregon
m. 27 Apr 1899 Red Cloud, Webster County, Nebraska
Jacob Monia Jr.
b. 1 May 1857 Berne, Switzerland
d. 6 Apr 1926 Medford, Jackson County, Oregon

Child 1:
Mary Estella Monia
b. 3 Mar 1900 Guide Rock, Webster County, Nebraska
d. 6 Aug 1982 Central Point, Jackson County, Oregon
m. 23 Oct 1917 Roseburg, Douglas County, Oregon
Floyd Sharpe Charley
b. 30 Apr 1892 Brownsboro, Jackson County, Oregon
d. 10 Oct 1965 Central Point, Jackson County, Oregon

Child 2:
Clarence Vernon Monia
b. 5 Nov 1901 Beaver Creek, Webster County, Nebraska
d. 5 Sep 1967 Medford, Jackson County, Oregon
m. 22 Jun 1930 probably in Oregon but have no proof
Dorothy Eleanor Wilhite
b. 1912 Oregon...need complete info
d. Don't know where or when...Can you help?

Child 3:
Ivan Russell Monia
b. 18 Jan 1904 Beaver Creek, Webster County, Nebraska
d. 20 Jan 1919 Brownsboro, Jackson County, Oregon

Child 4:
Velda Evelyn Monia
b. 17 Aug 1906 Guide Rock, Webster County, Nebraska
d. 29 apr 1992 Medford, Jackson County, Oregon
m. 1926...need complete info
Henry Frank Dahlke
b. 2 Aug 1899 Hokkah, Houston county, Minnesota
d. 31 Dec 1962 Medford, Jackson County, Oregon

Child 5:
Eldred Eugene Monia
b. 28 Feb 1910 Long Beach, Los Angeles County, California
d. 8 Sep 1982 Central Point, Jackson County, Oregon
m. 9 Dec 1936 Medford, Jackson County, Oregon
Opal Adell Charley
b. 17 Feb 1919 Climax, Jackson County, Oregon
d. Don't know where or when. Can you help?

Child 6:
Donna Lucille Monia
b. 2 Dec 1914 Eagle Point, Jackson County, Oregon
d. 15 Dec 2007 Central Point, Jackson County, Oregon
m. 27 Dec 1935 Medford, Jackson County, Oregon
Lincoln Stanford Charley
b. 27 Dec 1914 Climax, Jackson County, Oregon
d. 27 Dec 2008 Medford, Jackson County, Oregon

I'll write more about this family...there's lots to write about...they are an interesting ranching family with deep roots in Jackson County, Oregon.