Virginia Tanner

She was born in St. Louis Mo. on October 25, 1925 to Paul and Bessie Yeater. During her childhood she lived in towns in Missouri and Indiana. She also lived on a small farm six miles south of Rolla, Missouri. She shared childhood memories of this farm with her family.

After graduating from high school in Millersberg, Indiana in 1943, she attended Washington University in St. Louis, later transferring to the University of Colorado at Boulder where she received a BA degree in 1947. She then enrolled at the University of Illinois (U of I) at the Urbana-Champaign campus where she was awarded a MS degree in Zoology in 1949.

She met William S. Tanner at the U of I in 1948 and married him on Aug. 27, 1949 in Oak Park Illinois. Virginia and William, both U of I graduates, moved to Corvallis, Oregon where William earned a MS degree from Oregon State College.

Virginia and William wanted to raise a family in the west. They lived in Denver, Colorado; Dugway, Utah; and Mehlville, Missouri before settling down in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1963. Virginia raised her children while she earned a certificate in library science at the University of Utah. She worked from 1966 to 1986 as a library cataloger at the Marriott Library. She vacationed with her family in national parks.

She retired to be a full-time grandma, homemaker and gardener. She loved people, family history research, corresponding with family members and reading great books. She was a faithful member of the LDS church. She made donations to organizations helping children, animals and Native Americans. She will be remembered for her kindness and optimism.

She is survived by her husband, William S. Tanner; their children, Deborah L. Tanner, Mark W. Tanner, and Christine J. Reese (husband Genal); their foster daughter Mary Lou (Joseph) Nellis; nine grandchildren, twenty great grandchildren; and her brother Max L. Yeater.

Funeral Arrangements by Wasatch Lawn Mortuary and interment in the Salt Lake City Cemetery. For online condolences, please visit www.wasatchlawn.com