EVA “HOLLY’ TAFT (nee Giesbrecht)
May 16, 1931 – November 26, 2024
Eva (or “Holly” as she preferred to be known) was the youngest of fourteen children born to Katharina Kroeker and Peter F. Giesbrecht in the Village of Schoenwiese, Manitoba on May 16, 1931. At the age of 17, she decided to move to Chicago, Illinois to live with her sister, and after finishing her high school there, she subsequently moved to New York with a friend to enroll in nursing at the Metro Hospital. In 1953, she graduated from nursing and moved to Los Angeles to become a surgical nurse. She was quite thrilled to have met Kirk Douglas when his wife was giving birth under her care. Thereafter, she moved to a variety of cities including Flagstaff, Arizona.
During this time she met and married Bill Taft, who started calling her “Holly”. She liked the name and decided to keep it. While the name stuck, the marriage didn’t. Holly then settled in San Francisco, and after a couple of years working in a hospital there, she took a nursing position on a cruise ship where she worked until she retired. As Holly herself commented, it was quite an exciting life for a little Mennonite girl from Schoenwiese!
In 2016/17 she sold her San Francisco (Daly City) home and moved to Morden, Mb to be closer to her immediate family. Here she took residence at the Homestead Assisted Living facility where she made many friends and enjoyed life until she succumbed to cancer and peacefully passed away at the Boundary Trails Hospital on November 26, 2024 at the age of 93 years. She was the last of her immediate family and is survived by numerous nieces and nephews.
Holly was a very strong-willed, proud and independent woman who loved to read. She had a strong interest in world events and tried to stay informed about everything, particularly U.S. politics.
Cremation has taken place and interment will be a private family gathering.
May 16, 1931 – November 26, 2024
Eva (or “Holly” as she preferred to be known) was the youngest of fourteen children born to Katharina Kroeker and Peter F. Giesbrecht in the Village of Schoenwiese, Manitoba on May 16, 1931. At the age of 17, she decided to move to Chicago, Illinois to live with her sister, and after finishing her high school there, she subsequently moved to New York with a friend to enroll in nursing at the Metro Hospital. In 1953, she graduated from nursing and moved to Los Angeles to become a surgical nurse. She was quite thrilled to have met Kirk Douglas when his wife was giving birth under her care. Thereafter, she moved to a variety of cities including Flagstaff, Arizona.
During this time she met and married Bill Taft, who started calling her “Holly”. She liked the name and decided to keep it. While the name stuck, the marriage didn’t. Holly then settled in San Francisco, and after a couple of years working in a hospital there, she took a nursing position on a cruise ship where she worked until she retired. As Holly herself commented, it was quite an exciting life for a little Mennonite girl from Schoenwiese!
In 2016/17 she sold her San Francisco (Daly City) home and moved to Morden, Mb to be closer to her immediate family. Here she took residence at the Homestead Assisted Living facility where she made many friends and enjoyed life until she succumbed to cancer and peacefully passed away at the Boundary Trails Hospital on November 26, 2024 at the age of 93 years. She was the last of her immediate family and is survived by numerous nieces and nephews.
Holly was a very strong-willed, proud and independent woman who loved to read. She had a strong interest in world events and tried to stay informed about everything, particularly U.S. politics.
Cremation has taken place and interment will be a private family gathering.