Eva Irene Arthur McDowell, 95, of Oskaloosa and formerly of Grinnell, died on April 29, 2022, at Hospice Serenity House in Oskaloosa. A graveside service and burial will be held at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, May 4th, at Jackson Township Cemetery in Montezuma with Rev. Dr. Dondrea Walker, First Baptist Church in Marion, officiating. Honorary bearers will be Dennis Watson, Charles Watson, Robert Mitchell, and David Figland. Visitation with the McDowell family present will be held from 4:00 to 7:00 Tuesday evening at the Smith Funeral Home in Grinnell. Memorial contributions may be designated to Hospice Serenity House Donor Wall, Mahaska Health Foundation in Oskaloosa for a memorial plaque in her name. Eva was born November 24, 1926, to Cecil Hobart Arthur and Pansy Blossom Gerard Arthur, on a farm between Lynnville and Searsboro. As a child, Eva was so bashful she wouldn't eat at the table if someone talked to her. She was a "tomboy" who loved to go fishing and hunting with her brothers. Eva graduated from Searsboro High School in May of 1944. She attended William Penn College in Oskaloosa and received her teaching certificate in October of 1946. Her first teaching position was at Pleasant Township, Ray Cleland School, teaching seven different grades. She taught there for two years making $35.00 a month. She then taught 3rd and 4th grades at Searsboro for 17 years, later substituting for the Lynnville-Sully School District, and with the After School Program in Grinnell. On the 3rd day of March, 1946, she was united in marriage to Roger Jack McDowell, at the Church of Christ in Montezuma and soon after Roger left for the service. The couple had two daughters, Penny Jo and Vicki Lynne. Eva was the Chairperson of the March of Dimes from 1946 until 1950; she has been a member of the Order of the Eastern Star for 73 years, currently belonging to the Central Chapter #57 in Marshalltown. She went through the chairs and was also Worthy Matron. Eva loved her family dearly! She enjoyed embroidery, games, spending time with friends, gardening, hearing from her former students, and cooking. She was well-known for her home-made noodles and making mints. She was past president of the Searsboro Garden Club for four years and secretary for an additional four years. Eva worked for Margaret Arnold at her shoe store for a few years and was cleaning houses into her 80's! After retiring, she joined the Eagles Club in Grinnell and also the local grange near Rock Creek Lake. Eva is survived by two daughters, Penny Jo (Jerry) Veldhuizen and Vicki Lynne (Richard Barnes) Latcham; four granddaughters, Kelsey Veldhuizen, Nicole (Blake) Willard, Cassie Veldhuizen and Lacie Latcham; three great-grandchildren, Leo Johnson and Delilah and Korver Willard; and two sisters, Shirley Tice of Kellerton and Doris Lowry of Grinnell; and many friends and former students who continued to contact her up to the time of her death. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Roger in 1981; her sisters, Margaret, Betty and Aileen; her brothers, Kenneth, Robert, Keith, and Ward; and in-laws, Ollie and Velva Hull McDowell.