STOVER, Laura

Laura Taylor Stover, "Gram" unexpectedly and suddenly passed away on December 1, 2002 at the age of 89. She had been in good health until the moment of death. For 61 years she was the loving wife of Maynard M. "Smokey" Stover. She was a life long resident of Arizona, making a loving home in many copper mining towns across the state. She and Smokey resided in Miami, Arizona from the mid 1940's until Smokey's death in 1997. There, they raised their four children, Sally Carr of Wickenburg, John Stover of Glendale, Charles Stover of Burnsville, N.C., and David Stover of North Palm Beach, FL. She was the grandmother of 14, and the great-grandmother of 14 more. She treasured each and every member of her family as God's greatest gift. She is a graduate of Phoenix Union High School, and Oberlin College in Cleveland, Ohio. Professionally, she was a music teacher in various schools in Arizona. As a youth, she grew up on the Taylor Family Ranch, which is now part of Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. She was very active in community affairs, working to bring a wide variety of professional music productions to the communities of Globe and Miami. She was heavily involved in various programs to provide college scholarships to children in Globe and Miami. She served for many years as the Music director at Divine Grace Presbyterian Church in Miami. She particularly loved nature. The Stover Family spent many happy days camping throughout the western United States. She was a superb campfire cook, whose specialty was Dutch Oven baked pie. She treasured the natural beauty of Arizona and repeatedly visited every geographic area of the state. She made family campouts such fun that those are among our happiest memories. Her motto is "Bloom where you are planted". She lived by those words, radiating love, happiness, and hope. She made home a happy place. Her ashes will be interred at "The Rock" at Mountain Breezes Cemetery, Miami, Arizona. Memorial contributions may be made to Flower Memorial Scholarship Loan Fund, The Women's Auxillary to the AIME, Three Park Avenue, 17th Floor, New York City, NY 10016-5998 Published in the Arizona Republic from 12/5/2002 - 12/7/2002.