Mary Virginia Taylor was born on May 5th, 1911 in St. Louis, Missouri, to Frank W. Taylor and Florence Brennan (born in Iowa, DATE, to MOTHER and Irishman James Brennan). Mary's brother Zachary was born two years later, in 1913. Mary was a debutante at the age of 18, coming out with several other young debs at the Prophet's Ball in St. Louis in 1930, wearing an ivory crepe gown modeled after a Chanel design and accented by an emerald-colored silk scarf and velvet overcoat. Virginia, as she was known for most of her life, attended Maryville College and began what would become a long and pioneering career in radio and broadcast when she was hired by (future husband!) Willard "Woody" Klose at KMOX radio in St. Louis.
On May 27th, 1936, Virginia and Woody were married at the Greystone Apartments in St. Louis, and their first child, Taylor Francis Xavier, was born a year later almost to the day, on May 28th, 1937. Five children followed: Woody Nicholas (December 6, 1938 - September 29, 2004)), Kevin (b. September 1, 1940), Christopher (b. March 20, 1945), Deborah (b. December 1, 1947), and Victoria (b. March 17, 1950). Somewhere in between all those kids, the Kloses moved to New York City to pursue their respective careers in radio.
After a year of searching within a 100-mile radius of the Big Apple for a country retreat, Woody and Virginia finally fulfilled their dream of buying a farm just like the Minnesota farm that Woody's grandfather had grown up on when they found Echo Valley Farm, in Red Hook. As a wife and mother of six, Virginia still found time to co-produce and co-host a daily radio show with her husband, "Red Hook 31", write a book ("Call Me Mother", published 1956), teach and earn a Master's in English literature at Wayne State University in Michigan, and participate in community organizations like the Red Hook Garden Club and the Hudson Valley Chamber Music Circle.
There is the story, now famous in our family, of Virginia being invited to tea at Val Kill, Eleanor Roosevelt's country house in Hyde Park, and wandering off on the grounds somewhere only to be called back by a concerned (or annoyed?) Eleanor... "Where ARE you?" After long and fulfilling careers in radio and TV, Woody and Virginia retired to the Farm in 1970. We grandchildren remember Nana as an affectionate grandmother who would "interview" us, in true radio host fashion, about our cats, or school, or our favorite games, etc. Virginia died on December 31, 2000 in Red Hook, NY.
