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As a young girl , Dr. Cory Jane SerVaas developed a passion for preventative care and using information to keep people healthy.

That passion drove her to become an Indianapolisdoctor, journalist, inventor andadvocate who dedicated her life to empowering people through common-sense medical advice.

Shewas first inspired by the writings of Benjamin Franklin on the subject in the pages of The Pennsylvania Gazette,and forever changed when one of her cousins died at age 4 from a disease that could have been prevented with simple folic acid.

With an education that began in a single-room schoolhouse outside of Pella, Iowa in the 1920s and ended with her a medical degree fromIndiana University Medical School in the 1960s, SerVaas was always thinking of new ways to keep the public informed, and in good health.

She died in Indianapolis on Friday. She was 95.

"American women have lost one of their great champions from the 20th century. She embodied a greatness of spirit and a genuinely unique personality," longtime SerVaas family friend Frank Duncan told IndyStar.

Corey SerVaas with her son, Eric, in 1951.(Photo: STAR/JOSEPH E. CRAVEN)

SerVaas may be known best for herdecades as a leading force at The Saturday Evening Post, an iconic American magazine founded in 1821 and headquartered in Indianapolis. She served as editor from 1975 to 2008, and took over as publisher in 1982.

But long before that, she made her impact as an inventor, according to IndyStar archives. In 1947, while living in New York City, she came up with the idea of the "Cory Jane Curvet," which was an apron gathered onto a plastic hoop that fit around the waist.

In 1948, in need of a patent attorney to protect her creation, she was introduced to Beurt SerVaas. The couple would marry two years later and settled in Beurt SerVaas' hometown of Indianapolis where they had five children.

Beurt SerVaas, who died in 2014 at age 94, was a prominent Indianapolis figure. He was a keyarchitect of Uni-Gov and served on theCity-County Council for 40 years. He spent 27 years as president of the council, and the room where the council currently meets is named in his honor.

Cory and Beurt Servaas after he was reelected to the Indianapolis City Council Nov 6, 1991.(Photo: Joe Young/The News)

Cory SerVaas graduated from University of Iowa with a degree in journalism and postgraduate work at Columbia University. While at Columbia, she earned money as a seamstress in New York City's Garment District and eventually landed a job as the editor of Lionel Train Magazine.

She earned her medical degreein 1969. The next year, Beurt and Cory SerVaas acquired theCurtis Publishing Company,owner of The Saturday Evening Post.

The couple revived the former weekly and biweekly magazine in 1971 as a quarterly publication.Under her direction, the publication became a nonprofit entity focused on health, medicine and volunteering.

But not satisfied with just putting out a magazine, she turned the Post into an organization that brought high-level medical information to the general public.

Throughout the 1980s, the Saturday Evening Post traveled the nation with buses where they performed breast cancer, prostate cancer and AIDS screenings. The Post also established a weekly health television program often featured big names like Arnold Palmer, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bob Dole discussing preventative care and general good health.

The Post itself featured detailed information from the nation'sleading medical professionals. As leader of the Children's Better Health Institute, Cory SerVaas applieda similar model to her stable for children's publications like U.S. Kids, Jack and Jill and Humpty Dumpty Magazine.

In 1987, Cory SerVaas her work earned her a spot onthe President's Commission on the HIV Epidemic, a commission formed by President Ronald Reagan.

In a documentary produced by the Saturday Evening Postthat aired in 2003, Cory SerVaas saidher dream of becoming a medical missionarywasderailed by World War II.

In that same documentary, Beurt SerVaas said his wife ended up not only achieving her dream, but redefining it.

Cory Jane fights with a pen, and she takes on all comers," Beurt SerVaas said."She has become a medical missionary like she wanted to become. But a modern medical missionary."

Dr. Cory SerVaas speaks at the dedication of the SerVaas Cabin at Crooked Creek Elementary School in Washington Township.(Photo: Joe Vitti/IndyStar)

Over the years Cory SerVaas' literary work has earned her theKappa Tau Alpha Award for Outstanding Service, the National Federation of Press Woman of Achievement Award and entry tothe University of Iowa School of Journalism Hall of Fame.

She was a medical columnist for several publications, an author of three books andhosteda weekly healthcare and preventative medicine program on the Christian Broadcasting Network.

"She truly had a broad set of the proverbial shoulders for of those who follow her to stand upon," Duncan said. "We all are taller on them and are challenged in our efforts to do great things to follow her example. She embodied the true American spirit and lived the American dream."

Cory SerVaas is survived by her five children, 19 grandchildrenand 12 great grandchildren.

Call IndyStar reporter Justin L. Mack at 317-444-6138. Follow him on Twitter: @justinlmack.

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Former Saturday Evening Post publisher and editor Dr. Cory SerVaas dies in Indianapolis - IndyStar

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