Rachel Worthington Evans

Retired medical social worker, homemaker and volunteer, died on December 17th, 2002 at Glacier Hills Nursing Center, Ann Arbor, MI, following a long illness. Rachel Evans was born October 6, 1915 in Milton, MA, the daughter of Henry G. Brooks and Rachel Worthington (Roberts) Brooks, the oldest of their three children. She graduated from Milton Academy and Bryn Mawr College (1937). She then earned an M.S.W. degree from The Simmons College School of Social Work in Boston in 1940 and worked at the Boston Dispensary from 1940-1942. Rachel and Francis Cope Evans were married on June 12, 1942. They lived in Davis, CA for a year before Francis went to Haverford College, PA to teach. In 1948 they moved to Ann Arbor MI, where he joined the University's Biology Dept. Rachel is survived by her four children, Kenneth Richardson Evans (Mary May) of Hurley, NY, a retired teacher of physics; The Rev. Katharine Cope Evans, Rector of Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Wakefield, MA; Edward Wyatt Evans (Deborah Dawson), Professor of Biology at the Utah State University at Logan, UT; and Dr. Rachel Howe Evans (Steven Julius), Internist in Tempe, AZ. There are five grandchildren: Karen Evans, Rachel & Joanna Lisker, and Robert & Laura Evans. Rachel is also survived by her brother, Henry G. Brooks, Jr., of York Harbor, ME. Her husband of 60 years and her sister Lucretia (Brooks) Matheson preceded her in death. Rachel participated greatly in the lives of her children and was a wonderful friend and neighbor to all generations. She used her medical social work training in her volunteer work, which included the Girl Scouts, Camp Takona (YWCA), U of M International Neighbors, the Visiting Nurse Association, and the Breakfast Program at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church. Rachel and Francis enjoyed travel and cultural exchange. They lived at times in Berkeley, CA, Oxford, England, and Christchurch, New Zealand, all places where he was teaching. Upon his retirement in 1982 as Emeritus Professor, they enjoyed trips to the Greek Islands, Costa Rica, a cruise around the British Isles, and to the Sea of Cortez in Baja California, Mexico, breeding grounds for the gray whales. There were also family trips each summer to Mt. Desert Island, ME, where both Rachel and Francis had gone as children. A service to celebrate Rachel's life will be held at St. Andrew's Episcopal Chruch, 306 N. Division St., Ann Arbor at 10:00 a.m. on January 20, 2003, with a Reception following. In lieu of flowers, Memorial Gifts may be made to St. Andrew's Episcopal Church for its Breakfast Program, The Shelter Institute of Ann Arbor, or Individualized Home Nursing Care (Hospice of Michigan) in Ann Arbor