Glenview resident Dr. Evelyn (Ev) Pease Tyner, 91, passed away on December 24th, 2015. Ev was born in 1924 in Evansville, Indiana to Warren Pease and Aline Ruddell Pease. Her love for nature and science was evident from an early age. In 1942, she won the Science Talent Search with a project centered around turning weeds into rubber. Ev then went on to pursue a Ph.D. in biochemistry at the University of Michigan. While researching the syntheses of DNA, RNA, and cancer-related proteins, Ev met and married a fellow graduate student, Dr. David A. Tyner. With their growing family, the Dr. Tyners then moved to Glenview in 1957. While raising her family, Ev volunteered at and directed the Science Seminar at Niles West High School. Ev then taught chemistry at Harold Washington College for nineteen years. From marching for civil rights in the 1960s to petitioning for environmental conservation, Ev always made world peace and justice a priority. In 1963, Ev joined the crusade to preserve the natural and historical landmarks of Glenview. After saving the James Woodsworth Prairie Preserve, Ev then became part of the Frog and Fern Ladies who saved The Grove. In recognition of her work, the Evelyn Pease Tyner Interpretive Center was constructed in 2007, situated on the Kent Fuller Air Station Prairie. Ev's love for nature and science propelled her to travel around the globe. She logged over 600 dives - from the Cayman Islands to the Red Sea, she kayaked around Crete, excavated Neanderthal artifacts in France, survived two shipwrecks, and attended the World Parliament of Religions in South Africa and Spain. Ev is survived by her four children (Terry Tyner, David Tyner, Carol Tyner & Stephen Howery, and Jenny Tyner) and seven grandchildren (Sarah Limorté, Stephen & Kaleigh Hanrahan, Elizabeth Hanrahan, Janine Rapp, Yoann Limorté, Gabriel Tyner, and Eleanor Rapp). Donations in Ev's honor can be made be to The Grove in Glenview, Illinois. A memorial service is scheduled to be held at 10:00am on July 16, 2016 at the Evelyn Pease Tyner Interpretive Center (2400 Compass Road, Glenview Illinois, 60026). All are welcome.

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Published by Chicago Tribune on Jul. 3, 2016.

Memories and Condolences
for Evelyn Tyner

5 Entries

Brandon Lamont Cooper

March 31, 2025

I never met you Mrs Tyner, but I met your son David, a great poet and friend. I hear a lot of great things about you. WOW what an interesting life. GOD bless and rest in peace friend.

Sue Newberry

July 18, 2020

So late in recognizing our loss! I always felt it was a privileged to go to the Grove or the Air Station Prairie and know that Ev Tyner lived down the block, a neighbor whose life had made Glenview and the world a better place.

Amber Ladeira

July 7, 2016

Let's see: Poet, environmentalist, chemist, professor, savior of two prairies (maybe more), honoree for scientific achievement by the first Bush President, a stalwart supporter of her family and friends...that and more was Dr. Evelyn Pease Tyner. She came to my aid often, as she did with others. She took marvelous nature photos, at least one of which won an award and an appearance on a nature calendar. I will miss her 'til I die, her charm and pixie-like humor.

David Tyner

July 4, 2016

My Mom's life has been and continues to be, a testament to lovingly giving to others and back to society, and she succeeded in stellar accomplishments of that, with a quality and stoic persistence that demonstrated her reverence and awe of life's mysteries and majesty.

My niece created this YouTube video of her accomplishments, several years ago, and I find it a fitting tribute to her -- yet there is immeasurably more to be grateful for -- in all the interpenetrating ripples of connection and wonder, she has launched and that will continue to inspire countless generations of our youth and untold lives.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mROhRRy0LTk&spfreload=10

With eternal love and boundless joy, from this side of Möbius strip, to yours
-David

terri winandy

July 3, 2016

thank you for all your hard work to make the world a better place, I'm so happy I've had the pleasure of knowing you

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