Evelyn Hoxie St.Clair

1936 - 2025

Evelyn Hoxie St.Clair

July 10, 1936 - March 2, 2025

Boise, Idaho - In death, as in life, Evelyn Hoxie St.Clair never wanted to be predictable. On March 2, 2025 she left this world too suddenly for those who love her, but on her own terms, in her beloved community of Boise, Idaho.

Evelyn Florence Hoxie was born in Los Angeles, CA on July 10,1936 as the first child to Elwin and Margaret Leslie Hoxie. Her favorite childhood memories were of camping in the mountains, going to the beach, playing the piano, and discovering the joy and escape of reading books. Her sister Jean was born when Evelyn was 8 years old, and Evelyn adored her little sister until Jean lost her battle to bipolar disease too soon for those who treasured her.

After graduating from Glendale Adventist Academy, Evelyn attended Pacific Union College where her enjoyment of the sciences led to her decision to study medicine as a career. After an interesting saga involving a political satirist and a San Francisco night club, she transferred to Walla Walla College, where she graduated with a degree in zoology and a minor in chemistry, and fortuitously met the elusive Duane St.Clair. They continued their relationship at Loma Linda University where they were both studying medicine. They married in 1961 in Glendale, CA before their junior year in medical school. They graduated in 1963 before going on to internships in Bakersfield, CA where their first son Brad was born. Evelyn did her pediatric residency at Maricopa County General Hospital in Phoenix, AZ from 1964-1967 and had their second son Stuart.

When they completed their residencies, they moved to Omaha, NE for Duane to start his assignment in the US Air Force during the Vietnam War. While Duane was serving at Offutt AFB, Evelyn was a clinical professor of pediatrics at Creighton University Medical school in Omaha, where their third child Angie was born into this busy family.

After completing military duty in 1969, Duane and Evelyn settled in Boise, ID where they started medical practices. Evelyn was the first female board-certified pediatrician in Idaho. In spite of their demanding schedules, they and their children took advantage of every opportunity to explore Idaho's outdoor recreation. They especially enjoyed tent camping in the beautiful campgrounds, where natural springs were welcomed after a long hot day of hiking, and in the winter, night skiing at Bogus Basin, and cruising through the deep powder of Brundage in McCall.

Evelyn started Pediatric Associates in 1971 with Mary Lynn O'Brien, MD and practiced for ten years, including NICU care. She jokingly lamented the fact that Duane would deliver a baby and then go home to sleep, while she was left managing the newborn's care for hours, or even days, if they required more of her thorough and loving attention.

Wanting to have more time with her own family than she could as a general pediatrician, Evelyn went on to further training at Oregon Health Sciences University in Developmental Pediatrics from 1978-1979. She then focused her medical care to special needs children in various clinical settings, including working for the State of Idaho providing specialty consultation at health department clinics throughout the state, and clinics for kids affected by cerebral palsy and hearing impairment.

Evelyn thrived outdoors doing active things. It was tennis that brought her and Duane together, but they went on to enjoy golfing, downhill and Nordic skiing, and ran and walked innumerable miles together. They discovered their love of bicycle touring on their 25th wedding anniversary in Vermont resulting in nearly every vacation thereafter being planned around extended bicycle trips. Their cycling adventures took them around the US, often accompanied by family and/or friends, as well as Canada, France, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, and Scotland, primarily self-supported.

Bridge playing, which they began after their children were "out-of-the-nest", brought a diverse group of new friends into their lives. They later began playing more competitive duplicate bridge, with new challenges that brought out their mischievousness and mastery of numbers.

Nothing delighted Evelyn more than spending time with her children, their spouses, and grandchildren. Whether playing table games, eating meals (the essentials=salad and dessert), coffee klatsching, or working on projects together, it was the sharing of thoughts and experiences that Evelyn most enjoyed, filling the space with her infectious laugh, or groaning over each other's jokes. As proud as she was of her three kids, her grandchildren continued to intrigue and amaze her with their unique approaches to life, engaging minds, and delightful personalities.

Evelyn is survived by her loving husband of 63 years Duane of Boise, ID, and her children Bradley St.Clair & Sara Studt of Bend, OR; Stuart St.Clair & Cielo Suarez of Fresno, CA; and Angie St.Clair Devitt & Michael Devitt of Boise, ID. Her beloved grandchildren gave her hope for the future: Nick, Ryan (Maddie), and Elle St.Clair of Bend, OR; Diego and Esther St.Clair of Fresno, CA, and Isabelle and Eve Devitt of Boise, ID.

Evelyn loved garden flowers, jazz music, coffee dates with Duane and friends, reading good books, cross-word puzzles, Sudoku, Bridge, board games, and watching tennis tournaments or good movies. Playing the piano was relaxing and enjoyable for her, and in her fifties she took up the harp for ten years before deciding that her strong aversion to practicing would never enable her to be the harpist she had envisioned she might become.

She could always be counted on to have home-made fudge sauce at the ready in her freezer for hot fudge sundaes, complete with slivered toasted almonds, whipped cream, and possibly even a maraschino cherry.

Evelyn and Duane were life-long advocates for women's rights and social justice. They gave of their time and money wherever they saw it could be used for the most vulnerable in the community around them. If you are so inclined, and in lieu of flowers, please make a contribution in Evelyn's honor to one of the organizations they support: The Wassmuth Center, The Idaho Foodbank, Jesse Tree, Interfaith Sanctuary, ACLU, or Planned Parenthood.

A celebration of Evelyn's life and loves is planned in June. Please contact the family for more information.