Marjorie S. Evans

Marjorie S. Evans On Monday, Nov. 5, 2007, Marjorie Susanna Evans passed away in a Boise care facility. She was 88 years old and a 60-year resident of Mountain Home. Marjorie was born on July 19, 1919 on a homestead near Midvale, Idaho. Her parents were Thomas Wesley Cole I and Martha Elizabeth (Oster) Cole. She had a brother, two years older, Thomas Wesley II (Wes) and later a brother 12 years younger, Clarence Robert (Bob). When she was four years old her father moved the family to Vaneta, Ore., where he worked at a saw mill. In 1927 her father traded their home and a filbert orchard for a Model T Ford and a house in Caldwell, Idaho, where she attended school through the tenth grade. She was a member of Camp Fire Girls and enjoyed playing on the seventh grade girl's baseball team. At the end of her ninth grade year in June 1934 she contracted polio and spent her 15th birthday in bed. Her mother, a registered nurse, took Marjorie to Portland where through the Shriners Crippled Children's program she learned how to exercise her muscles. Marjorie was able to walk again without braces or crutches two years later. She attributed her recovery to her mother's diligent care. In Oct. 1936 her father died when she was 17 years old. Then she, her mother, and Bob moved to Van Nuys, Calif., where she graduated from high school. She attended North Hollywood Community College for almost two years, taking medical lab assistant courses. Later, after Pearl Harbor was bombed, they returned to Caldwell where she worked for a year tying flies in a factory. The fly-tie kits were made for military life rafts during W.W. II. Marjorie worked as a clerk-typist for three and a half years at what was then called the Army Air Base at Mountain Home. In 1945 she met Emrys Evans while he was home on leave and they were married June 22, 1947 at the Caldwell Christian Church. They were married for 55 years. Emrys was employed by the Mountain Home Post Office for 34 years. They had three children, David, Edwin and Susan. Marjorie and Emrys were very active in the community. She was a member of the First Congregational Church for 50 years, and enjoyed attending Women's Fellowship. Marjorie was also a member of the American Legion Auxiliary, Elmore County Historical Society, Eureka Rock and Gem Club, Idaho Writers League, Mountain Home Senior Center, and the Order of Amaranth. In March 2003 she was one of several women honored at the Elmore County Historical Foundation's Women's History Banquet, the theme being "ordinary women who do extraordinary things". From the Idaho Writers League Marjorie received two state competition awards in 1989 and 1990 for accounts of her family's history. She was employed by the Mountain Home News for over 30 years until May of 2007. She wrote local happenings, senior center news, and various articles. Due to the effects of post-polio syndrome, she was wheelchair bound since the mid-1970s. News reporting from her home allowed her to be employed in a career she loved - writing. She also enjoyed hobbies of embroidery, writing poetry, and especially reading. Marjorie will be remembered for being a loving mom, grandma, sister, aunt, and friend who enjoyed keeping in touch by phone and through writing letters and emails, and also for her steadfast faith in God, and her courage in overcoming life's hardships. Survivors include her son David Thomas (Rosemary) Evans of Richland, Wash.; daughter Susan Marilyn (Dean) Oberst of Meridian; brother C. Robert (Lola) Cole of Boise; and grandchildren: Daniel (Corrine), Timothy, Alyssa, and Tami Evans and Jennifer, Brian, and Megan Oberst. Preceding her in death are her husband Emrys Howell Evans, a son Edwin Paul Evans, a brother Thomas Wesley Cole II, and an infant granddaughter Tanya Evans. The family wishes to thank the many caregivers who have lovingly cared for Marjorie over the past seven years. A memorial service will be held at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 11, 2007 at the First Congregation Church, 515 E 15th N, Mountain Home. No graveside services are planned. Family and friends are invited to a dinner following the service at the church. In lieu of flowers, suggested memorials may be made to Shriners Children's Hospital, the Elmore County Historical Museum, Campus Crusade for Christ International, or the First Congregational Church, Mountain Home. Arrangements have been entrusted to Chapel of the Chimes Funeral Home, 105 E. Carlton Ave. Meridian, ID 83642, 888-4454.