Alta Marie Evans

Alta Marie Evans

April 22, 1930 – September 3, 2025

Alta Marie Smith was born on April 22, 1930, south of Vici, Oklahoma. She was the 8th of 12 children born to Virgil Alva and Ines Rose Davis Smith. Alta was born right before the Dust Bowl, and remembered those trying times. She passed from this life on September 3, 2025, at her residence, Providence Place, in Woodward, OK.

Preceded in Death By:

• Beloved husband, Lynn

• Children: Nelda Rose (stillborn), Charles Lynn, and Brent Lee

• Brothers: Willis, Vernard, Arlo, and infant Alvie Deverie

• Sisters: Lorene UpChurch, Irene Randall, Etha Newton, Evelyn Poulson, Margaret Pickering, and Doris Stovall

Survived By:

• Sister: Arletta (& Joe Perrie) of Wichita

• Sister-in-law: Chick Smith of Montana City

• Children: Vernard Dale (& Paula) of Edmond, Mark Duane (& Brenda Kay) of Perryton, TX, Lynn E. (& Melody) of Vici, Johnny R. (& Brenda Marie) of Woodward, daughter-in-law Kitty Evans of Kentucky, and Lynnetta Marie (& Tim Hutfless) of Omaha, NE

• 14 grandchildren, as well as numerous great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren, nieces, and nephews.

Alta attended Vici Schools and graduated in 1948. She was a good basketball player and participated in school plays. She milked a dozen cows everyday back then and still had to saddle the horse to ride into town for practice and games. She attended Draughon's Practical Business College and graduated from the secretarial course in December 1948. She married Lynn Everett Evans on January 22, 1949 in Vici, Oklahoma. She worked a few secretary jobs before settling in as a full-time homemaker.

Lynn and Alta lived in Stillwater, OK while Lynn was getting his teaching degree at OSU. Charles and Dale were born before the degree, and then they all moved to Balko, where Lynn taught Agriculture. In 1955, they moved to Taloga, where Lynn started working for the Agricultural Loan Extension Office. In 1957 they moved to Vici where Lynn taught Agriculture. Mark and Lynn were born in those years. In 1959, they moved to Kingfisher, OK. They lived in the Kingfisher area for 11 years, and Lynn changed jobs to become a Rural Mail Carrier. Johnny and Brent were born in Kingfisher. In 1970, they moved to Butler where Lynn got a Butler mail route and where Lynnetta was born in Clinton. In 1971, the family moved to 8 ½ miles southeast of Vici, OK. They lived in a trailer house while the new house was being built. That was their dream to farm and raise cattle on their own land, until Lynn died suddenly on September 3rd 1973. The neighbors came with their tractors and planted the rest of the wheat crop for the family. Then that summer, neighbors and friends from miles around came to harvest the wheat without asking for a cent, and not even asking Alta if it was alright, they just came and did it.

After that year, Alta leased out the farm and ranch and continued to take care of the younger kids. She was always involved with being a class parent at Vici School, sometimes two different classes at a time. She was a staunch republican (as you could tell by the bumper stickers that were all over her car), and was the chairman of the Republican party for Dewey county for many years. She was a member of the "Writer of the Purple Sage" writing group, and wrote many short stories for magazines. Alta was a member of the "Red Hat Club", attending many lunches around this area, proudly wearing one of her several large floppy red hats, (which was wonderful for her, as red was her favorite color).

Alta's passion over the years since Lynn passed was gardening. She was always showing people who wanted to know, (and some that didn't), what flowers to plant, what and when to plant produce, and what kind of flowers would be best for what area. She not only planted all around her house and garden area, but started planting flowers around the streets of Vici, in her words, just to add some beauty to the town. She would always have some prize-winning squash, okra, or some other item out of her garden winning many ribbons at the county fair for years.

Alta loved to talk, and as many who found out when she set down at a table with you, she would, as her kids always said, "talk your ear off". In October of 2024, she had a debilitating stroke in which her niece, Inez Gregory found her when she came by to check on her, out planting flowers in the front yard. She was adamant about living at home, her "Pairadice Acres", as she called it, until the stroke at 94 ½ years old. She bounced back from the stroke physically, but her speech was mostly lost, which was really frustrating for her.

Alta absolutely loved grand kids, and she had a bunch. She loved reading to them, hugging on them, and listening to any story no matter how long.

Alta was a master quilter, she made beautiful quilts for almost every single grand kid, and about anyone else who wanted one, until her eyes failed her at around 90 years of age.

She was baptized into the Church of First Born years ago, and loved visiting with church members that would come by, usually finding her outside working in the garden. She would take a break to talk, but might hurry you off again because she was always working on something important!

Memorial donations may be made to Sunnyside Cemetery or the Church of the Firstborn
c/o Shaw Funeral Home
PO Box 276
Vici, OK 73859