Evelyn Leona Johnson Guttmann

Evelyn Leona Johnson Guttmann passed at her home on December 12, 2024, following a full life. Evelyn was born February 8, 1934 in Jay, Florida. In death she is reunited with her dearly missed husband of 67 years, Marion Guttmann and their two infant sons, Gregory and Mark. Evelyn is survived by her three sons Michael (Susan), Stephen (Cindy) and Rodney (Sharon) and her grandchildren Angela (Daniel Straughn) Guttmann, Jennifer (Randall) Richardson, Samantha (Eric) Miller, Nathan and Sarah Guttmann, Nicholas Stearns, Jackie, Emma, and William Guttmann. She delighted in her great grandchildren Leona, Rosemary, Maxwell, Maurine, and Ruth Ann. She is further survived by her brother's daughters Sonia (Gerry) Jones and Ingrid (Art) Pearce, their children Erin (Mike) Goodson, Stacey (Craig) Kelly, John Grady Jones, Robyn (Jason) Torof, and their grandchildren Jordan and Troy Kelly and Evelyn Goodson. Her warm smile and hospitality will be missed by many, including family members too numerous to list.
A quilter sees potential. A quilter has a plan, the skill, and discipline to see it come to fruition. A quilter bestows beauty on objects that, but for the quilter, would simply serve a purpose. Evelyn Guttmann spent her 90 years meticulously fitting all the pieces of her life together to construct a beautiful quilt. Her life's quilt features squares of family, home, and work, stitched together with threads of Catholic faith.
Family drove Evelyn's strong sense of place and a sense of purpose. She loved genealogy, and telling the details of it to all who would listen. She loved her three sons fiercely. She gave advice to newlywed grandchildren not to wait to start families- "you'll never feel like you have enough money or time, so might as well have babies." Evelyn's home is a collector's showcase of beautiful and delicate dolls. The dolls are sitting on fine white lace doilies, which themselves are draped across antiques carried by hand on steam ships by ancestors. One can imagine the precarious position a toddler great grandchild might find themselves in, surrounded by hundreds of delicate toys. But even just a few years ago, Evelyn would find toys fit to be playthings, and get down on the floor to help change a doll's dress, or to roll a ball back and forth to bond with a child. She never smiled so widely as when she bounced a baby on her knee, and knew that the family tree continued. She was close to her brother Oddis and his children who all live in Panama City. That devotion was so strong that three generations later, cousins count one another as close as any other family and two of our children are her namesakes. Evelyn's stitches keep us together.
Evelyn's efforts (she worked too hard at them and they benefited too many to call them hobbies) were rooted in care for those around her. Her homemade birthday cakes were a fixture at Guttmann celebrations, where she would make both a chocolate cake and a Lane cake so that everyone got their favorite. Her sons missed these cakes so much when they were in college that Evelyn would send cakes to them via Greyhound bus and they would arrive on the same day. Her yellow-bottomed tupperware cake carrier signaled a true celebration. As grandchildren came, she fell easily into the role of grandma. Her grandchildren cherish memories of the mountain of chicken nuggets (little chickens) made from scratch and enjoyed by the plateful. Through the years she made bridal veils, christening gowns, baby quilts, teddy bears, Christmas decorations, doll clothes, and, most importantly, memories. She also made a family of people who were confident and proud that she thought of them with each stitch.
Evelyn was not one to have idle hands, to say the least. She worked at Gulf Power, owned a craft shop, and worked alongside Marion in his insurance and real estate businesses. She found fulfillment in the domestic arts as she poured her labors into family life. Her mind was naturally inclined for numbers, the algebra coming naturally as she doubled recipes and calculated yardage for innumerable sewing projects. Mrs. Evelyn's skills and knack for organization led her to community groups like the Pensacola Insurance Women (she was President), the Santa Rosa Quilt Guild and the Pensacola Doll Club, where she was an active member for decades.
Evelyn's life's quilt is a true masterpiece. Cohesion and structure from the repeating squares of family, home, and work. The fabrics themselves are a dazzling array of bold colors from life's great joy, patterned pieces from the broad community, and sensible solids that remind us of our responsibility. These pieces have been fit to purpose, cut and shaped to do their job and nothing more. Each square is substantial; one could be proud if she only completed one. But this is no ordinary blanket- it is large enough to cover all of us. This is an heirloom. Her quilt will keep us warm and remind us of her love for years and over the generations.
Visitation will be at 9:00 AM on Tuesday, December 17 at St. Mary's Catholic Church with rosary at 10:00 AM and funeral mass at 10:30 AM. Entombment will follow at Holy Cross Mausoleum. Services will be officiated by Rev. Christian Winkeljohn.
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Waters & Hibbert Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements