Marian Elfriede "Luciw" Evans

Marian and her mom Pauline Marian left Monticello, New York & her father Jack Luciw when
she was around five. A train took them to Denver, Colorado where her mom placed her in a
temporary children's home while she continued headed West through Wyoming. A couple of
years passed when her mom and new step-dad Karl Haering came to take her to their
homesteaded ranch near Encampment, WY. Marian loved life on the ranch and learning &
exploring nature & life with goats, bee-keeping, raspberries, & wild & domestic animals all
around. She walked to and fro several miles to school in warm sunny days as well as blizzards.
Two brothers were born during that time. Baby Karl Jr. passed at 4 months; Martin was born in
1940. Her mom left her step-dad & was separated when Carolyn was born in Encampment in
1943. Life for Marian became unstable along with expectations to care for her little siblings.
Marian sought relief & went to live with a family in Oregon. She eventually got a GED for high
school in 1960, & worked in Salem as an usher in a movie theatre & had 2 roommates. She met
& fell in love with Peter Morse & married December 17, 1952. They had four children: David
1954, Joseph 1956, Aaron 1958 & Elizabeth 1960. Pete's cabinet shop and Marian's work in the
cannery or working in fields provided for their family. When David & Joe were in their teens,
mental illness ruptured the family. Marian divorced Pete April 20, 1973 & Aaron & Beth, both
teens, went with her. In the years that followed, she enjoyed pursuing sky diving, team biking
as well as deep sea fishing in Newport, OR. She was a Salem realtor & later attended
Chemeketa Community College to learn medical coding. She remarried & divorced Leo Bowers
& then Ray Evans. She was very proud & loved her granddaughters, Aaron's daughters, Daisy,
Echo, Pearl & Megan. It made her very happy to see photos & hear about her great-grands
Breyer & Brynne from Pearl. Bryce, Beth's son was always held in her high esteem.
Living in Paradise, CA, she worked tutoring school children for over 10 years in Passages. Shasta,
her beloved dog brought her joy. She always loved walking briskly, with muscular legs in her
Bermuda shorts, through the neighborhoods. She often harvested apples, oranges, walnuts &
bay leaves along the way and petted animals in her path. Always open to thrift shops, garage
sales & discarded items, she found & collected many "treasures". She enjoyed gardening &
eating healthy vegetables & fruits. Marian was a prolific letter-writer & remembered family &
friends' birthdays, graduations & celebrations, often with checks, for years. She always made
great effort to attend important family graduations & celebrations. During these years in
Paradise, sadly her relationship with her daughter & grandson were severed. Then tragedy hit
when the morning of November 8, 2018 the Camp Fire burned Paradise & destroyed her home.

First, she called friends early that morning, to warn them to get out; that the fire was raging!
Then, she drove out & barely made it to Chico with only an address book, a pair of slacks & her
purse.
Marian, a strong determined survivor, purchased a new home in Kentwood Mobile Estates on
Henshaw Ave. She continued to work tutoring children in Passages. She was active in the
Democratic party, worked during elections & demonstrated in Chico on street corners for
"Black Lives Matter." She believed in Jesus and was baptized in her 80's at St. John's Baptist
Church. She loved her home & her neighbors for many years until she moved to Townsend
House Assisted Living, enjoying her last year of life happily & comfortably. Marian will be
fondly remembered by me, her "Sis" for always affirming and encouraging me. I will miss her a
lot but never forget her. At 94, she lived a long life with many twists & turns & taught me to be
strong & hang in there.