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Marjorie Evans
Marjorie Susanna Evans, 88, formerly of Mountain Home, died Nov. 5, 2007, at a Boise care facility.
She was a 60-year resident of Mountain Home.
A memorial service was held Nov. 11, at the First Congregation Church in Mountain Home. No graveside services are planned.
Marjorie was born on July 19, 1919, on a homestead near Midvale, Idaho, to Thomas Wesley Cole I and Martha Elizabeth (Oster) Cole, the middle of three children.
When she was four years old her father moved the family to Vaneta, Ore., where her father 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 10th grade. She was a member of Camp Fire Girls and enjoyed playing on the 7th-grade girls baseball team.
At the end of her 9th-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 October 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, the family 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 WWII.
Marjorie also worked as a clerk-typist for 3½ 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 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, where the theme was "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 had been 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," her family said.
She is survived by: her son, David Thomas (Rosemary) Evans of Richland, Wash.; daughter Susan Marilyn (Dean) Oberst of Meridian; brother Clarence Robert (Lola) Cole of Boise; and seven grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by, her husband, Emrys Howell Evans, a son, Edwin Paul Evans, a brother ,Thomas Wesley Cole II, and an infant granddaughter, Tanya Evans.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials may be made to Shriners Children's Hospital, the Elmore County Historical Museum, Campus Crusade for Christ International, or the First Congregational Church of Mountain Home.