Mary Frances Evans, 72, of Baker City, died Dec. 16, 2001, at St. Elizabeth Health Services.
Her funeral will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Richland Christian Church. Pastor Gordon Bond will officiate.
Private interment will be in Eagle Valley Cemetery at Richland. Visitations will be until 7 o’clock tonight at the Coles Funeral Home, 1950 Place St.
Mrs. Evans was born Aug. 11, 1929, at Pleasantville, Tenn. She was one of 15 children of George and Betty Kelley Williams. She attended school at Pleasantville. In 1956, she met Bill Evans in La Grande; they were married in the spring of 1957.
After their marriage, they moved to Portland, where she worked as a title insurance messenger. After Bill’s retirement in 1971 they returned to Richland. They made their home in Richland until Bill’s death in 1992 . She then moved to Baker City, where she has resided since.
The Evanses loved to travel and spent every winter in Salome, Ariz. They would leave in October and come back in May. She enjoyed gardening, hunting, fishing, gold panning, and shopping, but her real love and talent was music.
Some of her most favorite times were singing, dancing and playing with her musician friends. She would dress up like Minnie Pearl and was named Miss Minnie Pearl of Lapaz County, Ariz.
Survivors include her children, Diana Barber of Baker City, Stephen Talley of Detroit, Mich., Delores and John Golden of Columbus, Ohio, Dave Wright of Kent, Wash., Kennith and Betty Wright of Tulsa, Okla., Dave Wright of Kent, Wash., and Vernon and Karyn Evans of Kent, Wash.; her brother, Bill Williams of Pleasantville, Tenn; sisters, Etta Meredith of Dixon, Tenn., Berniece Himes of Pleasantville, Tenn., and Betty Armstrong of Gleason, Tenn; sisters-in-law, Jessie Lee and Leora Williams of Pleasantville, Tenn., brother-in-law, Alton Armstrong of Gleason, Tenn.; 10 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, and six brothers and sisters.
Memorial contributions may be made to Oregon Wildlife Heritage Foundation to help in feeding the wildlife. This may be done through Coles Funeral Home, 1950 Place St., Baker City, OR 97814.
Used with permission from: The Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, December 21, 2001
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor