Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Tribute to Evalee


Evalee was my Dad's first cousin, so that made her a first cousin once removed. But she was a cherished relative and dear friend. Evalee loved getting my travel journals, encouraged me when she knew I was traveling, and got onto me when I was slow to write :-) She would print out the travel journals in VERY large font for her 95 year-old mother to read. She and Jim hosted the family/friend dinner after Mom was buried. I'll miss her.

I didn't write the following but it is a great tribute to her life:

"On January 2, 2010, at the age of 65, Evalee Tomlin Jackson was called to her Heavenly home. One who did not know Evalee might say she was laid to rest, but such person would be wrong - Evalee did not rest in her earthly life, and there is no reason to believe that she has started now.

"Evalee was the daughter of Mayme and Riley Tomlin of Dallas, Texas, and her birth served as a forewarning of things to come. Mayme went into labor on Thursday, September 21, 1944, and Evalee was born on Saturday, September 23, 1944 at Methodist Hospital in Dallas. Evalee graduated from South Oak Cliff High School in 1962 and, subsequently, Mayme and Riley sent Evalee to Abilene Christian College to meet a nice, Christian, college boy. In true Evalee fashion, she pursued a very questionable and very broke airman second class named James Hardy Jackson, who turned out to be her soul mate. The two married on January 4, 1964 and were blessed with two sons. Sometime after both boys were old enough to be embarrassed by their parents' public behavior, Evalee and James abandoned the use of their Christian names with each other, and each proudly called the other "Poopsie" in front of friends, family, and strangers. The two had four grandchildren, whom Evalee adored, and, to them, she was "Mimsy."

"Rarely was Evalee not in the presence of friends - all of whom she considered family - and she was notorious for keeping up with those from her past. She worked many years in the banking industry, was a REALTOR, and was also a licensed cosmetologist. However, the relationships she developed in her career were more personal than professional. She would meet random people in unlikely places, and she would nurture relationships that would last. If she liked you, she loved you, and, she treated all of her friends as best friends.

"Evalee was raised in the Church of Christ from birth, and she called the Cedar Hill Church of Christ her home for the last several years of her life. She frequently challenged church leaders and voiced her opinions vigorously - not for the sake of being difficult, but because she had a childlike faith in her Lord. Evalee embraced life with a passion unattainable by most, and she did more living in her 65 years than most could do in 100. Evalee was preceded in death by her Dad. She is survived by her husband; mother; two sons and their wives; and four grandchildren."

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