Phyllis Evans

Phyllis H. Evans, one of founding members of the Shaker Lakes Nature Center and the Cleveland Ballet Published: Saturday, June 09, 2012, 5:35 AM By Tonya Sams, The Plain Dealer CHAGRIN FALLS, Ohio a�" Phyllis H. Evans, one of the founding members of the Shaker Lakes Nature Center and the Cleveland Ballet, died Tuesday in her home in Chagrin Falls. She was 94. "She loved to be around people and to make things happen in the community," said her daughter Elinore Evans. "She loved people from all different walks of life." Daughter Juliet Briggs said her mother was known for her great sense of style and always dressed in the latest fashions. She was also known as an amazing hostess for events and parties across the city -- especially the engagements she threw at home. "They were over the top," Briggs said. "Family and friends would always look forward to them." The nature center was founded in 1966. Evans' daughters said she helped to get the Shaker Lakes land declared as a nature preserve, therefore preventing construction of the proposed Clark-Lee Freeway through Shaker Heights. Evans was also a founding board member of the Cleveland Ballet. As an organizer for the entertainment at the Garden Club of Cleveland's benefit at the Euclid Arcade in 1974, she introduced a group of dancers. The group was so impressive that the benefit produced the seed money needed to create the Cleveland Ballet. Phyllis Hoelzel was born in Pittsburgh and graduated from Masters School, an all-girls boarding school in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. Phyllis H. Evans 1918 - 2012 Survivors: daughters, Elinore of Willoughby Hills, Juliet of Oakton, Va., and Phyllis of San Francisco, Calif.; son, William of Koh Samui, Thailand; 11 grandchildren; and three great- grandchildren. Services: Services will be held at 2 p.m. June 22 at Fairmount Presbyterian Church, 2757 Fairmount Blvd., Cleveland Heights. Contributions: In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the William and Phyllis H. Evans Charitable Foundation, c/o PNC Bank, 1900 E. 9th St., LOC B7-YB13-03-1, Cleveland, Ohio 44114-3484; or In Memory of William and Phyllis H. Evans, Cleveland Music Settlement, 11125 Magnolia Drive, Cleveland, Ohio 44106. Arrangements: Brown-Forward Funeral Home of Shaker Heights. is handling local arrangements. Through mutual friends she met William H. Evans, and they married in 1948. He joined the family company, Diamond Alkali Co., in 1937, and when the headquarters moved to Cleveland, the newlyweds found an apartment on South Moreland Boulevard near Shaker Square. They eventually found a home in Shaker Heights to accommodate their growing family. While her husband continued working in the family business, Evans donated her time to a number of organizations including volunteering at University Hospitals. She served on the boards of the Cleveland Music Settlement, the Garden Center and the Women's Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art. She was also on the board of trustees for the Masters School. She served on the board from 1972 to 1978. Evans was also one of three regents for Kenmore, a historic museum in Fredericksburg, Va., from 1977 to 2007. The avid gardener, golfer and backgammon player had a knack for making people feel cared for. Her daughter Elinore remembers a time when her friend was having problems at home. Evans would listen, taking her friend "under her wing." "If you spoke to her you felt like the only person on the earth," Elinore Evans. "She was more concerned about others than herself. She could relate to people." In recent years, Evans spent more time at her home in Gulfstream, Fla., coming to Chagrin Falls only during the summer and fall. Her husband died in 1996.


PDF Printable Version