Pauline Thelma (Evans) Matthis was born April 14, 1921, to William Columbus Nelson and Hattie Florence Boyer near Willow Springs, Mo. She passed from this earth on Dec. 26 2018, at the age of 97 years 8 months.
She spent her childhood enjoying her family and helping her grandmother and others. As a child Pauline always had a pet tagging along with her whether it was a chicken, turkey or even a raccoon! She lived in and around Sargent, Mo., most of her childhood where she would fish and pick berries. She and her brother and sister would walk along the railroad and pick up pieces of coal and they got water from the spring down from their house.
In 1937, when she was 16, she married Lester John Evans and they moved to Elk Creek, Mo. There she was a wife and mother and worked on the farm and had two boys and a daughter during this union. Her children now live on the farm. Pauline loved to work on the farm and had many flowers and gardens thru the years. She was a hard worker but always had time to sit down and play a game of scrabble or cootie, and she played a mean game of dominoes or just shared her knowledge with her grandchildren.
After a fall she moved to Strafford, Mo., where she lived with her granddaughter, Tammy Boileau, and her husband, Ron. She loved sitting on the patio watching the hummingbirds fly around and loved helping with the flowers. In 2017, she moved to Landmark Villa in Cabool, Mo., and at the time of her passing was in Kabul nursing home.
She was preceded in death by her parents, William and Hattie; her sister, Florene Booth; brother, Ora Nelson; husband, Lester Evans, husband, John Clisby, and husband, Eugene Matthis; a son, Ed Evans; a grandson, Randy Evans; and two granddaughters, Teri Strong Lewis and Paula Strong Wilson.
She is survived by her children, Bill Evans and wife, Marti, and daughter, Judy Strong and husband, Gene, all of Elk Creek; her grandchildren, Pam Carter and husband, Gary, of Mountain Grove, Mo., Steve Evans of Florida, Mike Evans, Tammy Boileau and husband, Ron, of Strafford, Mo., and Eddie Jo Evans of Elk Creek, Mo.; she also has several great- and great-great grandchildren.
Pauline will be missed by all who knew her, but we will rejoice in the knowledge that we will reunite in heaven one day soon.
No services are planned. Per her wishes, she was cremated under the direction of Evans Funeral Home. Her ashes will be buried in Ozark Cemetery.
PAID
