Jane M Evans

Houston, TX

March 30, 1946 – March 31, 2020

Jane Evans passed away unexpectedly and quickly early in the morning of March 31, 2020. She had spent her birthday at home the night before with her husband of almost 53 years (Michael). They had dinner, watched TV, and went to bed. She awoke early in the morning with labored breathing and died en route to the ER. Her cause of death was pulmonary embolisms and carcinomatosis.

In addition to her husband, Robert Michael (Mike) Evans, Jane is survived by her two terrific children and their spouses Jennifer Evans Arntzen (Chris) and James Michael Evans (Catherine), four wonderful grandchildren (Will and Wade Arntzen, Max and Zoe Evans), sister Cille Crago, sister Kathy Card (Shannon), brother Bobby Marshall (Vanessa), 12 nieces and nephews, 14 grandnieces and grandnephews, and 4 cousins on the Marshall side. She will also be greatly missed by her brother-in-law David Evans and his wife, Pam, their children Marc and Kelly and their families, and her brother-in-law, Jim Evans. She is preceded in death by her parents Bob and Edie Marshall and her sister Debbie Harris (Saul).

Jane grew up predominantly in and around the Meyerland area of Houston, TX. She and her 4 siblings were well known for the elaborate and scary Halloween decorations in their front yard. Jane was one of the first usherettes for the Houston Astros in 1962. At that time, they were the Houston Colt .45s and the usherettes were called Trigerettes, and no, they did not wear guns. When the Astros were renamed and moved into the Astrodome, the usherettes became Spacettes. It was here that Jane got to see many of the highlight events held at the Astrodome and met the Duke of Windsor. While studying at Rice University (Class of 1968) she was featured on the cover of “The Rice Engineer” which led to her meeting her future husband, Michael Evans (Rice Class of 1965). Mike left for Stanford to get his PhD but returned the next year to marry Jane on June 17, 1967 in the Rice University Chapel. She finished her degree at Stanford in June 1968.

While Mike was finishing his degree, Jane worked as an IRS auditor in San Francisco and San Jose. There she acquired her financial, accounting and auditing skills that would serve her well when she went back to work 14 years later. And then along came Jennifer (1970), and her world changed forever. 3 years later, Jimmy showed up and the fun more than doubled.

Jane loved being a mother and filled her time with raising the children, creating events and holidays, wonderful vacations and volunteering. She delighted in helping anyone and everyone. Of course, there were the standard Home and School Club activities and even a stint at coaching soccer, and various activities which spanned 14 years with the Creative Initiative Foundation, Beyond War Foundation, and The Foundation for Global Community.

It was during these years in California that she developed her own deep spirituality that grounded her life in loving, respecting, and caring for others. Joining with other families for potlucks, group holiday dinners, sleepovers, protest marches, seminars, leading discussion groups, are some of activities that so richly defined her life. She cherished the many friendships formed along the way for the rest of her life.

Jane returned to work in 1982 as a part time accountant for Mike’s first startup. A few years later she found her true calling as she began working for a series of nonprofit agencies, mostly as CFO or director of finance. These agencies included a food bank, an alcohol and drug rehab facility, a live-in program for low-income persons with severe mental disabilities, and aids/HIV support services during the early 90s. At one point in early 1993, she surprised Mike by driving home in a bright green Honda del Sol with the top down and announcing that if she had to drive to work, at least she was going to have fun doing it. (So much for family discussions!)

In 2005 Jane and Mike moved back to Houston to be closer to their children and grandchildren since both Jennifer and Jim had settled in Houston after graduating from Rice. This was a very tough move for her—leaving all her friends, but the excitement of moving back to Meyerland and being close enough to visit the kids and grandkids won out. She re-established the family Christmas Eve dinners and Easter egg hunts with gusto. She loved that she was able to babysit the newest grandchild one day a week for his first year. She loved the regular weekend stayovers for the younger ones and how they would sneak into her bedroom when they woke up too early and make not-so-subtle noises to wake her up. She loved playing creative games with the grandkids, including arts and crafts, puzzles, board games, and “stuffy toss”. Grandma/Gramma’s house was a place to have fun and the grandkids knew she would have a stash of candy hiding somewhere for them. And watching them all grow up for the last 15 years--she was so proud of them! After her cancer diagnosis in 2018, she so looked forward to seeing at least one go off to college, but that was not to be.

Her friends will remember Jane’s smile, her signature lipstick, her love of reading, her beautiful flowers, her kind words for everyone, and her love of a good game of cards or scrabble. She loved going to the mall and the small boutiques as well to see what was new and exciting--she was a world class mall shopper. She found gorgeous clothes, earrings, necklaces and rings. Looking elegant without even trying was her trademark. Jane never met an arts and craft show she didn’t like, whether it was hidden away in the foothills of the Santa Cruz mountains, on the sidewalks of Saratoga and Los Gatos, or on the waterfront in San Francisco. Going to an art show with Jane was an experience unto itself as she wandered about talking to the artisans and looking for that special purchase.

After being flooded out of their Meyerland home in 2015, she and Mike moved into Brookdale West University. This was a great location only 10 minutes from both Jennifer and Jim, and it was an absolutely fantastic change for Jane. Since she could not drive anymore, she reclaimed her freedom. Now she had new friends with whom to dine, to play games, to go to book clubs, to go on field trips, and to share life experiences. She was having a wonderful time until her cancer diagnosis. Even then, she continued to enjoy her new friends, to compliment them on how nice they looked or how well they played the last game of Scrabble. Even though she struggled at times, she still had a great spirit about her, and was happy with whatever she was doing. We will all miss her presence, and her family will miss having her at all the events she had looked forward to enjoying.

But what we will miss most of all are her warm smile and great hugs.

Memorial services will be held when the virus restrictions are lifted.

Please do not send flowers, but donations may be made in Jane's name to The Periwinkle Foundation, Houston.