Jean Frances Evans

She was raised in North Vancouver, enjoying a childhood filled with the idyllic West Coast whirl of skiing, golf, fishing and outdoor life. Mom’s family of 12 was desperately poor during the Depression and endless dinners of onion soup led to her banning it from her menu as an adult. During WWII, four of her brothers went overseas and Mom was a Junior Air-Raid Warden. Her stories of sabotaging North Vancouver’s ravines against a Japanese landing and being out after curfew advising adults to pull their blackout drapes closed show how it is possible to empower children with action rather than caving to fear during a time of great uncertainty.

The overriding figure in Mom’s young life was her father, ski jumping champion Nels Nelsen, who died when she was only ten. No matter how poor her family was, they could always point to their father’s world records and Canadian Championships. One of Mom’s proudest moments was in 2017, when Revelstoke’s famous ski jumpers were honoured as part of Canada 150 and at 84, she proudly re-opened the Nels Nelsen Hill at Revelstoke National Park by posing on the interactive Nels’ Knickers platform.

She worked as a caddy at Capilano and a newspaper girl on a long route on the hills of North Van when she was barely in her teens. Although very small for her age it added income for her family, and she turned it all over to her widowed mom. At 15, Mom spent a summer working in a fish cannery. For the rest of her life, she could gut and fillet a 20 lb sockeye in minutes. Totally boneless!

Mom moved to Chilliwack in 1957 after her marriage to John Evans, and the city girl with the office career became a farm wife. She didn’t care much for farm animals, but she and our Grampa Evans formed a fast bond over their love of clearing land, often burning down wooden fence posts in their shared glee of burning out the blackberries.

Mom had endless creativity and an artist’s eye. She enjoyed painting, sewing, and culinary adventures. She loved to entertain, whether it was for family or as the food coordinator for group events. She also instilled a love of reading in all her children, and with her high school Latin and French, taught us to break down words by origin at a young age. Last Christmas, even with memory impaired, she placed her hands on a keyboard and played a pretty mean boogie-woogie.

Mom and Dad took us all over BC on camping adventures that went far off the beaten path, allowing us to explore ghost towns, old haunts Dad remembered from trips with his dad, and in later years, making the rounds of local “B” race meets. They loved fishing year-round and their friends at darts, the Legion and in the Chilliwack Buggy and Cutter Club, with its legendary summer and winter race meets and Sunday breakfasts at the Royal Hotel.

After Dad’s death in 1996, Mom bravely bought a new car as motivation and got her driver’s license at age 64. She loved chauffeuring and babysitting her grandkids. They all have wonderful stories of adventures they shared with their Nene. She was especially proud that with her encouragement and sometime infusions of cash, they all went to university. She generously took her daughters on trips to Hawaii and Alaska, and hosted Christmas family gatherings at the Copper Room. She skied into her 70s and golfed into her 80s.

With roots in Canada going back to the early 1600s, Mom was the consummate Canadian. She cheered loudly through many Olympics and loved nothing better than watching her Canucks and Lions. She had harsh words for some of our nation’s leaders but was always steadfast in her love of Canada.

Mom leaves behind her four children, all living “across the river” as we used to refer to Agassiz-Harrison Hot Springs-Harrison Mills in our childhood: Vivian Walker (Tom), Nancy Walter (Bern), Gordon Evans (Cheryl), and Barbara Janzen (Dave). She loved her grandchildren Ryan, Craig, Luke, Ben, Kaitlyn, Megan, Evan and Siobhan, and lived for their postcards, phone calls, and visits.

Sadly, there will be no opportunity soon for a celebration of her life. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Revelstoke Museum & Archives, who work hard to celebrate her father and preserve the history of ski jumping in BC. http://www.revelstokemuseum.ca/support-the-museum