Evalyn Stolaroff Gendel

Services will be from 1 to 4 p.m. July 25, at the Whistler residence.

She is survived by four sons, Michael of Denver, Peter of New Orleans, Steven of Tucson, Arizona, and Jonathan of Mission Hills, Kansas; one daughter, Patrice Gendel Whistler of Grand Junction; and six grandchildren.

Memorial contributions to HopeWest and Hospice Care Center, 3090B N. 12th St., Grand Junction, 81506.

Evalyn S. (Evie) Gendel

September 19, 1922 - July 3, 2015

Evalyn S. (Evie) Gendel, 92, Grand Junction, Colorado, died peacefully at home on July 3, 2015.

Evie was a native of New Orleans, Louisiana, born on September 19, 1922 to Solomon Aaron Stolaroff and Reva Dubinski Stolaroff. She loved New Orleans, art, photography, cooking, hiking and camping, and most of all family and friends.

Evie graduated from Eleanor McMain High School in 1939. She was briefly married to Jack Gordon, who was killed in action flying over the Pacific in July, 1942.

She attended Newcomb College of Tulane University in New Orleans, receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts (honors) in 1943, with emphasis on medical illustration.

During her senior year at Newcomb College Evalyn worked as an illustrator for Dr. Michael DeBakey, who encouraged her to apply to medical school. She graduated from LSU Medical School in New Orleans in 1949 (1944-49). From 1947 to 1948 she took an orthopedic preceptorship at the University of Bristol Medical School, Bristol, England, completing her internship at Touro Infirmary in New Orleans in 1950. She was a resident in orthopedic surgery at Touro Infirmary from 1950 to 1952.

Evalyn married Joseph Gendel, MD, an orthopedic surgeon, on March 30, 1947. Evalyn and Joseph had five children.

They moved to Topeka, Kansas in 1953 where Evie started a private country practice in Auburn, KS. She served as team doctor for the high school football team and was a member of the President's Council on Physical Fitness.

In 1957 she left her rural private practice to direct the Kansas Polio Vaccine Program. Evalyn served the Kansas Department of Health and Environment as Associate Director of the Division of Maternal and Child Health from 1960 to 1971 and the Director from 1971 to 1975. She served on the Board of Directors and later as President of the Sex Information Education Council of the United States (SIECUS), the governing council of American School Health Association, and the board of the National Center for Health Education. Evie was Vice President of the American Public Health Association and Chairperson of the School Health Section. She was Chairperson of the American Medical Association Panel on Fitness and Exercise and served on the Peer Review Editorial Board for Journal of the American Medical Association.

Evie retired from her career in public health in 1977. Her maternal death studies data helped pass health legislation in Kansas leading to an 87% reduction in maternal deaths over 19 years. Evalyn was a crusader for sex education in schools. She taught human sexuality in the psychiatric training program at the Menninger Foundation in Topeka, and later served as Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Sex Counseling Service and Sex Education Program at the University of California, San Francisco, from 1979 to 1990.

Evalyn served for 17 years on the Board of the Kimberly-Clark Corporation.

In 1976 Evalyn was invited to the United States Military Academy to help the integration of women into West Point. She continued to assist West Point in matters of gender and sexuality for many years.

Evalyn was divorced from Joseph Gendel (deceased) in 1976. She married Emmett J. (EJ) Bonner (deceased) in June of 1978. After retirement, Evalyn and EJ moved from San Francisco to Carmel Valley. In 2009 they moved to Grand Junction, Colorado to be closer to family. Evalyn was widowed in October, 2014.

Evalyn is survived by her sons, Michael (Kathe) Gendel, Peter (Jenna) Gendel, Steven (Sha Fu) Gendel, Jonathan (Deborah) Gendel and daughter, Patrice (Michael) Whistler; step-children Ann Bonner, Christopher Bonner, Roger Bonner and Laura Bonner, plus many grand and great-grandchildren. Donations if desired to Hope West Hospice, Grand Junction, CO.

Published in The Daily Sentinel on Feb. 2, 2016