Tanya Marie Evers

Tanya started teaching in 1974 at Robert G. Cole High School in the Ft. Sam Houston ISD. She taught English, Speech, and Gifted & Talented there until 1984. In August of 1984 she began teaching at Marshall High School in NISD where she taught English and Speech. She retired in December of 2003. Tanya spent almost three decades of her life nurturing young minds.

She was a bright, articulate woman who loved to engage her students by teaching them how to write and speak clearly and persuasively while also exposing them to great literature. A student once wrote her a letter thanking her for because "she never gives up on her students."

Tanya was born on July 26, 1947, in Dallas. She graduated from W.W. Samuel High School and went on to graduate from North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas) in 1969.

Tanya married Ira Evers in 1968, and they spent their entire adult lives in San Antonio. Ira, too, was a teacher in the San Antonio schools.

Tanya loved country music, especially Hank Williams and Willie Nelson. In fact, she has asked that Willies "On the Road Again" be played at her memorial services.

Tanya also loved cats. She assumed responsibility for many feral cats in her neighborhood, having them neutered and cared for as a public service.

Her childhood friends remember Tanya as a caring young adult who took special care of her sister Karla who was nine years younger, inviting her to join Tanyas older friends on outings, including Tanyas dates as a teenager. "One thing you could say about Tanya was she loved her sister."

At Tanyas request, her ashes will be spread in southern Colorado near the headwaters of the Rio Grande River.

Survivors include her sister, Karla Leavelle and her husband, Robert Griendling, of St. Petersburg, Florida; her niece, Kate Griendling and her husband, Clayton McMillen of Redondo Beach, California; her niece, Hunter Griendling of San Diego, California; her nephew, Zachary Griendling and his finance, Chelsie Clauser of Phoenix, Arizona; her grandnephew, Revel McMillen; and her grandniece, Aerolynn McMillen.

Tanya was predeceased by husband, Ira; her parents, James R. Leavelle and Taimi Leavelle (nee Trast); and her brother, James C. Leavelle.

A memorial service will be scheduled in San Antonio on Saturday, September 10th, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. The service will be held at Jims Restaurant, 3319 Hillcrest Dr, Balcones Heights, TX 78201. Tanya and Ira were weekly customers of Jims for 50 years. She frequently spoke of the wait staff at Jims that she watched mature from a high schooler to adult to parent.

In lieu of flowers a donation can be made to one of her two favorite San Antonio Charities: San Antonio Food Bank or the Texas Diaper Bank.