Mary Effie Evenson

Mary was the first born of four children of Harry and Adalyn Schoonover. She and her siblings, John, Kay and SueSann were raised on their parent’s family farm near Lisbon, North Dakota. She attended grade school in a one room country school and graduated from Lisbon High School in 1960. She then moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota where she studied nursing at the Swedish Hospital Nursing School where she graduated and became a registered nurse (RN) in 1963. Mary enjoyed her time as an RN becoming the youngest head nurse at the Missouri Baptist Hospital. She even resumed working as a part-time nurse after her children were older.

On October 16th, 1965, Mary married Donald (Don) Evenson at Grace Lutheran Church in her hometown of Lisbon, ND. The early marriage years included short stints in Minneapolis and St Louis before Don and Mary found their “permanent” home in Springfield Virginia in 1971. This was to be their home for the next 32+ years.

Mary served as the primary home manager and loving mother of their four energetic and growing children: Elizabeth (1969), Matthew (Matt)(1972), Thomas (Tom) (1975), and Nathan (1977).

For everyone in her family there was no doubt that Mary was the person in charge. She was a loving mother seeing to their needs and “upbringing”. There was always a fresh dinner on the table at 6pm, regardless of who showed up to eat. She was the primary organizer, bringing the children to their various sporting practices and events throughout their childhood. When no one else volunteered, she did, becoming some of the childrens’ boy scout den leaders and even serving as Nathan’s first soccer coach.

Mary became a “master” gardener in Northern Virginia and was active in the local garden club and always maintained beautiful flowers and plants, both inside and out of their Springfield house – often utilizing her children’s indentured servitude to maintain the multiple gardens around the house.

The Springfield house and a large backyard next to a creek became a wonderful place for the children to hang out and bring their friends over too. This was a good thing as Mary’s reputation as a no-nonsense enforcer of house rules was coupled with a welcoming open house for all the kids in the neighborhood.

Mary was an avid reader, reading at least one novel every week. Her collection of leather-bound favorite novels (at least one a year) will be greatly appreciated by the next generation.

Mary also had a lifelong love of travel, starting with a 1949 Yellowstone family road trip. She joined Don on several work trips to Germany and Japan, and had visited every US State and all continents, except Antarctica (but all four children worked at last one season there!). She bravely led multiple summer-long cross-country road trips with all four kids (and friends and families for segments) exploring large parts of the western US and Canada. These adventures created lifelong travelers of the four children who are forever grateful for the wanderlust instilled in them.

Mary also treasured her time with her sisters Kay and SueSann. The three of them were fortunate enough to embark on “sister” trips each year for over 20 years – exploring locations both domestic and international. She always looked forward to these adventures and loved sharing stories from these trips with her friends and family.

Mary was preceded in death by her parents (Harry and Adalyn), her brother (John) and her son, Matt. She is survived by her husband of 59 years Don, her three living children, Liz (Brad), Tom, and Nathan (Reese) as well as her five grandchildren Eric, Kevin, Sam, Terra, and Harry, and many nieces, nephews and friends.

In lieu of flowers Mary would request a visit to your local garden center for hanging baskets to bring natural beauty to your house or a donation to Doctors Without Borders.

A celebration of life will take place at the Olinger Funeral home located at 10201 Grant Street, Thornton, Colorado, on June 28th at 10 am, followed by a reception from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. The celebration of life will also be streaming online for those unable to travel – details to follow.

https://give.doctorswithoutborders.org/campaign/680615/donate?c_src=ADD2301U3U51&c_src2=google.cpc.CKMSF-BRAND_DWB-GS-ALL-DonateDWB_E-BO-18t65P-RSA-Evergreen25_1-MONTHLY&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=CKMSF-BRAND_DWB-GS-ALL-DonateDWB_E-BO-18t65P-RSA-Evergreen25_1-MONTHLY&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=791446267&gbraid=0AAAAACM3OZWd-iKsQImkOTK-IJ5PmyaUm&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0LDBBhCnARIsAMpYlAp8xu4jysxJMKoL82o4To-8PHfUaSU9MQ_FT0705trCrsj50eNorgsaAqXOEALw_wcB