Raina Evans

It is with great sorrow to announce the passing of our beloved Raina Jie-Hyae Evans at only 27 years of age. Raina passed away at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, after a 3 year battle with a rare blood cancer, which took her life on Thursday afternoon, January 3, 2019. Services for Raina will be held on Tuesday, January 8, at the funeral home at National Memorial Park in Fairfax, VA at 7482 Lee Highway in Falls Church, VA. Viewing and goodbyes will be from at 11:00 am to 12:00 noon; services will be conducted at 12:00 pm and graveside service and internment of the body will be at 1:00 pm. Questions may be addressed to Sarah Neal at National Memorial Park at 703-560-4400. Charitable contributions in memory of Raina may be sent to Histiocytosis Association, 332 North Broadway, Pitman, NJ 08071 or ECD Global Alliance, P.O. Box 775, DeRidder, LA 70634.

Until her disease relapse made it impossible, Raina was pursuing her degree in Environmental Sciences at Montgomery College (MC) and was planning to transfer to the Environmental Engineering program at the University of Maryland. Raina was a brilliant student and maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA through her courses at MC. She had recently taken an interest in interplanetary environments and had taken an Internship with the Planetary Protection Program at NASA HQ with goal of contributing to the search for life on Mars. It is a great loss that she will never pursue her desired career.

Raina was bright and brilliant person with many talents. She loved the modern fine arts, admiring the range of works from the likes of Miro to Andy Warhol. Until stricken with her illness in 2015, she was an accomplished pianist mastering the classics, with a particular love for Chopin. She was also violinist and sat as second violinist in her high school orchestra and with the NHI volunteer orchestra, in her late teens. Although her battle with cancer prevented her from pursuing playing instruments, she loved to listen to all genres of music from K-Pop to classic rock. Raina also enjoyed creative writing, once recreating an amazing story of the life of a Japanese internee at Manzanar. She was also an avid reader from Tolkien to Tolstoy.

Most of all, Raina had a rare and great spirit who was unselfish and uncomplaining. She would go out of her way to help someone and loved to bring joy and happiness to all around her with her quick wit and wonderful sense of humor. For these reasons, she will be missed greatly by her friends and family.

Raina was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive cancer in December of 2015. In the face of this rare and cruel disease, her bravery and spirit showed through. She suffered through immense pain when the disease attacked her bone marrow. After chemotherapy and radiation, she received a bone marrow transplant through her brother’s donation spending 4 months at Johns Hopkins in late 2016 to recover from complications that nearly took her life. The devastating news of recurrence came to her in August of 2018. Yet, she endured the pain and fought valiantly accepting experimental treatments to battle the disease. Finally, the cancer overcame her great desire to live, in a short time, in the New Year. Her bravery was an inspiration to all around her; she endured the pain with grace and dignity and without complaint.

Raina is survived by her mother, Jillian Youngeun Evans, her father, John Evans, and her brother Christopher Evans, as well as her aunts (emos) Cindy, Joanne, Sook, Juana and her uncle Keith Shin, as well as her many uncles and cousins. She is also survived by her paternal grandfather Winton Evans and was preceded in death by her maternal grandparents, Jae Bang and Joungnam Shin and her aunt Nahmie Kim.

We are grateful to all who helped Raina endure the cancer journey which defined her young life in twenties when most enjoy their education and starting of their adult life. Special thanks are to be given on Raina’s behalf to the nurses of the units of 4A and 5C at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.