Elizabeth Jones Evans

Born in Fort Worth, Texas on August 5th 1924; raised in Scarsdale, New York, Liz was an only child growing up during the depression. In addition to her parents, she lived with her grandmother and great aunt. She attended Swarthmore University, where she majored in English, graduating in the midst of WWII in 1945. At Swarthmore, she met Daniel Wilson West and the two married when Daniel finished his law degree at Yale Law in 1946. The newlyweds moved to New York City where Liz worked at Brentano’s bookstore and later for MacMillan Publishing Company editing textbooks.

Liz and Dan had two daughters while living in NYC and moved to Larchmont, NY in 1956. The couple went on to have 2 more children, a son and another daughter in 1957 and 1960 respectively. She was widowed in February of 1961 at the age of 37, when her husband Daniel died.

This was a very challenging time in Liz’s life, raising four young children without her husband’s support or a job. She responded with resilience as she did throughout her life. To support her family, Liz took up freelance editing. To enrich her and her children’s lives she bought a small sailboat, “The Little Red Hen” on which she would take the children sailing.

In June 1967, after 7 years of widowhood, Liz married John D. Evans. John was a widower, with 3 sons and a daughter. After they married and combined their families, Liz went back to school to get a Masters in Library Science from Columbia University. She worked as a Children’s Librarian in Scarsdale and Yonkers, NY public libraries until 1982 when she retired and the couple moved to Crozet and later Charlottesville, VA.

Over the years, Liz became an avid tennis player, hiker and master gardener. She attended church at the UU Church of Charlottesville for many years. She volunteered in the local library and as a pastoral visitor for the church. Her second husband John, passed away in 2011. Liz lived on her own for four years before moving into The Colonnades in 2015. There she enjoyed many friends and activities including fitness classes, history lectures and reading. In 2025, at the age of 101 she moved to Cape Cod at the urging of her children where she would be nearer to her eldest daughter Lucy and her son David. A lifelong liberal Democrat, relentlessly cheerful with a wry sense of humor, Liz made many friends of all kinds throughout the years.

She is survived by her four children Lucy West, Mary Elizabeth Case, David West and Hilda West, three stepchildren Cynthia Evans, Chris Evans and Bill Evans, 12 grandchildren and one great grandson.

A service honoring Liz’s life will be held on May 30th at 2 pm at the Unitarian Church of Barnstable, 3330 Main Street (Rt 6A), Barnstable, MA. Family and friends are welcome.

In honor of her love of hiking in the Blue Ridge mountains the family suggests that in lieu of flowers donations be made to The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation (https://brpfoundation.org)