Evelyn was born to German immigrants, John and Bertha Ernst back in 1928. She grew up in Ridgewood, a close-knit neighborhood in Queens, NY, with her younger sister Dorothy, or Dotty as she was called, in a cold water flat above the Deli her parents ran there. Evelyn and Dotty would help at the deli after school and on weekends. The family relocated to Ozone Park, Queens, in the 40’s.
In 1947, she married Nicholas Lovecchio, and they resided in Queens until 1957, when they relocated to Farmingdale, Long Island. Together they had three children, Jimmy, Johnny and Lisa. Evelyn was remarried to Jim Rivero in 1967 and moved up to Wappingers Falls, NY where she began a career as a school librarian for Wappingers Central schools. She also worked at the office of Social Services for Dutchess County in Poughkeepsie, NY.
Evelyn was a soft-spoken, kind and caring soul who loved to travel the country and the world with her family and her many friends. She enjoyed taking the train back to NYC to visit the museums, Central Park and, during this time of year, Radio City Music Hall for their Christmas Spectacular show. In her senior years she often took bus trip excursions with her friends; either to a local eatery for lunch, or a day trip to a nearby city for a show. She kept herself busy and in great shape, participating in various senior exercise classes with friends she met in Red Hook, up in Dutchess County, NY, where she lived for many years after her husband Jim passed away.
She loved spending time at the beach on warm summer days, the explosion of colors in the fall, and the soft blanketing of winter’s first snow. She was also a very good gardener and enjoyed planting all sorts of herbs and flowers in the springtime.
But what she loved more than anything was to spend time with her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. She was able to see all her children marry, and was then blessed to see most of her grandchildren marry as well. In her final years, she relocated from NY to California where she was able to spend many precious days with some of her family there. She was especially fond of her little best friend Hazel, who called her Ya-Ya, and doted on her great Grandma every day in sunny San Diego where they shared a house with no less than four generations of family. What a tremendous blessing for her.
Evelyn was also a lover of food, and used that love to gather her family every chance she could. She often offered to treat us to a restaurant meal, a pizza or Chinese food, as a catalyst to get us together around a table. And she was a very good cook. It’s hard to say which was better, her German spaetzle and sauerbraten or her Puerto Rican chicken and rice. But you could guarantee if she made either, we would come!
She always loved reading books to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, or playing board games with them. She did her best to be there for her kids and grandkids and always made birthdays and holidays special for all. It’s obvious that God blessed Evelyn with many loved ones throughout her life; some of whom remain with us on this temporal side of life, and many who now join the God she came to know and love, in welcoming her soul into eternal rest.
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