Evelyn Marie Edgar was born Dec. 8, 1929 during the Great Depression and at the beginning of the Oklahoma Dust Bowl. Fiercely independent and strong-willed, she was a force to be reckoned with every day of her life. Her blue eyes and determination to “get ‘er done” bore witness to her feisty Irish heritage.
Evelyn was the oldest sibling of four, and is survived by a sister, Sally Lou Edgar, and a brother, Robert (aka Robin) John Edgar. Her brother, Curtis Warren Edgar, preceded her in death. She was married on July 22, 1950 In Oklahoma City to Charles Walter Parker and they spent 48 years together before his passing on Sept. 17, 1998.
Evelyn is survived by their 3 children, Marilyn Highley, Robert Parker, and David Parker. She was the proud grandmother of 13, and proud great-grandmother of 20.
Evelyn and her sister Sally learned their letters and numbers by reading the headstones in a small cemetery across the road from where they lived. Perhaps this contributed to her interest in genealogy. For many years, she searched cemeteries and vital statistics for other folks interested in the history of their families. She spent countless hours searching and recording and reporting back to people she never met. She also designed and had erected a physical display containing a map of the Denver cemetery to make it easier for folks to locate a specific grave.
One of her proudest possessions is the player piano on which she took one year of lessons. The story goes that her dad heard about a family that was moving away, as a result of the dust bowl, and they had a very nice piano for sale. He went and “made a deal” and brought the piano home in the back of a pickup. However, the piano did not ride alone in the pickup bed. It was accompanied by a HUGE sow. Somehow, the piano and all parties survived.
Evelyn was no stranger to hard work. She rode a horse to school and back every day from the age of five. Her dad had a mounting block erected at the school so she could mount and dismount without assistance. After graduation, she went to work at the bank in Custer City and she lived with her grandmother because the grandmother lived closer to work. She was a “working woman” nearly all of her adult life, and she easily made the transitions from shorthand and manual typewriter to her beloved Apple computer where she made thousands of spreadsheets.
The United States military was of utmost importance to Evelyn. She had 6 uncles in the service as a child and she worked hard to help support the war effort. Both of Evelyn’s two brothers served, her husband Charles served, and both sons served. She was so very proud of all of them. A newspaper article, published in the Norman Transcript on Sunday, Feb. 27, 2005, documents her efforts. “To date, she’s produced more than 2,600 ‘Hugs,’ meticulously making them with 88 new, beige Wal-Mart bedsheets, watering crystals from either Lowe’s or Wal-Mart and a lot of good old-fashioned American love.” Evelyn’s special recipe for brownies were greatly loved. They were requested by deployed Soldier’s who favored them so much, they were affectionately called “Evelyn’s Crack Brownies.”
Evelyn spent many Saturdays cheering for her much beloved University of Oklahoma Sooners football team. She would accompany anyone with a spare ticket, but if that wasn’t possible, watching the TV and “whoopin’ and hollerin’” would work just fine, too. Doubtless, their win on the date of her passing might have been influenced by her cheering from the front row of Heaven’s bleachers.
Funeral Service will be held at 1 p.m.Thursday December 6th, 2018 at Primrose Funeral Service Chapel. Burial will follow at Denver Cemetery, Norman, OK. Minister Jared Parker, Evelyn’s grandson will officiate.
Arrangements entrusted to Primrose Funeral Service, Norman, OK. Sign the online guestbook at www.primrosefuneralservice.com
