Mary Estelle Shelley Evans, 88, died Nov. 2, 2021, at her daughter’s home in Lake Helen, Florida.
Mary Evans, 88, died Nov. 2.
Mary was born March 10, 1933, in Greenwood, South Carolina, to James Hyatt Shelley and Kathleen Gribble Shelley.
Mary, her twin sister Martha, and older brother James “Jimmy” grew up in Lake Helen. They were active in the Methodist church, where Mary played piano for services and special events.
Mary attended Pfeiffer College, and was in her final semester at Stetson University when she met her future husband, John E. Evans. They were married Dec. 28, 1954.
Married life got off to an adventurous start. John worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service doing research on red tide, and then as a reporter for WTVT, before joining first the campaign and then the administration of Gov. Farris Bryant in Tallahassee, Florida.
Later, Mary and John lived in Darien, Connecticut, and Atlanta. Mary was happy to return home to Volusia County. She spent many years helping her widowed mother, mother-in-law and a houseful of elderly aunts. She also had her three children to care for — Kathleen “K.C.,” Albert William “Bert” and Rebecca.
She loved a fine car and the hunt for just the right antique or piece for her homes.
Mary was preceded in death by her son, Bert, and her husband, John. She will always be missed by K.C., Rebecca, her son-in-law, Chris Harrington, and the grandchildren she loved so much, Katie and Will Harrington.
— an obituary from Lankford Funeral Home on Legacy.com, where online condolences may be left