Evelyn Lucile Lewis

Evelyn Lucile Rolf Lewis was born in Wichita, Kansas, on January 25, 1923, the third child of James Rolf and Edith Yoho Rolf. She was raised in Laverne, Oklahoma, in the heart of the dust bowl, with her six siblings. She endured a spartan life through her early years, which included the Great Depression. As a child she attended a one-room country school, Mt. Pleasant, District 47, Harper County and then Laverne high school, where she was valedictorian, class of 1940. She then attended Oklahoma Baptist University and married in 1942. After a stint in Alabama as the wife of an Army Air Corp enlistee, (Carol and Wayne’s father, Milton Lewis) and a move to Arizona, she continued her studies at OBU and completed her degree at OBU in 1949. In the interim she went off to the Navajo reservation in Arizona to teach Indian children in Dennehotso and in Lukachukai.

After her graduation from OBU, she continued with her career in education, teaching at various places in Arizona, including Maricopa, Camp Verde, and Wellton. She began teaching in primary grades, eventually progressing to high school, Antelope Union High. She then obtained her Ed.D at Arizona State and continued her career as a professor at Northern Arizona University. Along the way she authored a textbook, Housing Decisions, which is still widely used in many high school classrooms, having gone through several revisions in its over 40 plus year history.

Throughout her life, Evelyn consistently held to her firm love of God and her true Christian values. She was a regular contributor to her local church, the Arizona Baptist Children’s Services, Arizona Baptist Foundation and the James and Edith Rolf Scholarship fund at OBU. She was a proud member of PEO.

Her impact on her students has been profound. A number attended her 100th birthday celebration; many reminded her of the great effect she had on their lives. A most rewarding thing she heard from former students was: “you were the best teacher I ever had” or ”you were like a second mother to me”.

Evelyn was “sharp as a tack” until the most recent illness that claimed her life. She would have been 102 had she made it to her birthday, January 25, 2025. Until the last year of her life, she kept herself busy with her water exercises and walks, reading and volunteering.

Evelyn was preceded in death by her parents, Edith May and James Rolf, her grandson, Morrie Lewis and her daughter-in-law, Carol Jew Bodine Lewis, and siblings Elizabeth Rolf, Harold Rolf, Eldon (Shorty) Rolf, Esther Clapham and Lois Chappell.

She is survived by her daughter, Carol Riggs (husband Jim) and son Wayne, (wife Freda); grandchildren Dianna Grey, Robert Lewis (wife Heather) and Darren Lewis (wife Jeanne), Sally Freedle (husband Scott), Dave Riggs (wife Becky), Richey Riggs, Colleen Thompson (husband Mike); Ryan Bodine (wife Dianna) and Erin Bodine; great-grandchildren, Daisy Lewis, Jura Lewis, Wiley Younger and Jasper Younger; Frank Lewis, Mason Lewis, Josie Lewis, Eliza Lewis, Morgan Thompson Lutgen, Finn Molloy, Kyla Molloy, Mary Lou Thompson Sorenson, Enzo Riggs, Swasey Riggs, Donovan Bodine, Edison Bodine and Violet Bodine; Jakob Lockwood and Joshua Lockwood; great-great grandchildren Lincoln Lutgen, Zachary Lutgen, Norah Riggs, and Penelope Sorenson; and siblings Howard Rolf and Doris Kimbrough.

The family owes a debt of gratitude to her devoted caretakers, Guadalupe Sinohui and Yariela Ortega, who became like family to her.

Memorials may be made to the James & Edith Rolf Scholarship at Oklahoma Baptist University, to the Arizona Baptist Childrens’ Services, or to the charity of your choice.

A Memorial Service will be held on Sunday, January 19, 2025 at 10:00 AM at Whitney & Murphy Bueler Mortuary, 14 W. Hulet Drive, Chandler, Arizona 85225.