Emily V. Evans

September, 02, 1915 - February, 23, 2012

Emily Vaughn Evans, 96, Wilmore, died at St. Joseph Hospital, Lexington, Feb. 23, 2012, at 2:25 a.m. The cause of death was pneumonia. She was born in Wilmore, KY., Sept. 2, 1915, to Harry McDowell Evans and his wife Mattie Harris Evans.

Emily moved to the New York City area in 1941 where she worked for what was then called the Women’s Division of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Methodist Church, first at their 150 Fifth Avenue office and later at their new headquarters at 475 Riverside Drive, New York City. She served in several departments. While an administrative assistant in the Board’s Asia office, in 1949 she was asked to go to Korea to serve as field treasurer for the Methodist mission there. When the Korean war began , she, with other westerners, left Korea with only what they could carry. She and many others traveled to safety in Japan in the hole of what had been a cattle transport ship, the only thing available. She spent the next 18 months in Japan, still as an employee of the Methodist Board of Foreign Missions.

After retiring from the Board of Missions, she returned to Wilmore, where she worked in student financial aid at Asbury College, now Asbury University.

In 1995 when Wesley Village Senior Retirement Community opened in Wilmore, she became a ‘pioneer’ at Wesley Village, as the first residents were called. For the next 13 years she lived at 130 Wesley Drive, one of the independent living ‘patio homes’ at the Village.

In October 2009, injuries sustained in a fall marked the beginning of decline in her health. At the time of her death, she was a resident of Wesley Village’s new building, Holloway Cottage, the first small home for memory care in Kentucky.

Emily was a member of the Wilmore United Methodist Church, the church she attended as a child. She was a member of the Beacons Sunday school class. She attended faithfully and was active as long as her health allowed.

Emily was a gifted pianist and vocalist. Music was her great talent and first love. She believed strongly in the church and its mission as God’s creation and means of spreading the Christian message to the world. She loved classical music and the hymns of Charles Wesley.

A graduate of the University of Kentucky, Emily was a strong UK Wildcats basketball fan. For 18 years she and three other women, her ‘basketball buddies,’ attended almost every basketball game UK played in Rupp Arena.

She is survived by one sister, Martha Evans Sparks, Wilmore, and by two cousins, Johanne Harris Edwards, Wichita Falls, Texas; and Dr. Martin H. Harris, Lancaster, Ohio. Her parents and one sister, Harriet McDowell Evans, preceded her in death.

The funeral will be in Clark Chapel at the Wilmore United Methodist Church, at 2:00 p.m. Monday, Feb. 27. Visitation will be from noon until 2:00 p.m. Burial will follow in the Evans family plot in the Wilmore cemetery.

Pallbearers will include Alan Beuscher, Melvin Bowdan, Wesley Eisemann, Gary Story, and Roger Woolums. Timothy Layton and Harland Lutz will serve as honorary pallbearers.

Funeral Information

Noon untill service time Monday at Wilmore United Methodist Church / Clark Chapel

2 :00 PM Monday at Wilmore United Methodist Church / Clark Chapel

Wilmore Cemetery