MARYANNE MATULA EVANS
1931-2020
A private graveside service for Mrs. Maryanne Matula Evans, 88, of Shreveport, LA but formerly a longtime resident of Houston, TX will be held at Trinity Cemetery in Gloster, Louisiana. Reverend Peter Mangum, Rector of St. John Berchmans Cathedral, will preside over the service.
Maryanne passed away in Shreveport, LA on Saturday, May 16, 2020, from complications from Alzheimer’s Disease. Maryanne was born on September 29, 1931, in Little Rock, Arkansas. She was the second of three children born to Charlotte Welch Matula and Arthur John Matula,
Sr. Maryanne grew up in Little Rock, Shreveport, and Houston, where she graduated from San Jacinto High School in 1949. She attended Louisiana State University where she met many of her closest, lifelong friends. She studied history and was an active member of Chi Omega sorority while in college and throughout her life.
After finishing at LSU, Maryanne moved back to Little Rock and met Earl Evans one Sunday morning in church. He was the love of her life as she was his and they were married on October 1, 1955, in Shreveport. Maryanne and Earl were happily married for over 50 years until Earl’s death in 2006. Their union produced two sons, Keith John Evans and Jeffrey Thomas Evans. Those two boys were Maryanne’s pride and joy and she took great pleasure along with her husband, Earl in raising their sons. She encouraged her boys to reach for the stars but to always be kind and giving along the way.
Maryanne was very involved in her church communities after moving to Houston in the late 50s. First at Corpus Christi Catholic Church and School, where her boys attended grade school and later at St. John Vianney Catholic Church after the family moved to the West Memorial area in 1969. She was an active member of the Charity Guild of Catholic Women and volunteered at the Guild shop for many years.
Maryanne had a love of history and culture and passed that along to her children as well. She was particularly fond of the antibellum period and the Civil War. She was an avid reader and was always in the middle of a book or two. She played the piano, loved antiques and collected many. She also had a great fondness for England where she and Earl were fortunate enough to live for three years before his retirement in 1990.
As the boys grew older Maryanne started an interior decorating business with her closest of friends, Deedy Anderson. Consult Us Interiors developed into a very successful business and Maryanne spent many years providing professional decorating and design services for many homeowners in the West Houston area.
“Mae”, as her grandchildren called her, was a true southern Lady. She loved her grandchildren and greatgrandchildren immensely and took special pleasure in their lives and their accomplishments. She was a strong Catholic-Christian woman who had a deep love of God and also a great devotion to the Blessed Mother. She often prayed the rosary and was truly a warm, caring and considerate person. She was also very comfortable in her own skin as she could often be seen at the nicest of cocktail parties drinking a cold Pearl Light right out of the can.
She was truly a gem.
Maryanne was preceded in death by her husband, Earl Francis Evans; her parents, Charlotte and Arthur Matula; and her brother, Arthur John Matula, Jr. Maryanne is survived by her two sons, Keith John Evans and his wife, Karen of Shreveport, and Jeffrey Thomas Evans and his wife, Debbie of Katy, TX; a very special sister, Charlotte Rosalie Matula of Houston, who was one of Maryanne’s selfless and devoted caregivers through her Alzheimer’s journey; sister-in-law,
Audrey Ross Matula of San Diego, CA; sister-in-law, Mary Evans Barber of Baton Rouge, LA; brother-in-law, Father Carl Evans of Baton Rouge, LA; brother-in-law and sister-in-law, George Quinn Evans and his wife, Carol, of Madison, MS; five grandchildren, Jenny Evans Cassidy and husband, Jeff and Earl Ryan Evans and wife, Loren all of Houston, TX, John Michael Evans and wife, Meredith, Emily Evans Overdyke and husband, Bryan and Rebecca Evans
Graham and husband, Matt, all of Shreveport; ten great grandchildren, Michael Oden Evans, Charlotte Marcelle Evans and George Miller Evans; Frances Colt Graham, Eleanor Oden Graham and Stuart Weidemeyer Graham; and Annie Mae Overdyke and Alice Evans Overdyke, all of Shreveport, and Lane Cassidy and Charlotte Evans, both of Houston; numerous family members and many friends including two very special friends, Dorothy “Deedy” Anderson of Kingwood, TX and Shirley Flowers of Houston, TX.
The family wishes to extend its very special thanks to Alice Evans, Mae’s very special friend and caregiver, the entire staff at The Chateaus at Montclair, the entire staff of Home Healthcare specifically Mae’s nurse Ginger, the entire staff of Amedysis Hospice specifically Mae’s caregiver Tiffany, her social worker, Bettye, her nurses, Brandi and Angela, Dr. David Abdehou and his staff, and Dr. Ronald Zweighaft and his staff of Houston.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Charity Guild of Catholic Women at 1203 Lovett Boulevard, Houston, Texas, 77006 or to the charity of one’s choice.