Mrs. Ruth Hanson Evans

Ruth Hanson Evans Age 95 of Eldersburg Ruth Hanson Evans, 95 of Eldersburg, died peacefully at home on Friday, August 16, 2013. She was born on June 20, 1918 to Ethel Amelia Budnick Hanson and Emmord Hanson. She was born at home on the family farm on Trimble Road in Edgewood. At the age of 4 months, her mother died in the Spanish Flu Epidemic. In 1922, her father married Mary Magdalene Gross who loved and cared for her and her brother, Herman, as if they were her own. Her father and stepmother had two other children Edwin and Leah. When Ruth started school she and her brother walked the unpaved Trimble Road to Edgewood and attended the three room school at Edgewood Arsenal. When they got through the main gate they got on a trolley that they called "the Tunerville Trolley". The trolley took them the rest of the way to the school. It was great fun riding the trolley. She went to school there from the first to seventh grade. The only playground equipment they had was a chin-up bar and it was here that she developed her famous bicep muscles that her children wanted to see. Beginning in the eighth grade she walked to Edgewood and took the train to Aberdeen where she attended Aberdeen High School. She graduated with the Class of 1934 at the age of 16. She had skipped the third grade because she was advanced for her age and high schools only went to the 11th grade at that time so she was a young graduate. She was interested in Drama in high school and performed in the school play during her senior year. She was involved in the youth group, The Epworth League, at the Magnolia Methodist Church. She remained at home for two years waiting until she was old enough to attend nursing school. When she was 18, she enrolled at Maryand General School of Nursing in Baltimore and graduated with the Class of 1936. While a student nurse she went on a blind date with Fulton Lambert Evans of Baltimore. After the date she did not see him again for a year when he got off the elevator on the wrong floor and stopped a young nurse to ask directions. When he saw it was her he asked her for a date. They were married in her parents' living room on June 14, 1940. They had five children. In 1950, her husband left his job at Hilbert Optical Company in Baltimore to start Evans & Hawkins Opticians on W. Read St. in Baltimore with his friend Joseph Hawkins. Unfortunately, Hawkins died soon after but they kept the name Evans & Hawkins. In the late 1970's, the couple bought another optical business in Westminser and rename it Evans Opticians, later they opened another location in Ellicott City. While raising her family and taking care of their home, Ruth handled all of the paperwork and bookkeeping for all the businesses and served as the Secretary and Treasurer of all the corporations. When her beloved husband of 38 years became ill in 1977 she cared for him at their home in Ellicott City for 11 months until his death in October 1978. She was the president of Evans Opticians until 1988. She began volunteering at the Thrift Shop of Christian Services of Howard County in 1983 and she continued to be actively involved there until she was unable to drive. She moved to Eldersburg in 1997 to live with her daughter Rita and her husband Matt and their five children. She was an inspiration and support to her grandchildren attending all the significant events in their lives. She kept them abreast of all the news from home with long letters when they went away to college. Because of her intelligience and humor she was often sought out to help with homework and studying and she always had an encouraging word for anyone who was struggling. In 1996, she was nominated by her granddaughter Anna Eder Sur and recognized as the Maryland Grandparent of the Year by Caring Grandparents of America. She loved to do crossword puzzles, crochet and work at the Thrift Shop. She enjoyed being outside especially in the summer. She loved keeping up with the news, flowers, birds, and her family. She was a member of Elders Baptist Church in Eldersburg. She was a former and founding member of the Howard County Garden Club, a former member of the Howard County Homemakers Club, and a founding and former member of the Normandy Heights Improvement Association. She was also a former member of Fulton Avenue Baptist Church, Shelborne Baptist Church, Rockland United Brethren Church and Bethany Lane Baptist Church. She was a loving mother, grandmother, and great grandmother who stayed interested and involved in her family's lives all her life and a successful entrepreneur who was instrumental in the success of three businesses. She loved to laugh and always enjoyed a good joke and a good pun. She was predeceased by her beloved stepmother, her brother, Herman and E. Edwin Hanson, her sister Leah Hanson, her husband Fulton Lambert Evans, her son Fulton Lamber Evans Jr., and her granddaughter, Suzanne Renee Evans. She is survived by her children, Ronald D. Evans and his wife Lynn of Frizzelburg, Roger H. Evans and his wife Paula of York, PA, Peggy R. Pruitt and her husband Richard of Marriottsville, and Rita L. Evans Eder and her husband Matthew of Eldersburg. She is also survived by 11 grandchildren including Anna Eder Sur, Matthew Eder Jr., Angela Eder McKeever, Laura K. Eder, Joseph Fulton Eder, Whitney J. Evans, Stuart D. Evans, Wendy Evans Harrison, and Julie Evans Pope. She is survived by 8 great grandchildren. Friends may call at the Haight Funeral Home & Chapel, 6416 Sykesville Road, Sykesville on Sunday from 2-4 and 6-8pm. Funeral services will be held on Monday at 11:00 AM at the funeral home. Those desiring may make donations in her memory to Christian Services of Howard County, 3267 Pine Orchard Lane, Ellicott City, MD 21042. Online condolences may be offered at www.haightfuneralhome.com

Mrs. Ruth Hanson Evans

June 20, 1918 - August 16, 2013