findagrave.com ...

BEGIN

Evelyn Wolverton Roberts
Birth 	28 Sep 1918
Doland, Spink County, South Dakota, USA
Death 	22 Sep 2008 (aged 89)
Idaho Falls, Bonneville County, Idaho, USA
Burial 	
Sunset Memorial Gardens
Aberdeen, Brown County, South Dakota, USA
Memorial ID 	30557076 · View Source

Evelyn Roberts, 89, of Idaho Falls, died Monday, September 22, 2008, at
Turtle & Crane Assisted Living in Idaho Falls.Evelyn was born September 28,
1918, in Doland, South Dakota. She was the daughter of Martha Meissner and
Frank Wolverton of Doland. She attended Doland High School and graduated
in 1936 as valedictorian of her class. She studied two years at Northern
Normal College in Aberdeen and received her teaching certificate in 1938. She
taught in a country school near Clark, South Dakota, for many years.

She married her high school sweetheart, Raymond Roberts, on June 1, 1940. They
made their first home on the family farm near Clark. During their 20 years on
the farm, their four children were born. In 1961, Evelyn, Raymond and their
children moved to Aberdeen, South Dakota, to fulfill a long-held dream of
returning to college. Even though she was a nontraditional student of age 43
with a family of four, ages 4 to 12, Evelyn completed her bachelor's degree
at Northern State College in 1964. She continued at Northern State College
as a professor of biology and botany from 1965 until 1985. During that time,
she earned a master's degree in Biology from Northern State and a master's
degree in Botany from South Dakota State University. Evelyn retired from
teaching in 1985. Evelyn and Raymond were married for 60 years before his
death in 2000.

Evelyn and Raymond's lives were filled with many interests, including
traveling, camping, bird-watching, antique collecting, photography,
gardening and woodworking. There was always an ongoing project in their
home in Aberdeen or in their lake cabin on Blue Dog Lake near Waubay, South
Dakota. Life at the cabin included canoeing, plant collecting, crossword
puzzles and endless games of Scrabble and King's Corner. Excursions through
the Waubay Wildlife Refuge were a regular part of life at the cabin. All
of the Roberts children were required at some point to learn to place plant
specimens in Evelyn's plant press for her herbarium. Her family encourages
donations made in her memory to the Waubay National Wildlife Refuge --
a place of research and relaxation in Evelyn's life.

In addition to her professional life at Northern and her wide variety of
personal interests, Evelyn was a long-time member of St. Paul's Lutheran
Church in Aberdeen; she was also very heavily involved in the development
of Aberdeen's first food co-op, Natural Abundance. Evelyn moved to Idaho
Falls, Idaho, in 2002. An avid bird-watcher, she continued watching birds
at her home in Idaho Falls up until the time of her death.  Grateful for
having shared Evelyn's life are her two sons, and their children, daughters,
and their children.

Evelyn was a woman who met life head on, knowing that every goal could be
reached if a plan was made, a "to do" list written and sufficient intestinal
fortitude called upon. The lives of her children, grandchildren, students,
friends and colleagues have been enriched for having known her. Evelyn will
be missed.

Published in the Post Register on 9/30/2008

Family Members
Parents

    Frank D. Wolverton
    1886–1946

    Martha Emilie Meissner Wolverton
    1895–1958

END