Evelyn Charlotte Congdon Starkel, aged 94, died on December 2, 2019 in St. John, WA. She would have turned 95 this coming January.

Evelyn was born in Calmar, IA, on January 23, 1925. Growing up, she was active in school, where she played basketball, acted in several plays, was on the newspaper & yearbook staff, and even participated in tumbling (!). After graduating from Calmar High in 1943, Evelyn earned her teaching certificate and taught for a year in a one-room schoolhouse near Calmar.

While visiting her sister, Alice, on the west coast, Evelyn met Richard Earl Starkel. Richard and Evelyn were married on August 24, 1946, and the couple moved to Puyallup, WA. They lived on the Starkel family farm and raised their three children there. After their kids left home, Dick & Evelyn retired from dairy farming, and Dick worked as a field man for Dairigold. They divided their time between their farm house in Puyallup and an apartment in Mount Vernon, traveling as much as they could in between.

A long with being a devoted homemaker, Evelyn was involved in 4-H and her Lutheran church activities w hile her children were growing up, and s he continued to be involved at church as long as she was able . She loved spending time with her grandchildren, baking, canning, sewing and needlework, and working in her flower garden. Evelyn and her husband, Dick, loved to square dance, play cards, and travel together. In their later years, they visited many places, including Alaska, Hawaii, Arizona, Norway, and Australia. After her husband died in 1993, Evelyn didn't travel as much, but she still treasured those memories of their many friends and travels and spoke about them frequently. She remained in Puyallup until moving to St. John, WA in 2016.

Evelyn was preceded in death by her husband, Richard E. Starkel, her brother, Raymond Congdon, her sister, Alice, and her son, Richard Starkel, Jr. She is survived by her daughters, Diane Harrison and Donna Snider, nine grandchildren, 30 great grandchildren, and three great-great grandchildren.