Birth date: Jun 15, 1928 Death date: Aug 8, 2020
Evelyn Nesbit Powers Webb passed away Saturday, August 8, 2020, at City Hospital White Rock, in Dallas. She has struggled with various illnesses in the last few years, and finally succumbed to pneumonia and kidney failure. She was Read Obituary
Her sister-in-law Dottie (who was 13 years younger than she was) remembers the times
they "hung out" together. They would go shopping at the mall. Damon would drive
them and then wait in the car for them, even if it was hours. Dottie was worried
about him waiting so long, but Evelyn would say "He doesn't mind. And he didn't.
She also remembered when she and Evelyn started going to Bingo every Friday night.
When they started winning every once in a while, that's when Damon decided that he
wanted to come too. So much for their own special time on Friday nights. But that
started the tradition of Evelyn and Damon going to Bingo every Friday night. She
continued that tradition, even after he passed away, until Bingo places closed
earlier this year. Dottie also loved her sister-in-laws cooking, simple good old
fashioned food like meatloaf, spaghetti, liver, chicken & roasts. She especially
liked that Evelyn always had a salad and cut onions at every meal.
Children's Memories :
Joan:
When she was newly married and had a severe case of strep throat with a high
fever, and slept all day for several days, several people stayed with her
throughout the week. She remembers waking up and seeing Mom there the most.
And a similar time, years later, right after Patrick was born, she developed
an infection with a fever, and Mom came out to stay with her and take care of
her and Patrick for a few days.
They all remember when Mom's friend Juanita across the street had surgery, Mom went
over there daily for about two weeks: visiting her, taking care of her, cleaning
her house and cooking dinner for her family every evening. She was there for
hours every day. She did the same thing for a couple of days for her neighbor
friend Lita down the street when she was sick. And she always took time to keep
up with her life-long friend Esther, by phone or letters.
Joan's favorite memory is of her and Glen, after the boys were grown, going to
Mom and Dad's house every weekend, and playing cards, usually Canasta.
Rich:
He remembers that once when she was mad at him, Mom chased him down the driveway
with a broom. He said it was her weapon of choice when trying to keep the kids
in line. He said one time he was going to run away, and Mom made him a hobo bag,
made him a lunch and tied it to a stick and said "Here you go". Some of his
better memories are of always asking her for change. She would say "Go get my
purse," and when he did, she would give him the change from her purse.
Nancy:
She remembers that Mom didn't even blink, when she had to move back home with a
young baby. Mom, not only helped her that time, but she was always available
through the years when she needed help with one, or all, of her four kids.
Margaret:
She remembers that Mom was ALWAYS up for playing games, when we had family nights.
No matter what game Margaret brought over, Mom was always eager to learn it and
play it (Cards, dominoes, board games, dice games, puzzles...she was up for
anything). Margaret introduced us to the "Quarter game," which became Mom's
favorite game. At our yearly Webb Family Reunions, she remembers seeing Mom
sitting at a table with her sister-in-law Hazel, both of them with their bags of
quarters, just talking and waiting for hours for others to come play with them.
Mary:
She remembers when she was young, and times were different, and in summertime,
kids could go out in the morning and not come home till the streetlights came on.
Mom was OK with that, but she did have some rules. Some of those were to not
go past certain limits on t
Evelyn Webb's Story:
She was born in Giddings, Texas on June 15, 1928 at 7:05 PM.
Her brother Vernon was born three years later.
She had a good childhood. In high school, she played baseball and volleyball.
She was also in the Pep Squad and they traveled around the state to compete in
competitions.
Her first good friend was Esther. They would take the school bus to Esther's house
after school, and she would stay the whole weekend and ride the school bus back
to school on Monday morning.
After graduation, she moved to Austin by herself. She worked at the front desk of a
dry cleaning and laundry company. She and her friend Esther got a second floor
apartment together. She met Damon, who lived in the next building over, also on
the second floor. They talked across the driveway from their second story windows.
Eventually they started dating. Sometimes they went to a local watermelon stand and
bought watermelon slices.
Sometimes Evelyn would take the bus to Giddings to visit her Mom and brother
Vernie, who was still in school. Once Damon came to visit in Giddings and stayed
stayed three days. After that, on her next visit, she walked to the Post
Office, as she did every day. There was a small package, a box with an engagement
ring in it. That same ring she wears to this day with her wedding band.
When back in Austin, in 1946, they went to a preacher's house to get married. Esther
went too, as their witness. They spent several years renting rooms from older
couples, like the Bakers. They welcomed daughter Joan in 1947. Joan still has some
vague memories of the Bakers' home: the closets with curtains instead of doors and
the huge front porch with lots of steps, which everybody sat on almost every
evening. Then they welcomed son Richard in 1949.
They finally bought a house in far north Austin in 1950. They moved in a few days
after daughter Nancy was born in December. Joan has many memories of that home, but
the one she remembers the most is: Before she even started shcool, her Mom took her
down a couple of blocks to a party (like Tupperware or Amway?) where there were a lot
of women. One of the games they played was where all the women took off their shoes
(high heels) and piled them in the middle of the floor. Then they would all scramble
to see who could find their shoes and put them back on first. That game actually
tramatized her for years. She had never seen grown women act so crazy.
Then Damon got an offer from Sanger Brothers to come to Dallas and be their book
department buyer and manager. So they moved to Dallas in February 1957 and rented a
house in Oak Cliff for four months. Every Sunday they went to church where Evelyn
taught Sunday School. Then they drove all over Dallas looking for a house to buy,
finally finding one in northeast Dallas. That has been our family home ever since.
She never had a job after she was married, except for a two year time period when she
worked in her husband's bookstore, around 1985-86. She never had a drivers license.
She had driven her friends' cars in Giddings, but never drove in Austin. One day she
rode with her husband to downtown Dallas where he worked. She drove the car back
home without him, and there was so much traffic that when she got home, she parked
the car and never drove again. We still don't know how Dad got home that day.
She was an excellent housekeeper. One of the times most of us remember, was when she
was trying to get us to clean our room. She would finally come in and gather up
everything that was not where it should be. Then she would dump all of it in a huge
pile on the floor (dirty clothes, clean clothes, toys, games, books, etc). And
then she would say "Now put it all where it belongs." She never spanked any of us.
When one of us kids misbehaved, she would say "Just wait till your Daddy gets home."
Playing at Evelyn’s home with her daughter, Margy, was a peaceful place. I admired Evelyn & wanted to be the kind of mother she was. My condolences to the family.
