Salem – Born April 19, 1918 to Silas Clyde Wilson and Carolyn Ritter in Marion County, Oregon, Evelyn Louise McKibben died June 4, 2010 in Salem, Oregon.

She married Vernon Norman McKibben in Airlie, Oregon October 13, 1935. Evelyn was the fourth of nine children and was preceded in death by her parents, brothers, Harlan & Paul and sisters, Josephine & Beulah. She was also preceded in death by her husband, Vernon, who died June 9, 1994, in Salem, Oregon.

She is survived by sisters, Ruth Black of McMinnville & Juanita Robison of Corvallis; and by brothers, Jim Wilson of Airlie and Bob Wilson of Tillamook. Vernon and Evelyn had six very active children. The McKibbens are survived by Norman and Virginia McKibben of Walla Walla, WA; Wilson and Karlene McKibben of Vancouver, WA; Jesse and Patricia McKibben of Gaston, OR; Lynn & Carol McKibben of McMinnville, OR; Lorna & Monty Elliott of Ashland, OR; and Daniel McKibben of Beaverton, OR.
She leaves behind 21 grandchildren and 31 great-grandchildren.

Evelyn did not finish high school but encouraged her children to read the classics. She chaired the Sheridan School board & served on the Governor’s committee to reorganize school districts. She later earned her GED by studying with her women’s study club. She loved to travel and was always “amazed” by the new things she discovered during her travels.

In her last hours with her family she reminisced about many hunting camps where she was an active hunter with the rest of her sons and daughter. If you asked her what she was proud of in her life the conversation always came back to her family.
Her family will always remember her love of family, landscape gardening, her insistence of courtesy, her highly developed sense of friendship through love and honesty.

A memorial service was held at Grace Baptist Church 4197 State Street, Salem, Oregon on Monday June 7, 2010 at 1:00 p.m.

Arrangements by Virgil T. Golden Funeral Service.