Ector Co. TX - Obits from the Odessa American Online 31 March 2000 Submitted by Charlene Beatty Beauchamp cbodessa@classicnet.net Thanks to the Odessa American Online http://www.oaoa.com/ ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net/ *********************************************************************** OA Online Obituaries. March 31, 2000 Permian Basin Obituaries _________________________________________________________________ ODESSA — Frances Valentine Evans, 96, a 73-year resident of Odessa, died Wednesday, March 29, 2000, at Seabury Nursing Center. Services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at First Presbyterian Church with Dr. Phil McLarty and the Rev. Sherry Holloman officiating. The family will receive visitors from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday at Hubbard-Kelly Funeral Home. Mrs. Evans was born in Dayton, Ohio, June 14, 1903, the youngest of 10 children. Her parents were James R. Valentine and Mary Louise Monroe Valentine. In the year of her birth, world attention was focused on Dayton, when the Wright brothers made the first flight in a powered airplane. Wilbur and Orville Wright lived across the street from the Valentine family. Her older brothers were friends of the Wright brothers and helped in their bicycle shop. During the great Dayton flood in 1913, she and her family were rescued along with the Wright family in a horse- drawn moving van. After the flood, the family moved to San Antonio. Mr. Valentine was a civil engineer who built many of the highways in the area. Frances married John W. Evans on Sept. 26, 1922, in San Antonio. The couple moved to Odessa in 1927 and had been married 63 years when Mr. Evans died in 1985. Mr. Evans was a 1914 graduate of Odessa High School, where three generations of children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren have graduated. Mrs. Evans remembered when electric power first came to Odessa. In those early years, the lights came on at 6 p.m., started blinking at 8:55 p.m. and were turned off at 9 p.m. Thursday afternoons, the power was turned on for a few hours so the ladies could do their ironing. At this time, the family lived on Lincoln Avenue and later the house was moved to 15th Street to make way for the Lincoln Hotel. When the Lincoln Hotel became a retirement home, Mrs. Evans moved in, so she returned to the same address where she started. She was active in the First Presbyterian Church for 73 years. She sang in the church choir for most of those years and directed the choir for many years. She was also the soloist for many special occasions throughout Odessa. She was a sponsor of the youth group in the early years of the church. She was a member of the Odessa Bridge Club since 1927, and a founding member of the Odessa Music Study Club. Survivors include one son, Dick Evans and wife, Joyce, of Odessa; two daughters, Martha FranceIl and husband, Earl, of Odessa, and Mary Frances Van Pelt and husband, W. P. "Chop", of Sanger. Her grandsons and a great-grandson will serve as pallbearers. They are Larry FranceIl of Fort Davis, Garry FranceIl of Honolulu, Clay FranceIl of Odessa, Chip Van Pelt of Garland, Eric Van Pelt of Las Cruces, N.M., Jim Evans of Odessa, John Evans of Lubbock and Jeff FranceIl of Austin. She also is survived by two granddaughters, DeeAnn FranceIl Harris and Anita Evans Leach, both of Odessa; 16 great-grandchildren, three great-great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews. Memorials may be made to First Presbyterian Church in Odessa. _________________________________________________________________ ODESSA — Manuela Lopez Zavala, 75, of Odessa died Wednesday, March 29, 2000, at Medical Center Hospital. Mass will be celebrated at 2 p.m. today at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church with the Rev. Gilbert Rodriguez officiating. Burial will be at Rose Hill Cemetery. Arrangements by Odessa Funeral Home Angeles Memorial Chapel. She was born in Lajitas. She was a homemaker and a Catholic. She was preceded in death by her husband, Teofilo Zavala; and daughter, Adela Garcia. Survivors include her sons, Manuel L. Zavala of Odessa; daughters, Juana Martinez and Gloria Balerio, both of Odessa; brother, Marcos Lopez of Odessa; 11 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren. _________________________________________________________________ Copyright © 2000 Odessa American. All rights reserved.