KAY MARIE EVANS

July 7, 1955 - August 18, 2021

Edmond, Oklahoma

Kay's Obituary

 Kay Marie Hoke Evans, born July 7, 1955, departed this earthly life in the quiet of her own home on the evening of August 18, 2021. Her death was the result of a lengthy and arduous experience with cancer. The last weeks were the most heartbreaking and difficult as she clung to the hope of life sustained by all those whom she loved and loved her most dearly.

Kay Marie was a lifelong resident of Edmond, Oklahoma. She graduated from Edmond High School and went on to earn her Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the University of Central Oklahoma. She began her professional career in 1980 as a social worker in the Child Welfare Division at the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. Kay was compassionate and insightful in her attention to those children and families. She went on to work as a psychometrist at the Child Study Center at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center where she was the Project Coordinator for the Parent-Infant Project and the Oklahoma Infant Transition Program. Her life's work was dedicated to providing services and resources to children and families most in need, as well as developing programs to better serve those communities she cared so deeply about.

Kay Marie Hoke married Montgomery Evans on March 18, 1988. Not ones for publicity or grandeur, they slipped off to Taos, New Mexico to be married privately. They were later honored with a reception held by Kay's parents, Jim and Shirley Hoke, in Edmond.

Kay left her professional career in 1993 to be a full time mother to her newborn daughter, Elizabeth. From that time forward, Kay invested her considerable energies into the care of and attention to her daughter, her husband, and her extended family of special close neighbors and friends.

Kay loved life. She had a deep love of traveling, and especially loved Acapulco, Mexico; Monhegan Island, Maine; the Rocky Mountains in Colorado; and Lake Tahoe. She really loved to fly - in airplanes, down ski slopes, or around and around on a roller coaster.

At home, Kay surrounded herself with things she loved. Her home was often a refuge for wayward cats who soon became members of the family. Kay was inspired and creative. She enjoyed working in all mediums of art with a particular love for sewing, quiltmaking, and knitting. If you were ever lucky enough to receive one of her handmade gifts, it was one of a kind and made just for you.

Kay had a style and grace that was uniquely her own. She loved funky clothes and dressed with a flair that could not be imitated. She wore fancy eyeglasses and stacks of bracelets and rings. There was a memory and a story for each one.

A description of Kay's life would not be complete without mentioning her love for Halloween. Each year the house would be dressed and decorated, as would Kay. She delighted in the exchanges with neighborhood children, admiring each costume. There is a jack-o-lantern on the front porch even today.

Despite the years that included serious illness, Kay remained determined to focus on the people she loved and on the small things that gave her comfort and pleasure. Kay Marie was an accomplished and beautiful woman and human being with an admirable ability to get things done. She was serious about living a meaningful life and finding hope and joy in the everyday.

Kay is survived by her daughter Elizabeth, her husband Monty, her mother Shirley Hoke, her brother Christopher Hoke, his wife Valerie, and nephew, Alex. She is preceded in death by her beloved father James Hoke.

A celebration of Kay's life is being planned with date, place, and time to be announced.

Kay was an ongoing supporter of the OkCity Crisis Nursery and the YWCA of Oklahoma City. Her family will be most appreciative of any donations made in Kay's memory.