Evelyn was born August 14, 1946, in Ord, Nebraska. She was raised on a farm in the Riverdale community outside of North Loup and Scotia. She attended Riverdale School, a one-room country school her father had also attended, before later graduating from North Loup-Scotia High School, one of the first consolidated schools in the state.

During her youth, Evelyn was active in 4-H, proudly showing her dairy cow, Dolly, at Aksarben. She also participated in a 4-H exchange program that took her to Manitoba, Canada, where she stayed with a host family for two weeks—an experience she always remembered fondly.

Following high school, she was awarded a scholarship from Lockwood Corporation to attend nursing school at West Nebraska General Hospital, graduating with the Class of 1967. She married James R. Rose in 1968, and after a year in Cheyenne, Wyoming, they returned to western Nebraska, settling in the Mitchell and then Bayard area, where they would raise their two children.

Evelyn dedicated her life to caring for others through a nursing career that spanned 46 years. She served patients of all ages—from preschool children to the elderly—with compassion and commitment. Her career included time at the hospital, followed by several years in long-term care at Heritage of Bridgeport and the Residency.

She later worked with CAPWN as a clinic phone nurse and as part of the Head Start program. Her dedication to nursing was recently honored with a Living Tribute by the Nebraska Nurse Honor Guard.

A lifelong member of the United Methodist Church, Evelyn later attended Faith United Church of Christ in Bayard following the closure of the Bayard United Methodist Church. She was deeply involved in her community, serving many hours as a volunteer on the Chimney Rock Pioneer Days committee, as a board member and host at the Bayard Depot Museum, and on the Morrill County Tourism Board, among other efforts.

Evelyn and her husband also shared a love of collecting antiques, which led them to own and operate Brass, Glass, Etc., an antique shop specializing in glass and brass pieces they had collected through their travels across Nebraska and beyond.

She is survived by her daughter, Michelle (Dan) Coolidge, her son Jim (Debbie) Rose, all of Bayard; grandchildren Shelbie (Drew) Loutzenhiser of Chadron, Michael Coolidge of Bayard, Ashton (Julia) Rose of Peoria, Illinois; son-in-law Stewart Weiss of Imperial; step-grandchildren Kalli (Kile) Schilke of Imperial, Jared (Brittanie) Zemanek of Haywarden, Iowa and Stefanie (Steven) Sandershaft of Alcester, South Dakota; great-grandchildren Reed Loutzenhiser, Kensington and Kace Schilke,Wesley, Andrew, Trentin, and Zayne Zenanek, and Corbin Vandershaft; sister Betty (Bud) Carlson of North Loup, brother Robert (Penny) Thomas of Grand Island; sister- in-law Mary (Claude) Ryan of Mitchell; numerous nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband, step-daughters and son-in-law Lanea and Randy Zemanek and Beverley Weiss; her parents Carroll and ThelmaThomas; parents-in-law JamesV. andViolet Rose.