Evelyn Staggs' Obituary
Evelyn Cole Staggs (102) joined her late husband Charles, and her sweet mama and poppa, Minnie and James Leonard Cole, her brothers and sisters, Oma, twins Pearl and Earl, and Robert, as she breathed her first breath of Heaven on Thursday, August 10, 2010. Born in 1908 in Grandin, Missouri, a thriving lumber-mill town at the turn of the century, Evelyn’s family moved to Brinkley, Arkansas, when she was twelve, where she lived, married, worked, and worhshiped until she chose to move to Memphis at the age of 91. Babe, as she was known to her friends and co-workers, retired from Southwestern Bell as a switchboard operator supervisor where she hired, trained, and loved working with her “bobby-soxers” the “telephone girls”. An active member of 1st Presbyterian Church in Brinkley, Evelyn kept the church’s financial records until she moved to Memphis, where she joined Highland Heights Presbyterian Church. In Brinkley, she sang in the choir, played the piano, loved flower gardening, cooking, entertaining, ice cream, sweets, and coffee–with cream, no sugar. Evelyn was, in every sense of the term, a “steel magnolia”, whose nails were meticulously manicured and polished and every hair was in place, whose style of dress was elegant and always stylish, whose complexion-even at 102 was one of peaches and cream-void of wrinkles, yet she could paint, wallpaper and hang sheetrock with the best. Her skills were endless: “If I had to, I think I could build a house by myself”. Always known for her gracious hospitality, Evelyn never forgot to say, “thank you, hon” to any who served her, whether it was helping feed her, taking her to the sunroom, or moving her from wheelchair to bed. Truly, she was a woman who lived and breathed Southern grace, charm, and gentility. We loved her dearly, and her friends, her “telephone girls” and those whose lives she touched with her grace will miss her and long remember her. Her family, Steve, Mary Ann and Wyatt Cole, would especially like to thank the sweet caregivers, (Heather, Jovita, Beatrice, Doris, Juanita, Frankie, Florence, and Nellie) who saw that Evelyn never wanted or was in pain. We also offer a great thanks to the nursing staff at Signature Healthcare on Dovecrest who came to know Evelyn for the gracious lady she was. Graveside services will be held Saturday, August 14 at 10:30a.m. She will be buried in the family plot at Memorial Park in a white casket edged with baby pink roses, as is so befitting of Evelyn. Memorials may be made to either 1st Presbyterian Church, Brinkley, Ark., or Highland Heights Presbyterian Church, Cordova, TN.
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