Evelyn M. VanDyke took her last breath peacefully in the first hour of Sunday morning on Thanksgiving weekend, resting a short distance from Smith Valley Road, just a couple of miles down from where she took her first breath 94 years before, on August 17, 1929.
Along with her twin sister, the surviving matriarchs of the large southside Horner family, which yielded many nieces and nephews, all knew her sweet and kindly spirit, as well as her propensity to speak her mind. The twins were the last birth for George O. Horner and Ethel E. (Brown) Horner, both from Jackson Township in Brown County, although Grandpa Horner was born in Missouri. As the family sought to establish themselves in the city, they moved many times. The twins were nevertheless nurtured by three older sisters and two older brothers, settling on the southside near Beech Grove.
There, Mom met her high school sweetheart and future father of her children, J. Richard VanDyke, and she graduated in 1947. They remained in Perry Township until 1967, not far from her parents, sisters, brother and their families. The annual Horner reunions remain a touchstone for all to this day.
Following in the path laid by her mother, our beloved Grandma Horner, we are a Christian family, placing love and understanding of each other at the center of our relationships while maintaining a healthy respect for our own individuality and needs, qualities Mom demonstrated and learned to accept in others.
She was especially blessed for so many years by the loving care she received from Ed and their life together was her bit of heaven on earth, her chosen waiting room to the next, leaving us to thankfully celebrate her life and the loving spirit that multiplies.
She is survived by Edwin Davidson, Greenwood, the love of her life and faithful partner of 46 years; her twin sister, Nevelyn F. McGough, Southport; three loving children, Richard A. (Sherry) VanDyke, Indianapolis, Jeffrey R. (Eddie) VanDyke, Manhattan and Karen E. (Mark) Ziegelgruber, Anderson and seven grandchildren: Katie, Loren, Molly, Lindsey, Meredith, Zachary, and Austin, with sixteen great grandchildren and a great great grandson.
Funeral services will be conducted at 1:00 pm, Wednesday, December 6, 2023 at Forest Lawn Funeral Home, Greenwood. She will be entombed in the mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memory Gardens.
The family will receive friends from 11:00 am until the time of service Wednesday at the funeral home.