Alice Chesney Evans

Alice Elizabeth Chesney Evans, 83, journeyed gracefully into Heaven while at home with family and friends on Wednesday, August 15, 2012.
She was born on May 16, 1929 in Knoxville, TN, to Murphy A. and Thelma C. Chesney. She loved and greatly admired her brother Murphy A. Chesney, Jr. who with his wife Ann resides in San Antonio, TX.
Alice received a B.S, degree in Educational Administration from the University of Tennessee and continued post-graduate work at Southern Illinois University. For 35 years she demonstrated her gift of teaching as a classroom educator, curriculum coordinator and principal in East Alton, Illinois. Her friends never tired of her schoolroom stories told with humor, flair and a great love for her students.
She married Lowell D. Kelley and later Willie G. ""Bill"" Evans, both deceased. She always said that she was treasured by both wonderful men, never needing to fill her own car gas tank until after Bill's death.
From Bill, she was blessed with step-children, Deborah McCrary, Larry Evans, and Lisa Steinkoetter and grandchildren. She was proud of her niece and nephews, Carol (Tim) Sandlin, John (Patti) Chesney, Charlie (deceased). In these last years, Alice enjoyed the frequent visits of her nephew Murphy A. (Linda) Chesney, III.
Alice retired to Waveland, MS to enjoy fishing with her husband Bill, and loved to share adventures about her former historic home in Chautauqua, IL. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, she shared a new home in Gulfport, MS, with her Waveland neighbor Helene S. Roth, who cherished her and cared for her until her death.
She became part of so many families after Katrina-from staff at South Mississippi Regional Center, to the close-knit Roth and Welch families. People loved her for her wit and gracious ways. She was a person of quiet closeness to the Lord, praying deeply for everyone's concerns, and decided to become a Catholic because she said that in both Waveland and Gulfport the parish churches ""adopted"" her and brought her new joyful relationships.
Alice Elizabeth will be remembered for many things, her classy style, love of sporty convertibles, hummingbirds, Rodrigue's ""Blue Dog"", NASCAR races, University of Tennessee football, bull-riding and Pawn Stars on television. But the characteristic for which she will be missed is her generous love for strays, both persons and animals. In her Waveland yard she kept a ""cafeteria tree"" of seeds and feed for critters, and fed cats, geese, turtles, birds and ducks at her Gulfport home. She would never pass a needy person on the highway without handing him a twenty-dollar bill, asking if she could ""have the privilege of buying their dinner that night.""
So on the afternoon she died, Alice Elizabeth Chesney Evans was given a twenty-dollar bill to take with her to Heaven, in case someone needy by the Pearly Gates would need a dinner that night.
A graveside service will be held on Friday, August 24, 2012, at 10 am in the Biloxi National Cemetery.
Memorials may be sent to the Humane Society of South MS, 2415 Hwy 49, Gulfport, MS 39501
The RIEMANN FAMILY FUNERAL HOME, Gulfport is in charge of arrangements and an online guestbook may be viewed and signed at www.riemannfamily.com