Evelyn White Ott

Evelyn White Ott passed away peacefully on the evening of April 27, just two days after celebrating her 101st birthday. One of her goals had been to exceed the family longevity record of 99 years and she did so with a bit of extra insurance.

She had a discerning intelligence, a dry sense of humor and remained, (as people who met her would often comment in awe) “sharp as a tack” well into her late nineties. She delighted in the fact that her long time internist called her his “poster child for old age”. She appreciated the gift of her advanced age and liked to say that she had many interesting chapters in her life; each offering different opportunities for learning.

And indeed she did.

Evelyn was born in a log cabin built by family and neighbors on the family tobacco farm near Stokesdale, NC. As a tot her father pulled her along in a box between rows of tobacco as he worked, while she entertained herself by pulling their cat’s tail whenever it walked by. She enjoyed being allowed to retrieve items from the spring near her home which served as their refrigeration, but always remembered to keep a wary eye out for “water snakes”.

When she was three, her family moved to Newport News, VA in search of a better work opportunity in the shipyard. She often shared stories about their long and arduous semi-annual trips back to the family farm over primitive roads: first by horse and buggy, later by a hand cranked automobile.

Early in life Evelyn developed empathy for others. Her playmates in VA included a young girl with a muscular condition who couldn’t talk but would express her joy by shouting when Evelyn and others played dolls with her. The children delighted in taking turns pushing her carriage around so that she could be part of the gang.

By age ten, Evelyn was accompanying her blind piano teacher, “Professor” to Kiwanis Club and other civic organization luncheons where he gave inspirational speeches. They had become great friends and Evelyn’s trusted role was to tell him where he food was on the plate, as in “potatoes at two o’clock” and “ peas at 6 ”.

Her daughters were unaware of her musical skills until a second hand upright was delivered to their house and she promptly sat down and played “The Burning of Rome” and “The Flight of the Bumblebee” without reading sheet music or missing a note. Four jaws dropped to the the floor and her children never quite recovered.

Likewise, it wasn’t until her girls encountered algebra that they learned that their mother had tutored her schoolmate and actress-to-be Ava Gardner in mathematics during her own high school years.

Her childhood idol and role model was her Aunt Ida, who was a private duty RN. After graduating from Newport News High, Evelyn attended Mary Washington College, transferring to Duke University where she earned her BS and RN degrees and met her future husband. After graduation she worked as assistant head nurse at Duke Hospital until her husband was drafted. Post WWII the couple was stationed in the Panama Canal Zone decommissioning returning soldiers. It was there that their first child was born.

After returning to the states to complete a residency at John Hopkins in Baltimore a second daughter joined the family. The couple then moved to Greenville, set up a medical practice and settled in the Augusta Road neighborhood where two more daughters joined them.

Evelyn rejoiced in her motherhood, having always dreamed of having many children. She was an accomplished seamstress, knitter, tatter and crocheter. She made her husband’s suits and, on special occasions, she dressed her daughters in identical handmade frocks. She furnished the home with exquisite hand crafted draperies, bedspreads, and lace edged sheets.

When she found herself a single mother with four very young children, she realized that a teacher’s schedule worked far better for her family than that of a nurse. It was then that she found her true life’s passion - teaching third graders at Augusta Circle School.

Over her thirty odd years at Augusta Circle she taught several hundred budding scholars and now her “many children” are sprinkled all over upper SC and beyond.

In order to offer her students more, she spent summers taking post graduate studies at Furman University, Appalachian State and USC before earning her Masters in Education. As a teacher, she worked tirelessly, adapting to the individual needs of her students. In the days that offered little access to special services, she always stepped up: even learning braille and preparing separate lessons on a Braille typewriter for one student. Later, in order to promote inclusiveness, she taught her students sign language so that they could communicate with hearing impaired students in other classes at the school. All the while, she was a caretaker for her youngest who had special needs of her own.

Evelyn was a quiet and reserved but determined doer.

She was a member of the NEA, SCEA, KEI and the Delta Kappa Gamma International Honorary Society for Outstanding Women Educators. She served on multiple boards of directors and organizations as well as advisory committees for the same. Those organizations ranged in focus from education issues to those of medical and mental health. Some of the positions she held include: as a drug education coordinator with the DUSO program; several years on the Board of Directors at Gateway House; and as an advisor for the content of SC Educational TV programs. In 1974, she was selected as a finalist for Greenville County Teacher of the Year.

After a triple bypass surgery in 2000, at the age of 78, she took on the challenge of her life. She overhauled her diet, and started an intense exercise regimen, eventually curing herself of Type 2 diabetes and hypertension. From day one, three times a week she was to be found at the Life Center. Until Covid intervened each session included a one mile walk, 45 minutes of weight machines and a 25 minute aerobics class with hand weights. Even after Covid appeared during her 97th year, during the next eighteen months she took daily one mile walks in her neighborhood.

She liked to say it is never too late to make changes in your life.

She was all of 4’-9” tall but was an ardent gardener and, at 96 she was still skimming and vacuuming her backyard pool daily. At the age of 99 1/2, while still living independently in her own home she could often be found blowing the leaves in her yard. Her favorite place to rest was her front porch from which she enjoyed chatting with neighbors, watching their children come and go, and reveling at the local wildlife.

She was blessed with a neighborhood which included her and supported her independence with their many kindnesses, thereby extending her ability to age in place in her own home. For the past several years neighbors from her street and adjacent streets honored her by turning out to celebrate her birthdays with balloons, cards, flowers and banners while she sat ensconced on her front porch, delighting in the festivities.

Evelyn valued her chapters, was at peace that life was nearing an end and wished only to go peacefully. The family is grateful that her wish was granted and that we are left with so many memories.

She is preceded in death by her parents Otis and Mabel White; her sister Phyllis Willis; and her daughters Sarah Jean Ott and Marilyn Leavell. She is survived by her daughters Su Tamsett and Marcia Barron; her grandchildren Anne T Licari (Bernard), Stephen Tamsett Jr (Nicole), Alison T Verkade (Hendrik), Jennifer and Sarah Beth Leavell, and Jacob Barron; by her great grandchildren: Logan and Chelsea, Nicholas and Noelle Licari, Tyler and Katherine Tamsett, and Hendrik (Fin) Verkade; and by her beloved first cousin William (Billy) Coe, son of Ida.

Her Celebration of Life service is scheduled for 3:00 PM on May 27 at Westminster Presbyterian Church where she was a member since arriving in Greenville in 1949.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Gateway House of Greenville.