Yvonne "Evie" Green
September 1, 1931 – November 23, 2022
September 1, 1931 – November 23, 2022
Evie joined Kansas Authors Club in 2000. She served as Youth Contest Manager in 2004 and was an ongoing supporter, both as cheerleader and financial supporter of KAC’s youth programs. She served as Vice President of District 1 2004-2015. Evie was a frequent winner in the Haiku and Whimsy categories of the Kansas Authors Club annual literary contest. She led the Write Stuff group at the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library for many years.
Topeka, KS: Yvonne (Evie) Green was born Sept 1st, 1931, in Oklahoma City, OK to Mark and Florence Casas Elsea. She passed away on Nov 23, 2022. Evie graduated from Classen High School in Oklahoma City and received her bachelor’s degree in Education from the University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK, where she met and later married Phillip Green. She then worked as an elementary school teacher, helping to put her husband through medical school. Evie and Phillip had three children and the family relocated to Topeka, KS in 1960, where Phillip became an air force psychiatrist and later a resident psychiatrist at the Menninger Foundation. Evie continued to teach in Topeka for the 501-school district and retired in 1975. She also led school field trips for Environmental Education. Evie volunteered throughout her life as a beloved docent and zoo schoolteacher at the Topeka Zoo. She was a member of a small writing club in Topeka called “Write Stuff.” Evie was also a long-time member of the Kansas Authors Club and received KAC writing awards for her haikus and poetry. Evie had (2) short stories published in Chicken Soup for the Soul, most recently in 2019. She is survived by her children: Elizabeth Green (Topeka, KS), Leslie Green Renzelman (Los Angeles, CA), Jeffrey Green (Eudora, KS) and four grandchildren: Amy Green Esplund (Lawrence, KS), Caroline Renzelman (Los Angeles, CA), Daniel Green (Eudora, KS), Jessica Renzelman (Portland, OR).
Per Evie’s wishes, there will be no funeral service. Instead, her family and friends will have a memorial dedication at the Topeka Zoo in the spring - to honor her love of animals and her many years of volunteer service at the zoo. The family requests in leu of sending flowers, donations be made in her name to the Topeka Zoo or to the local Humane Society (ASPCA).
Per Evie’s wishes, there will be no funeral service. Instead, her family and friends will have a memorial dedication at the Topeka Zoo in the spring - to honor her love of animals and her many years of volunteer service at the zoo. The family requests in leu of sending flowers, donations be made in her name to the Topeka Zoo or to the local Humane Society (ASPCA).
Kristine Polansky, Tracy Million Simmons, Evie Green--Convention in Hutchinson, 2015.
What can I say? Evie was so many things to me—a friend, a teacher, another mother. If she had a superpower, it was her ability to encourage. Those of us who joined the Write Stuff group which met Tuesday mornings at the public library knew how effective she was not only encouraging us to write but also encouraging us to push for excellence. We also knew some of her own personal story and caught glimpses of how effective she was encouraging others to meet their own problems head-on. I had the honor of seeing her interact with youth when I taught social studies in the U.S.D. 501 system and she taught in the outdoor education program, encouraging seventh graders (as well as other youth) to take an interest in the Topeka community as well as the wonderful outdoors world she loved so much.
- Kristine A. Polansky
I went to my first KAC convention alone. I must have Iooked lost, as this tiny dynamo of a woman grabbed my arm and said, “You can sit with us.” Evie Green introduced me to Trudy McFarland, Barbara Brady, Sam Pierson and likely many more KAC members who I eventually l counted as friends. When I moved from Dodge City to Topeka, it was wonderful to have this network of support already in place. Evie welcomed me to Topeka where I enjoyed monthly meetings of Kansas authors for the first time. She took my kids fossil hunting, a trip they still talk about to this day. She was such a natural teacher, and Evie often told the story of my son with a bag of fossils in hand declaring, “This is the best day ever!” After that field trip, I remember my son musing, "So there's an Evie Green and an Evie Simmons. Do you think there is a Kaman Green? A Maddie Green?"
I often addressed Evie Green as “my 2nd favorite Evie” because she and my daughter shared the nickname. One day, we were visiting Evie's house where she had introduced my kids to her pet turtle, and then advised them to think long and hard before getting a turtle. “They live long lives!” She told my kids. “You have to think about who is going to take care of them when you are not able to do so.”
Evie carried a notebook of her favorite writings with her, and I was thrilled one year when she pulled it out at the convention and showed me that she had put some of my work in her book. She said it was full of favorite pieces that made her feel good and she would sit down and read it whenever she needed a lift. I enjoyed correspondence and phone calls from Evie over the years, and always loved reuniting at the conventions once I’d moved on to Emporia. Her gracious welcome left a big impression. She is missed.
- Tracy Million Simmons