Obituary of Gloria Elizabeth Evers

Gloria Elizabeth (Betty) Mueller Evers, 89, a native of Dyersville, Iowa, and a graduate of Xavier High School's class of 1940, died September 5, 2011, in Vero Beach, Florida. Visitation will be at Kramer Funeral Home in Dyersville from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, September 9, with a scripture service at 5 p.m. A funeral mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. on Saturday, September 10, in St. Francis Xavier Basilica and burial will follow in St. Francis Cemetery. Betty was a frequent visitor to Dyersville and cherished her family's deep ties to the area. The only daughter of Dr. and Mrs. E. F. (Emil and Clara) Mueller of Dyersville, Betty was born into a family of three generations of medical doctors, with her father the third. Betty had three brothers, two of whom became doctors and the third a dentist. Two years after she graduated from the University of Iowa with a B.S. degree in chemistry, Betty married a doctor, Robert N. Evers, a Xavier High School classmate, also of Dyersville. In later years, the medical tradition was continued when two of Betty and Bob's four children became doctors. "Even surrounded by all that medical knowledge," says her husband, "Betty's home remedies always were more effective than anything the rest of us came up with." Following their 1946 marriage, Betty worked at St. John's Hospital and Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, while her husband completed medical school at Washington University. Shortly after opening a medical practice in St. Paul, Minnesota, Bob was recalled to active duty by the U.S. Navy Reserves and was assigned to Valley Forge Hospital in Pennsylvania. Following his discharge from the military, Bob continued his medical training in neurology and psychiatry in the Philadelphia area. The family settled in Toledo, Ohio, in 1956, where Bob opened his psychiatric practice. The couple retired to Vero Beach, Florida, in 1992. From her youth into retirement, Betty was an accomplished pianist who played everything from Chopin classics to show tunes. She took watercolor classes in Florida and loved attending art shows. She also signed her husband and herself up for dance classes but she was less successful at that effort, which her husband attributes to her selecting him as her partner. Betty was an enthusiastic, voracious reader throughout her lifetime. About a month before her death, in a visit to a local bookstore, Betty selected a stack of books she was anxious to read. Betty is survived by her husband of 65 years; two sons, Dr. Bob (Anne) Evers, of Park City, Utah, and James (Gail) Evers, of Honolulu, Hawaii; a daughter, Mari (Dr. Randy) Koepke, of Toledo, Ohio; a son-in-law, Mark Spodnik, of Milford, Connecticut; two grandsons, Cody (Veronica) Evers, of Oregon, and Race Evers, of Honolulu, and three granddaughters, Erin (Braden) Meason of Colorado, Amra Evers, of Honolulu and Nadea Evers of Malaysia. She was predeceased by her daughter, Dr. Ann Evers Spodnik, who died in October of 2010, and by her brothers, Dr. Donald Mueller, Dr. John Mueller, and Dr. Herbert Mueller. The family asks that memorial contributions be sent to the Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) Hospice, 901 37th St, Vero Beach, Florida 32960. The family also wishes to thank the staff at Indian River Estates, Indian River Medical Center and the VNA Hospice, all in Vero Beach, for their many kindnesses during Betty's final illness.