Edna May (Evans) McClain

Edna May (Evans) McClain was born August 26, 1931 in Zanesville, Ohio, the daughter of Byron Milton Evans and Ruth Isabelle (Anderson) Angles. She married 1st Kenneth Ivan Coffee and 2nd Dale Arthur McClain and 3rd James Mack Seabolt.  The majority of her life was spent living single as she thoroughly enjoyed her independence.  She moved to Dallas, Texas in 1969, and moved to Cedar Creek Lake in Gun Barrel City, Texas in 1998 after retiring from the Federal Government, Department of Human & Health Services, Office for Civil Rights where she was honored with a Sustained Outstanding Performance Award in 1987 by the DHHS.

Edna took pleasure in clearing brush and beautifying her lake lots and her cabin at the lake right up until six months before her death.  She enjoyed crocheting and sold many of her projects, especially Indian dolls, to pay her way for vacationing back and forth from Texas and Ohio throughout the years.  Edna had several hobbies including collecting Jim Beam bottles, Avon bottles and U.S. mint presidential coins.  She was not particularly a sentimental person, however after her passing, a couple more passionate collections were discovered:  Edna had every driver’s license she had ever received throughout her seventy years of driving.  Also, amongst her sparse belongings was a huge storage box full of many years’ worth of greeting cards and letters that she had received throughout her lifetime.  The box was rightfully labelled “My Precious Memories” which explains her obsession for always checking the calendar to see if a friend or family member was having a birthday so that she could send them a greeting card.

Her main hobby was genealogy - searching ancestors for herself and for friends and family, thus she spent many hours in county courthouses, cemeteries and genealogical societies in both Ohio and Texas as well as many hours on the Internet after it first became available in the late ninety’s which she considered a blessing for serious genealogists.  She was a member of several Genealogical Societies and a charter member of “The Society of Civil War Families of Ohio”.

The older Edna got the more she loved babies and young children.  She never missed an opportunity to speak or play with them no matter where she was, whether at the doctor’s office or in a grocery store or wherever.  She thoroughly loved tending the nursery at her Baptist church and the children always returned her love.  She spent her last few months consistently watching custody court shows on television in order to look at “cute babies”, as she called them.

Edna fought a one-and-a-half-year battle with the last six months being long and hard from metastatic bone cancer originating from the bladder.  She eventually wound up at Canton Oaks Nursing Home, Canton, Texas on December 21, 2021 where after three months she died at age 90 on March 27, 2022.  She wanted to live to age 90 so that she could have the honor of being the longest living family member on both her maternal and paternal sides; she was very pleased when her wish came true.  She requested to be cremated at Moorhead Funeral Home, Gun Barrel City, Texas and to be laid to rest in Cheshire Cemetery, Delaware, Ohio beside her beloved (earth) Father.

Written by Susan Brummett, daughter.

PRECEDED IN DEATH BY:

Parents - Byron Milton Evans (Feb 7, 1912 - Aug 30, 1992) and Ruth Isabelle (Anderson) Angles (Jul 8, 1912 - May 2, 2000)

3 Sisters - Cora Elizabeth Evans (Sep 1, 1930 - Sep 1, 1930), Mary June (Evans) Webb (Jun 30, 1933 - Jun 27, 2020), Ruth Ann (Evans) Klein (adopted) Heslop (Jun 12, 1937 - Apr 22, 2021)

3 Half Sisters - Gladys Marie (Angles) Williams (Jan 16, 1942 - Jan 4, 1982), Carol Ann (Angles) Romine (Oct 16, 1939 - Jun 30, 2000), Priscilla Elaine (Evans) Ankerson (Feb 15, 1944 - Jan 2, 2021)

1 Brother - Louie Wendell (Evans) Lyon (adopted) (Jul 6, 1935 - Nov 23, 2010)

1 Half Brother - Lewis Byron Evans (Mar 16, 1946 - Nov 20, 1991)

1 Daughter - Debora Ann (McClain) McKitrick (Aug 17, 1960 - Jan 11, 1988)

1 Son - Kenneth Eugene Coffee (Jun 27, 1950 - Jun 18, 2016)

3 Grandchildren - Mildred Lynn Coffee (Jul 7, 1977 - Jul 8, 1977), Danielle K. Coffee (Jul 8, 1979 - Jul 11, 1979), Scott Arthur McKitrick (Sep 23, 1979 - Jan 11, 1988)

DIRECT DESCENDANTS LIVING:

1 Children Living:

Susan Irene (Coffee) Brummett

4 Grand Children Living:

Nelson Lee Coffee

Louis Edwin Brummett III

Nicholas Wayne Brummett

Christopher Allen McKitrick

7 Great Grandchildren Living:

Kayla Marie (Coffee) Bolin

Mason Lee Coffee

Sage Wayne Brummett

Silas Nathaneil Brummett

Gunner Wayne Brummett

Reagan RayAnn McKitrick

Zackery Scott McKitrick

2 Great-Great Grandchildren Living:

Ellianna Marie Bolin

Hadley Jo Bolin

3 Half-Siblings Living:

Stella Louise (Angles) Malcolm

Rolley Charles Angles

Dianna Sue (Evans) Dawley