Elisabeth Bowlus Page Evans
Elisabeth (Betty) Bowlus Page Evans died peacefully on the morning of March 7, 2021 in Winnsboro.
She was 96 years old.
Born in Brookhaven, MS, September 1, 1924, Betty graduated high school in 1942 in Greenwood, MS, where her father was superintendent of schools at the time.
She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from Louisiana State University. After several teaching jobs, she moved to Tensas Parish in 1956 and taught music until her retirement in 1981, prior to the death of her first husband, Paul R. Page, in 1990. She taught music at Davidson High School in St. Joseph and at Routhwood Elementary and Newellton High School in Newellton. She also taught private piano lessons. Of the thousands of students she taught over her professional career, the things most will remember are her smile, her love for music and her love for her students.
As a resident of St. Joseph, she played organ at First United Methodist Church and Christ Episcopal Church, eventually playing just at Christ Episcopal. Having a lifelong love for both young people and church activities, Betty volunteered in many Vacation Bible School programs at several different churches, as well as Monday School at the Christ Episcopal Church.
After relocating first to St. Charles, MO, then to Brookhaven, MS, Betty became a member of Episcopal Church of the Redeemer in Brookhaven.
Betty was a charter member of the St. Joseph Orchestra, though not as a musician in the orchestra, but in a support role. Her support role with the orchestra involved organizing the sheet music, setting up the music room, coordinating schedules and generally doing whatever she could to help the orchestra. While she always claimed to not be talented enough to play in an orchestra, she still played piano in the lobby at Plantation Manor in Winnsboro on occasion during the five years she lived there.
Betty is preceded in death by her parents, Edgar Stanley Bowlus and Edna Mock Bowlus; her first husband and the father of her children, Paul R. Page Sr.; her second husband, Bascombe Evans; and brothers, James Edwin Bowlus, Robert Edgar Bowlus and William Edward Bowlus, M.D.
Betty is survived by her sons, Paul R. Page Jr. and wife, Donisa, and William E. (Billy) Page and wife, Geney; seven grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren and a host of relatives and friends.
Graveside services for Elizabeth (Betty) Bowlus Page Evans were held Thursday, March 11, 2021 at Rosehill Cemetery in Brookhaven, MS, under the direction of Dennard First National Funeral Home-Winnsboro.
Memorials may be made to Pilots for Patients on their website at www.pilotsforpatients.org or mail to Pilots For Patients, 3127 Mercedes Dr, Monroe, LA 71201. Please be sure to note for whom the memorial is made. Pilots for Patients provides free air transportation to patients needing diagnosis and treatments at medical facilities not available to them locally to help ease the burden of travel, allowing the patient to concentrate on getting well.
Online registry/condolences at www.dennardfirstnational.com.