My Mother

June 2004

On November 13, 2004 my mother entered into the presence of her Lord at the age of 92.

"Her children arise up, and call her blessed;" Proverbs 31:28a

My mother, Evelyne Mae Leir, was born on October 28, 1912 in Chicago, Illinois to Knut and Natalia Leir who both came from Norway. My grandpa was a very talented finish carpenter and my gramma was a wonderful Scandinavian cook and hostess. My gramma was also a "hoot!" When my dad, George Carlson, started to date my mom, Gramma would wind the clock and sing "Home, Sweet Home" when she thought it was time for him to leave. We grew up hearing Norwegian spoken at my grandparents' home, but sadly never learned much ourselves.

My mom did not come from a Christian home but accepted the Lord as her Savior as a teenager. She and her only sister, Margaret (Auntie Midge, to us), became strongly convicted Christians. They both married preachers. Aunt Midge married Stuart Gunzel and went off to Mongolia as a missionary. My mom married George Carlson and became a pastor's wife. There were four of us kids: Gerry, Gail, Cheryl and Priscilla. We had a happy home, always living in a church parsonage. Our wonderful family place was our cabin on Lake Nebagamon in Wisconsin. My dad built it and loved to work on it.

On October 7, 1957 life changed drastically for our family. That day, in his early forties, my dad entered into heaven as the result of a plane crash. He and a deacon from our church in Chicago were on a hunting trip in Ontario, Canada when their light plane disappeared. They and the pilot were killed.

My mom was left to raise the four of us. Gerry was 16, I was almost 14, Cheryl was 11, and Cilla was 4. We did not own a home. She had never worked away from home since Gerry was born. But she was not alone! Her life became a real partnership with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Never did I hear my mom feel sorry for herself or question why the Lord would allow this to happen to her. She took up the job that she and my dad had started to accomplish together, that of raising four children to honor and glorify God with all of their beings. She did a good job! The good that came of it was because of Mother and the Lord. The bad was our fault! We all graduated from Bible college and we all married believers. We all have good stable homes with our original partners.

It is evident that my mom had some real starch to her and that made for some interesting times as she became older! Near the end of her life she had certain people who gained authority status in certain areas with her. One time when we were visiting her at Scandia Shores, the lovely seniors' apartment building where she lived, the toilet began leaking. We went downstairs to make out the appropriate form requesting the handyman to visit her. In the meantime, Paul came and fixed the leaky toilet for her. When Rod, the handyman, showed up at the door I informed him that Paul had fixed the toilet. But Mother wasn't so sure about this... maybe Rod should have a look at it...after all he was her authority figure in his area. Rod was more than happy to know that someone else was able to fix a leaky toilet because he had many more Evelynes to cater to. Fortunately, Gerry, my big brother, was the ultimate authority if decisions had to be made.

I just finished talking with Cheryl and we reminisced a bit about our mother. We miss her but would never wish her back from the glories she is experiencing now.