Elfrieda Frieda Evanoff

Frieda Evanoff, 72, of Maumee, Ohio, died Sunday, March 24, 2013, of pancreatic cancer in Hospice of Northwest Ohio in Perrysburg. She was born June 15, 1940, in Toledo, to Julius and Elizabeth Zimmerman Spohler, both of German heritage. She graduated in 1958 from DeVilbiss High School and, in 1961, from The Toledo Hospital School of Nursing. Immediately following her graduation from nursing school, she worked as a surgical nurse in the hospital. On October 13, 1962, she married Boris G. Evanoff, a United States Air Force pilot. Before starting her family she worked for a time as an industrial nurse at the Owens-Illinois Technical Center on Westwood Avenue in Toledo. After starting her family, she went back to work part time in The Toledo Hospitals surgical department. During the 1970s, she and her husband owned and operated a Christian book store on West Wayne Street in Maumee. During the 1990s, she worked as a nurse at the Northwest Ohio Mental Health Center in Toledo. While her husband was connected with the 180th Fighter Wing of the Ohio Air National Guard at the Toledo Express Airport, she traveled to Hawaii, England, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Austria, Germany, France and Italy. Later, on their own, Frieda and her husband visited their Old World families in Germany, Bulgaria and Morocco. She was a volunteer for the American Red Cross of NW Ohio and eventually worked as a nurse in the field for its blood bank. Through the Red Cross she took disaster nursing classes and then participated in relief work following Hurricane Andrew in Florida 1992, the Missouri River flooding 1993 and the North Ridge, California earthquake 1994. Following her husbands death in 1999, Frieda became an interpretive ranger at Pipe Spring National Monument in Arizona 2002. This experience in the Southwest raised her awareness of our own park system, and she became a Toledo Metro Parks volunteer and then an employee, giving tours of the Manor House in Wildwood Park and assisting with its teas and other activities. She was an active member of St. Lukes Hospital Auxiliary. Her Christian faith was paramount in her life. She was active in St. Pauls Lutheran Church in Maumee where she was a member of its choir and supervised its funeral luncheons. Through the church she made three trips as a medical missionary to Guatemala. She enjoyed reading and learning. She journeyed to the Galapagos Islands and was a frequent Elderhostel traveler. She enjoyed the Toledo Symphony. Frieda especially enjoyed spending time with her family and her friends. She will be missed by all who knew her. Frieda was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, and her brother, Paul. She is survived by her son, Jay, of Baltimore, Maryland; daughter Julie Brian Ford and grandchildren, Ben, Hanna, and Ian of Columbus, OH; and brother, Norman Denise Spohler of Lambertville, MI. Visitation will be held Thursday, March 28, 2013 from 5pm until 7pm, and Friday, March 29, 2013 from 1p until 3p at Maison-Dardenne-Walker Funeral Home 501 Conant St. Maumee, Ohio. Services will be held on Saturday, March 30, 2013, at 3:00 St. Pauls Lutheran Church, 112 E. Wayne St, Maumee, Ohio 43537. Memorial donations can be made to St. Pauls Lutheran Church or Hospice of Northwest Ohio in lieu of flowers. Online condolences may be shared with the family at walkerfuneralhomes.com