Elizabeth “Betsy” Evans was born in Plainfield, New Jersey on January 12th, 1947 to Florence Irene Smith Hageman, “Oma FISH,” and Herman Hageman, Sr. She passed away on September 24th, 2025 at the age of 78, after a long and difficult health decline and onset of dementia. She is now at peace with the Lord and free from her constraints in her final moments of life.

Elizabeth grew up camping and enjoying the great outdoors with her family, taking many road trips around the country, hiking, fishing, and generally causing lots of mischief with her two older brothers, Donald and Herman, and her sister, Irene. She followed in her mother’s footsteps to become a music teacher, earning her Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from Wheaton University, where she met Don Evans, and they married in 1969 (for 20 years).

Upon completing her undergraduate studies, she moved to northern Germany with Don as part of his being stationed there as a Captain in the US Army. They both became fluent in Germn during this time, and they had a son, Douglas Evans, who was born in Germany in 1975. They moved back to the US in 1976, where they lived briefly in El Paso, Texas, then Miami, Florida before moving to Michigan in 1979. She lived and worked in Michigan for over 20 years, where she taught all grades from K-12 in subjects ranging from music, English as a second language, and German until 2001. She also earned her Master’s Degree in German from the University of Michigan during this time.

Elizabeth had a loving and adventurous spirit, full of energy and life. This spirit led her to take an early retirement at 55 (after 35 years of teaching in New Jersey, Germany, Michigan, and Florida) and move to one of her favorite places in the world near Anna Maria Island / Bradenton in southwestern Florida for the next ten years. She loved the beaches, the water, and the many friends she met there.

Elizabeth also lived a very challenging life, needing to manage the many ups and downs that came with having bipolar (manic depressive) disorder. Her son, Douglas, helped her move closer to him in Austin, Texas in 2011, where she lived the last 14 years of her life close to him and her two grandsons, Daniel and Donovan. She enjoyed spending time with her son and grandsons, and passed on much of her adventurous and playful spirit to each of them.

Despite living with bipolar disorder for over 50 years, she had a highly-accomplished teaching career, leading some of the largest music concerts and choirs in elementary and middle schools at the time, directing hundreds of young children to sing and play instruments in a wide array of musical genres—all in a single evening. She was an accomplished musician, playing piano, violin, classical guitar, and as a vocalist. She was an amazing master of ceremonies, a social butterfly, and was always looking to meet new people and bring people together. In 1995, she took her son, Douglas, back to Europe for the first time to show him where he was born and meet some of the friends she had met in Germany and the Netherlands in the 1970’s.

Elizabeth is survived by her son, Douglas Evans, two grandsons, Daniel and Donovan Evans, in Austin, TX; her sister Irene Cook and brother-in-law Lawrence Cook in Albuquerque, New Mexico, her brother Herman Hageman, Jr and Sister-in-law Jonie Hageman in Virginia, Sister-in-law Marge Hageman in Virginia, and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, Florence Hageman and Herman Hageman, Sr, and her brother, Donald Hageman. 

Send to someone

Share this obituary with others

https://everloved.com/life-of/elizabeth-evans/obituary/

Copy