Evelyn Diane Douglas

Evelyn Diane Douglas was born December 18, 1939 to Fannie Jackson and Howard Spaulding in Chicago, IL.  She was the oldest of ten children:  Ann, Sandy, Augustus, Shirley, Butch, Melvin, Carlos, Paulette, and Cynthia. On August 24, 1956, at the age of 18, in Chicago, IL she married Willie Douglas Sr. and together they nurtured and loved four children: Diane Evelyn Douglas Ward, Robbin Denise Douglas Hankerson (deceased), Willie Douglas Jr. (Bullet), and Steven Mark Douglas. From there, she experienced love in the most abundant way with ten grandchildren:  La’Toya (deceased), Mario, Brandi, Angelic, Amari, Willonate, Martell, Donovan, Willie III, and Kaylee.  She was also blessed with three great-grandchildren: Daveon, Devyn, and Londyn, along with a host of nieces, nephews, other relatives, and friends, all whom she leaves behind.

Evelyn suffered the loss of her mother, daughter, father, and many more special and dear souls in between. Despite all the tragic events she always kept her heart pure, for over 60 years she continued to be blessing to everyone she met. She adopted every community she moved in with open arms. She was known in the neighborhoods as Mrs. D! People were drawn to her warm, gentle, courageous, and beautiful soul. She loved her family, they were her pride and joy.  She always said that she lived a great and full life so don’t cry or feel sorry when she is no longer here. She met and marry the love of her life, had four wonderful children, she travelled the world, did everything she ever wanted to do, helped everyone she could and made her peace with God. On June 9, 2017, in her son’s home, laying in her bed, Evelyn accepted God’s calling and made her transition peacefully. As we gather together on this day of June 17, 2017 her family leaves everyone with this open letter to her:

Dear Queen,

The fact that you are no longer here is so surreal but as we lay you down to rest, it gives us some peace knowing that you are no longer in pain. You fought as hard as you could, for as long as you could, and we appreciate every moment and battle. We never thought the day would come that you would no longer be here with us on earth but you knew. It’ll be a lot different without you but you left us your strength and as a family we will grow stronger together in your physical absence. You were a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, head of the family, Queen of the kingdom, voice of reason, backbone to all our backs and so many other titles. I think if we could all go back, we would put time and gravity on hold and just tell you how much you are loved. We all breakdown daily because we miss you dearly and can’t help but to feel the emptiness because you are not here. We find ourselves asking what are we going to do without you?  But God has a plan for our family and we know that his plan is bigger than the pain we are bearing. This plan is just a little hard to accept but you taught us to walk by faith and not by sight, so that’s what we are going to do. We promise not to every forget the values you taught us as a family and promise to use them in our everyday lives and with each other. We truly appreciate everything you’ve done for us and we all know that you’re looking down smiling. Thank you for your genuine spirit as well as raising a village of extraordinary people that will always remember and love you.  Your everlasting love and support will always be in our hearts. Rest easy and peacefully our queen, as you deserve it. We as a family will not fall apart but will be united and our faith will become stronger by the power of God.  We ask that you watch over us and continue to be our strength when we find ourselves without it. We know heaven is rejoicing over the angel they’ve gained and you are finally reunited with all the love ones you’ve lost along the way, kiss them for us and let them know they are truly missed. We won’t say goodbye, it’ll be more like see you later. We love and miss you very much.

Love,  Your family