By Catherine Evans Limb 

(Newspaper article. 6 July 1984) 

Catherine (Katie) Hill Evans was born January 18, 1894, in St. John, Idaho, to Matthew and Catherine Nelson Hill. She was the twelfth child and the only girl in the family. She had eleven older brothers. Her parents were older when she was born. She had nieces older than she was. They were her best friends. 

Since there were no railroads at that time, her brother, Will, used to haul freight to Corrine, Utah. One time upon his return from Corrine, he brought her a pair of shoes. They had black patent leather bottoms with the uppers of black velvet with red dots on them. They were her pride and joy. 

She attended public schools in St. John, Idaho. There were no school buses and she had to walk two miles to school. When the weather was good, she used to cut through the fields to shorten the distance. In the winter months, after her father had fed the cattle, he used to take a sleigh with a cattle rack on it and take her and the other children to school. The neighbor children were given a ride, also. 

When she first attended school in St. John, the school house consisted of two rooms. In the spring and fall one room was used, but in the winter when the harvest was over, the older boys used to attend, so the second room was used. At times the school house would become too crowded, so when they had other activities, they used to go to the “meeting room” for classes. The school room was heated with a wood burning pot bellied stove. In the winter months when the weather was really cold, the teacher would let them sit around the stove and have their classes. Some of her teachers: Arthur Stayner, Mary Kerns, and Grace Richardson.  

When she graduated from the 8th grade, the graduation exercises were combined with the class from the Malad School. 

Some of the students from the Malad school were Gladys Fredrickson Jones, Helen Folland, and Pearl Ward Thomas. The graduating class from St. John was asked to provide a musical number on the program and Katie was chosen to perform a piano solo. One time when she was playing the piano in about the 8th grade, a young man who was about three years older than she was, sneaked up behind her and planted a kiss on her cheek. She was so angry with him that she slapped his face. When her anger subsided, she asked him why he did it and he replied, “Oh, you looked so pretty that I just could not resist!” 

Her family had a piano and Katie played it by ear as a child. When her cousin, Mary Nelson, came to visit from Nebraska, she taught her the keys. Then a man named Mr. Magg, who was quite a musician, taught her the value of the notes. When she was in the 7th grade she took her first formal piano training from Marion Talbot who was a very talented pianist. 

After Katie graduated from the 8th grade she attended the New Jersey Academy in Logan, Utah. This was a four year boarding school, which was run by the Presbyterian Church. Her schooling and board and room cost $30 a month. This was very expensive for those days. She studied the piano, along with her other school work. 

Upon her graduation from the New Jersey Academy she did substitute teaching in Malad. The following summer she attended the University of Idaho (Southern Branch) at Pocatello for summer school. Upon the completion of this schooling, she took the teachers examination and taught school in St. John for two years. Some of her students were her nephew, Warren and Seth Hill; other students were Dan Jones, Edward Woosley, and Sarah Peterson. By this time a new school house with two rooms had been built. 

The teachers had a janitor who would bring in the wood for the stove, sweep the floor, and bring in a bucket of drinking water. The other teacher who taught with her was Mary Jones. Each spring and fall the students would present programs which the community of St. John looked forward to. 

She met John A. Evans at the “Old Pavilion” in Malad at a dance. This was in 1914. He asked her for a date to attend the opening of the newly built LeGrande Hall in Malad. The romance blossomed and they were married November 1, 1916, in Salt Lake City. 

John worked at various jobs and then they purchased land in Deep Creek. They lived in Malad in the winter and went to the ranch in the summer. 

To make extra money, she made butter and sold it to customers in Malad. She worked hard to raise her family. 

She was the mother of six children: Catherine Evans Limb, Margaret Evans Boam, John Earl, Lyle Bruce, Ray Evans and Rayma Evans Zagarella. Ray and Rayma were twins and after they were born she suffered with arthritis the rest of her life. 

She was married to John A. Evans for 66 years. If she had lived three more weeks she would have been 89 years old. She died December 25, 1982, in Malad Idaho.