Evelyn Rose Ingram of Atascadero passed away from cancer on July 29, 2021.
She was born in Ventura, Ca. on February 21, 1932, to Lawrence and Rose Mary Gonzales, the youngest of six children.
After graduating from Nordhoff High in Ojai in 1950 with honors, she received an AA in Art from Ventura JC before transferring to San Jose State, where she met her husband, James Ingram. They married in 1955 and then moved to Thousand Oaks, where Jim worked for Rocketdyne while pursuing an aeronautics engineering degree at night, and together they had five children.
Soon after her husband’s death from cancer in 1963, Evie moved to Atascadero, raising her family and eventually getting a BS in English from Cal Poly in 1968. Shortly after, she decided to follow her lifelong passion for art, taking painting lessons from local artists and then showing her own paintings at local galleries and at the Mid State Fair, where her paintings often earned ribbons.
While working at the Art Works in Paso Robles, she began her long career of teaching art herself. Evie would later teach for the Recreation Departments in both Paso and Atascadero and privately, and it was through teaching that she made many cherished and long-lasting friendships. Her teaching and her students became the most gratifying part of her life. She was also a member of several of the county’s art associations and served as president of the Atascadero Art Association in 1977.
Besides art, Evie was a good tennis player in her younger years, and she was also a skilled and avid gardener and a lover of reading on a wide array of genres and topics, especially history.
She is survived by her children and their spouses; daughter Vicki (and Keith) Jones of Templeton, daughter Nancy (and Dane) Austin of Templeton, son Dan (and Lisa) Ingram of San Miguel, son Jack (and Barbara) Ingram of Paso Robles and son Clay of Atascadero, as well as eight grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, sister Helen Fox of Carpinteria and many other members of her extended family. She also leaves behind the many close friends made during her long career in art.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to Hospice or the Atascadero Art Association Scholarship Fund (PO Box 28, Atascadero, Ca. 93423 in memory of Evelyn Ingram).
