Felsia Diane evans
1973-1998
Life Story
Early Life in Newton County
Felisa Diane Evans was born on December 22, 1973, in Newton, Mississippi, a daughter of Curley Evans, Sr. and Daisy Bell Thompson Evans.¹ She grew up in Newton County as part of a large family whose lives were centered in and around the rural Lawrence community.
Felisa’s name was occasionally misspelled in contemporary newspaper records. She appears as “Felsia Evans” in several school notices, while the Winston County Journal accident report printed her name as “Felisia Diann Evans.” Her correct name was Felisa Diane Evans, which is the form used throughout this biography. The erroneous spellings are retained in the footnotes only when necessary to accurately identify what appeared in the original sources.
Felisa was one of twelve known children of Daisy Bell Evans. Her known brothers were Clarence Gray, Larry Evans, Curley Evans Jr., Darrin Evans, Melvin Evans, and Robert P. Henry. Her sisters were Georgia, Brenda, Dale, Linda, and Hellean, in addition to Felisa herself.²
The surviving evidence establishes these twelve individuals as Daisy’s children. Robert P. Henry had a different father, while the paternal identity of Clarence Gray has not yet been established with certainty. Daisy’s remaining children were fathered by Curley Evans Sr., including Felisa Diane Evans. Felisa was therefore the daughter of Daisy Bell Evans and Curley Evans Sr.
Art and Academic Achievement at Newton High School
The local newspaper provides several glimpses of Felisa during her teenage years at Newton High School, including evidence of both artistic interests and academic achievement.
In March 1990, Newton High School observed National Youth Art Month by moving student paintings from the school’s main hallway to businesses and public buildings throughout downtown Newton. Felisa was among the students whose artwork was selected for the exhibition. Her painting was displayed at Newton City Hall along with works by several of her classmates.³
The notice is brief, but it preserves something about Felisa that would otherwise be difficult to recover from traditional genealogical records. At approximately sixteen years old, she was creating artwork at Newton High School, and at least one of her pieces was selected for public exhibition outside the school.
Only a month later, Felisa’s name appeared in the newspaper again, this time for her academic performance.
In April 1990, she was named to the Newton High School Honor Roll for the third nine-week grading period. The school explained that students earning Honor Roll recognition were required to receive at least a B- in every subject, equivalent to a numerical grade of 85 or above.⁴
Together, these two newspaper notices show Felisa receiving recognition in both art and academics during the same school year.
Completing Her Education
Felisa continued her education at Newton High School.
By the spring of 1992, she had reached her senior year. A newspaper listing of Newton High School seniors included her among the students preparing to complete their secondary education. Her name appeared in the article as **“Felsia Evans.”**⁵
Felisa’s obituary later specifically identified her as a graduate of Newton Municipal High School, providing additional confirmation that she completed high school.⁶
The surviving records therefore provide a straightforward progression through her teenage school years: Felisa had artwork selected for public display, earned a place on the Honor Roll, reached her senior year, and graduated from Newton Municipal High School.
Motherhood and Adult Life
As Felisa entered adulthood, she became the mother of two sons, Craig Alexander Jr. and Jeremy Evans. At the time of her death, both sons were living in Newton.⁶
The surviving records do not provide enough information to reconstruct every part of Felisa’s life between her high school graduation and 1998. Her obituary, however, provides an important snapshot of her life at age twenty-four.
Felisa was a member of Jerusalem Baptist Church of Lawrence, a congregation with which other members of her family were also associated. Her mother, Daisy, and sister Hellean were members of Jerusalem Baptist Church as well.⁶
Unlike Hellean’s obituary, which identifies specific church responsibilities, Felisa’s obituary records only her membership. Therefore, no additional church offices or activities should be attributed to her without further evidence.
By 1998, Felisa was employed at the Silver Star Casino in Philadelphia, Mississippi.⁶
She was therefore a young working mother raising two sons when her life ended unexpectedly.
Memorial Day 1998
On Memorial Day, May 25, 1998, Felisa was traveling with her mother, Daisy Evans, and her older sister, Hellean Evans Turner, when the three women were involved in a fatal traffic collision in Louisville, Mississippi.
The accident occurred at the intersection of Mississippi Highways 15 and 25.⁷
A detailed report in the Winston County Journal identified the three victims as Felisa, age twenty-four; Hellean, age thirty-three; and Daisy, age sixty-two. In that article, Felisa’s name was incorrectly printed as **“Felisia Diann Evans.”**⁷
According to information the newspaper obtained from the Mississippi Highway Patrol, the women’s automobile was struck by a loaded log truck driven by Dickie Darnell Raines of Ackerman, Mississippi. Felisa, Hellean, and Daisy were pronounced dead at the scene. The truck driver was not injured.⁷
The newspaper also interviewed a rescue worker from the Winston County Civil Defense team, who discussed visibility at the intersection. The rescue worker explained that when a vehicle pulled up to the stop sign on Highway 15, it sat slightly above the other roadway, making it difficult to see approaching traffic. The worker believed that the driver of the women’s automobile had not seen the log truck before pulling into the intersection.⁷
The article does not identify which of the three women was driving. Without another record establishing that fact, the role of driver should not be assigned to Felisa, Hellean, or Daisy.
For the Evans family, the collision brought an extraordinary loss on a single day: Daisy Bell Evans and two of her daughters, Hellean and Felisa, died together.
Felisa was only twenty-four years old.
Final Services
Funeral services for Felisa Diane Evans were held at 2:00 p.m. on May 30, 1998, at the Newton Municipal High School Auditorium in Newton, with Rev. Robert Denmark officiating.⁶
The location connected Felisa’s final services to a place that had been part of her own earlier life. Only several years before, she had been a student in the Newton school system.
Following the funeral, Felisa was interred in Union Chapel Methodist Church Cemetery in Lawrence, which is also known as Lawrence Cemetery. Felisa’s obituary records the burial place under the name “Lawrence Cemetery.” W. F. Mapp Funeral Home was in charge of the arrangements.⁶
Her obituary identified her two sons, Craig Alexander Jr. and Jeremy Evans of Newton, among her survivors. It also reported that Felisa was survived by four sisters and five brothers, while one brother had preceded her in death.⁶
Reconstructing Felisa’s Siblings
The survivor information in Felisa’s obituary provides an important piece of evidence for reconstructing the children of Daisy Bell Thompson Evans.
Felisa had five known sisters: Georgia, Brenda, Dale, Linda, and Hellean. Because Hellean died in the same accident as Felisa, four sisters remained to be listed among Felisa’s survivors.
Felisa also had six known brothers: Clarence Gray, Larry Evans, Curley Evans Jr., Darrin Evans, Melvin Evans, and Robert P. Henry. Robert had died before 1998. Thus, Felisa’s obituary reported five surviving brothers and one brother who had preceded her in death.² ⁶
The numbers fit the reconstructed family precisely:
- Five sisters originally — Hellean died with Felisa, leaving four surviving sisters.
- Six brothers originally — Robert P. Henry had already died, leaving five surviving brothers.
This evidence becomes even stronger when Felisa’s obituary is compared with those of her mother and sister. Daisy’s obituary named five surviving sons and four surviving daughters and noted that one son had preceded her in death. Hellean’s obituary likewise reported four sisters and five brothers. Taken together, these contemporary records provide mutually supporting evidence for Daisy’s family of twelve known children—six sons and six daughters.²
A Young Life Beyond the Accident
Because Felisa, Hellean, and Daisy died together, the automobile accident naturally occupies a prominent place in the surviving record. Yet the newspaper notices from Felisa’s teenage years allow her individual story to extend well beyond the circumstances of her death.
They preserve a sixteen-year-old student whose artwork was selected for public exhibition at Newton City Hall. Only weeks later, another newspaper documented her achievement on the Newton High School Honor Roll. Later records place her among the school’s seniors, and her obituary confirms that she graduated from Newton Municipal High School.
The records then carry her into adulthood. Felisa became the mother of Craig Alexander Jr. and Jeremy Evans, belonged to Jerusalem Baptist Church of Lawrence, and worked at the Silver Star Casino in Philadelphia.
Her life ended on May 25, 1998, alongside her mother and sister, but that single day should not become her entire story.
The surviving records preserve Felisa Diane Evans as a daughter and sister, a student recognized for both her artwork and academic performance, a Newton Municipal High School graduate, a church member, a working young woman, and the mother of two sons.
She was only twenty-four when she died, leaving behind a life that was still being built and two children who would carry her family forward.
Resting Place
Union Chapel United Methodist Church Cemetery
Photos/Albums
Sources
- 1. Records for Felisa Diane Evans, born December 22, 1973, Newton, Mississippi; died May 25, 1998. Felisa’s name was misspelled in several contemporary newspaper records. School notices frequently printed “Felsia Evans,” while the 1998 Winston County Journal accident report printed “Felisia Diann Evans.” Her correct name was Felisa Diane Evans; the erroneous forms are retained only when describing or citing the records in which they appeared.
- 2. Family reconstruction based upon the obituaries of Daisy Bell Evans, Hellean Denise Evans Turner, and Felisa Diane Evans, together with other family records. Daisy’s twelve known children were sons Clarence Gray, Larry Evans, Curley Evans Jr., Darrin Evans, Melvin Evans, and Robert P. Henry, and daughters Georgia, Brenda, Dale, Linda, Hellean, and Felisa. Robert P. Henry died before Daisy; Hellean and Felisa died with their mother on May 25, 1998.
- 3. “NHS Students’ Art Displayed Downtown,” The Newton Record (Newton, Mississippi), March 14, 1990, p. 1; reporting that Newton High School displayed student paintings at downtown businesses and public locations in observance of National Youth Art Month and identifying “Felsia Evans” among students whose artwork was displayed at Newton City Hall.
- 4. “NHS Principal’s List and Honor Roll,” The Newton Record (Newton, Mississippi), April 18, 1990, p. 12; identifying “Felsia Evans” among Newton High School Honor Roll students for the third nine-week grading period. The article stated that Honor Roll students were required to earn B- or better, numerically 85 or above, in every subject.
- 5. Newton High School senior listing, The Newton Record (Newton, Mississippi), May 20, 1992, p. 16; identifying “Felsia Evans” among Newton High School seniors. Her later obituary identifies her as a graduate of Newton Municipal High School.
- 6. “Miss Felsia D. Evans,” obituary text identifying her as “Felsia Diane Evans,” age twenty-four; death May 25, 1998; funeral services at 2:00 p.m. May 30, 1998, Newton Municipal High School Auditorium; Rev. Robert Denmark officiating; interment in Lawrence Cemetery, the cemetery also known as Union Chapel Methodist Church Cemetery, Lawrence; member of Jerusalem Baptist Church of Lawrence; graduate of Newton Municipal High School; employee of Silver Star Casino in Philadelphia; survivors including sons Craig Alexander Jr. and Jeremy Evans of Newton, four sisters and five brothers; one brother preceded her in death; W. F. Mapp Funeral Home in charge.
- 7. Casey Sears, “Traffic Accident Results in Fatalities,” Winston County Journal (Louisville, Mississippi), June 3, 1998, reporting the May 25 collision at the intersection of Mississippi Highways 15 and 25 in Louisville that killed Felisa Diane Evans, Hellean Turner, and Daisy Evans. The article incorrectly printed Felisa’s name as “Felisia Diann Evans.” According to information obtained from the Mississippi Highway Patrol, their automobile was struck by a loaded log truck driven by Dickie Darnell Raines of Ackerman; all three women were pronounced dead at the scene, while Raines was not injured. The article also quoted a Winston County Civil Defense rescue worker concerning visibility difficulties at the intersection.
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