jerlene evans robinson
1943-2004
Life Story
Born into a Large Mississippi Family
Jerlene Evans was born on June 5, 1943, in Union, Mississippi, to Thomas Evans, Jr. and Armanda Harris Evans, whose given name appears in other records as Maudy, Mondy, or Mandy.¹ She was born near the end of Thomas and Armanda’s child-rearing years and grew up as one of the younger children in a remarkably large Evans family.
By 1950, the Evans household was living on a farm outside the Union city limits in Newton County.² Jerlene appeared in that census under another variation of her name, “Gerlean Evans.”
The household gives a vivid sense of the family into which she was born. Thomas and Mandy Evans were surrounded by children ranging from young adults to toddlers. Living at home were Lela Mae, A.C., Lillie Mae, Nathan, Dewey, A. Ether, Charlie, Joe Lewis, R.C., Jerlene, Emma Lou, and Larry.²
Jerlene was recorded as five years old, although her documented birth date of June 5, 1943, would have made her approximately six when the census was taken.¹ ² The difference represents another of the age discrepancies found throughout the historical records of the Evans family.
The census also captures the agricultural environment of Jerlene’s childhood. The household was classified as a farm, and her older brothers Nathan and Dewey were already working as unpaid farm helpers.² Although Jerlene herself was too young for such work, this was the rural world in which she spent her early years.
From Union to Omaha
Jerlene eventually left Mississippi and made a much larger move northward to Omaha, Nebraska.
Her migration placed her among the many African Americans who left rural communities in the South during the twentieth century and established lives in growing urban centers elsewhere in the country. For Jerlene, the transition was particularly striking—from a farm outside the small Mississippi town of Union to Omaha, hundreds of miles away on the Great Plains.
Omaha also became an important destination within the larger Evans family. Other members of the family would establish homes there, creating another branch of the Evans family far removed geographically from its Mississippi roots.
Marriage to Bennie Robinson
In March 1970, Jerlene married Bennie E. Robinson in Nebraska.³
Together, Jerlene and Bennie established their home in Omaha and raised three children: two sons, Brian Robinson and Dewayne Robinson, and a daughter, Patricia Robinson.⁴
Public records document Jerlene’s continuing residence in Omaha over a period of years, including addresses associated with Ogden Avenue and Ogden Street during the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s.⁵
These records trace something the census of her childhood could not have anticipated. The little girl recorded as “Gerlean” on a Mississippi farm in 1950 had established an adult life and family of her own in Nebraska.
An Evans Family Spread Across the Country
By the later years of Jerlene’s life, Thomas and Armanda Evans’s children had become widely dispersed.
Some remained connected to Mississippi, while others established homes in cities and states far beyond Newton County. Omaha became particularly important to the family, and Jerlene’s life there was part of that larger geographic transformation.
Yet the family connections remained visible.
At Jerlene’s death, her surviving brothers were identified as Pastor Larry Evans, A.C. Evans, Roger Evans, Charlie Evans, Nathan Evans, Joe L. Evans, and Hubert Evans. Her surviving sisters were Emma McTizil, Willie Maude Larkins, Lela Mae Lewis, and Lillie Mae Evans.⁴
The survivor list is especially valuable because it preserves relationships that are not all visible in the 1950 household. It also provides evidence of the continuing family network decades after the Evans children had grown up and gone their separate ways.
Death in Omaha
Jerlene Evans Robinson died on December 4, 2004, in Douglas County, Nebraska. She was 61 years old.¹
She left behind her husband, Bennie E. Robinson; their three children, Brian, Dewayne, and Patricia; and a grandchild, Chanea Robinson. She was also survived by her numerous brothers and sisters and the larger extended Evans and Robinson families.⁴
Jerlene was laid to rest at Mount Hope Cemetery in Omaha.⁶
Her burial there marked how firmly Nebraska had become part of her life’s story. Unlike brothers whose bodies were eventually returned to Mississippi for burial, Jerlene remained in the city where she had established her adult home and raised her family.
From a Mississippi Farm to Omaha
Jerlene’s life encompassed two very different worlds.
She began life as one of the younger children in Thomas and Armanda Evans’s large family, growing up on a farm outside Union, Mississippi. Her childhood unfolded amid siblings, agricultural work, and the rural landscape that had shaped generations of her family.
As an adult, she traveled far beyond that landscape.
In Nebraska, she married Bennie Robinson, raised Brian, Dewayne, and Patricia, and established roots in Omaha that lasted for decades. By the time of her death in 2004, the Evans family that had once crowded into a single rural Mississippi household had become a family spread across multiple states and cities.
Jerlene’s journey from Union to Omaha is therefore more than a change of residence. It represents one branch of a much larger family transformation—the movement of a generation away from the farms of east-central Mississippi while carrying family relationships into new communities hundreds of miles from home.
Her story began on a Mississippi farm.
Her adult life was built in Omaha.
And through the family she left behind, both places became part of the continuing Evans family story.
Resting Place
Mount Hope Cemetery in Omaha
Photos/Albums
Sources
- “U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936–2007,” entry for Jerlene Evans Robinson, born June 5, 1943, Union, Mississippi, daughter of Thomas Evans and Armanda Harris; died December 4, 2004; digital database, Ancestry.com, accessed 2026.
- 1950 U.S. census, Newton County, Mississippi, enumeration district 51-18, sheet 11, dwelling 211, household of Thomas and Mondy Evans; “Gerlean Evans,” recorded as age 5, living with her parents and siblings on a farm outside the Union city limits; digital image, Ancestry.com, accessed 2026.
- Nebraska marriage record/index, Jerlene Evans and Bennie E. Robinson, March 1970; digital database, Ancestry.com, accessed 2026.
- “Jerlene Robinson,” obituary/death notice, Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, Nebraska), December 12, 2004, 38. The notice identifies her husband, Bennie Robinson; children Brian Robinson, Dewayne Robinson, and Patricia Robinson; grandchild Chanea Robinson; and her surviving brothers and sisters, including Pastor Larry, A.C., Roger, Charlie, Nathan, Joe L., and Hubert Evans, and Emma McTizil, Willie Maude Larkins, Lela Mae Lewis, and Lillie Mae Evans.
- “U.S., Public Records Index, 1950–1993,” and related public-record databases, entries for Jerlene Evans Robinson, Omaha, Nebraska, including residences associated with Ogden Avenue and Ogden Street; digital database, Ancestry.com, accessed 2026.
- Cemetery or memorial record for Jerlene Evans Robinson, Mount Hope Cemetery, Omaha, Douglas County, Nebraska, died December 4, 2004.
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