My mother was born a middle child in a family of 7 children in 1918 in Peoria, Illinois. Because of her drive and determination she had the uncommon opportunity (for a woman) to attend the University of Illinois - where she earned a Phi Beta Kappa key and a degree in liberal arts. She married her love in college - my father Rollin Evans - and moved to a hardscrabble "stump farm" near Eugene, Oregon - where she remained until she passed away in 2011 at 92 years.
In addition to helping improve the farm into a sustainable cattle ranch - and today a sustainable timber operation - she returned to her passion of language: teaching French, English and Speech at Junction City High school for three decades. She deserves credit for encouraging - but keeping my mathematics and engineering tendencies in check - and insisting on the importance of compassion, communications and appreciating other cultures. She had a lifelong amateur interest in photography - which is probably why that is now one of my most enjoyable pursuits.