Teri Williams emailed me on December 6, 2016 that Billie Alguard Evans passed away early Monday morning. She wanted me to notify our class.

On October 15, 2016 Billie emailed Teri Williams with the message below along with Billie's Obituary:

When I pass, would you "announce" it on the MHS website?  An evite will go out regarding the NW service and breakfast at Salish Lodge at Snoqualmie Falls.  You will receive that to pass along.  I am also attaching an obituary now for your file to use later.

Many thanks, sweet friend!

Billie Mae Alguard Evans was born in Bremerton, Washington, on May 7, 1948, and passed away on December 5, 2016.  She was the first of three children born to Virginia May Beach Alguard and William Chesley Alguard.  She and her siblings, Judith Ann and Raymond Arthur, grew up in Mountlake Terrace and later moved to Edmonds, Washington.  From second to twelfth grade she was active in Camp Fire Girls and in the summers attended Camp Killoqua, where she became a camp counselor.  Billie graduated in 1966 from Meadowdale High School where she served as a cheerleader and student council member.  In college, she worked as a dental assistant and was a cheerleader for the Seattle Rangers, the team that preceded the Seahawks, and later coached cheerleading for youth.  She attended the University of Washington and Olympic College before matriculating with honors as a dental hygienist in 1970 in the first dental hygiene class at Shoreline Community College.  Her specialties were in preventive dentistry, group practice and tongue-thrust therapy, when all were new.  She practiced primarily in Seattle and Redmond.  Billie went on to teach clinical dental hygiene at Shoreline Community College from 1972 to 1977.  Her children graduated from high school without a cavity.  In 1972, she met and married James “Len” Evans and became guardian of his three sons, Michael, Scott and David Evans, whom she helped raise.  She and Len were married for 25 years.  In 1976 and 1977, they adopted two infants, Kristi RaeAnn and Jeffrey Ryan Evans, who were the loves-of-her-life.  At that time, she became a full-time wife and busy mother of five children.  She lectured and taught classes entitled, Homemaking as an Organized Profession, and emulated her teaching in her home.  Later she wrote three curricula for preschool Vacation Bible School at Overlake Christian Church and for several years directed the largest preschool VBS in the nation—1,200 children under 6 and 300 volunteers.  Among her numerous interests were residential construction, interior design, scrapbooking, and Bible study.  Many have enjoyed the parties and other events she was known for hosting and helping create—the Big Swim across Lake Sammamish, Girlfriend Dinners at Christmas, showers, weddings, anniversaries and birthday celebrations were among her favorites.  The planning and preparation were a delight to her.  She was a forwarding agent for a missionary to Chile, supported children in Ecuador, and served on a mission’s team to the Philippines with her son, Jeff.  Her consistent and generous financial support of Christian organizations continues through her estate.  Billie was a life-long learner and a self-proclaimed “seminar junkie.”  She earned a master’s degree from Bastyr University in Applied Behavior Science and graduated the week she turned fifty.  Her master’s thesis was a 9-month consulting project implementing organizational change within a nonprofit group of retired executive volunteers.  She was a certified life coach and used that skill to help single mothers.  Billie became a seminar coordinator and trainer for Family Foundations International, a Christian organization whose calling is to transform families and bless generations—her work was primarily in Arizona and New Mexico.  Prison Fellowship’s Project Angel Tree was near-and-dear to her heart and she was a dedicated volunteer helping to strengthen bonds between inmates and their families by providing Christmas gifts to the children in the parent’s name.  Billie completed three year-long projects preserving the history of eight foster children by researching and writing their life-stories and creating scrapbooks for them.  She was a Special Friend to two of these girls.   One of her greatest joys was spending time and creating memories with her grandchildren.   Her first grandchild was born when she was 38, so she had many happy years of grandmothering.  In 1999 she moved from Seattle’s Eastside to Scottsdale, AZ, and built a home there to enjoy the sunshine, but typically summered in the beautiful Northwest that she called home.   In 2006 she was diagnosed with Waldenstrom’s Marcoglobulinemia, a rare form of blood cancer that transformed into an aggressive lymphoma.  She was preceded in death by her father, Bill Alguard, and brother, Raymond Alguard.  She is survived by her daughter Kristi Evans, of Issaquah, WA; son, Jeffrey Evans, of Bellevue, WA; mother, Virginia Alguard, of Grapeview, WA; sister, Judy Tell, of Costa Rica; three stepsons, Mike, Scott and Dave Evans; two nieces and eight beloved grandchildren.  They, and her many friends, will miss the contributions she lovingly made to their lives—her wise counsel and gifted service, along with the special occasions she created and the thoughtful gifts she was known for giving.  She left footprints of love in their hearts and a legacy of faith and service that will endure.

Gifts may be made in Billie’s memory to:

International Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia Foundation

6144 Clark Center Avenue

Sarasota, FL 34238

941.927.4467

www.iwmf.com

or

Prison Fellowship Ministries’ Project Angel Tree

P.O. Box 1550

Merrifield, VA 22116

800.206.9764

PrisonFellowship.org