A Mass of Christian Burial for Marilyn Joan Evans, 94, of Newark, will be held at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament, 10:30 A.M., Monday, December 15, 2025, with Fr. Tony Dinovo as celebrant. Interment will follow in St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery, Newark.

Joan, a 1949 graduate of St Francis De Sales High School, died at the Inn at Sharon Brooke on Saturday, December 6, 2025. She was born July 25, 1931, to the late Raymond P. and Anne Louise (McCarthy) Murphy.

After raising her family, Joan worked for the Dawes Arboretum, Quest International, and the Midland Theatre, where she served as Volunteer Coordinator Emeritus.

Joan loved nature and the outdoors and had once desired to be a forest ranger. Living on her 41 acres until she was 90 years young, she still mowed the grass and could often be found meandering the farm on her golf cart, with her dogs by her side, to pick raspberries for pies and apples for applesauce, both of which were family favorites. Although she would deny it, Joan was an outstanding cook and kept the family together after the children left home with years of Sunday farm lunches, which also included all dogs and grandchildren.

Joan also had a love for wildflowers (weeds to her sons) and would create amazing floral bouquets, eventually winning an award for Best of Show from the Newark Garden Club in 2003. She was also very protective of her weed patches, forbidding them to be mowed as she sought to assist butterflies in their autumn migrations.

Joan was a devoted and gritty farm wife and mother who cooked thousands of meals, did thousands of loads of laundry, tirelessly supported her six children in their 4-H and athletic endeavors and doctored countless farm injuries (or drove them to the ER if things were beyond her skill set.)

Joan was very devout in her Catholic faith and even considered becoming a nun, having spent one year at St Mary's of the Springs after high school.

Very proud of her Irish heritage, Joan extensively traced her genealogy, which was aided by a trip to Ireland in 1992.

She will be greatly missed by her children Joseph P. Evans, Margaret J. Evans, Nancy L. (Dean) Anderson, William B. (Jo-Ella) Evans, Michael J. (Jill) Evans. Grandchildren Andrea (Joseph) Thelen, Kirsten Dorminy, Peter (Olivia) Anderson, Madeline (Christopher) Radtke, Samuel Anderson, Jacob Evans, and 3 great grandchildren.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband of 46 years, Robert M. Evans; daughter Barbara A. Evans; daughter in law Cheri L. Evans; brother, James E. Murphy; sister, Ruth Anne (Kenneth) Hall; and nephew, Alan K. Hall.

Friends and family may call at the Reed-Egan Funeral Home, 141 Green Wave Drive, 2-5 P.M., Sunday, December 14, 2025, with a vigil service held at 4:30 P.M.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to the Blessed Sacrament Tuition Fund or the Licking County Humane Society.

To share your memory of Joan or leave a condolence for the family, please visit www.reedegan.com