With sadness, we announce the passing of Evelyn St. John (Oien) on Jan. 11, 2025, in Beaumont, California.
Evelyn was born in Tovell Township and lived her youth on the family farm in Stratton, Ontario.
Born on February 12, 1928, Mom had many adventures in her youth, working on the railroad “beaneries” in Alberta and Ontario, receiving a “War Award” for her work at the Dryden Mill and taking missionary training in Camrose, Alberta, before returning to Stratton to marry Eugene St. John in May 1950. Together they built a house in Vermillion Bay, then moved into a house trailer in 1956, finding work on the pipeline in Ottawa (Geraldton), Windfall, Alberta, Tulsa, Oklahoma, South San Gabriel, California, and finally to El Monte, California, in 1965, where the family moved into the home she lived in until 2021.

Mom received her high school diploma by attending night school, graduating a year before her eldest son in 1968.
In 2022, Mom moved to Beaumont, California, with her live-in caregivers. Many thanks to Stacy, Sonya and Kayla for their sympathetic and loving care in Mom’s final years.
Mom was active in the community, attending Trinity Reformed Church in El Monte. She was untiring in her work as an in-home caregiver and delivering “meals on wheels” to the house bound. She was always ready to bring a meal and a heartfelt welcome to new neighbours. Generous with her time and support to everyone she knew, she was well loved and will be fondly remembered.
Mom will be missed dearly by her surviving children Dwight, Charles, his wife Linda Rightmire and son Jude Rightmire and Bryan, all of British Columbia; grandchildren Louis and Melanie Deschner of Vancouver, B.C.; “adopted” grandchildren Jerry and Jandry Rosales of Hesperia, California; sister June Robinson of Thunder Bay; and many nieces and nephews.
Mom is predeceased by her husband Eugene (d. 2014) and her daughter Marilyn (d. 1978); parents Ted and Annie Oien; parents-in-law William and Olga St. John (Erickson).
Mom’s ashes will be interred next to her daughter’s grave at the Riverview Cemetery in Fort Frances.