Obituary: Evelyn Louise Dyer

Evelyn Louise Dyer, 86, of Ocoee, Florida, passed away peacefully on Friday, Nov. 25, 2016, at Vitas Inpatient Hospice Unit in Winter Garden.

She was born on Feb. 26, 1930, in Black, Alabama, a daughter of the late James Madison Adams and Camella Idella (Brown) Adams. She was the wife of the late James Donald Dyer and the late Kenneth L. Dyer.

As a homemaker, a wife, a mother and grandmother, she was strong, loving, capable and tireless, always striving to make everything better. She especially loved her church and enjoyed singing. She personally taught all of her sons to play the guitar.

Evelyn is survived by her children, Glenda Dyer Mead (Bill) of Altamonte Springs, Bruce Dyer (Joanne) of Winter Garden, Geno Dyer (Tina) of Pell City, Alabama, Joyce Kerlin (Jeff) of Winter Garden, Sherry Joan Dyer Crane (Mike) of Clermont and Jeff Dyer (Andrea) of Lake City; a daughter-in-law, Debra Dyer of Pell City, Alabama; and 15 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren. Evelyn was preceded in death by her loving son, Glenn Dyer.

The family will receive relatives and friends from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2, 2016, at Winter Oak Funeral Home, 1132 E. Plant St., Winter Garden, Florida. Her funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016, at First Baptist Church of Ocoee, 106 W. Ohio St., Ocoee, Florida, with Pastor George Harris officiating. It will be followed by interment in Ocoee Cemetery, 368 E. Geneva St., Ocoee, Florida.
Her arrangements are in the caring guidance of Winter Oak Funeral Home, 1132 E. Plant St., Winter Garden, FL 34787; winteroakfuneralhome.com.

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On Friday night, Nov. 25, 2016, our mother, Evelyn Louise Dyer, made her final flight to her heavenly home. As her great-grandson, JD, observed when told about her passing, “That means she is through the pearly gates and in a mansion!” 

Our mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, lived a long and fruitful life. She was 86 years old at the time of her passing. She was born in Black, Alabama (Geneva County), Feb. 26, 1930, the ninth child of Jimmy and Della Adams. She was born at home with a mid-wife attending, about two months premature. Her first crib was a shoebox. From the moment of her birth, it was obvious that she would be a stubborn survivor.

Her earliest years were the experience of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl that left many in south Alabama hungry and unemployed. When we (her children) would ask her about Alabama her reply was always, “All I remember about Alabama is being hungry.” At the age of six her family moved to Winter Garden, Florida. There she grew up attending Tildenville Elementary and Lakeview High School, finishing the eighth grade.

At the age of 15 she met and married our dad, JD Dyer. At the age of 17 she gave birth to her first child, Glenda. Married to a farm laborer, she was a housewife and mother. And, being married to a farm laborer meant following the work, i.e. moving many times in the early years of her marriage until 1959. At that time they were finally able to buy a small house in Ocoee, where she would raise her seven children and never have to move again.

Having put her trust in Jesus Christ as her Savior in 1948, Mom had longed to be part of a Bible-believing church but was never in one place long enough. So, when she settled in Ocoee she soon visited and joined the First Baptist Church of Ocoee on Ohio Street. There she would faithfully serve her Lord and Savior for literally the rest of her life. For 56 years she helped and served in many ways, giving herself to the service of her Savior through her local church.

Her service most remembered will be her years as a Sunday School teacher and later as a singer of specials in the church services.

In everything she did, she taught us faithfulness. If her life could be summed up in one, short three-word sentence, it would be: She was faithful. Mom was faithful to her husband and faithful to her family. Never once did her husband or any one of her children need to worry about where she was or what she was doing. Our meals were always there. Our clothes were always clean. 

Not once did we come home from school to find our Mom not there. Not once did we cry out in the night that she did not answer and come to our aid. Not once did she put her needs ahead of ours. No matter how difficult the circumstance, she was there for us. And, she was faithful to her God, her Savior and her church.

Mom’s life was evidence of the truth of Hebrews 11:6, But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Her faith completely rested in her Lord Jesus Christ and she firmly believed there is no other way to God or heaven, for Jesus said in John 14:6, I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. And, she loved what her Savior loved, His church - Ephesians 5:25, Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.

Not once in growing up did we ever need to ask our Mom if we were going to church. It was a given. If the doors were open she was there with all her brood. She was faithful.

Now she is in heaven, through the pearly gates and in a mansion! While we will miss her sorely and mourn for ourselves, we do not mourn for her. We celebrate her life and all that she taught us through word and example. We rest and take great comfort in knowing that she is with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8, We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.).