Born in El Campo, Texas, Jan. 22, 1938, Evangeline spent most of her life in Eagle Lake and Galveston, Texas. She was the daughter of Herbert Henry Loessin and Anna Studlar “Nita” Loessin of Eagle Lake. Evangeline attended Eagle Lake High School and Baylor University, where she was a Baylor Beauty 1958-1960. In 1962, she married Elbert Benjamin Whorton Jr., residing in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Shelburne, Vermont, before returning to Texas in 1972 with young daughters Lalise Loessin Whorton (Mason) and Anna Linae Whorton ( Duff).

Upon settling in historic Galveston, Evangeline quickly immersed herself in historic preservation and community revitalization, primarily through many programs of the Galveston Historical Foundation and the Galveston Garden Club’s 1847 Powhatan House. In 1982, Governor Mark White appointed her to the Texas Historical Commission (1983-1989). In 1994, she co-founded a conservation land trust organization, Scenic Galveston, Inc., dedicated to acquisition and habitat restoration at Virginia Point in the gateway corridor to Galveston Island.

Evangeline is survived by her husband, Elbert; her daughters, Lalise and Anna, her grandchildren, Ian, Allen, and Helen Duff; her sister, Patricia Loessin Tate of Austin; and many nieces, nephews and their children.

A celebration of Evangeline’s life will be held at the historic Christ Episcopal Church, 306 Stockbridge Street, Eagle Lake, at 1 p.m, Friday, Jan. 23.

Evangeline’s full obituary may be found at eaglelakefuneral.

com.