Dr. Karen E. Evans

Dr. Karen E. Evans, 91, passed away on April 22, 2026 at Aspen Care Home in Tucson, Arizona. Born in Indiana on November 28, 1934, Karen Eunice Emmett Evans received her BA from Indiana University (Bloomington) and her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago with a dissertation on Emily Dickinson. She taught English Literature at colleges in Indiana and New Mexico. In 1956, she married Dr. James A. Evans, who practiced dentistry in Indiana and New Mexico. They were the parents of Jil Evans (Dr. Charles Taliaferro), Dr. Todd Evans (Dr. Andrea Vambutas), and Amy Evans, and were the grandparents of Julien Evans and Max Evans.

An active member of Tucson’s Saint Andrew's Presbyterian Church, she sang in the choir and led and participated in Bible study groups. She loved entertaining, traveling, reading, and sharing her passion for poetry and literature. 

Survived by her daughter Jil, son Todd, and brother Thomas Emmett (Amy Garrison), she was preceded in death by her husband of 60 years, their daughter Amy, and her brothers James R. Emmett and Robert J. Emmett. 

A private memorial service will be held by her family at a future date.

In her dissertation on Emily Dickinson, Karen wrote of how the poet faced death in her final illness, not as an unmitigated disaster, but as a matter of coming home to her heavenly Father in a "golden evening of light." The family is consoled by such a vision and by Emily Dickinson's testimony that "love is immortality."