Evelyn Anna Jenkins

Evelyn Anna Jenkins, 93, died peacefully on March 26, 2018 at her home in Portland Oregon. Evelyn was born July 13, 1924 in Cleveland Ohio, the only daughter of Austin and Anna Forgan. Her service is scheduled for 9:00am on April 14, 2018 at Forest Lawn, Cypress California.

Evelyn enjoyed spending time with family, which were important to her, and cooking. She was well known for cooking traditional Hungarian dishes as well as baking. She always had a sweet tooth and no visit to her house was without some sort of treat being shared whether it was a cake, cookies or a pie. There were always bowls of candy throughout the house in case the baked goods ran out.

Evelyn was raised in Cleveland surrounded by her large extended family that included Grandparents, Aunts/Uncles, Cousins, Parents and her own three brothers. Her family was Hungarian and it was during her childhood that she learned to cook so well with her mother and grandmother. Her grandmother insisted she speak Hungarian around her and as a child she learned traditional folk dances with her cousin Elvera.
After High School, Evelyn volunteered at the USO in downtown Cleveland. This was during WWII and she enjoyed having coffee, socializing and dancing with the local servicemen. After about a year volunteering she took a waitress job at Stouffer's Restaurant where she worked for a couple of years. In 1944 she met Howard A. Johnson. They started dating and in 1946 were married in Galveston Texas. They eventually moved to Compton California and in 1950 had their first son, Howard Jr. Dennis was born in 1951 and then in 1960 Steven was born. They divorced in 1966 and Evelyn met Claude L. Jenkins ("Lowell") shortly after that. They dated for several years and were married in August of 1971. They spent many happy years together traveling back to Ohio several times to reconnect with her family. Lowell passed away in 1988.

In 1994, Evelyn moved to Portland Oregon to live with her son Steven and his wife Sue. She enjoyed being able to spend time with her grandchildren, Bradley and Sara. Each summer she would fly to visit her son Howard and his wife Linda in Moreno Valley California where she was able to participate in another favorite pastime, slot machines. She didn't spend a lot of money but enjoyed the thrill of those machines lighting up.

Evelyn is survived by her sons, Howard (Linda) of Washington Utah and Steven (Sue) Johnson of Portland Oregon. 6 Grandchildren, 10 Great-Grandchildren and 5 Great-Great-Grandchildren.

In addition to her husband she is preceded in death by her brothers, William, Austin Jr., Robert and her son Dennis.