Evelyn Verro

Evelyn Verro (nee Cichy) was born in Chicago IL and passed away peacefully on January 12, 2026 in Margaretville NY at the age of 99. She lived with dementia and Alzheimer's for the last chapter of her life. What the disease took does not get to define her.  Evelyn’s story is the one she built across a lifetime: service, faith, music, art and a steady willingness to rise to whatever came next. She truly believed, as her daughter wrote, that “Love is all there is”.

Evelyn raised her family during a long Illinois chapter, including many years in Rolling Meadows, where she built a home grounded in care, independence, and love.

In a later chapter, she made her home in Vermont. She first became a faithful member of the United Church of Ludlow and was known for frequently filling pulpits as a guest speaker. She later answered a call to ministry, becoming a licensed pastor in the Methodist or United Methodist tradition and serving the Richmondville and Warnerville Parish in upstate New York for three years. Family also fondly remembers her preaching with a puppet monkey named Kosie.

Music and art were central to Evelyn’s life. In Vermont, she served for several years as a choir director at the United Church of Ludlow and became a barbershop singing director, remembered for leading hymns in a distinctive, barbershop influenced style. She also sang with The Feminine Tones and traveled with the group on a cultural exchange trip to Cuba.

Evelyn was an extraordinary watercolor painter, especially known for nature scenes and portraits, and her artistic gift reflected the legacy of her father, Donat Daniel Cichy, carried forward through many in the family. She loved the outdoors and skied for decades, and she became a ski instructor at Okemo Mountain when she was 70.

Evelyn also earned her pilot's license at a time when few women did. She was not a career pilot, but flying was part of who she was and later in life she returned to the sky for a glider flight that rekindled that joy.

Evelyn was preceded in death by her husband's, Frederick Wallace Jesperson and Charles J. “Chuck” Verro and by her parents and siblings.

She is survived by her children Linda Schultz, Roxanne Rath, and Scott Jespersen; her grandchildren, Melissa, Justin, Annie, Alexandra, Kristine, Julie, Alana, Jessica and Jed; as well as great-grandchildren and extended family.

Evelyn's life was full and brave. She showed again and again that it is never too late to learn, to sing, to serve, to create, or take on a new challenge. Her legacy lives on in the many lives she touched, on the ground and in the sky

In lieu of flowers, the family requests any donations may be made in Evelyn’s memory to the Alzheimer's Association.