Janet L. Evans, age 71 of Elephant Butte, N. M., passed away on Oct. 10, 2012 in Las Cruces, N. M., after a long battle with lung problems, the result of many, many years of smoking.

Jan was born Feb. 9, 1941 at the Dutch Colony in Linden, Wash. Until the age of three, Jan lived on a wheat ranch in Ft. Benton, Mont. From there her family moved to Spokane, Wash., where Jan went to elementary school at 5 Mile School. The family then moved to Okanogan, Wash., and she graduated high school in 1958. Her family moved again, this time to Twisp, Wash. and she attended business college in Spokane.

She met her first husband at Twisp and married in 1959. Of this union Jan had a daughter, Rhonda R. Kikendall. Jan and her family lived on a farm up the Twisp River where the only running water they had was when the farm was irrigated. Jan and Rhonda moved to Spokane in 1968 and Jan went to work for the National Home Loan Bank Board.

On Feb. 7, 1969 Jan met her second husband, Donald Evans. They were married at Coeur D’Alene, Idaho on June 16, 1971. She was now an “Air Force wife”. She moved with Rhonda from Spokane to Redlands, Calif. to be with her husband, then to Biloxi, Miss., when Don went to school on computers. Together they moved to a radar site in Charleston, Maine. After being there for a year they again moved, this time to Colorado Springs, Colo., all in the first four years of their marriage.

In Colorado Springs Jan worked for the City Treasurer and in 1988 they moved to the San Luis Valley of Colorado. There they started a ranch and Jan worked for the San Luis Valley Irrigation District. She retired from the District in July of 2008 after 18 years and they moved to Elephant Butte. Jan and Don then traveled and became “workampers,” working all over the northwest. Jan enjoyed meeting people and traveling to new places. She loved to hear train whistles and rain on the rooftops. She will be missed by her family and many friends.

Jan leaves behind her husband of 41 years, Don Evans of the family home; her daughter, Rhonda Keeling of Center, Colo. and her brother, Lenard Ekkelkamp and wife, Chris of Chico, Calif.

At her request cremation has taken place and no services are planned.

Arrangements have been entrusted to the care of Baca’s Funeral Chapels and Sunset Crematory of Las Cruces, NM. (575) 527-2222. For online condolences logon to www.bacasfuneralchapelslascruces.com.