Obituary of Evelyn Dale

After giving breast cancer a heroic run for its money for the better part of 18 years, the beautiful and beloved Evelyn Lee Pickett Dale passed peacefully on Thursday December 12. The battle she fought was remarkable not just for its longevity but for the grace, strength, beauty, courage, and humanity with which she faced it though challenge after challenge. She is survived by the love of her life Richard Palmer-Smith, her beloved son Ryder S. Dale, her brother Charles L. "Chip" Pickett III of Anthem, AZ, her mother, Joy Watson of Natchez, MS, her father and her stepmother Chuck & Gail Pickett of Lafayette, LA. , Uncle and Aunt David and Ginger Pickett of Plano, TX, and an Aunt Mary Louise Pickett of Minden, LA., Richard's parents, Reverend Dr. Bryan & Marie Palmer-Smith of Indianapolis, IN and several cousins, nieces, and nephews. A memorial service to celebrate her life will be held Saturday, January 11, 2014 from 11am to 3pm at Under the Sun Restaurant, 627 S. Broadway St., Boulder, CO 80305. Evelyn Lee was born Oct. 17, 1960 in Natchez, Mississippi. Evelyn grew up in the Louisiana bayou country in Bayou Vista near Morgan City, Louisiana. She attended school in Bayou Vista and Berwick and graduated from Berwick High School. Hers was a beauty that shone from within. At 11 years of age, she won the Little Miss DESA beauty pageant and was in several parades. In high school she was a pep squad leader, softball player, and school beauty. She fished the bayous with her dad and brother and one summer she worked several weeks out in the Gulf of Mexico on a shrimp boat along with several of her friends. Evelyn was also a woman of intense will. Once she set her mind to something, she made it happen. While driving through Boulder with her brother one day at the age of 17, she turned to him and said, "I'm going to live here." True to her word, less than a year later, she had moved out and made Boulder her home. She attended the University of Colorado at Boulder and worked in both the high-tech and real estate industries. She married in 1990 and had one son, Ryder, whom she loved dearly and who will graduate from CU with a degree in business in 2014. Evelyn loved the outdoors and made it a point to be in them everyday. Her adventures continued as she became a high mountain hiker and climbed many Colorado 14'ers. She rode and piloted a glider, rode a hot air balloon, became a runner and mountain bike rider, and was an expert crosscountry skier. In addition to all this, she was a gourmet cook who always brought the best food to the party. Her trademark was showing up at Ryder's school, or businesses she dealt with, or parties, or friends' houses with a pan of her famous brownies. Even after being diagnosed 18 years ago, she continued her outdoor activities. She never missed a beat. To defeat breast cancer, she became an expert in nutrition and exercise. She became a certified nutritionist and a certified personal trainer. She maintained her lifestyle as well as her positive outlook through 11 recurrences of the disease, countless surgeries, and multiple rounds of radiation and chemotherapy. She was a familiar site running or hiking the trails of the Boulder Front Range with her little dog Stanley. She ran them for 36 years no matter the weather. People knew her as the beautiful woman with her blond hair flying in the wind. Because of her tenacity and will, she was able to see her son graduate high school and attend college, enjoyed many wonderful years with her beloved Richard, was able to share in many of the milestones of her family and loved ones, and faced death on her own terms. Despite all of these personal achievements, she will be most remembered by those around her for the kindness and compassion she showed others. Though she endured many hardships herself, she was always the first to reach out to others who were hurting. She 'adopted' children of those whose mother passed away too young, she dropped home-made meals off to families she knew to be hurting, she brought her brownies to other patients who were suffering and to the nurses who cared for them. At all times, her beauty shone from within. It was a beauty that was grounded in compassion for the human condition, both its strengths and its frailties, and anyone who knew her couldn't help but fall in love with her. On Thursday morning, she left for heaven with a pan of brownies. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to the Tebo Cancer Care Center, Breast Cancer Awareness, BCH Foundation, P.O. Box 9019, Boulder CO 80301-9019.Please share thoughts, memories and condolences at legacy.com/obituaries/dailycamera