In loving memory of
Evelyn Lee Dyer Rueckert
December 2, 1931 - April 18, 2018
Evelyn Lee Dyer Rueckert, age 86, of Cross Plains, Wisconsin, passed away peacefully at home in the loving care of her family on April 18, 2018. She was the only child of Lee Baxter Dyer and Thelma West Dyer of Norfolk, Virginia.
Evelyn was born in Norfolk on December 2, 1931. Twice orphaned, first by both parents, then by her nurturing grandparents, she faced life alone from the age of 16, bravely and directly.
After graduating from Norfolk's Maury High School in 1950, she worked for a bank and for the US Navy before joining the US Department of State in 1954. After initial assignments as a code clerk in Istanbul, Turkey and Bonn, Germany, she returned to Washington, DC, where her outstanding secretarial skills earned her a position in the office of an Assistant Secretary of State. It was there that she met her future husband George, a young career diplomat. They were united in marriage in June 1962 and honeymooned en route to their first assignment together in Basel, Switzerland.
Over 56 years of marriage, Evelyn accompanied her husband to a series of Foreign Service posts. Her son was born in Basel and her daughter the next year in Edinburgh, Scotland. Evelyn and her family also served together in Stuttgart, Germany; Prague, Czechoslovakia; Leningrad, USSR; Antwerp, Belgium; and Geneva, Switzerland. They owned a house in the suburbs of Alexandria, Virginia. Evelyn considered her Foreign Service career a lifelong learning experience.
Although required to move frequently, and to fulfill the demanding duties of a Foreign Service wife, Evelyn always kept her family together and maintained a loving home. She was an avid reader, devoted gardener, and accomplished quilter, as well as a movie aficionado and a fine jazz pianist who could recall a song for every occasion. She published several articles and wrote a personal memoir. After retiring in the Madison, Wisconsin area in 1997, she and her husband joined the learning-in-retirement group PLATO, where they participated in its reminiscence writing, history, and jazz groups.
Evelyn is held in loving memory by her husband George Leonard Rueckert and his brothers Roland, Frank, and Ronald Rueckert and their families. She is survived by her son George Randolph Rueckert and his wife Anastassiya, and by her daughter Monica Lee Rueckert McEnerny and her husband Harry. She leaves three grandchildren who remember her fondly: Harry V and James Lee McEnerny, and Sabrina Joy Rueckert. Her fourth grandchild is expected this summer. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Evelyn's name to Agrace Hospice Care in Madison, Wisconsin.
Cress Funeral & Cremation Service
3610 Speedway Road, Madison
608-238-3434