Nyonia Roberts Evans

Nyonia Roberts Evans passed away peacefully on February 20, 2023, at St. Dominic’s Hospital, Jackson, Mississippi, with her three children by her side.  She was 82 years old. The family will receive friends for visitation 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Friday, February 24, 2023, followed by the funeral service at 12:00 p.m. at Chancellor Funeral Home in Florence.  Burial will follow at Mt. Zion Baptist Church Cemetery in Mount Olive, Mississippi.

Nyonia was born in Omaha, Nebraska, and raised in Sioux City, Iowa.  As a child, she survived Polio. She met Charles Roberts while working at a soda fountain.  He was serving in the U.S. Air Force and was stationed in Sioux City.  After a short courtship, they married, moved to Mississippi, and started a family in South Jackson.  They spent 37 wonderful years together, and she adored him until he lost his battle with cancer in 1997. 

A few years later, Nyonia and Fred Evans, a family friend and widower himself, rekindled their friendship.  They married in 2000 and moved to Richland, Mississippi.  They loved each other for 20 years.  Fred lost his battle with cancer in 2019, and Nyonia cared for him until the end.    

Nyonia was a member of Daniel Memorial Baptist Church and, subsequently, First Baptist Church, Richland, Mississippi.  When she was no longer able to attend in person, she watched First Baptist Church, Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday mornings.

While her children were young, Nyonia was a housewife.  When her children were older, she went to work in the collections field and worked with Transunion Credit Bureau for 25 years.

Nyonia loved to cook for her adoring children and grandchildren.  She learned to cook from her mother-in-law, Mary Roberts (Mamaw).  She would often cook big family meals at which the grandchildren would fight over the “special plate.”  They would make requests such as chicken-and-dumplings, biscuits, macaroni and cheese and banana pudding.  Her cornbread dressing was delicious and was requested throughout the year, not just on Thanksgiving. 

Nyonia was a beautiful woman.  She wouldn’t leave the house without having her make-up and hair done.  She never missed her manicure appointments.  Even at the end of her life she just did not feel right without her rings and bracelets on.  Always on-the-go, she would never miss a dance program, ballgame, or theatre performance in which her grandchildren or great grandchildren were participating. She was extremely competitive when it came to games such as Spades and Rummikub.  She enjoyed playing Bunco with the same group of ladies for over 40 years. 

She was preceded in death by her first husband Charles Roberts and her second husband Fred Evans; her mother, Nana Tighe, and brothers Dennis Tighe and Danny Tighe.

She is survived by her daughter Tammy (Viktor) Thompson of Brookhaven, Mississippi; daughter Sherry Roberts of Anna, Texas; and son Charles Marcus (Kellie) Roberts of Florence, Mississippi; grandchildren Tyler (Emily) Thompson, Kori (Sawyer) Smith, Jennifer Roberts, Kyle Leonard, Bret (Brandy) Leonard, Amanda Roberts, Mary Michael Evans and John Tucker Evans; and great grandchildren Maddie Claire, Macie Cate and Merritt Thompson, Hannah, John Daniel and Luke Smith and Bradleigh Jae, Brodey Jace and Briggs James Leonard.  She is also survived by sisters Delores Tighe, Kathy Speith, Nancy Ruffcorn and sister-in-law Doris Tighe.

Online guestbook may be signed at www.chancellorfuneralhome.com.