Evelyn Hiller Hoen (1950-2024)

Evelyn Hiller Hoen, 74, of Orem, Utah, passed away December 10, 2024. Evelyn was born July 4th, 1950, in Salt Lake City, Utah to Walter William Hiller and Audrey Jackson Hiller. Audrey Hiller passed away in 1961. Walter married AnnieHugh Olson, and she became Evelyn's mother.

Evelyn grew up in the Sugar House and Holladay area of Salt Lake City. Evelyn was only 11 years old when her mother passed away from cancer on Christmas Eve. This was a formative experience that affected her throughout her life. She had compassion for people experiencing loss and depression. She loved her father dearly. He was a book binder and Evelyn worked at the Hiller bindery from a young age through college. From him, Evelyn gained a deep love of books and paper. Her home always had many books and paper of every weight and color and size. If you'd like some paper, please come on over to shop for some. Evelyn was a smart worker; she paid attention to detail and always found the most efficient and professional way to do a job. Just ask her children about the extensive lessons she gave them in how to correctly fold a towel or a fitted sheet.

Evelyn married John Madison Hoen in the Salt Lake Temple on September 3, 1971. John had noticed Evelyn in their BYU ward and liked her, but she appeared to be taken. They officially met at a softball game, when John was at bat and hit the ball right at her (don't worry--she screamed and dodged the ball). Right after the game, John set to convincing her to ditch the other boys hanging around. She, and all her family and friends, realized quickly that John was a keeper. After finishing their education in Provo, they moved briefly to Santa Clara, California, where John started work as a graduate engineer. Work took them back to Salt Lake City for a few years, then to Littleton, Colorado in 1977. In 1980, they returned to Utah and bought a home in Orem, where they raised their three children. They worked very hard to maintain their 53-year marriage and endured some difficult years. They ultimately demonstrated an unmatched love and devotion for one another. John was untiring in his care of Evelyn through her many health challenges, and she loved him wholly.

Evelyn was a teacher, both professionally and personally. She graduated from Olympus High School in 1968 and earned a bachelor's degree in Home Economics Education from Brigham Young University in 1973. She valued education very highly and was a real stickler for correct grammar. We wish she were here to proofread this obituary, and we apologize for any mistakes that she would certainly have caught. She worked as a teacher at Canyon View Junior High and Independence High School. But most of her educational efforts were focused on her own children and grandchildren, with many hours assisting with homework, school projects, and the PTA. Even many years later, kids remember Evelyn as room mother, throwing the best parties at the school. Evelyn passionately advocated for her children to have the best resources and experiences. Most recently, in her joyful role as grandmother, she spent many hours reading to and preparing her youngest granddaughters to start school.

In addition to teaching, Evelyn also worked several years as a medical assistant in a doctor's office, and later as a sales associate at Nordstrom. She loved being surrounded by current fashion and working with customers, especially when celebrities like Marie Osmond would come and ask specifically for her help. Evelyn was known for wearing beautifully crafted clothing. She loved shoes, purses, scarves, and high-quality materials. She loved to shop for a "great deal" and concocted all kinds of tricks to justify her purchases to her husband (he didn't love the spending, but he sure loved how good she always looked).

Evelyn was known for her great sense of humor and quirky personality. She loved music and was uninhibited about dancing in public, whether at a concert or the grocery store. She loved a good party and especially anytime there was live music. She dreamed of being a back-up singer. Her dancing and enthusiasm at a concert even won her a kiss from the frontman of the band Steppenwolf (John heard about this afterwards). Being born on the 4th of July, she was prone to assume that the party was always for her. She liked to tease John about how the whole country celebrated her birthday, while his birthday only happened once every four years. He deserved this, as John himself is a terrible tease, and their children also learned this from him. Evelyn deserves praise for patiently and good-naturedly enduring all their antics and harassment over the years.

She loved Halloween and collected costumes of all kinds. She enthusiastically dressed up every Halloween and just as enthusiastically required John to dress up as well. Evelyn loved animals, especially horses, dogs, and birds. Her dog, Ice, a fluffy white Pomeranian, was especially beloved. She loved cookies, brownies, and high-quality chocolate, and generously shared her treats with everyone. She liked to organize things; her home is filled with hundreds of cards, lists, and notes, as she would write everything down in her lovely handwriting. She welcomed people into her home, let them stay (literally, sometimes people we'd never met before), and had a special ability to make people feel loved and wanted.

Throughout her life, in school, in each of her jobs, and in her many callings at church, what Evelyn valued the most was always her family and the friends she made a part of her family. When asked, a few days before she passed, how she wanted to be remembered, she said "I want to be remembered as someone who had friends, as someone who loved her friends." She had friendships that she maintained throughout her life. We are so grateful for the many friends and family who have brought her joy and love and support throughout her life. She said she "wanted everyone to be remembered. She wanted everyone to know that she loves them."

Evelyn was preceded in death by her parents, Audrey Jackson Hiller, Walter William Hiller, and Annie Olson Hiller, her brother Walter William Hiller, Jr. and her sister Henriette Haworth. She is survived by her husband John, her siblings Melvin (Sandra) Hiller, Irene Johnston, and Karl (Debbie) Hiller, her children Kenneth (Heather) Hoen, Jillene (Brian) Ladle and Glen (Robert Moody) Hoen and her six grandchildren, Audrey, Lydia, Dallin, Henry, Sophia, and Adriane.

A viewing and celebration will be held Friday, December 27, 6:00-8:00 pm at Walker Sanderson Funeral Home, 646 East 800 North, Orem, Utah. Come celebrate Evelyn, see her life in pictures, and listen to all her favorite music! Feel free to dress comfortably and dance if the music moves you. A second viewing will be held Saturday, December 28, 10:30 am at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Northridge 4th ward, 1780 North 165 East, Orem, Utah, followed by a funeral service in the chapel at 12:00 pm. Burial will be at Orem City Cemetery, 1520 North 800 East, followed by a luncheon back at the church.

to view Evelyn service please click this link

https://tinyurl.com/53n8yfr4