Evelyn Mildred Hoyhtya

Evelyn (Meyers) Hoyhtya, age 76 of Menahga passed away unexpectedly February 2nd, 2016 in her home. Evelyn was born August 28th, 1939 in Hillview, Minnesota to Nick and Mildred Meyers. She graduated from Robinsdale High School in Minnesota. On September 6th, 1958, Evelyn married Allen Hoyhtya at Spruce Grove Apostolic Lutheran Church in Wolf Lake, Minnesota. The two of them began their life together in Minneapolis, Minnesota, then moved to their farm in Wolf Lake, Minnesota in June 1970 where they raised their daughters Rita and Renee. Evelyn began her nursing career as a nurse’s aid in Minneapolis then became a LPN after challenging her nursing boards. Later, Evelyn received her associate’s RN degree from Brainerd Community College and began her career at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Park Rapids MN. While working full time in the ICU, she received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Bemidji State University. Evelyn continued to work at St. Joseph’s until 1990, then she decided to spread her wings and begin travel nursing. She had assignments at hospitals in Las Vegas, Hawaii, Maine, South Dakota, and New Orleans while her husband stayed at the farm to raise beef cattle. After her first granddaughter, Tara, was born in 1996, she decided to return home. Then, she started working at MeritCare hospital in Fargo, North Dakota in the ICU. She retired from MeritCare in 2005. While working at MeritCare, she furthered her education and became a licensed massage therapist through the Sister Rosalind Gefre School of Professional Massage in Fargo, North Dakota where she graduated in 2003. She started her career as a massage therapist at the Heartland Center of Natural Healing in Park Rapids, Minnesota and worked there until 2015. Evelyn had a passion for travel, and she was most happy when she had travel tickets in her hand. She and her sister, Carol, traveled a lot together, and they saw places like Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Korea, and Hong Kong. She and her husband also enjoyed cruises to the Bahamas. While at home, Evelyn enjoyed her daily devotionals to God, listening to audiobooks, and taking walks with her husband. She and her husband also enjoyed taking day trips to casinos and watching Twins baseball and Vikings games together. They also enjoyed spending time at the lake. Evelyn was very passionate about education and enjoyed sharing her knowledge with others. Evelyn was one of the founders of the Wolf Lake Rescue Squad which is still going strong today. She is survived by her husband, Allen, of rural Menahga and two daughters: Rita Boutot of Suffolk, Virginia and Renee (Cimarron) Drewicke of Barnesville, MN. She has four grandchildren: Tara Drewicke, Grace Drewicke, Ainslie Boutot, and Jack Boutot. She is also survived by her sister, Carol (Arnold) Hoyhtya, of Minnetonka, and brother, Jim (Norma) Hall, of Lakeville MN. She is preceded in death by her father, Nick, mother, Mildred, and stepmother, Hazel. The funeral will be Monday February 8th at 2:00 p.m. at the Christ Lutheran Church in Wolf Lake, MN. Visitation will be one hour prior to service. Special thanks to the Wolf Lake Rescue Squad in our time of need.