Bettyjane Evich

Bettyjane Evich, a longtime Bellingham teacher and artist, died on July 14, 2022, of natural causes. Betty, as her friends called her, was born in Bellingham in 1928, but she and her parents, Evelyn and Floyd Christie, moved to North Bend, WA where Floyd worked as a logger. When Betty was 12, disaster hit – Floyd died in a logging accident. Evelyn and Betty moved back to Bellingham. Early on, Betty showed talent for drawing and painting, interests she pursued at Western Washington College of Education and beyond. Betty and her future husband, the late Mitchell Evich Sr., had a chance encounter some years before they met formally. In those days, purse-seiner skippers sometimes raced their boats for fun, and in this case two boats, each carrying one of the future pair, collided. Damage was minimal, and no one was hurt. The couple’s next contact was much more significant – and less jarring – as they met while they were both teaching in Blaine. They married in 1957 and had two sons, Matthew and the late Mitch Jr. When both boys were old enough to work on the family’s 63-foot boat, the Independence, Betty joined the crew as cook, an arrangement that lasted for three summers. After teaching in the Bellingham Public Schools – at Silver Beach and Columbia – Betty retired in 1990. In retirement, she had ample time for her watercolors, many of which she painted while a member of the Whatcom Art Guild. In addition to her son Matt, who lives in Mount Vernon, survivors include her daughter-in-law Paula Woolley and granddaughter Iris Evich, both of Somerville, MA, grandson Andryc Evich of Washington, D.C., as well as her nieces Jacklyn Anderson and Barbara Johnson, both of Everett. A private burial will be held at Bayview Cemetery in Bellingham, WA.