Evelyn Boyes Clothier died in North Palm Beach, Florida on March 25, 2023, three months after celebrating her 102nd birthday at a barbecue party for 60 Lake Colony residents. Each year her son Gary would grill a birthday dinner meal for many residents at Lake Colony, where she resided since 1993.
Evelyn was born on Dec. 2, 1920, in Canoga, N.Y., a hamlet on the west side of Cayuga Lake, to Onalee and Glen Boyes. Her parents were of Pennsylvania Dutch and English ancestry. She graduated from Mynderse Academy in Seneca Falls, N.Y., and later attended a secretarial school.
Evelyn lived in Central New York State for most of her life until she moved to Florida. In her 20s and 30s she worked in offices in Syracuse. Though she did not have a formal accounting degree, she became known as the woman who could come into an office and straighten out financial records that had been messy for years. Eventually she became a member of the American Society of Women Accountants.
In 1953 she married widower James A. Clothier, who had two children, Emilie and James G. They settled in Skaneateles and soon added two more children, Deborah and Gary. James A. Clothier died in 1960. Evelyn then reentered the workforce and raised the family on her own. She was a member of the Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles for many years, and she studied the Bible for the rest of her life. For many years she worked as the controller in the office of Mustad’s, a Norwegian fish hook company in Auburn, N.Y. At the same time she cared for her aging parents at the Skaneateles home. After they died, she sold the house and moved to Camillus, where for several years she was the caregiver for her sister.
In her 80s and early 90s, Evelyn had a loving companion Casey Pullims. He often came to her kitchen table in the morning to read the newspaper and drink coffee. She taught him to play golf and bridge, and they had many happy times together in the area. They also took trips to various spots around the world. When Casey was hesitant to go away to a hospice location, Evelyn went with him and stayed until he died.
She was an inspiration to others at her Silver Sneakers gym, where she exercised until she stopped driving at 98.
Her survivors include her son Gary Clothier of North Palm Beach; a daughter Deborah Mays of Welch, WV; her stepdaughter Emilie Clothier Harting of Gwynedd, PA; a stepson James G. Clothier of Wonolancet, NH; a grandson Alan Mays of Welch, WV; and many step grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
