As a helpmate and support to her husband, Wilbur, Evelyn served congregations in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Redwood City, California, as well as the Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis, where Wilbur was president from 1960 until 1976, and Emanuel Medical Center in Turlock where Wilbur served as the development officer. She later became a member of Cornerstone Covenant Church in Turlock, according to Cornerstone pastor Brad Boydston.

A daughter, Terri, noted that Evelyn helped create a friendly atmosphere at home with a gracious hospitality and her talents were evident in many ways. She was known for her abilities as a seamstress and interior decorator, and while at Penninsula Covenant Church she baked Swedish coffee bread and cookies and invited parishioners to the family's home following Christmas morning services.

Yet her prowess in the business world was also recognized. While in Northern California, she was an executive secretary for Arthur Anderson & Co. and also sold real estate in the Redwood City area.

"Evelyn was a very private person married to a very public man," said her daughter. "She was the most nurturing and generous mother, taking great pride in the development and happiness of her two children. Her gift was to always be doing for others and it gave her great pleasure."

Born March 20, 1921, in Rockford, Illinois, Evelyn Charlotte Westerdahl graduated from Rockford High School in 1939 and attended Moody Bible Institute in Chicago for two years. During this time she met her future husband and the couple was married August 26, 1944, in Glendale, California. They moved to Minneapolis in 1944 where their son, Timothy, was born in 1946 and daughter Teresa Ann "Terri" was born in 1949.

An insulin-dependent diabetic for almost 70 years, Evelyn seldom let this physical challenge limit her energy and enthusiasm for life, taking up race walking in her sixties. She and Wilbur also enjoyed their rose garden and a pair of doves that returned each year to their home in Turlock after they moved to Covenant Village in 1990.

Evelyn Westerdahl is survived by her children: Timothy Westerdahl of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and Teresa Westerdahl of San Carlos, California; and brothers, Richard Olson of Seattle and Roger Olson of Rockford. She was preceded in death by her husband, Wilbur, who died in 2003.