GETZEN (Sferes), Evangeline "Vangie"
Evangeline Sferes Getzen passed away on Monday, January 29, 2024. Born in Gorham, Maine, and a long-time resident of Raleigh, North Carolina, Evangeline (Vangie) and her husband of 68 years, Forrest William Getzen, lived at Canterbury Court in Atlanta, Georgia for the last eight years.
On April 22, 1930, as the Great Depression deepened, Vangie brought sunshine to her parents, proud Greek immigrants. Growing up in Maine, she worked in her father's grocery store, studied Greek, and was an accomplished athlete throughout school. She attended Colby College where she was a Tri-Delt, an editor of the college yearbook and newspaper, and a member of the Outing Club, the Yacht Club, and the International Relations Debate Club. Following graduation, she went to Boston, Massachusetts, joining the editorial staff of a technical science publication. To learn about its subject matter, she audited a chemistry class at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Not long into the semester, graduate teaching assistant Forrest Getzen offered his services — schooling Vangie on the periodic table of elements and chemical combinations of all sorts. Her reaction to Forrest was instantaneous and so began a 70-year romance.
Together, they traveled the world landing in Kabul, Afghanistan in the 1960s with their three young children, where Forrest taught chemistry at Kabul University. Once, while on Easter Break in Kashmir, they were caught in warfare between Pakistan and India. It remains incredible to all that the Easter Bunny found his way to their houseboat there, leaving a trail of chocolate eggs and marshmallow chicks to the delighted Getzen children.
Back stateside, Vangie became a long-standing docent of the North Carolina Museum of Art, providing tours and lectures to school children and others of its many collections. She entered the workforce, beginning as a secretary with North Carolina's Department of Environment, working her way up to the department's program director of Women, Infants and Children. During this time, she earned a Master of Public Administration degree from NC State University. Upon her and Forrest's retirement, the pair traveled extensively, cruising through the Panama Canal and around South America, among other sojourns.
Vangie loved all creatures and especially her Siamese cats, that included, over the years, seal points, chocolate points, blue points and lilac points. Perhaps her dearest feline was Mr. Rogers, a stray mix, who showed up one evening on the Getzen's back porch. This cool cat in a grey sweater sauntered in and remained in residence for over 20 years. On Vangie's 93rd birthday last year, her granddaughter, Anna rented Abe Lincoln, a very satisfactory orange American short-haired cat, and brought him to her birthday party. Abe was a tremendous hit with Vangie, remaining on her lap for an hour in tribute to her many decades of service to the family Felidae.
Vangie will be missed terribly for her quick wit, her rock-solid opinions, her fierce love of and loyalty to family and friends, and her enormous spirit. She leaves behind her devoted husband, Forrest; her three grateful children and their spouses, Hart (Brooke), Katherine (Dan), and Peter; six blessed grandchildren, Charlie and David, Forrest, Hart and Anna; and Bryce; her sister, Kathy; and many nieces and nephews.
A service in remembrance of Vangie will be held Friday, February 2, 2024 at 4:00 PM in the Chapel of Canterbury Court. Those wishing to honor her memory are encouraged to donate to The American Humane Society or a charity of their choice. Vangie's family is forever grateful to the Canterbury Court team, including Jonathan, Bola, Jackie, Robert, Dara, the two Erins, and so many others, as well as Atlanta Hospice, for their exceptional care of the Getzens.
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