Alice Wincenc Evans

Alice Evans, a long-time, much respected resident of Los Alamos, died on April 15, 2016 at the age of 91. A resident of Los Alamos since 1950, Alice Mary Wincenc Bernard Evans was recruited in Buffalo, New York, to teach first grade by the superintendent of the Los Alamos Schools. Upon her arrival, she fell "instantly in love" with the Los Alamos area and knew she would live there the rest of her life. Born February 11, 1925, in Buffalo, New York, of Slovakian parents, Martin and Mary Wincenc, with grandparents of the old Austrian-Hungarian Empire, she grew up learning to cook and bake delicacies such as a seventeen layer Dobosch torte. Considered as one of the most creative teachers in the Los Alamos Schools, she was long remembered by her former first grade students. Her "g'nerfi," an imaginary elf, was one of the many reasons a former student once told her, "I remember being so happy in your class and loving being in school." With a theatre background, she organized the Los Alamos Teachers Association's annual show that raised money for scholarships. This melodrama was comprised of individual olio acts presented by each Los Alamos school. A gifted director for the Los Alamos Little Theatre in its early years, she and others founded the Don Juan Playhouse in 1958. This seventeen-year regional summer theatre located on San Ildefonso Pueblo land, not only presented superb theatre, but served as an exhibit space for regional artists. The first season opened August 16th 1958, with Alice directing Blythe Spirit, an amazing achievement in that the play was rehearsed and produced in the midst of the building and finishing of the theatre itself. Her friend Encarnacion Peña or "Inky," a well known artist from San Ildefonso, was an important part of the theatre community as were several others from the Pueblo. She served as Artistic Director for 17 years and directed many memorial plays such as The Miracle Worker. She acted in one production, an unforgettable portrayal of Mary Tyrone in A Long Day's Journey into Night. The Don Juan Playhouse closed in 1976. She married Foster Evans in 1978, her first marriage ending in divorce some years earlier. Continuing to direct plays, she also served in such as the Art in Public Places Committee appointed by the late Governor Campbell. She later served on the Los Alamos County Board of Directors for the Fuller Lodge Art Gallery as well as being a board member of the Wheelwright Museum in Santa Fe. She and Foster were honored as two of the first "Living Treasures" in Los Alamos. She is survived by her beloved nieces Jana Dublin of Cambridge, Massachusetts; Linda Dobkin of Wellesley, Massachusetts; Carol Wincenc of Manhattan, New York; and her step granddaughter Nadine Mazolla of Acton, Massachusetts, as well as their families. She will be missed by her many friends. A memorial service will be announced at a later date.