ORONO – Evelyn Adriance Miles, 87, died early Tuesday morning, Sept. 21, 2004, at an Orono healthcare facility. She was born Jan. 9, 1917, in East Orange, N.J., the daughter of Robert I. and Florence Buck Adriance. Evelyn and her sister, Jane, and their parents lived in Hawaii from 1929-1930, where their parents both taught at Punahou School in Honolulu. Evelyn spent childhood summers in Tenants Harbor and after graduating from East Orange High School attended the University of Maine, living in Orono from 1934 until the time of her death. She also attended Middlebury College in Vermont, graduating from the University of Maine with a BA in music in 1938, the first music major ever, at the University of Maine. She was elected to both Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi national honor societies. In 1937, she married Dr. E. Kenneth Miles, Professor of German at UMaine; he died in 1976. Evelyn also received two master’s degrees from the UMaine: a Master of Education in 1963, and a Master of Library Science in 1975. She was a member of the Church of Universal Fellowship in Orono, where she was the church organist from 1958 to 1974. Evelyn worked as a substitute teacher in the Orono schools, as a secretary for the Foreign Language Dept. at UMaine, as the State Documents librarian at Fogler Library at UMaine, as a photojournalist for local newspapers, and as a free-lance writer and photographer. Published works included children’s songs and stories, magazine articles, poetry and photographs (Christian Science Monitor in Boston, etc.). She put together three major photographic exhibits, taking all the pictures and developing and printing them all herself in her home dark room: “One Year in a Maine Town” (Orono, 1966); “Corea: Maine Lobster Town” (1966-1981); and “One Year at Home in Orono, Maine” (1988), all of which were exhibited at the University of Maine and toured the State of Maine. Her 1966 exhibit was also displayed at the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland. She was also an accomplished artist, painting mostly with water colors. Evelyn will be missed by her family and friends, including two children and five grandchildren: Nancy Miles Zollitsch and Reinhard Zollitsch of Orono; David and Lori Miles of Oceanside, Calif.; Jennifer Hardy of Kettering, Ohio; Mark and Amber Zollitsch of Bellingham, Wash.; Brenda Zollitsch of Portland, Maine; Lee Zollitsch of Los Angeles, Calif.; Kim Zollitsch and Michael Seyfert of Prague, Czech Republic; and Julia Hardy Miles of Silver Spring, Md. A private graveside service for the family is planned at the Orono cemetery in early October. A service of Brookings-Smith. Contributions in Evelyn’s memory may be made to: Evelyn Miles Music Fund, Church of Universal Fellowship, 82 Main St., Orono, ME 04473.
EVELYN ADRIANCE MILES
