Cathleen Evans

Cathleen Evans loved the ocean, whether it was a day on Tomales Bay or on a grand high seas adventure with her husband along the western coast of the United States.

Evans, who was born and raised in Petaluma, died Oct. 30 at her home in Marshall after suffering a series of strokes. She was 88.

Evans and her husband, Harold Evans, moved to Marshall in 1950 and opened the Tomales Bay Boat Shop, which they operated until 1964.

The couple also delivered yachts, sailing to ports of call in Baja California and Puget Sound and points in between.

In 1959, they gathered their three children for a months-long sailing trip aboard a friend’s 52-foot sailboat to the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia.

Cathy Evans, who was 9 years old at the time, remembers the trip fondly, saying her mother helped with cooking aboard the sailboat.

She said her mother was an active person who enjoyed sailing, hiking and fishing, and that if she couldn’t be outside doing something, she was content to lose herself in a book off the best-seller lists.

Among her favorites were stories of the explorers Lewis and Clark or anything having to do with American history.

Cathleen Volkerts was born in 1921 in Petaluma and was raised in a Victorian across from her father’s dairy farm, which occupied the site of what is now the Petaluma Village Premium Outlet stores.

She met Harold Evans while they were both students at Petaluma High School. He gave her a ride home from school one day and the couple were practically inseparable after that.

They were married for 66 years.

Harold Evans parlayed his experience from World War II making repairs to ships into the couple’s boat business in Tomales Bay.

Cathleen by then had earned her nursing degree from San Francisco’s Mount Zion Hospital and was working at Petaluma General Hospital. Years later, she resumed her career at a clinic in Point Reyes Station.

The couple’s sailing life began in earnest after they retired. They also enjoyed camping adventures across America.

Harold Evans is 91 and still living in Marshall. His wife is survived by the couple’s three children, Cathy Evans of Petaluma, Dan Evans of Inverness and Jerry Evans of Sonoma.

At her request, no services were held.

-- Derek J. Moore