Evelyn Rose Cooper-Fortner

On Sunday January 29, 2023, Evelyn Rose Cooper-Fortner became an angel and joined her sister with all of the beautiful angels in Heaven to help God with the good work. Evelyn, who liked to go by Evie, was 5 years old, born on March 21, 2017 at 7:11 PM in Asheville, North Carolina. Daughter of Mary Souder (Haley Cooper) and John Fortner, Little Sister to Audrie Quinn Cooper-Fortner. She attended Christenberry Elementary as a kindergartener and before that she attended Belle Morris Elementary as a preschooler.

One of the meanings for the name Evelyn is Life, and our Evie gave us all so much of that. She exuded so much light and happiness, you couldn’t help but laugh when she was in the room. Evie was naturally hilarious and her laugh was contagious. Evie was the calm before the storm, and also the storm. A beautiful and chaotic experience, something that you can’t help but to admire and love. She loved mother earth and the planet, and would call you out if you threw something on the ground. She was not afraid to tell you how she felt about anything!

Evie was always listening to music and dancing, singing, acting out a music video to a song.. Every morning before school, we had just enough time to listen to one song if I drove slow enough. The point was to get her day going, get her pumped up. Her favorites were either Patient Number 9 by Ozzy Osborne, Till You Can’t by Cody Johnson, and Golden Hour by JVKE. BTS, Lewis Capaldi, Falling in Reverse, and Morgan Wallen were her favorite music artists. Evie knew what she liked and didn’t like, and she didn’t like much but her favorite foods were pizza, pizza rolls, grapes and apples. Of course candy too, but her all time favorite was Chick Fil A, almost everyday after school she got it and a slushie from Casey’s. Making friends wasn’t ever a problem for Evie, anywhere we went she was a magnet for all kinds of friends! In the last year and a half she started collecting crystals with me, and when she was with Grandma and Crandpa camping they would go to gem mines and sift for crystals! One year in Pre-K she took her collection to school for show and tell and was so proud to show everyone her “pretty gems”. Evelyn was always wanting to go outside and blow bubbles, find flowers, or sit out on the hammock and play games on her tablet. Playing with her Uncle Jackson outside, or fishing at the lake always kept a smile on her face, she loved quality time with her family and knowing she was surrounded by love. One of her FAVORITE things to do, was play hide and go seek in the dark with her sister Audrie, Jesse and Mommy. The house was pitch black and scary, but every weekend we would play and even though she was scared we were going to pop out on her she would still play her little heart out. Evie liked miniature toys, anything small caught her eye like Shopkins one of her favorite toys! Evelyn loved unicorns and rainbows but she also loved rocks and getting dirty, there wasn’t ever anything she couldn’t do! She didn’t have a filter, and didn’t care what anyone else thought about her, she would wear the most unmatched outfits and go out strutting it! There will never be anyone like Evie Rose Cooper-Fortner, no one can ever compare to her she was one of the most unique little girls ever.

Most importantly Evie Rose was a sweet, kind hearted and hilarious ball of fire. She marched to the beat of her own drum and loved to do things that made her adrenaline pump! Anywhere we went she would do the most risqué things, walking off into the swimming pool even though she knew she couldn’t swim yet, Evie was one to let her intrusive thoughts take over. You’d be watching a movie together enjoying your time and all of a sudden you would get a slap to the arm, or a bucket of popcorn thrown in the air just because she wanted to know what would happen! We loved that about her, she was not scared of anything.. except for the dark. Evie use to tell me that she wanted to be a traveling Veterinarian/Ballerina, because she loved animals and wanted to make them feel better but she also wanted to dance. Our happy go lucky girl who never let anything get her down, she always found the brighter side of things. Her personality was extroverted, her aura was bright pink, and she was very very competitive. She loved being close to you, with her tablet, snackies and stuffies, and legs thrown over yours. The sweetest Bean on earth, gone too soon and will never be forgotten. Our Evie Kong, our Evie Stevie, Rose Bud, our Evie Rose we will never stop thinking about your babygirl, we will love you until the end of time. To the Moon and Back, Always & Forever.

Evie leaves to cherish her beautiful memory her Mommy, Mary Souder (Haley Cooper), her Daddy John Fortner (Jamie Rodriguez), Grandma/Meika/Merica April Bowen, Crandpa Brent Bowen, Uncle Jackson Bowen, Mamaw Shelby Allen, Aunt Tanya Johnson (Don), Logan Johnson (Tyler) and unborn cousin Laiken Green, Debra & John Pesero, Uncle J and Uncle Ryan Scott, Nonnie and Peepaw Beverly and Don Bowen, Aunt and Uncle Rachel and Rich Rolback, Cousins Reece and Randon, and her beloved cat Ninashi.

"Written with so much love and a broken heart, always in my mind and soul. Published on the day of the Strawberry Moon, while influencing your emotions, on this day/night let this full moon light your way through the darkness. Love, Mommy."

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.berryfuneralhome.com for the Cooper-Fortner family.