Evelyn D. Killiebrew

Evelyn D Killiebrew was born on March 2, 1929, in Newark, New Jersey to Fred and Florence Davis. She was the youngest of 9 children, and the last of her generation to be called to glory.

She married James Killiebrew and from this union, they had two children, a daughter, Denise Davis, and a son, Dorian Killiebrew.

Evelyn was a jack of all trades; and she was a master of some. Evelyn believed in the foundation of hard work, and she was very independent. She believed if she wanted something done right, she needed to do it herself. This attitude allowed her to learn several skills and trades, Evelyn was YouTube-ing how to do things before there was a YouTube.

She worked very hard and brought her children out of the projects of Newark, New Jersey to the suburbs of East Orange. Evelyn was constantly advancing herself. Throughout the years, she held many occupations to enhance the lives of the ones she loved. She was certified as a teacher where she worked at Daycare 100, in East Orange for many years. She attended cosmetology school where she became licensed as a cosmetologist.

She was educated as a bookkeeper at Essex County College, where she would embark on her final career, as an accountant assistant at New Jersey Institute of Technology in the payroll department, she was a dedicated and long-standing employee and was crucial to the day-to-day operations of NJIT, if she made a mistake, you didn’t get paid. Evelyn ended her service at NJIT in 1994, at the young age of 65.

Evelyn was creative and was able to build things with her hands, she took a woodworking class and learned to build cabinets. She loved to crochet, knit, and sew. Throughout her grandchildren’s lives, you would see them sporting her creations.

Evelyn enjoyed traveling to Atlantic City and Biloxi for fun times. She enjoyed scary movies, especially Stephen King and she enjoyed cooking home-cooked well-balanced meals, giving her the nickname the vegetable police.

She enjoyed having intellectual conversations, she loved music and at any time you would hear her playing, or humming her favorite tune, Misty Blue.

Evelyn was a tough, matter of fact, hold-no-punches type of woman. If you didn’t want to hear the truth, then don’t ask her the question, and at times even if you didn’t ask the questions, she would give you the truth. One of her most famous quotes was “Can I tell you something without you getting angry”?

She accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior, and she lived a long and full life; she is loved and will be missed. Evelyn was preceded in death by her parents, Fred and Florence Davis, her daughter Denise Davis, granddaughter Terine Davis Drew, her eight siblings, Aaron, James, Fred, Charles, Margaret, Lillian, Mabel, and William. Her niece and nephew Tina and James Hamilton and her sister-in-law and best friend Edith Davis.

She leaves to cherish in her memory, her son, Dorian Killiebrew (Janet), grandchildren Sonia Glass (Walter), Hassan Davis, Al ’Malik Davis. Great grandchildren, Alfred Maurice Jones Jr, Al’Laquan Jones, Malik Davis, Samirah Jones, Shaquana and Taquana Davis, 9 great-great-grandchildren, nieces, Florence Williams, Phyllis Martin and longtime friend Geneva Wright.