Eva Arrine Robertson

Eva Arrine Robertson was born in Whitlock, Tennessee on 7/3/1912, the middle daughter of the 63 years long union between Hallet Erie Jackson and Sadie Wofford. She was preceded in death by her parents as well as her two sisters, Mavis Ruth (Terry) and Eron Armanda. All 3 of the girls were born 3 years apart, and died 4 years apart.

At an early age, Eva joined the Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Paris Tenn. where she served as an usher and sang in the choir. She became an excellent cook and seamstress at the elbow of her mother – skills she would continue to use for the majority of her life. She dropped out of school to help provide for the family, and so did not receive her high school diploma until June, 1945.

She married Oscar William Howard Jr. on 6/1/1933 in Paris, Tennessee, and the young couple moved in with his mother which Ms. Eva said doomed that marriage. This marriage ended by divorce in July, 1938. Shortly thereafter on October 8, 1938 she married Edward G. Robertson. This marriage also ended in divorce, the exact date unknown.

Because the sisters were so close, the two younger girls followed their older sister Mavis, and brother-in-law John Terry to Louisville, Ky. Both girls enrolled in secretarial school by night, and worked in the day as nannies, and housekeepers; Ms. Eva worked as a cook. She also trained and was certified as a licensed beautician in May, 1946, although she rarely practiced this vocation—doing hair only for family and friends. While in Louisville, the younger girls became the founding members/officers of the POKENO GIRLS SOCIAL CLUB, a club very reminiscent of the Cotton Club in Harlem. Eva designed and made many of the fancy gowns required for these weekend dances for herself and younger sister.

When Mavis and her husband John moved to St. Louis Missouri during WW2, very soon Eva and Eron followed as well – all of them living above the Raskas Dairy at 4401 Page Blvd. The girls brought their parents to St. Louis in 1960 where they all lived in a truly shared household. Eron went to work as a typist for the IRS, and later (because she did not want to leave her sisters), once that agency moved to Kansas City, she worked for the state of Missouri where she remained until she was 70. Eva, on the other hand did not like the regimented life of an office worker, and so went “into service” as a domestic. She retired at age 62 to care for her now widowed mother.

Ms. Eva lived and died a woman of determination, always on her own terms. She was passionate about the St. Louis Cardinals and even as recently as 2016 could have told you the ratings of most baseball teams and the names of the players. She enjoyed reading about other sports in the daily newspaper as well. She supervised the family dogs over the years, letting them in and out – even as she traversed the house on her walker. Well into her 90’s she continued to be the head cook of the household, making the grocery lists, and even ordering groceries as necessary. Despite suffering from heart (CHF) and lung (COPD) diseases for more than 20 years, she not only fixed daily meals and holiday dinners, but actually fixed her own breakfast and lunch until she was 103.

She leaves behind 1 niece, Janet Yvonne Jackson of University City, Mo, and 4 second cousins: Emile Palmer of California, and Harry Jr., Harriett, and Diane (nee Puckett) of Chicago.

You fought the good fight to get back home Ms. Eva. Now is your time to rest.