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Evelyn Fankhauser
1921 to 1999
My Mother, Evelyn Fankhauser was born Elvira Pauldina Weixalbraun in 1921 in Bremen Germany.
She came to America when she was 3 years
old. When she enrolled in school she couldnt speak English and her teacher thought her first name was Evelyn. They put it on her report card
and she kept it.
She showed her talent as a singer and dancer at an early age and would often sing into the pots and pans to emulate a
microphone while working in the kitchen of her parents restaurant in Louisville Kentucky.
When she was a teenager she began singing with big
bands.
She met my dad Milt Fankhauser at Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby. In less than a year they were married and went to
Niagra falls on their honeymoon.
My Dad played guitar and sang so there was always music in our house - so it's no wonder it rubbed off on me
and my sister and my son Tim.
My dad always had a dream to leave the cold winters in Kentucky and move to sunny California, and that we did
in 1955. He was a pilot and we lived for a few years on an airport at Lake Elsinore.
Our family moved to Arroyo Grande in 1958.
Mom was always
busy sewing dance costumes for my sister and fancy shirts for me to perform in. She opened a retail clothing store called the Vault Botique in the
early 70's which was very sucessful for many years. She enjoyed her buying trips to LA and would often combine these trips with my musical
performances.
It was always a great joy for me to see her on the dance floor when I was playing at the Coconut Grove.
She made many lifelong
friends during these years. She was a good Mother and will be missed by many.
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