Christine Margaret Watkins Evans was born in St. Louis, Mo., January 15, 1949 at Barnes Hospital to Alfred A. Watkins and Muriel Enns Watkins of Maplewood, Mo.
Christine grew up in Maplewood with her three brothers, Alfred A. “Skip” Watkins, Kenneth Watkins(deceased), and Jonathan Watkins and one sister, Suzanne E. Watkins Taylor.
Christine attended K-12 in The Maplewood-Richmond Heights School District graduating in 1967. She attended Southwest Missouri State College. She went to work for Southwestern Bell Telephone Company in 1969 as an operator and returned to St. Louis in 1970 as a Service Representative with Southwestern Bell.
She was promoted to Observer for the telephone company and in a training class in Little Rock, Ark., she met her future husband, Richard T. Evans. They were happily married for 46 years and have a wonderful daughter, Rachael Brooke Evans of Salem, Mass.
Christine and Richard moved several times with the phone company in the State of Oklahoma and in 1985 they returned to Tulsa and put down roots. While in Tulsa, Chris was a Docent at Philbrook Museum, a Master Gardener, and many other volunteer positions. One of Christine’s favorite endeavors of all time was working at The Bakery on Cherry Street. The people, the baked goods and the bread brought a smile to her face.
She attained an Associate Degree in Horticulture from Tulsa Community College and went to work for the City of Tulsa as a Gardner. During her career at the City, she gardened at Gilcrease Museum, Woodward Park Gardens and Greenhouse and The Tulsa Zoo. She especially enjoyed her time at the Zoo because of her love for animals. There was never a dull day while gardening at the zoo. Chris retired from the City of Tulsa in 2014.
Christine also loved traveling to Europe. Over the years Richard and Chris went to different European countries numerous times.
Because of Christine’s love of Southwest Florida beaches, Chris and Richard relocated to Venice, Fla., in 2016 to enjoy retirement. Christine was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in June of 2024 and they decided to return to Tulsa to be closer to family and friends. She passed away peacefully surrounded by family and friends in St. Francis Hospice on March 3, 2025.
Christine is survived by her husband, Richard of the home; daughter, Rachael of Salem, Mass.; brothers and sisters and spouses, Diane and Skip Watkins of St. Louis, Mo., Terry Watkins of Houston, Texas, wife of Kenneth deceased, Kristi and Jon Watkins of Plano, Texas, and Suzy and Paul Taylor of Ponca City, Okla.; sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Gracie and John D. Montgomery of Purcell and numerous nieces and nephews.