Evelyn Dannemeyer, Wife of Ex-Congressman, Dies

Evelyn Dannemeyer, the wife of former Rep. Bill Dannemeyer, lost her three-year battle with cancer Saturday. She was 65.

“She always had hope that she’d be able to beat it,” her son, Bruce Dannemeyer of Lake Forest, said. “She had a great deal of strength,”

Her deep faith and family formed the focus of Dannemeyer’s life, her survivors said.

Though she supported her husband’s political career, she was more comfortable outside the spotlight, they said. When Bill Dannemeyer’s election as a GOP congressman from Fullerton took them to Washington, his wife relished playing hostess to friends and family rather than being involved in politics.

She was born Dec. 31, 1933, on a farm in St. Francis, Kan. She attended St. John’s College in Kansas and moved to Los Angeles in 1953 to take a grade-school teaching job.

A tall, striking redhead, she met her husband at a Valentine’s Day dance in Los Angeles in 1955. By August, the two were married.

The couple settled in Fullerton in 1957, and Dannemeyer stayed home to care for the three children.

Services will be held at 1:30 p.m. Friday at Zion Lutheran Church, 222 N. East St., Anaheim. Viewing will be Thursday from 1 to 4 and 6 to 9 p.m. at Neels Brea Mortuary, 835 S. Brea Blvd., Brea.

Besides her husband and son, she is survived by two daughters, Kim of Carlsbad and Susan of Fullerton; three sisters, a brother and 10 grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Lutheran High School of Orange County, 2222 N. Santiago Blvd., Orange, CA 92867.