Obituary of Evelyn A. Rumin

LITTLE FALLS - Evelyn (Evie) Miklave Rumin, 97, of Little Falls, NY, passed away peacefully, on December 7, 2021, with her daughters at her side. Evie was born in Little Falls, on September 3, 1924 and was the daughter of Joseph and Josephine (Purnat) Miklave. She received her education at St. Mary’s Academy and at the Utica Business School of Commerce. Evelyn was joined in marriage to Walter Rumin, on April 23, 1949. The couple shared a blessed union for 30 years until his passing on May 10, 1979. Evie was a member of Holy Family Parish, in Little Falls and of the Rosarians of that church. She was actively involved with the Little Falls Hospital Guild, the Rock City Seniors and AARP. She was also a Brownie leader and a member of the Mother’s Club. Evelyn was employed by Hansen’s Laboratory in the advertising department, Cherry-Burrell Corp., as a time clerk in the sales and scheduling department, Gregorka’s Photo Finishing Lab, JC Penney’s catalog department and Salada Foods, as a quality control inspector, before she retired in 1988. Evie had many interests which included hiking, X-country skiing, golfing, gardening, needlepoint, sewing and reading mysteries. She also enjoyed drinking a good Manhattan with her husband, her girlfriends and eventually her daughters. Evelyn is survived by her beloved family: including her daughters, Janis Slack and Lucinda Mendl (Frank); her cherished grandchildren, Jeffrey Walter Mendl and Janela Evelyn Mendl; several nieces and nephews; and a wonderful friend, Tom Mendl. She was predeceased by her parents; her husband, Walter; her brothers, Joseph, Stanley and Frank (Mary)Miklave; her sisters, Josephine (Pep) Laubenstein (Bill) and Valentina (Tina) Novogurski (Pete); her sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Virginia Rumin Sivc and Victor Sivc; and her son-in-law, John Slack. In 2019, after much research by her great niece, Colleen Dowd, Evie was able t0 connect with her relatives in Slovenia, the country from which her parents came. Aleš Miklavc, a great-great cousin, came to the US to meet her that fall. What a wonderful gift! Because of the work of Colleen, Aleš, and another Slovenian great-great cousin, Tomaž Čretnik, the Miklave/Miklavc/Purnat families were brought together again after 87 years. Evelyn was the last of her family’s generation on both sides of ‘the pond’. She was most likely the longest living survivor of the family - probably because of her feisty nature! We would like to thank the staffs at Valley Residential Services and Valley Health Services for their wonderful and compassionate care of our mother during her stay. A funeral service will be for family only, on December 17th, 2021, with interment alongside her husband, at St. Mary’s Cemetery, Town of Herkimer. There will be no calling hours. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Little Falls Public Library, 10 Waverly Pl., Little Falls, NY 13365 or to a charity of one’s choice. Evelyn’s arrangements have been made with her longtime friends Harry J. Enea, Jr., Kevin E. Enea and Martin L. Ciaccia, at the Enea Family Funeral Home, 24 West Monroe Street, in Little Falls, New York (315) 823-2424.