Evelyn Myers established an enduring and endearing legacy as co-founder of the St. Louis Senior Olympics back in 1980. What started out as a competition for people 55 and older as part of the centennial celebration of the Jewish Community Center, evolved into an annual event drawing athletes from all over the nation and from several foreign nations each year.

Mrs. Myers and Harvey Brown founded the St. Louis Senior Olympics and Mrs. Myers would co-chair the games during its first two years. Ever since, she continued to work with the Senior Olympics as a respected and admired volunteer. She died Monday, Oct. 17, at St. Luke’s Surrey Place in Chesterfield, after treatment for lung cancer, her family said last Tuesday. She was 88 and had resided in Olivette.

Phillip Ruben, JCC’s supervisor of sports, recreation and athletics and director of the St. Louis Senior Olympics, expressed the gratitude of the agency and the Senior Olympics volunteers and staff. “Evelyn Myers and Harvey Brown were the first co-chairs of the St. Louis Senior Olympics back in 1980. The JCC sought to commemorate its 100th anniversary with a unique and attractive event. Others who spearheaded the initial committee were Joy Dunkelman, Harris Frank, Marty Oberman and Phil Smith. What was initially supposed to be a one-time event will be celebrating its 33rd year this Memorial Day weekend. The St. Louis Senior Olympics has hosted thousands of athletes and volunteers through the years in part due to Evelyn’s vision.

“The first year saw about 400 entrants in about a dozen categories, including track, swimming and golf. Currently, we have over 85 events and host over 1,000 athletes age 50 and over, each year. Evelyn was honored in 2009 as part of our 30th anniversary, along with Harvey Brown and Joy Dunkelman. Evelyn continued to volunteer through the years and was no stranger to the Senior Olympics office, stopping by often to check to see how things were going. We will miss her tremendously and know that there will never be a volunteer quite like her.”

Nancy Weigley, an active member of the St. Louis Section, National Council of Jewish Women who nominated Mrs. Myers for a Woman of Achievement Award she received in 2004, said, “Over the years Evelyn was recognized by various departments of the JCC and the greater community. She was the recipient of several awards, such as the Senior Olympics Doc Eberhardt Award, the J’s Richard Weiss Past President’s Award, and most deservedly recognized as a Woman of Achievement. The list goes on, but the most remarkable thing was that Evelyn didn’t care one bit about the recognition. She had no ego. In addition, Ev was, without a doubt, the most positive person on the planet. Everyone just wanted to be in her aura and to bask in her optimism.”

Similar comments were expressed to the St. Louis Jewish Light by Mrs. Myer’s many friends and admirers, including Maxine Kerman. She called Mrs. Meyers a “truly wonderful person who contributed so much to the community.”

A native of St. Louis, Mrs. Myers’ father was a bridge painter who died when she was a little girl. She and her brother and sister were brought up by their mother. She graduated from the old Blewett High School and later worked as a bookkeeper, including employment by the St. Louis Browns baseball club, which contributed to her love of sports. She met Louis Myers at the JCC, which was then called the Young Men’s/Women’s Hebrew Association (YMHA/YWHA). The original “Y” was founded in 1880 and later merged with the St. Louis Council House to become the Jewish Community Centers Association, and later the Jewish Community Center (JCC).

In addition to her leadership and volunteer roles with the Senior Olympics, Mrs. Myers also helped organize blood drives for more than 25 years and was a board member of Covenant House for senior residents, and later helped found the St. Louis Jewish Book Festival, for which she also volunteered.

Funeral services were held last Wednesday, Oct. 19, at Central Reform Congregation, 5020 Waterman Boulevard. Burial was at Beth Hamdedrosh Hagodol Cemetery on Ladue Road. Survivors, in addition to her husband, include a sister, Bess Fine, of Creve Coeur, sister-in-law, Adrienne Silverberg and brother-in-law, Allen (Jeanette) Myers.