Valorie Evans Rathbone

Valorie Evans Rathbone

November 21, 1936 – March 2, 2025

                Valorie Evans Rathbone, beloved wife, cousin, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and cherished member of the Hamilton NY community, passed away peacefully on March 2, 2025, at the age of 88.

                Born on November 21, 1936, in Gloversville, NY, Valorie was the daughter of George Allen Evans and Helen Elizabeth Brown Evans.  After graduating from Gloversville High School, she went on a trip with friends to Europe, including a stop in Greece to meet her longtime pen pal.  She attended St. Lawrence University before transferring to the University of Rochester.  In 1958, she earned her BA in French and, two years later, her MA in education.  After graduation she worked briefly for the CIA in Washington, DC before moving to California to use her passion for languages to teach French, Spanish, and Russian at the high school level, where she built lifelong connections with her students.

                In 1962, Valorie married John Rathbone.  Together they embarked on a life filled with family, service, travel, and community spirit.  During John’s decade of active military service in the US Navy, Valorie was an active volunteer with the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society (NMCRS), where she lovingly knitted baby layettes for military families.  She continued her teaching career in the mid-1970s at Hamilton Central School, where she taught high school French.

                In 1976, Valorie opened her beloved yarn shop, Yarn et al, in Hamilton, NY.  The shop became a gathering place for knitters, crafters, and friends.  Over the years, the shop moved from the Sugar Bowl on Broad Street, to Lebanon Street, to their home, and eventually returned to the Sugar Bowl.  For 24 years, Valorie built not just a business, but a community – always supporting local causes, including donating proceeds from Beanie Baby sales to Hamilton’s Fountain Fire Department to help purchase a new truck.

                Valorie’s love of community extended to her work with the American Legion, where she at one point sold countless tickets for a raffle quilt, and yearly helped place flags in veterans’ gravesites in local cemeteries.  She was also a dedicated member of Twiglets, a Community Memorial Hospital Auxiliary, where she knit for fundraisers, volunteered at the annual Tea and Sale, and delivered books and magazines to hospital patients.

                A lifelong knitter and fiber artist, Valorie’s love of yarn was matched only by her love of travel.  She explored the world with her family and friends, documenting her adventures in lovingly crafted scrapbooks.  From European river cruises to Icelandic landscapes, to road trips across the United States, she embraced every journey with curiosity and joy.

                Valorie also had a soft spot for Colgate University hockey, where she not only cheered from the stands, but also supported players academically, often typing papers for students – especially members of the hockey team.

                Her heart for connection stretched far beyond Hamilton.  During World War II, as a young girl, Valorie placed her name and address inside the pocket of a jacket sent overseas to England.  A little girl named Marjorie Dalby received the jacket, found the address, and wrote to Valorie – beginning a pen pal friendship enduring for decades.  Similarly, Valorie’s family sent a package of clothes to Greece, sparking another lifelong pen pal friendship with Helen Bitsios.

                Valorie is survived by her loving husband of 62 years, John Rathbone of Hamilton, NY; her daughters, Elizabeth Evans Rathbone Bartlett of Port Orchard, WA, and Ellen Jo Rathbone of Hamilton, NY; her grandchildren, Ian Rathbone Bartlett of Glen Burnie, MD, Evyn Alexandre Bartlett of WA, Ethan MacKenzie Bartlett of Port Orchard, WA, and Amber Rose Bartlett Miguel of Port Orchard, WA; and her new great-grandson, Alexander Keiki Makamae A Ke Kupunawahine Nui I Ka Lani Miguel of Port Orchard, WA.  She is also survived by her first cousins, Roxana Brown Vuskalns and Edward Brown, both of Mayfield, NY.

                Valorie’s legacy of creativity, kindness, adventure, and community spirit will live on in the hearts of all who knew and loved her.

The family will have a private celebration of Valorie’s life in the spring.

                In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Valorie’s memory to the following organizations reflecting her passions:

Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society (NMCRS) at www.nmcrs.org

Project Linus at www.projectlinus.org

Knitted Knockers at www.knittedknockers.org

Dementia Society of America at www.dementiasociety.org/donate

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