The team at Forest Park Forever was saddened to learn of the passing of Evelyn Newman, who led our organization as Executive Director in its earliest years. She died Tuesday at the age of 95. 

"Evelyn Newman made such a lasting impact on the St. Louis community, including Forest Park and Forest Park Forever," said Forest Park Forever President & Executive Director Lesley S. Hoffarth, P.E. "During our early, critical years, she really took our grass-roots nonprofit to another level, envisioning exciting events like the Hat Luncheon, greatly broadening our base of volunteers and supporters and infusing the entire organization with the creativity she was known for. Evelyn also had the early vision to know that Forest Park needed a comprehensive, longterm plan, if it was truly going to make a comeback. Work that she led in this area was an important precursor to the Park’s 1995 Master Plan, which continues to guide the work Forest Park Forever and the City of St. Louis undertake today. Today’s Forest Park visitors, and St. Louisans at large, are indebted to Evelyn for how much she improved our region."

Forest Park Forever will be dedicating a bench in Forest Park to honor Evelyn's work and devotion to the Park. Her impact on Forest Park and St. Louis will continue for generations to come.

To learn more about Evelyn Newman's life and impact on the region, you may read these memorials in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and St. Louis Public Radio.