Ethel Evans, 82, hairdresser

Ethel Fae Evans would rise at 5 a.m. and walk 10 miles every morning before starting work in the beauty salon she ran out of her home in northwest Atlanta.

Ethel’s Beauty Shop was in her basement. Mrs. Evans had no sign out front, but that didn’t seem to hurt her business. Local politicians and celebrities came to have their hair done, said Mrs. Evans’ daughter, Beverly Miller, of Charlotte.

Enlarge this image

Family photo

Ethel Fae Evans ran a hair salon from her basement and counted Gladys Knight as one of her clients.

Mrs. Evans, 82, died in her home Sept. 5 of complications from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, her daughter said. The funeral was Saturday at West Mitchell CME Church in Atlanta. Herschel Thornton Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.

Hair wasn’t the only thing Mrs. Evans liked to keep trimmed and neat. She took pride in her tidy lawn, regularly mowing her grass and pruning her trees herself, her daughter said.

“If her neighbors weren’t taking care of their property, she’d cut their grass and trim their trees, too. Without asking,” Mrs. Miller said.

Other survivors include a daughter, Frankie Blake of Atlanta; a son, Gerald Evans of Atlanta; three grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.