Florence Evelyn Aldrich (Ev), 81, of Urbandale passed away Monday morning after a very brief battle with cancer. Services will be Friday, February 3 at 10:30 a.m. at First Baptist Church of Greater Des Moines. Friends may call from 4 – 7 p.m., Thursday at Westover Funeral Home 6337 Hickman Road. Evelyn was born in Des Moines on June 7, 1941 to Esther Woodruff and Ray Congdon. She grew up on the south side of Des Moines and graduated from Lincoln High School in 1959 and Drake University in 1963. While at Drake, she met Darrell Aldrich and they were married on June 20, 1964 at First Baptist Church of Greater Des Moines, of which she is still a member. She started her teaching career in Des Moines and then continued as a kindergarten teacher in Aschaffenburg, Germany from 1968-1969 while Darrell was in the Army. When they returned from Germany, they settled in Urbandale where Evelyn resided until her death. In 1972 her daughter Tanya was born and Evelyn took a break from teaching to focus on raising Tanya. In 1977, Evelyn returned to teaching and became a kindergarten teacher in the Urbandale School District (Valerius, Jensen and Olmsted) until retiring in 2007. She loved being a teacher and always cherished her memories of her students and her fellow teachers. She wasn’t ready to retire completely, so her next adventure would take her to the Greek Community at Iowa State University where she was the House Mother at Alpha Omicron Pi sorority for several years. She enjoyed the many friends she met at Iowa State and spending time with the young women of AOII. Once she fully retired, she enjoyed spending her time volunteering at the Urbandale Food Pantry, happy hour with her friends and book club, playing bocce ball at the Urbandale Senior Center and watching her Iowa State Cyclones! Evelyn was fiercely loyal to her friends and family. She always had a smile and kind words for anyone she met. Those left to honor her memory include her daughter, Tanya (Doug) Feldman of Windsor Heights, her three grandsons; Conner (Brenna) of Des Moines, Carson of Chicago, IL and Hunter of Tempe, AZ and her beloved grand puppy, Ollie. She was proceeded in death by her parents, her sister, Lennae Kelso, her aunt, Florence Horn, her uncle, Lennord Horn and her niece, Trista Jacobs. A Florence Evelyn Aldrich memorial fund has been established.