TENANTS HARBOR - Evelyn M. Rode, 95, a devoted mother and long-time volunteer for St. Bernard's soup kitchen in Rockland, died at her home Oct. 5, 2013, after a brief illness with pancreatic cancer.

She loved being with people and easily struck up conversations with friends and strangers alike. She was an active woman, and an avid gardener who loved being outdoors. She excelled at oil painting as a child, taught herself a variety of crafts, and enjoyed sports. Once her children were raised, she opened her own shop, where she refurbished and sold antiques.

Evelyn was born July 23, 1918, in Brooklyn, N.Y., the daughter of John Sterbentz and Margaret Pangretic Sterbentz, and was proud of her Brooklyn roots. There she attended parochial school until the family moved to New Paltz, N.Y. She graduated from New Paltz High School in 1936 and was an office worker in New York City for several years.

She married Emil Rode in July 1944 at St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in New Paltz. After Emil's discharge from the army in 1946, they resided in New Paltz and raised their family. They moved to Maine in 1989, living first in Thomaston and then in Tenants Harbor. She was a communicant of St. James Roman Catholic Church in Thomaston and St. Bernard's in Rockland, and was an active member of the Port Clyde Rockettes exercise group.

Evelyn is survived by her four children, Margaret Rode and her husband, Kevin Solsten, of Tenants Harbor, Lorna Crichton and her husband, Alan, of Liberty, Peter Rode and his wife, Anne Hibbard, of Minneapolis, Minn., and Paul Rode and his wife, Bernadette, of West Hurley, N.Y.; her grandchildren, Karen Mager and her husband, Markus, of Fairbanks, Alaska, David Hibbard-Rode of Viroqua, Wis., Willis Crichton of Lincolnville, Harlan Crichton of Portland and Kyle Bell of New York; her sister, Mae Nadal of Warrenton, Va.; her cousins in the U.S. and Slovenia, including Richard Troha and his wife, Marie, of Brewster N.Y.; and many nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her husband of 64 years, Emil; and by her brother, John Sterbentz.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Friday, Oct. 11, 10 a.m. at St. Bernard's Catholic Church, 150 Broadway in Rockland. A reception will follow at Evelyn's home at 36 Elementary School Road in Tenants Harbor. Interment will be in St. Charles Borromeo Cemetery in Gardiner, N.Y., at a later date.

Memorial donations may be made to the St. Bernard's Soup Kitchen, 7 Union Street, Camden, ME 04843.

Arrangements are in the care of Burpee, Carpenter and Hutchins Funeral Home in Rockland. To share a memory or condolence with Evelyn's family, visit her Book of Memories online at the funeral home.