Evangeline Ann Loessin Whorton

EVANGELINE LOESSIN WHORTON

Evangeline Ann Loessin Whorton passed away on January 15, 2026, one week shy of her 88th birthday, following a brief illness.

Born in El Campo, Texas, on January 22, 1938, Evangeline spent most of her life in Eagle Lake and Galveston, Texas. She was the daughter of Herbert Henry Loessin and Anna Studlar “Nita” Loessin of Eagle Lake, both predeceased. Evangeline attended Eagle Lake High School and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Art from Baylor University, where she was also a Baylor Beauty annually 1958-1960. In 1962, she married Elbert Benjamin Whorton Jr., and the couple lived in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Shelburne, Vermont, before returning to Texas in 1972 with their young daughters, Lalise Loessin Whorton Mason and Anna Linae Whorton Duff.

Upon settling in historic Galveston, Evangeline quickly immersed herself in historic preservation and community revitalization. As the Galveston Historical Foundation (GHF) noted: “If there was a movement to save any historic or environmental property, she was probably involved in it and, quite possibly, spearheaded the effort. She had the gift of leadership, with the accompanying knack for bringing others into the project.”

Her contributions to GHF were extraordinary. From 1973 to 1982, she served as Vice President of Programs, playing a key role in the Foundation’s early reorganization. She created Dickens’ Evening on the Strand in 1973 and directed it for nine years, while also launching and leading the Annual Homes Tour. During this period, she organized numerous other events, including the Evening at Ashton Villa and the annual membership address and reception, which featured nationally prominent speakers highlighting Galveston’s revitalization. Evangeline also developed and organized “Pure Galveston: A Celebration,” a community event which marked the beginnings of the Strand Revolving Fund, supported by grants from the Moody Foundation and the Kempner Fund to restore the Strand Historic Landmark District.

Additionally, she created GHF’s specialized historic day tours, trained docent guides, and researched and collected historical data to compile comprehensive tour manuals. She produced research briefs to create narratives for Texas Historical Commission markers, pictorial history markers in the Strand District, and early exhibits at the GHF Visitor Center. In the process, she conserved scores of original architectural renderings by Nicholas J. Clayton. In 1982, Governor Mark White appointed her to the Texas Historical Commission, where she served from 1983 to 1989.

Beginning in 1985, Evangeline chaired the 1847 Powhatan House, the headquarters of the Galveston Garden Club, and served as volunteer project manager for its renovation. She oversaw fundraisers like the annual Powhatan Pansy Potpourri and other plant sales. Her preservation efforts extended to the rehabilitation of the Garten Verein Dancing Pavilion, the Customs House, the Galvez Hotel, and committees dedicated to saving structures such as UTMB’s “Old Red,” the Pier 19 Mosquito Fleet berth, the 1860 Ufford Building, and the Texas Heroes Monument. She conducted research and contributed to nearly every building structure in The Strand and Mechanic Historical Landmark District.

Evangeline also lent her talents to other organizations, including Trinity Episcopal Church, the Ronald McDonald House, and the German Texas Heritage Society. As a board member of Scenic Texas, she advocated for regulations to enhance roadside beautification and to limit billboards along Texas roadways.

Her dedication earned her several accolades, including GHF’s highest medal citation in 1982—the first ever awarded—and the Texas Festival Association’s second Annual Founders Award in 1987 for creating Dickens’ Evening on the Strand. In the early 2000’s, she received the Galveston Steel Oleander Award, honoring women who have made significant community contributions, placing her among mayors and other civic leaders in this esteemed local annual tradition.

From the mid-1990s onward, Evangeline focused on preserving the Galveston Bay coastline. As founder and inaugural chair of Scenic Galveston, Inc. a nonprofit dedicated to scenic and conservation service working to preserve coastal habitats in Galveston County—she led efforts to acquire, restore, and protect the 900-acre John M. O’Quinn Estuary Corridor surrounding a prominent marshland gateway along Interstate 45 to Galveston Island. What began as a highway beautification initiative expanded into ongoing land acquisition and habitat restoration, including over 2,000 additional acres of coastal prairie and wetlands on the Virginia Point Peninsula. Work continues.

In her personal time, Evangeline explored her family’s Texas German Loessin heritage through genealogy research, pursued her passion for painting, and cherished returning to the family property in Eagle Lake.

Evangeline is survived by her husband, Elbert; her daughters, Lalise and Anna, and their husbands, Greg Mason and Gordon Duff; her grandchildren, Ian, Allen, and Helen Duff; her sister, Patricia Loessin Tate of Austin; and many nieces and nephews, including Drew Loessin Tate, Trent Sansing Tate, Herbert Loessin Tate, and their children.

A private graveside ceremony will be held on Friday, January 23, followed by a celebration of Evangeline’s life at the historic Christ Episcopal Church, 306 Stockbridge Street, Eagle Lake, at 1:00 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Evangeline’s memory may be made to Scenic Galveston, Inc. (ATTN: Lalise Mason, 2201 MacArthur Street, Houston, Texas 77030) or Christ Episcopal Church in Eagle Lake.