Nany Evans oral history.indd - Washington Secretary of State

Evans: She was a very nice person.
Hughes: Any signs of Governor Al?
Evans: No. And I didn’t expect any. Dan was not
with me. It was just me and Mother. And we three
talked. I remember meeting Lorna Leidy, who was the
housekeeper at the time. Lorna stayed on with us. She
became a part of the family. She was a widow, a longtime
widow. Her husband had died too young. She
needed to work and that’s what she did. She was just
a delight. She had been with the Langlies, too. But at
that time they were more formal. They called her an
“upstairs maid.” She was working there a long time. She
Ethel Rosellini in 1962. Washington State Archives
was elderly when we were there.
Hughes: As in her 70’s?
Evans: Yes. And she would keep terrible hours, into the evenings, and up early the next
morning. And I’d just often think, “How did she do it?” She was wonderful, just the
loveliest person. We all loved her dearly. And I think that she grew to love our family, as she
had the other governors’ families she had worked with. At that first meeting, she showed
me around and we discussed what we had to bring and that sort of thing. So that was a
real help. Lorna had a house in Olympia not too far from the Mansion, so she would also
go home. She was just so loving, and just took us in her arms immediately from the day we
arrived. That was a great help to me. She arranged flowers, too. She was wonderful. There
were two others over the years that we really enjoyed – Twila Ogle and Helen Wright. Both
were with us quite a long time as housekeepers. We kept in touch right up until they died.
They were all wonderful to work with.
Hughes: Those ladies must have really enjoyed having those three livewire boys around.
Evans: They seemed to. But I’m sure the boys were nuisances a lot of the time too.
Hughes: The first time I went into the Mansion after the Lockes moved in and I saw the
play set, the trikes and the Legos it made me smile.
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