Evelyn Trickel died Tuesday afternoon, April 30th at the New Mark Care Center of Kansas City after an illness. She was 91.
Evelyn Goodrich Trickel was born and raised on a farm in southern Grundy County; she graduated from Shelburne School and Trenton High School. After marriage to her first husband, Roy Lee Brummitt they moved to Fulton, MO. After Roy died in 1957, she returned to Trenton with her two children, Richard and Margaret.
Evelyn attended Trenton Junior College for two semesters before moving to Columbia to attend the University of Missouri, where she graduated in 1962 with a BS in Education. After teaching high school for one year in Farmington, MO, Evelyn, and her husband, Robert Trickel returned to Trenton, and three sons, David, Gary, and Brent were added to the family. In addition to five children, Trickel has 16 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
Evelyn was director of the Adult Education classes at Trenton Junior College while earning a Master’s in Adult Education from Central Missouri College, Warrensburg. She also taught business classes at TJC. Along with Evelyn Sheets, Trickel implemented folklore classes into the TJC curriculum.
Evelyn co-authored a book on the Orphan Train movement which sent over 100,000 children from the streets of New York to the Midwest from 1853 to 1929 Evelyn co-authored “We Are A Part of History: The Story of The Orphan Trains.” Later, Trickel and Patrick wrote, “Orphan Trains to Missouri.” Trickel was a research consultant for the documentary movie, “The End of The Line” presented by Wendy Hearn which chronicled the life of orphan train children. She also was a consultant for a PBS Orphan Train movie.
For these and other activities, Trickel received the Charles Loring Brace Award, presented annually by the National Orphan Train Society of America to recognize outstanding research and work to preserve the story of the Orphan Train movement. Trickel has also served on the board of directors for the National Orphan Train Society of America.
Mrs. Trickel has served her community in many ways as a member of the Trenton R-9 School Board, Missouri Day Committee, the Trenton Building Board, and the Grundy County Museum Board. She was a member of the Grundy County Genealogy Society, a member of Dorcas Richardson Chapter, DAR, and the First Baptist Church.
Evelyn was recognized with the Pillar of the Community Award by the Trenton Chamber of Commerce. In 2016 Evelyn was presented the Phil Harris Award by Rotary International for their work at the Church Women United Thrift Shop where she served on the board of directors and volunteered. She also volunteered at the Grundy County Women’s Shelter.
In addition to the two Orphan Train books, Evelyn coauthored ‘A Pictorial History of Grundy County’ with Tom Brown and Alfred Humphreys and coedited the two-volume “Grundy County Missouri History And Its People” with Gloria Carpenter and Vicki Wheeler.
Survivors in the area include her son David Trickel of Dunlap and sister Karen Prewitt of rural Grundy County.
A memorial service for Trenton resident Evelyn Trickel will be held at the First Baptist Church of Trenton on June 15th at 11 am. Family visitation is one hour before the service.
